In Which I Get Over My Fear of Polyester and Strike Gold

Hoo boy it's been a while.

My friend from home, currently studying in Madrid, has come and gone. All this weekend, I frog marched her to every cool market in the cityin the span of several hours. We saw: Borough Market to have fish and chips plus a brownie, Portobello Market for dodging rain drops and bartering for jewelry, and then Spitalfields and Sunday (up)market. After, my friend concluded that the best market was Camden. Innteresting. I definitely hadn't realized how enormous that place is, though. We wove all the way through stables market and the west hall, and still hadn't seen everything there was to see.

However, I have to say the Sunday markets are quickly becoming my favorites. Combined with careful rack combing in Carnaby Street, I have come across some wicked stuff in these parts.

DISCLAIMER: with the exception of the dress, everything here was under 20 pounds. For the hats, under 10 pounds. Just goes to show you can still get things for a bargain. (and Mom, I've laid off the shopping for the time being)

First, as promised, my '30s crepe cocktail dress. I wore it to the black and white party thrown by Jess's event planning agency:






I found it in a store off Kingly Court-- just walked past, noticed its shape on the hanger, and then grabbed it into my arms when I read the tag. It doesn't have any sizing on it, and the belt loops were empty, but I zipped it up (with some help from the shoplady), and it fit perfectly. I ended up getting a free green belt out of the deal, because everyone in the store was so impressed by the fit and wanted me to fill the belt loops. Score.

A little "fascinator" by Chapeau Claudette, from a stand in the Upmarket. This one is new and never-before worn. It's supposed to be worn near the front of the head like this:


My great find of the week, in a navy Longchamp bag for 20 pounds:




And finally, a gorgeous velvet hat from the '60s with a little netting (it's tilted here, but you'd really wear it flat):




The thing that clinched it:


... so now it's coming home with me.

Buying secondhand is actually cheaper than my daily transportation to and from work, but I obviously can't afford to do any more shopping in this crazy town. So just window licking* from here on out.

New favorite stores:
Absolute Vintage
Beyond Retro
Twinkle

*In French, window shopping is "lêcher les vitrines", or literally, "licking the windows"