I shake my head to say everything's just great

I finished school at about 11.30am today, which was nothing short of heavenly due to my extreme case of sleepiness after last night's The Strokes concert in Hyde Park (which was so so so amazing even though being about 5'2 in a huge crowd is sometimes not the best). Even copious mugs of coffee couldn't quite mask my lack of sleep, so having a few less lessons was definitely a good thing. Anyway, this is once again a post I wrote a few days ago, but didn't have time to post until now, so here is what I wrote on Sunday:

Today was my first sort-of 'working' sunday - as I work at Hirst Antiques on a saturday, sunday is my only day to get pieces done for this blog, my extended project for school (which I will explain more about soon!) or get schoolwork done. This sunday was one of the first I've really felt productive - I started at about 9.45am ish in Hyde Park with Ailera for another shoot - we worked together almost a year ago for Miss Robin magazine (you can see the pictures here, here & here) and so it was so lovely to shoot together again. We spent the morning wandering through the Rose Garden, taking polaroids, finding padlocks hanging up with The Cure lyrics ("you're just like a dream" from "Just Like Heaven"). I then had a quick lunch stop before driving over to Hackney for the East London Vintage Fair which I had been asked to write about, before running out again to catch the travel shops before they closed (I still haven't got everything I need for my school trip even though we leave in less than a month...)

I actually really enjoyed running around and being busy - it's the kind of lifestyle I could totally get used to (although I do also enjoy lazy pyjama days watching netflix and drawing).

One of the outfits I wore involved my Beyond Retro Label suede panel skirt and a few vintage shirts I had hanging around, however by the evening it got kind of cold so I decided to trying out a jumper I had just bought at the vintage fair for £5. The shoes are Rokit, and I found the silver animal bracelet and ring at the fair today as well.

The benefit of taking lots of polaroids as well as film and digital this morning with Ailera was that I could take some photos of them myself to keep as a little preview of what is to come! I had such a lovely morning wandering around in the flowers - Ailera has such a skill with composition and finding ways to create beautiful images just by working with the backgrounds and locations around her. We spent the time discussing the idea of culture and whether there is such thing as an 'English' culture (I always complain that England does not have a very rich culture compared to some other countries - I am hoping to be proved wrong someday though!) It was such a dreamy morning and was so lovely working together again.

The East London Vintage Fair was really brilliant - larger and more decorative than most smaller fairs I have been to, each stall so carefully arranged with such attention to detail I could have spent hours exploring each one. The pieces for sale were wonderfully curated as well - there was no rummaging through second-hand tshirts and regular things you could find in a charity shop, instead each item a beautiful vintage piece that you couldn't help but admire. There was also jewellery and accessories for sale, meaning it took a lot of self-restraint not to blow all of my wages on one day and in one go!

There were some really lovely stalls - some of my favourites included Kiriko The Gang, which sold amazing unique vintage pieces (I found an amazing floral shirt and a dress that matches the interior of the Tate Britain - I'm sure a photo of me blending in with the wall there will happen at some point soon), the Vintage Magazine Company, selling amazing vintage magazines at really affordable prices (and they are opening a shop in July 2015 in Hackney!), Sanderson Sweeting Antiques, Frida Larsen's vintage and Albany Harp vintage. Apologies for so many links - I just like to have all the links in one place so I can find the shops myself in the future!

I couldn't help buying a few things - the prices were really good, so it was almost inevitable that I would leave with at least a few new additions to my wardrobe. I'm particularly excited about the 1950s white and blue suit, Mondrian-esque dress (identical to the walls in the Tate Britain gallery?!) an amazing bright green and blue 1960s shift dress (kindly gifted from the wonderful Rabbit Moon Vintage) and a half-sun gold plated brooch. And they say retail therapy isn't a thing.

I've been taking loads of phone photos recently for my art project (documenting daily things to see if you can investigate identity through what you do each day) and thought I may as well add a few to this post. from the top left: noodle duty at work / wearing all Askew jewellery at work / and again / white fishnets and hazelnut iced coffee.

After the fair and shopping for Indonesia my parents treated me to dinner out...also I found a huge moth on our wall at home.

Friday walks home after ice cream at the park with pals...it's easy to not really notice how pretty your surroundings are...only after taking these did I notice how pretty my little running route / quick way to the park is. Also dungarees are not always the best idea in over 24'c heat. Anyway, have a lovely weekend! Check out Ailera's work here and see her blog here and more about the next Vintage Fair here, and check out their Facebook page for more updates here.