Vide Grenier Haul, part one

Wool-mohair blend coat with Paris label and great buttons, 2 Euros at a Vide Grenier

Cripes, talk about baby prep. Sleepless nights characterized by frequent bathroom trips and tossing and turning to find a comfy position, topped off by hubby snoring and cat crying at all hours, has pretty much set the tone this last week for an overwhelming tetchiness that makes me want to hip-check every dawdle-poke or generally annoying person who gets in my way.

Good thing a master haul at my local thrift shop's spring vide grenier (rummage sale, basically) this past Saturday is helping my zzzz-deprived brain manufacture some happy hormones when I think of all the great stuff I found there - two (huge) bags full of clothing for between 1-2 Euros each - including this wool-mohair blend coat from Paris (2 Euros).

The lining is thin so it was the perfect coat to don earlier this week, when temps soared to the teens.

Wool-blend sweater: a Euro at the same sale

I'm not great at this style of vide grenier - basically a big table with stuff tossed on it for all to fight over - but surprisingly there weren't too many pushy peeps. I was able to dig up this red wool-blend floppy turtleneck sweater, again with a Paris label, without any major incident (and for a Euro). I don't wear red often but I can do this shade, and I just loved the dart-like detailing on the sides.

Thyme maternity skirt, thrifted in Canada; Benetton patent leather brogues, thrifted in Annecy;
Scarf, Annecy market; Vintage bracelet, UK auction house;
leather purse, new and handmade by Montreal, Canada artisan.

30 weeks: POP!

As you can see, I've really popped out in the last week. I'm still going strong with the support hose, and comfy shoes that highlight my flipper feet ... funny how I'm trying my best to be stylish but won't compromise when it comes to sensible - and safe - footwear. I wouldn't want to topple over wearing heels, now would I?

I have heaps more to show you from the vide grenier. Must snap some pics one of these mornings, when I have more oomph. Now if you'll excuse me, but I'm off to beddie-by.

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How I Wear My: Greens (mostly thrifted, of course!)

Olive green: jazz up a conservatively-cut Windsmoor coat (thrifted) with thrifted MEXX booties,
bright blue accessories, a patchwork bag, and a cheapie ethnic scarf from the market.

Many thanks to Adrienne over at The Rich Life (on a budget), who, in partnership with Jill over at Everything Just So, is hosting How I Wear My: Green today. I'm really grooving on green these days - all different kinds, in fact. So I thought I'd show you how I've been wearing my greens these days.

Yesterday: Olive green leather booties, thrifted in France.

I bought these olive green booties this week at the thrift shop. The dress is thrifted, the necklace was a buck at a vintage jewellery club meeting in Toronto, and the cashmere was a gift.

The great thing about this kind of green, as you see in these pics, is that it doesn't have to really "match anything" - it can work as a neutral.

Emerald green hat, thrifted in France for 3 Euros.
Antique carpet bag, about 40 pounds at a UK auction.

Or, as you see above and below, green - from emerald to forest to mint - can stand on its own as an accessory with a bit of zing.

Vintage mint green angora beret: gift; forest green Bally purse, thifted in France for under 10 Euros.

I bought this ring new before I moved to the UK, but it was 50 percent off.

I love this emerald green stone and silver filigre ring so much that I wear it whenever the hell I want, with whatever the hell I want.

Thrifted Ellen Tracy silk blouse; new Hermes scarf.

Or you can go full on with green, matching colours and fabrication for a real style whammy.

Vintage forest green jacket by Thierry Mugler, 4 Euros.

And as I recently discovered, dark green rocks with black - who would have thought?

Pre-pregnancy green: vintage dress, gifted.

I can't resist throwing in some miscellaneous pre-preggo green shots, when my stomach was reasonably flat and my thighs thinner.

Thrifted emerald green hoodie with matching (new) turtleneck.
(Rest of outfit: all thrifted except the pendant, which matches the ring).

Newborn jacket in emerald and mint greens: thrifted today for 2 Euros.

And, in a few short months, someone else will be wearing green too! :) :)

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Amateur blogger pics & a second-hand purchase in France!

Sorry for the blurry pic - I need to train dear hubby on blog photog-ing! We went out for dinner last night, and, in spite of having this 70s shawl for seven or so years (I showed it to you a while back), I took said shawl out for its first public outing ever last night. The days are gloriously warm here but the evenings are deliciously cool ... perfect for shawls and scarves. I also took the vintage purse I bought at auction in the UK out for its first dinner date.

I snapped the remaining pics in my hallway to give hubby a break - so sorry, you get to see the 'ole blogger-with-camera-showing-in-the-mirror thing. But seriously, we have these great big long and well-lighted hallways in our place, and all these closets with sliding mirrored doors - they were just screaming "amateur blogging photoshoot" to me!!

I'm also showing you never-seen-before Grunge Queen content, namely, this MEXX dress I thrifted at Goodwill years ago in Canada for $6.99 if memory serves, which I've worn only twice! I love the high-waist, pleats and girly flounce - this dress would rock on so many body types.

