More charity shop friends

The charity shop scene in PE is hot and it is great to see so many (mostly!) women who give of their time to man the various charity shops in our city.

Nickey is the fundraiser at Hospice and manages
the Rink Street store. She is wearing the pink hat
that I bought. Sadly it disintigrated when I washed
 it and it now lives in a little girl's dress-up box!

A few weeks back Rosalie celebrated her birthday
and I joined Ingrid and the birthday girl
at Valley Harvest for tea. 
They are a trusted team of pet lovers
 that give willingly of their time
at Bargain Box in Walmer.

New customers

Word of mouth has brought two new customers to Vintage Verandah.

Cebisa and Bunny are two architecture students and we had a lot of fun with fitting different outfits. My longstanding followers Bongiwe and Mfundu were on hand to give advice and share in the fun. 

Cebisa Mafukuzela found a leather
handbag, blouse and Welsh
tapestry skirt

Bunny Bala with her fifties handbag

Suzie's visit

A vintage and retro shop owner from Portobello Road in London paid us a surprise visit. Suzie West has been a dealer for 15 years and her prediction is that the vintage hype won't be short-lived.

     She has many VIP clients, fashion designers and foreigners who frequent her shop. She raved about the "wallpaper" in my kitchen and said she did the same in her kitchen, but affixed pics, recipes and other paper ephemera in a more haphazard way.

     Suzi could not believe her eyes when I showed her a 60's  evening dress made in Port Elizabeth. She wanted the label to be photographed as a momento to her first visit to PE and her new parents-in-law.

 I bought this dress about 38 years ago at PE's then only vintage clothing outlet. It was Jean Edmunds' Frocky Horror Shop in Robson Street, Central. The price label is still attached: R3.00!

Herbie's birthday

Two years ago Herbie arrived at our home. He is a Russian dwarf hamstser and was a birthday present for Kia's friend Jess. Not welcome in their home because of too many pets, Jess asked whether Kia could foster him for three weeks. Two years down the line he is still with us and I am a loving foster grandmother.

Our miniature tea set came out to celebrate his second year with us. However, he declined the tea and asked for cheese instead.

House on the Hill

Energy, panache and an eye is what Sam Staples, owner of a new decor shop, certainly has.
I found a flyer at one of my favourite deli shops a couple of weeks ago and made a bee-line for her shop. There she was on her sunny stoep polishing silver. It has become one of my favourite stops.

This weekend I found her at a market stall in Walmer displaying merchandise that I  have not seen before ...

Pink hat fit for a queen

Spring was in the air when I walked down Campbell Street in order to attend Nina of plavka's "evening for ladies" a few days ago. I chose my 60's marshmallow-style hat for the occasion. The dress I had planned to wear had too many moth- and other holes, so I had to think on my feet. A men's Paisley dressing gown with purple lapels was my choice. The rest I leave to the readers to see on the pics ...

A visit to Mellville

On my last day in Johannesburg, I had to take something in of the vintage and charity scene.
Seeing that Mellville was (once!) the hub of all things happening (after Hillbrow) and the fact that the TV soap Sewende Laan is set (although only imaginery)in Sewendestraat, we headed in that direction.

We found this one in Vierdelaan ... lekker deurmekaar en duur ... dit is nie PE nie! Kia het die foto geneem. Sy het drie oulike T-hemde gekoop. