Original Brown Leather Shoe. I love these shoes but find that they don’t compliment my wardrobe so I’m dying them black!
Remove Laces, make sure leather is clean and dry. An inconspicous test patch is recommended to make sure that the dye works.
Stuff with newspaper to keep the shape when wet
Paint on the leather dye
Repeat if necessary!
Make sure you get in to all the creases for maximum coverage
Shine with black leather polish
New Shoes!
A friend recommended this event which takes place tonight at the central Attic bar in Bristol.
”Step aboard and be taken back in time to our 1940’s Blitz Party! With a dress code of Allied Forces and civilian wartime attire, either bring your own or be transformed by our tailors and barbers.” – fmbristol
Put on by Rolling Stage & VP Productions, this event sounds like great fun! Wiggle in to a pencil skirt or some military threads and get yourself down there for a free 1940’s hair restyle and live jazz and swing music!
A few pics of my latest vintage purchase, the newly cherishable electric blue dress. As you can see it’s now fully shortened to an acceptable length for 2012!
This mini shoot was conducted in my sisters new flat in Manchester. She moved in 3 and a half weeks ago and I couldn’t wait to see her first non-student digs. I left Manchester feeling slightly jealous of her beautiful fireplace (pictured) and with a predictably large bagful of more great finds from the local charity shops here, including a couple of 80’s crop-able tees, a cream lace blouse, a gorgeous and oh-so-comfy mens stripy blue jumper and much more… but that’s a whole other blog post folks! A dedicated alterations post detailing the upcycling of these items to follow soon.
For info on how to shorten a dress like this, please click here.
Photography by Courtney Ward
Another great find this week included this pair of Vintage style curtains. Visiting family in Leicester means that I have access to the staff shop of a well known high street store. The staff shop is full of samples, returns and sale items and these curtains called to me from the sale rail! They are perfect for our bedroom which is going to have a classical french feel to it (when I am finished with the decorating and furnishing!). I will add pictures of the room when it is finished.
After dragging my slightly reluctant family around the staff shop we walked through Leicester city centre. The John Lewis building here is beautiful – it is decorated with an antique lace print which was taken from Leicester textile manufacturing archives. What a lovely idea; using this method to link old and new.
The last place we visited on this whistle stop tour was the Pink Pigeon Vintage shop. I loved the chunky gold nut and bolt necklaces and the vintage chain print scarves. Lush!
Pink Pigeon flyer below – their online store is currently being developed but be sure to check them out soon…
This past week has been really exciting. Along with the Bristol Harbour festival and enjoying catching up with friends and family, one of my close girlfriends is visiting from Hong Kong where she has lived for the last 3 years. We met up on Friday and spent a delightful day sipping coffees, browsing BS8 charity shops and dining at Planet Pizza in proper ‘ladies that lunch’ style. The above pics show my prized find of this shopping trip: a vintage electric blue dress with bat wing sleeves and a button up back. It needs shortening so I will use the quick and easy skirt shortening method to modernise my rockin’ new dress! Pics of the customised item will be added soon. Does anyone have any recommendations for other charity shop goldmines?
This weekend I visited the Bristol flea & vintage market for the second time. This is a great place to pick up something unique/antique and there are stalls to suit every interest and budget. Books, bric-a-brac, vinyl, record players, fabrics, ornaments, antiques, jewellery, and clothing stalls can all be found at the Ashton gate based event. I was very pleased with my finds of a beautiful book about roses (my middle name is Rose and I am slightly obsessed with them!), a soft, white, oversized jumper with flower detail and a French style stripy tee. I have booked a stall here for the 13th May as I have many vintage items including clothes, vintage fabrics and vinyl to sell. I will also be taking a few of my handmade pieces (usually created from vintage patterns/fabrics) – keep an eye out for future posts as I will be previewing some retro designs here first!
Future dates for the Bristol market include:
19th Feb
18th March
15th April
13th May
For more info and for dates for the similar (but much larger) Bath market visit http://www.bathfleamarket.co.uk/the-bristol-flea-market
Beautiful Plumage. 