Crouch End Barboot, The Haberdashery

Tonight I went to the first ever Barboot sale at The Haberdashery cafe in Crouch End. When I arrived at 7.45pm there were loads of people lined up outside sipping big glasses of white wine and nibbling on adorable little cakes.

As Crouch End is a bit well-to-do, there weren't many bargains to be had but I imagine if you went towards the end of the evening you'd have more joy getting prices down. I saw the most amazing 70s fur waistcoat with suede fringe, I looked at it for ages and eventually plucked up the courage to ask the seller how much it was. She said £40 (which still seemed to much for something that I probably would only have worn occasionally and didn't really need). I wondered if she said more because I was wearing my fake fur coat (she must have thought I had a taste for fur!). Seconds later a lady purchased it for £35 (no haggling). I suppose timing is everything when you're tracking down items at a boot sale! More power to her though, she'll probably wear it more than I would have anyway!

I spent a short while browsing the stalls but there were so many people crammed into a small space it was difficult to really look properly.



Especially in the back garden where people were falling over each other. One girl stood on my foot and apologised only to fall on it again moments after! I wonder if less people will go next month or if it'll be equally as packed.

















At this months Barboot there was a Love Miss Daisy stall, which I was eager to check out. They were right by the front door though, which made it difficult to really get to them! I had a brief look at their rail and there were some really nice pieces but they were all a bit expensive for me this month. Great if you have a special event to go to though! There was a beautiful midnight blue 50s dress that looked like something Joan from Mad Men might wear. I expect the Barboot will have guest sellers every month but anyone can sell there so if you live nearby get signing up!

The photos I took are not the greatest but I didn't want to use my flash gun so some of them are a little blurry. Here's what I wore to the barboot:



I pulled out my old fake fur River Island coat I bought in the sale last year, this is going to come in handy during the milder months. The sleeves on it are mid-length so I either need to get some longer gloves or avoid wearing it when it gets really cold. Under the coat I'm wearing a vintage inspired dress my mum bought me from Matalan a year or so ago. I've had so much wear out it, it looks vintage but actually isn't. This was actually the first outing for my Kate Kanzier brogues too. I love how shiny they are!

Bye bye waistcoat, all I have left is this blurry memory of you...


The Barboot takes place the first Friday of every month. It's free to get in and you can join The Haberdashery group on Facebook to be reminded/invited to events. I'm not sure I'd make the effort to go to the Barboot if you have to travel really far. It's good to make a night of it though - perhaps go there before you head out for the night? I'd love to hear from anyone else who made it to the Barboot! Especially those who actually bought things!

Cheerio peeps, Corinne x

Necklace giveaway from Gypsy Warrior Vintage

One of my favourite vintage eBay stores has given me the opportunity to giveaway a harmonica necklace to one of my lovely readers. If you don't know Gypsy Warrior Vintage then make sure you go check out their store. They stock a massive range of interesting vintage stuff that you won't find on the high-street.

Here's the necklace that you could win. I noticed Llymrs wearing something very similar in a recent post. It's an adorable mini harmonica necklace that'll look great with any outfit!



To enter the competition, all you have to do is:
1.) Follow me on Twitter and tweet @conanroparian using #necklacegiveaway at the end of your tweet.
2.) Follow me on blogger and leave a comment below so I know you have entered!

The competition will close at midnight on Thursday 9th September 2010 and I'll use random.org to come up with a winner!

Happy feet

From top left to bottom right: 
Row 1: Topshop, Topshop, eBay, Office, Clarks, Melissa for Vivienne Westwood, Topshop, 
Row 2: Melissa for Vivienne Westwood, Kate Kanzier, ASOS, Office, Topshop, Office, Kate Kanzier, 
Row 3: Topshop, Office, New Look, New Look, New Look, Office, Clarks

EXCITING NEWS! We had a new boiler put in our flat last week. Okay, that's not exciting... BUT it's freed up a massive cupboard in our hall. I'm stupidly excited about the new storage space... when you live in a small flat all space is valuable and to gain an extra cupboard is the stuff dreams are made of!

