Should I Stay or Should I go to Ripper St -- London Adventures

Hiya! I should have written this ages ago, but after returning from London, I got blasted with one thing after the other... You can also read about the fantastic international blogger meet ups over at Vintage Vixen, Vintage Passiones Like Mine, Faith Hope and Charity Shopping, and Hello the Mushroom (all much quicker at getting posts up than me -- then again, I sort of don't want it to end & by writing this post I feel like its officially over, boo! The links will take you to their accounts of our adventures.)

First of all, without my amazing friend, this trip wouldn't have been possible. She had a professional conference to attend and asked me to do all the arrangements, taking me along as her personal assistant (yes I'm multi-talented haha!) We stayed in the beautiful Bloomsbury area of London, its so easy to get around from there, plus I guess my literary leanings get the best of me -- I wander around knowing I'm walking the same steps as the famous literary figures who lived there did in the past. An added extra for me is that I always see ghosts! (Okay so I see ghosts everywhere, but there is a little special as is New Orleans.)

One of the views from our hotel room. That building is the British Museum. I loved looking out at those palm trees with the flowers below every morning while having my tea.

The day we arrived it was bloody awful, cold & rainy, exacerbated by the fact that we were run down by the long flight & time difference. We only got hit bad one more day, then for the most part as long as I remembered, my weather witching worked a treat!

On to the fun parts...

I had an evening catching up with London friends Catherine & Caroline (of course I forgot pics -- whenever we get together its a gabfest & we sort of pick up where we left off last, that's just what old friends do!) Friends for over 30 years hard to say goodbye when we used to see each other daily. Catherine & I actually lived in the same house (along with three other people) when I lived in London so I really did see her everyday & I miss them now!

My friend & I went to Brighton for the day as I had found a super cheap £10 each return. So we were able to hook up with my friends Barbara & Lyn, and wander Brighton for the day. It was so nice to see them both & we had fun hitting the shops, having afternoon tea in a quaint little spot, then walking along the seaside to the pier (where suddenly I got frozen!) I'm terrible about taking pics, I usually get too caught up in the moment to have the presence of mind to stop & take a shot, but here are a few Barbara thought to take -- thanks Barbie! Sadly we didn't get a shot with the gorgeous Lyn who had to rush off to pick up her equally gorgeous young daughter, or Barbara's gorgeous daughter. What sucks is that again, these are friends I've had for about 30 years and at points got to see nearly daily, so yeah I miss them already.

My friend & I on the pier in Brighton, look you can see the Brighton Eye behind us! Photo by Barbara Taylor

Barbara and I on the pier. Photo by my dear friend & travel buddy!

My friend, me, & Barbara in Brighton warming up after being at the pier. Photo by Barbara Taylor

Then of course was the first blogger meet up with Vix, Lakota, Dorada. The second meet up was with Sara who had to work & couldn't make the first. Both filled with happy times I won't soon forget!

The 20 Sept was the magic day, with all of us meeting at Euston station, me blazing in talking shit (what can I say, I'm a New Yorker, its what we do, then quickly forget!) with big hugs and kisses (some bum grabbing was involved of course!) all around. Lakota took charge and had us head to Brick Lane for the vintage shops. My how things have changed since I was there last! Walking in the footsteps of Jack the Ripper wasn't new to me, but how things have changed so was. Its become hipster central (actually doesn't surprise me), which is good & bad. The bad is of course the stupid hipster crap, the good is that its now filed with funky shops & eateries so tons to do. Without Lakota, I would have been consulting the A to Z every 5 minutes! Plus in the past I wasn't there in the company of such fabulousness, getting papped at every moment! It took little while to have the shock wear off, I couldn't believe I was sitting with the people I've grown to love so via their blogs over the years. But it all felt so natural & I can attest to the fact that these are amazing women in every way (like I didn't know?) even more so in "real" life!

All of us getting papped on the street!

Honestly what are the chances of roaming the streets of the East End & coming across a poster of a Mexican wrestler? I think it was some mojo at work just for Dorada!

I had to get a bum shot in!

Lunch at a creperie, getting papped again. Hey who wouldn't want a photo of such fabulousness? (Okay probably not the drunks or crackheads making fun of us, but they don't count, so poo on them!) I think I snagged this one off someones blog, claim it if its yours, I'm brain dead!

