I met Vix!

I don't know what the weather's like where you are, but here in Darkest Wiltshire is has been utterly putrid (as they'd say in the Wilds of Norfolk, where I grew up*). Leaving the house for my Saturday morning trip to the butcher was bad enough, and Mr Robot and I got soaked through. I'd never have left the house again, only there was a Judy's Affordable Vintage Fair in Bath, and Vix and Jon were bringing Kinky Melon's stall. I really wanted to meet Vix, and had high hopes of finding some new clothes too. Since coming to realise that late 50s/early 60s stuff suits me best, I've been slowly shifting my wardrobe in that direction, and Kinky Melon struck me as the ideal place to look for things.

Looking at this photo, our frocks work pretty well together!

Luckily the rain had largely cleared by the time we got to Bath, and after a short diversion (I'd got the venue wrong and went to the Pavilion instead of the Guildhall) we reached the fair. Bath Guildhall is a lovely place, a Victorian building with a rather splendid interior that gets used as a wedding venue as well as for all sorts of council matters.

Vix spotted me as soon as I got through the door. I have mild prosopagnosia, or face blindness - 'functional but impaired' was my diagnosis - and I find it easier to remember people from photos than real life, possibly because I have more time to see their faces not moving and in two dimensions. At any rate, Vix is utterly unmistakeable, from the glossy black hair to the vibrant maxi. I'd have known her anywhere. And she is every bit as lovely in real life as she is on the blog!

I had a good rummage through the Kinky stock, which was really well priced (especially given the prices of vintage clothing in Bath), and browsed round the rest of the fair. At all the stalls Mr Robot did give me the "That's a bit Abigail's Party" or "It's very Margo" face when I waved anything especially exuberant at him. Though who wouldn't want to be a bit Margo Leadbetter, eh?  In general the stock across the whole fair was good, as long as you liked 1950s and later; there wasn't masses of interest to 1930s/1940s fans, but then the fair is billed as affordable and prices for things from those decades are significantly higher usually than anything post-1950s.

In the end I bought a lovely pink and grey 1950s rayon tea dress for £20 from Kinky Melon, and a 1960s-style brooch from a neighbouring stall - the condition of the metal, and the way the green diamante stones are set, make me think it's actually modern, but it looks very 60s and was only a fiver so I wasn't fussed about authenticity. Though I am kicking myself slightly for not getting the turquoise/cream dress suit that caught my eye as well. Afterwards I did wonder if the dress I bought was exactly 'me' as it's quite dainty, but then I remembered that we've got two weddings to go to next year and it will be perfect for those.

It was super to meet Vix, and I have a gorgeous new frock to show for it. Vix also gave me a couple of fab knitting patterns. And, erm, we now have a fridge full of very expensive cheese as after browsing round the shops we went for a beer and then accidentally fell into the posh cheese shop when we left the pub. All in all, a lovely day.



* Putrid is a very good word and I believe in Norfolk it gets applied to all sorts of things that are never called putrid elsewhere, such as weather. I have been using it a lot lately, mainly in reference to the urchins' litter tray, which anyone from anywhere would rightly describe as putrid. Foul little furballs.