Hoard of Gold Brooches

Take a peek at these little treasures - you'd be forgiven for thinking I'd uncovered them in a pretty little chest at the bottom of the sea, instead of an aging charity shop on a busy road in deepest darkest Hereford. That they cost £3.00 all up makes the find even more satisfying! I'm not sure what era they date from (1970s, earlier?) but they're very heavy so sadly won't be worn with some of my more delicate silk tops.

Found at: Charity Shop, Commercial Road, Hereford
Usability Factor: 5/5
Accessorise with: A mannish blazer to take away that girly sheen.

Vintage Vixen Profile: Chloe Sevigny

*sigh*...I even want her bike

I am in love with Chloe Sevigny. Or maybe it’s lust: lust for those jaunty ‘80s wayfarers she wore well before the stylists caught up; lust for the ‘50s high waisted shorts that, on her long milky legs, proclaim ‘siren’ instead of ‘sucker [for fashion]’; lust for that centre-parted blonde hair that shouldn’t work but seems to go with every outfit…

Chloe is the ultimate Vintage Vixen of our time: she was doing it long before the concept of ‘vintage’ became so diluted by the fashion industry that we accept Primark’s appropriation of the term for a 70s-inspired-£15-polyester-maxi-dress run up last week in a sweatshop in Manchester. Indeed, Chloe was doing it long before the word ‘vintage’ was common parlance at all.

For girls like myself who’ve always worn second hand stuff, it’s always looked, well, second-hand really. It’s Chloe’s insouciance that enables her to rock a tea dress with socks and sandals at Coachella (when the rest of us would just look like middle-aged German tourists on a coach tour of the pyramids). That, and her natural ability to marry quirky pieces to new stuff in one outfit and somehow make it look innocent and sassy all at the same time.

1940s Snakeskin wrist purse

This sweet and sassy little purse was another Vintage Acquistion from France. It's so tiny that it holds only my lipgloss, keys, trusty ventolin inhaler, and oyster card...but that's all a(n asthmatic) girl needs for a night out in London!

In this instance, I collected my French VA in person - bracing myself against the heaving hordes during Lille's annual La Grande Braderie . If you love junk, this 48 hour event in September should be diarised in your blackberry, with your hotel already booked if you want to attend in '09. The French go crazy, taking over kilometres of city streets to lay out granny's old tea set alongside scratched vinyl records. The rest of Europe go even crazier, with 2 million people descending on the tiny city to snap up a bargain and outdo each other in the quest to set a record for moules frites consumption. I eurostared it over with nothing more than a change of underwear and a canvas shopping trolley, and filled it to the brim.

Found at: La Grande Braderie, Lille, France
Usability Factor: 5/5
Accessorise with: A floaty amoosi dress made with reclaimed fabric, a 1940s manicure, and a vintage dance card to keep track of all those boys lining up to twirl you round the dancefloor.

Detail

19th Century French Iron, Brass & Wood Veneer Bed

My biggest vintage purchase yet, this one is courtesy of ebay and was shipped over from the continent at the weekend! Cast iron French beds have been fashionable for years, so I was originally looking for something a little different - an Art Deco bed that was completely wood veneer to be precise. But with the best examples of these beds well out of my price range, this late 19th Century French bed is a happy compromise, stylishly combining the best of both worlds!

I love the cute little iron castors: luckily they're old and rusty enough to ensure that any lively night-time activity isn't going to propel the bed across the floorboards. It's only a small double, but I'll happily squeeze myself in at night if it means I awake in the morning feeling tres chic.

Found on: ebay (courtesy of Louis XV Antiques)
Usability factor: 5/5
Accessorise with: Anything that brings it into the 21st Century, such as sultry black bed linen (I'll shamelessly admit that mine is by Kylie Minogue), an artfully draped Peter Alexander Vintage Rose Gown, and the soon-to-be-single Brad Pitt perhaps?