Thursday: Portrait of an artist

12.01.12

Fru-Gal Challenge

I view my wardrobe as being a glorified dressing up box, and so am likely to assume characters for my outfits at the drop of a hat (or perhaps a second hand silk scarf in this case). Here I was envisaging an artist from the early twentieth century, meaning plenty of strings of vintage faux pearls and lace up boots stolen from my mum, who originally bought them in a charity shop. This outfit incorporates two of my favourite labels to search for in charity shops and vintage markets. The first, Jaeger, calls to mind the best of British heritage – alongside a faint aura of something a glamorous grandma might wear. So I jumped, or rather clicked furiously, on sight of this pleated floral skirt on eBay. The jumper is ‘St Michael’ – Marks & Spencer’s predecessor. The clothes are dependable and comforting, but also intensely desirable. That ‘St Michael’ label adorns a whole range of clothes I own – from a geometric sixties mini-dress, to the jumper pictured here (I have exactly the same style in mustard and raspberry too, the trio assembled from charity shops across the country). The leather belt and bag are both second hand.

It was time to accompany my mum to an antiques market and a vintage shop in the hope of some treasures.