I bought this brass and wood (?) necklace, whose era I can't quite place (1940s?) at a Toronto garage sale for $25 a few years ago. It was a lot of cash for a garage sale find, but I've worn it heaps, and I just love it. I can glam it up with a dress, or rock it out with jeans and a stylish top.

I look cross-eyed here - maybe I'm just mesmerized by my "new" sandals, which are second-hand and actually purchased in France, yay! I found another vintage shop in the Old Town, which also sells accessories and home items made by local artists. They weren't cheap (49 Euros), but then again, nothing's cheap in Annecy, and besides which, they're in mint condition: black suede Ugg cork wedgie sandals, super super comfy, with the added bonus of being stylish AND having enough coverage to protect my poor little mashed up toes on my right foot, which I keep dislocating and which now look like wee French sausages as they're perpetually swollen! 

Enough toe woes. I'm getting silly here, and wreaking the image of the glamourous fashion blogger that you must have of me! Time to get out there in the glorious sunshine and do some serious summer frolicking around the lake. Hope you all have a great day! Next time you see me, I will have hopefully learned how to do the auto-shoot on my hubby's camera!

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My auction adventure

It began outside the sliding doors of Gerrard's Auction House.

I had found a vintage bracelet in the open market area there a week before for a mere pound ninety-nine, so I went back to scout for more cheap goodies.

The place was pretty quiet downstairs as there was an auction in progress on the second level.

Then a blur of vintage purses on a counter caught my eye. I asked at the front desk and turns out they were part of the auction upstairs. I had never been to an auction before (save one at a charity shop that I failed miserably at). Before I knew what was happening, I was registering at the desk and climbing the stairs to the auction. I had taken a closer look at those purses, and there was one in particular that I wanted.

This is THE purse that caught my eye. I LOVE the green. It's obviously handmade, but I have no idea how old it is. No stinkiness whatsoever. Just exquisite.

I stood waiting for the lot of my purses (I was already thinking of them as MINE) with an ever-quickening heartbeat. It wasn't very busy upstairs so most of the lots weren't being bid on and could have gone for ten pounds. I was hoping the same would happen for me. By the time the lot came up, I was so pumped I felt like I was about to have a heart attack. The auctioneer started talking and up shot my arm - we were off to the bidding races. There was no way those purses were getting away.

Alas, there was an online bidder and we went back and to for a bit. But I won, paying just $2 under my cut-off figure.

Here's the inside of the green purse, an obviously handmade job. MY insides were pretty jelly-like as I waited at the counter to pay and claim my purses.

This was the second purse in the lot, not as special as the first but still an interesting - and obviously handmade - piece. I like that, like the green one (which is admittedly a bit squished and will look better when I flatten it out to reshape it), it's a wee asymmetrical. Beautiful, imperfect. That's my cup of tea!

And so went my second ever real live auction adventure. Maybe auctioning will soon become old hat -- or old purses again??

Sharing my finds for Ta-dah Tuesday!

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Call me Tinkerbell

This is my latest thrifty find and style obsession: a sterling silver ball I found in a thrift shop for a pound fifty. It has wee bells inside so it makes wee Tinkerbell noises when you move. I used to work in a jewellery shop in the 1990s and these would sell like hotcakes. We called them Harmony Balls. Major nostalgia trip! Of course I had to have it. It came on a yucky fabric chain so I replaced it with a vintage chain I had.

I decided to wear it out yesterday - I went to my first auction and it was SO exciting! Thrilling details coming! - over a glorious cashmere and wool cape I thrifted in Canada. The cape is in perfect condition and it's by Jimmy Hourihan of Dublin. Perfect for this icky English weather and oh so stylish. The company still exists and I've seen these capes online for 350 pounds new!

The neat thing is the cape has a band around the neck that can be styled as a scarf or pulled up as a hood, as you see here. With my thrifted MEXX wool cowl neck sweater and thrifted brown suede boots, I may look like an Ewok from Star Wars, but hopefully the look is more harmonious than that, tee hee.

A leather bag found at a consignment store in Toronto, with an adjustable strap so I can wear it cross-body, completes my rainy day look. Stay tuned for the story of my very first auction - they heard me coming, with my bells!

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Score: auction house bracelet for two pounds

As a result of my roamings in my new town, I recently found an auction house that features an indoor market where sellers rent out cases showcasing  vintage and antique bling, paintings, pottery and other goodies. I've been sans hubby this week and was feeling sorry for myself, so I popped in and found this amazing bracelet ... for a pound ninety-nine!

I'm not sure how to begin dating it but it's tiny, which could be an indication of its era as people were much smaller in, say, Victorian times. It has a slight ethnic look to it too - very pretty boho, in my opin.

Not sure if you can see but it's quite rough-hewn, so maybe it was handmade. Any ideas out there as to its provenance?

It reminds me a wee bit of the vintage bracelet I picked up in TO (for $35) at a vintage shop, though this one looks more new and is obviously more blingy. I don't often wear bracelets so it takes something special to stop me in my tracks.

Needless to say, since the prices for bling there are so fantastically good, I'll be visiting that auction house again. There are also auctions every three weeks and I plan to drag the hubby to the next one to see what's on the block!

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