Retro and vintage baby clothes and an unimpressed Aurora

The other day I got the email to say Mothercare have their summer sale on. After finishing the Futterwacken I headed over to the website. 

I wanted so much more than I was able to afford. Still, I got some great retro items: they're not clothes she can wear yet, they're all for babies over 9 months, and some are for when she's a toddler.

I absolutley love the fun, bright colours of each item, as well as the rainbow details most pieces have.

My husband likes this tracksuit top; it reminds him of the football casuals style of clothing, worn by... erm, hooligans in the 70s and 80s... nice.

I love these shorts! That's me wearing similar ones in the 80s: I look like a 118-118 mascot. 

I managed to pick up this gilet (or body-warmer, or whatever they're called these days) in a shop,rather than online. OMG I can't wait until it fits her. 

Although Aurora wears pink and florally clothes, I don't want to box her in in a pink princessy world. I love the work Let Toys be Toys and Pink Stinks do in breaking down the ridiculous limiting stereotypes foisted on children (and adults), through cynical, out-dated and damaging gendered marketing. That's one of the reasons I love the Little Bird range - the majority of the clothes are unisex, as well as retro and fun! 

Somewhere else I love and where I have also been raiding (again) for vintage gems is Rowdy Roddy Vintage . And oh my goodness have I got a gem. 

First off I got this lovely floral vintage dress...

But this, this I absolutely adore! I wish it was in my size too...

It makes me happy just looking at it. I can't wait until it fits Aurora!

If you need any more reasons to check out RRV, it'll be the lovely little extra touches, like this nursery rhyme on a card wishing us a great week: I love RRV!

And finally, here we have madam in something that is going to cause a stir at the swimming pool:  a vintage style swimming hat! With thanks to her uncle who picked up three (3-6 m, 6-9m and 9-12m) when he was in America recently. 

She's going to kill me when she's older... 

Not impressed...

Vintage at the end of the pier

Life is hectic with a brand new baby, as most people will know. Is it any surprise, therefore, that the Southend Armed Forces Weekend nearly passed me by?

Luckily I was alerted to the 3 day event, which includes parades, charity stalls, displays, military vehicles, music in and around Southend, and a vintage dance and vintage fair at the end of the pier.

I managed to secure a stall at the fair and I'm just waiting for the passes and details to come through, so even though things might not go to plan, I have still started to organise what I want to take to sell.

I've already picked out Aurora's outfit - vintage of course - as she will be helping to sell for a short while.

Check out the links above for more info on the weekend. Here's a sneak peek at some of the items that will be there (of course there will be loads more, including vintage clothes, kitchenalia, Tit-Bits magazines and homeware!): 

Hope to see you there!

Aurora's vintage wardrobe

As a lover of all things vintage, it is only natural that I force encourage Aurora to enjoy it also. Whilst she still has no say about how she's dressed, she'll be in carefully selected retro and vintage outfits, when she's not slobbing-out in sleepsuits anyway. 

When I found out I was pregnant I started looking for vintage baby items straight away. I started with the usual suspects - eBay and Google. I really have no patience for waiting days for lots to end, or for bidding wars, so generally go for (reasonably priced) 'buy now' items on eBay. And there are many online shops selling vintage baby items now if you're able to use Google.

I sell vintage and antique items (until recently in a shop in Leigh on Sea, but at fairs now) so I have been fortunate enough to come across some amazing items through meeting other vintage sellers and hunting around vintage, second-hand and charity shops. My parents found these gems in Norfolk when hunting for items to sell.   

As well as getting items online, at fairs and those old-fashioned things called shops, we've been really lucky that people have given us (lots) of clothes as gifts, and some have been vintage.

Here are some of Aurora's vintage clothes -  she already has a better wardrobe than her parents...

 

From top left to right:

1. Adams' dress from the 90s bought from Rowdy Roddy Vintage* (RRV) - £14
2. 70s dress, also from RRV - £18
3. Vintage knitted cardigan from RRV - £8
4. Vintage romper from RRV - £8
5. 1960s romper - a gift from family
6. The flipping excellent design on the 60s romper
7. One of the 50s/60s dresses from Norfolk - part of a bundle of items 
8. Another vintage item from RRV** - £9

*No vested interest here, I just love the shop!
**I've honestly not been given/promised anything to promote RRV!