Vix and her amazing find, a velvet maxi skirt! Def reminds me of Pucci! Oh yeah this was in a shop once the site of a Victorian public loo! Guys, I do expect to see graffiti about me next time! Hey there was graffiti about me in the loo at CB's for years, so I want some Victorian loo graffiti action ladies!

 Some random street art, wish the octopus below the stork showed up it was quite lovely.

Gee who did Lakota got the chichi grabbing idea from? The dress looked amazing but she couldn't breathe! Although Lakota did snag this fab denim waistcoat.

Dorada the chichi grabbing protagonist.

While passing by a lovely bakery I had to take a shot of these meringues, I should have put my hand by one to show the size, they were as big as my huge man-hand sized hand! (yea weird, tiny with huge hands, well long fingers that make my hand bigger than a lot of men.) Actually I was drooling over everything while peering in the window, drat we forgot to go back!

Me with "Olivine Baker", there were a few other Olive Oyl drawings, each a different character. Hey I just noticed the little NY thingie on the bottom, it says I ___ kitty NY. Can anyone make out that word? Cute kitty!


The bargain of the day. The chenogsam I found in a £1 bin at Absolute Vintage! (Interestingly Sara & I ran across another shop in the West End the next day.) I saw the fabric & thought if anything it would make nice cushions, once I yanked it out & saw the shape I knew it was so tiny it would actually fit my tiny waist & had ample room for my chichi's! 

See, even over jeans & a tee, its a perfect fit! (Boo, the chopsticks in my hair don't show!)

Goodies! I kept thinking something was missing... yep, the "wicked witch" tights from Vix, sorry they're in the wash, wore them already! Hey Vix, the paper you wrapped in (and I ripped through, had to tape it back together!) was from Nov 1929, 30 years to the month before I was born -- love the 20s graphics! Dorada, no idea what happened to the pretty spotted gift bag, but I did save the tag with your sweet message (and yep got the eyeshadow all fixed so pretty!)

So many more fab pics & memories of the day as told by each of us so please do make sure to visit everyone's blog. Everyone looked so fab in their glad rags & there was me in my everyday look, though I did wear my original CBGB tee & a vintage scarf by artist Michael Roman (he used to paint me as a kitty cat, this is one of my "portraits" I believe, usually he painted me as a cat in lingerie in heat... ah love the creative mind!)  Many thanks to Vix for traveling all the way down, as well as Lakota & Dorada for coming in for the day! I love all you guys & was miserable the second I had to leave. I do think we'll all see each other again one day!

The next magic day was the very next day when I got to meet up with the lovely Sara. We skype every so often (as I do with some of the others), but its different when you meet up in person. Due to exhaustion poor Sara had to schlepp over to my hotel & deal with me getting sleepy at every stop (I was fine as long as I was up & walking it was sitting that would do me in, ugh!) Our destination: the Clash exhibit on Berwick St of course! I had passed by a few nights previous with my London friends & they were just closing, but we were told various members kept popping in to DJ etc, so I bet that was a treat for those there on that particular day. After that first peek, I had an idea of what was in store, but was still in awe...

Dinosaur in a window in the West End? Of course!

"Lost in the Supermarket" Apparently Mick Jones put together this exhibition.

YAY! The Ramones! A part of the exhibit showing their influences.

I nearly died when I saw this, first of all that it had been saved & secondly for its iconic status. If you don't know what this is from, go back to rock school little grasshopper!

Pretty sure this was the pizza place next to a club we used to go to. The club is still there, having gone through several incarnations, but I think the pizza joint is gone.

Okay took this one mainly for my husband who was stationed there while in the army, but did find it interesting that they saved all this American memorabilia.

The tee Sara got. I almost did, then fell for...

this one, obviously pic taken after just wearing it! Another iconic record cover. Ms Gwensday Addams was so pissed I didn't get her a tee, so I suspect this will get "borrowed" at some point. I believe both tees were special editions made just for the pop up exhibit.



Me, then the lovely Sara outside the exhibit. Look at her bag! Shoot thought I got an outfit post, the vintage dress was so cute!

Amazing pastry Sara found on the way to my hotel. Apparently just like the Portuguese ones she says they have there. It was so good, I gobbled it up! Flaky, but crunchy pastry filled with a type of custard. Then I recalled it reminded me of an Italian pastry (of course the name slips my mind now!) except I think that one is wrapped up in the same pastry & has a cheese filling.

The "Hello the Mushroom" tote bag the lovely Sara gifted both Gwensday & I, along with...

This great mug! Thanks Sara, its my new fav mug & as you can see the tote is getting used quite often! In the pic I'm also wearing the eye shadow Vix got me & one of the lipsticks from Dorada (actually I think I used one of the palette colours as a base Dorada). Goodies rule!

While at the Clash exhibit I had a memory spark, which I won't repeat here, I wrote it in the comments section of Sara's blog, so you'll have to go there to read it (trust me, its a fun tidbit from my crazy past!) She also took loads more photos and does a much better job of explaining the exhibit so you'll have to go there to see more & read about our day! Sara is yet another amazing woman & even prettier in person (actually everyone was!) Thank you as well for traveling into London to visit me, sorry you had such a grueling journey home! (No fair, after such a lovely day!)

That night I got to have one last visit with Catherine, then I knew holiday time was over. ): 

The next day we were leaving, so it was a frantic rush to pick up what last minute things we could then off to the Heathrow Express to be whisked to the airport, then home. I got back to the city early enough to catch an express train home, dear hubby had left my car at the station so I loaded it up & was safely home, albeit late & probably a mistake as I was so exhausted; but it felt nice when everyone woke to give me hugs & kisses & welcome me home! Damn that jet lag hit bad this time! I blame one thing after the other happening when I got back. I guess the universe doesn't want mum to go off & have some fun of her own, boo! Yep that's my story & I'm sticking to it! 

I miss London & everyone so much, I did as soon as I knew it was goodbye. But I have faith I will see all again! Hopefully sooner rather than later!

Thank you to everyone for such a wonderful time & especially to my dear friend for making it possible! Seriously I'm so blessed with amazing friends!

XXX

Jet
* Updated to add: DUH I knew there were more goodies, these were all in my reading pile, not until I picked one up to read did it come to me that I forgot to add a pic!

Does everyone know me or what? Thanks guys reading all already!

Thrift find!

I rarely hit the thrift shops anymore as all the little independent shops are disappearing and the chains like Goodwill have gone "upscale". Usually my best bet are estate & yard sales. But yesterday after a lovely afternoon of cooling off in the pool my friend Jeanne over for a visit & I had a few hours to kill before supper so off we went to a Goodwill.

Jeanne must be a lucky charm for me as whenever we go thrifting I find at least one AMAZING find. Once I found a vintage YSL Rive Gauche blouse balled up with a bunch of scarves for $2! time, a perfect condition 60s chartreuse swimsuit, the list goes on. This visit I wasn't hitting it, nothing catching my eye, prices all crazy. I happened to just waltz by the linen section (which I rarely do as lately all you find are cheap curtains and stained crappy tablecloths) when a pattern hit my eye. I of course ran my hands over it & found that it was vintage brand new barkcloth. Now intrigued I took it off the hanger & Jeanne & I stretched it out. At first I thought it was a sofa cover, then I realised it was a bedspread. Priced at $19.99. So my mind started racing wondering if I could use it somehow to cover the 60s sofa we have. Then it hit me, we had to dump the original cushions as they were disintegrating, and being lazy, we got a futon, I scored it with a box cutter so it would be an "L" shape & its very comfy. And this bedspread looked to be the same size as the futon. So I took a chance. With my Goodwill points, I only wound up paying $10 for it.

At first I left the bottom hem down...

Then decided to tuck it under so you could see those great mid-century slender legs. It's much more orange in reality, which I thought perfect since the original upholstery was a light orange. (Excuse the mess behind, I'm not in a good state of mind today to attend to details.)

So now my living room is truly a riot of pattern with my Picasso print drapes! Eh I love it, its interesting and besides barkcloth is such a workhorse, I have original 1940s drapes still in perfect condition and as bright as the day they were made! Oh and Jeanne? She found a HUGE Bally tote for $20, plus some cool scarves. Not too bad considering I wasn't expecting anything interesting!

XXX
Jet

Wet, Cold Spring & Summer Wreaks Havoc on the Garden!

I should say, what spring? What summer? Its only been hot enough one or two days to swim & I miss our jaunts to laze by the pool. Oh well I'm sure we'll all be complaining about the heat soon enough (pretty please?)

I had taken the dog for walkies & took a few pics of some pretty flowers & trees that survived.

I think these are errant sweet peas growing on the sidewalk.