Up until now my boyfriend and I have been storing our shoes in a rubbish yellow ottoman I bought from eBay for £20 in the bedroom. Now we've got this new cupboard I'm hoping to rehouse our shoes in there. Don't get me wrong, it's no Carrie Bradshaw closet but it's big enough to fit a selection of shoes, coats and bags in (plus a load of other crap, no doubt!).

I started sorting our shoes today and didn't realise quite how many I had. For months I've been grabbing the first pair of shoes that come to hand so it was interesting to see them all laid in a row for the first time. I'm up to around 25 pairs (including my wellies and Uggs, which are not pictured). Seems a bit wrong to have 25 pairs,  I'm like one of those crazy shoe ladies...

I'm not sure what my shoes say about me other than I'm quite practical when it comes to footwear (boring, I know). I never buy shoes over 2.5 inches high anymore because I just don't wear them. Living in London I do quite a bit of walking so anything with a massive heel is pretty hellish. Fortunately I love flats - brogues, loafers, ballet pumps and sandals are my friends.

I'm obsessed with ankle boots. When I'm buying boots I tend to look for little details that make them interesting.  I have a pair of Topshop ankle boots with little cut outs which are just different enough to add a bit of detail (top left in the picture). You can see them better here. I like interesting textures, materials and details. I don't do plain footwear really...

After I sorted my shoes I lined up my boyfriends and felt a bit guilty. Nine pairs of shoes...NINE pairs! That's it.

Style inspiration: Kate Bush

I absolutely love Kate Bush. I love her music, her choreography, her elaborate costumes and that she shunned the limelight in favour of working on her music. If you haven't heard her songs then make sure you check them out asap on YouTube. In terms of her style, she's relatively low maintenance but always looks seriously stunning. She had this giant mane of reddish brunette hair that has that 'I did nothing but still look fantastic' fairy tale quality to it. Check out these magical pictures:









How can you not love this woman?!

Retro Camera lovin' - Olympus XA2

As I mentioned in my Barcelona outfit post, I LOVE vintage photography. Quite a few bloggers (including me) fiddle with their photos in photoshop to create a retro look but in my opinion there's nothing like the real thing! I bought an Olympus Xa2 and it's amazing. I love ever aspect of it - picking up the film from the developers is awesome - sort of akin to receiving a written letter in the post! The Olympus creatures similar shots to a lomo camera (the ones you can pick up in Urban Outfitters for £50) but it's much cheaper. I bought mine for around £15. They have gone up in price a bit on eBay since then (it pays to be a little ahead of the curve with camera trends) but you should still be able to pick one up way cheaper than £50.

You can find out more about the camera here. I bought it because I grew tired of buying disposable cameras, which didn't really give me the sharp quality I wanted. Also one of our friends told us that she used to work in a developers and they hated disposable cameras because they always gave them electric shocks when they took the cardboard case off!

Here are a few snaps I took in Barcelona during my trip (including the one above):









I'm going to feature more retro snaps in my blog in the coming months. I'd love to get my paws on a Yaschina T4 but a the moment they're selling for about £75 on eBay which is just too pricey for me. Sad face. My boyfriend Louis picked up an old camera at the Barcelona flea market we went to. It's pretty grotty but we thought we might be able to clean it up and take a few interesting pics. That's the fun thing about buying a vintage camera, you never quite know what you're going to get out of them! If you're using one for the first time it's a good idea to take a back up camera that you know works (just incase!). Incidentally, flea markets are THE place to pick up new cameras, we got this one for 8 euros. We're having a few problems finding out much about this camera (other than it's a Welisa Star, which it says on the front!). If anyone has any info we'd be really interested to hear!



Finally, a little fashion! I didn't post about Mia's hen party at all (bad me). You can read about it in Mia's 1960s bride blog. But here's a photo of the AMAZING vintage dress Mia was wearing for the Mad Men theme. It reminds me of the one Kate Moss designed for Topshop except it's a vintage original! She picked it up at a car boot sale for next to nothing:



Also, check out this cute lil' badge I had made for her by Hetty And Dave to let everyone know she is a bride to be! It beats the crap out of a pink satin sash!




Corinne x