Pretty dogwood still in bloom. Mine lost its blooms in all the rain ):

The roses surrounding the park down the street. Only I wish they would get rid of all the deadly nightshade! Kids don't always know better & think the berries are pretty.

My shrub rose has gotten enormous! I had to do a bit of pruning, it was overhanging the neighbours driveway & our sidewalk. But its so pretty! And blooms all summer into autumn!

Well the climbing roses are doing well, but in the foreground my poor peonies paid for all that rain pummeling them!

The climbers are getting so big I have to find new places to train them to grow!

Queen Anne's Lace? Nope Hemlock! The root is what Socrates drank. Deadly.  This one was about 4 ft high!

A surprise lily. In the background you'll see my honesty (moonwort, money plant, silver dollars) & Gwensday's  lavender that just grows & grows like mad!

This is my pride, my Rue plant (the yellow flowers show how big it is). I can't believe how big its gotten even though I prune it every year!

Since I had to do some pruning I tried to save a few peonies & made a big bouquet. The vase is a vintage McCoy, one of my favs.

I hope you enjoyed what little I have to show after all the ravages of rain & cold. Its been raining so much I still haven't gotten my veggie plants in the ground!

Missed you guys, think I finally sorted out my blog reader, only I have to use it on my phone & it crashes when I try to comment, grrr.

XXX

Jet

A Coach Handbag Story

This is the story of why I so disliked Coach handbags, and how over 30 years later I've had a complete turnaround.

It goes back to High School, in the mid 70s. Ever see "Mean Girls"? Those were the girls that had Coach bags, only most weren't rich, just duped their parents into buying them so they could be one of the crowd. I was always a rebel and never understood that scene, I wanted to be me and I took a lot of shit for it, but didn't care (especially now when I look back at all I've accomplished and done; "I blow my nose in your general direction!"). I recall sitting at lunch one day and they all had their handbags on the table and thinking "how do they know which handbag belongs to each of them?" So I equated Coach bags, Fair Isle sweaters, and cheerleading skirts with that crowd; needless to say never wearing any of it -- to this day (though I can appreciate a beautiful Fair Isle sweater, I could never bring myself to wear one.)

Enough of that, we've all been through school crap and triumphed over it, leaving the dross behind.

Back then for many a Coach bag was something special, they lasted forever (as the vintage ones have proven), were like a rite of passage; something you got when you got your first big job, or graduated college. While they weren't high end, they were quality you could count on. They just didn't appeal to me, they seemed too commonplace & plain. They were the realm of my sister, quite the opposite of me when it comes to style (except she's not a "mean girl"). Then came those horrid logos, giant "C's" on canvas. They all looked dirty right away, and you could see the fabric starting to fray. Not the original quality handbags and quite hideous for a logo handbag. (I'm not anti-logo, I started collecting Gucci's decades back that date to the 60s and still look tremendously fab, but we're talking different quality, plus Gucci was always known for their logo.)

This is typical of the original style. There was also a pouch looking one, and a smaller one, plus a large tote style. They've all held up and still sell well as they were so well made. Google image.

Early on in our marriage (about 22 years ago) we visited my husbands family in St. Louis. I found amazing thrift shops there and was starting to pick up things here & there for my first foray into becoming a professional flea market vendor. I spotted a gorgeous chartreuse 60s handbag the likes of which I had never seen. But then read the label. Coach. Ugh. I came so close to leaving it but the colour and style had me hooked so I bit the bullet and purchased it. I recall at the time it wasn't cheap, maybe $10 which being such a cheapo when it comes to vintage felt like it was a lot in those days (in St Louis especially where prices are always way less than NY it was actually expensive). It wasn't until doing research (the old fashioned way -- remember libraries? they still exist, use them!) to see what I should price it at that I noticed the "Bonnie Cashin" for Coach label, then found out it was highly collectible, even over 20 years ago. I had already decided I couldn't part with it, it was too  gorgeous and I just didn't care at that point that it was produced by Coach. Its still in my collection and I've gotten tremendous use out of it; in spite of its age it still looks as if just purchased!

Looks yellow, but its chartreuse, as you'll see in the other pictures. This is my vintage Bonnie Cashin. I searched pages and pages of google images and eBay and found similar but not a single one exactly the same. Almost all were a tote style, while this is a regular smaller handbag with hard handles, the rest had soft leather handles.

Origina label.

All the Bonnie Cashin for Coach handbags have some kind of striped lining.

Even the outside pocket with "kiss" lock has the striped lining.

I became quite good at spotting Bonnie Cashin for Coach handbags, and many passed through my flea market stall and retail store. The last one I sold was about 8 years ago when I still had the shop. I told the buyer I wasn't sure it was a genuine Bonnie Cashin, but she had quite a few and was sure. I even said if she found out it wasn't real I'd refund her money (quite a pretty penny at the time for a fold over wallet with a "kiss" lock -- didn't really want to sell it, so put a crazy price on it!) I never offered cash refunds, but felt if it wasn't the real thing I didn't want to rip her off. She never returned it, only popped in so often to see if I had found any more & say how she loved the one she purchased. I recently saw the exact bag selling on eBay for $399.99 and that was the cheapest one (I can't image someone actually laying out that kind of cash for essentially a wallet -- high-end designer wallets go for that kind of money & if you hit a sale you can get them 60% off or more at an Outlet.) I've still never found another like mine, and with all the use I've gotten out of it I'm definitely glad I didn't cave in and sell!

Fast forward to last summer/ early autumn. Somehow I wound up on Coach's website and couldn't believe what I saw. No logos. They had come out with what they called the "Legacy" or "Classic" collection. Back to basic shapes, and the colours were fantastic; fuchsia, lemon yellow, orange, red, and the color I was dying for was emerald (the green queen strikes again!) in addition to basic brown and black. Only I forgot about them until recently when asked what I wanted for mother's day. Then realised that was the Fall/ Winter collection and gone off the site.

That's when the lightbulb went off and I remembered the outlet at Woodbury Common (one of the biggest designer outlets probably anywhere.) If it was off the site, chances were pretty good that whatever was left was there... and we got there the day after they got in some of the "Legacy" pieces! We saw one Emerald bag, more like an overnight bag it was so huge, but it was kind of dark and not at all like the bright emerald colour the pics on the site showed. But oh, the fuchsia was calling my name! For as much as I love pink (most shades, some bore me) this one really spoke to me. I loved that they used the same leather as the original handbags but made them lighter (the originals were incredibly heavy), and switched the brass to silver with a very discreet "Coach" written at the top unlike the Coach logo handbags emblazoned with the giant "C" everywhere. Plus it was 50% off an already good price for a mid-range well-made leather handbag. Three compartments, middle one zipped for security, two pouches for phones and whatnot on both the front and back compartment, and an inner zip pocket in the first compartment. I'm in love. All I need to do is have "feet" added to the bottom which help to keep the edges from getting beat up (you can barely make out the "feet" on the first pic of my vintage handbag). I do wish I had gotten the wristlet, it would help to keep my handbag organized and is big enough for an evening bag. Perhaps next visit.

Here is my early Mother's Day gift, look it matches the secretary! Very sleek, but holds a ton, just what I need, as I'm always carrying around too much with me no matter how hard I try to clear out! Sorry no inside pics, I'm a pack rat when it comes to what I have to carry around!

I did get one more mothers day gift... turquoise and pink wedge creepers! Tired of gloomy days and late (if ever) spring, they immediately sparked my shoe lust. Comfy and colourful, I adore them!

My crazy coloured new wedge creepers, LOVE the colours and they match my bag!

I feel a need to thank Coach for bringing us the "Legacy" collection, a great everyday collection that is fab casually, and can be dressed up as well. If they hadn't I would probably still have that bad taste left in my mouth from over 30 years ago! I will keep my eye on the collection in hopes of more great styles. If you like my style, they seemed to have discontinued it for Spring/ Summer and is only available at the Outlets, so if you live near one do check it out. They will even fill out a form for the style and colour you're looking for and call you when it arrives. (You can even call and ask for specific styles at the Outlets, they're very helpful and will put things aside. Mine is called the "Ashley Hobo", oo the orange and lemon yellow were yummy too!)

I've also discovered they have a Coach outlet online (not fakes), it takes a few days or so to get your invite, but right now they have a Mother's Day sale so things are going fast, not even sure if they have anything left, but sign up for future sales; link here. And do keep your eyes on the coach.com site for new releases, I'm sure you'll be as surprised as I was!

So there you have my Coach story with a happy ending!

XXX
Jet (now dubbed "The Governor" due to this wonky eye, for those who don't know, a reference to "The Walking Dead")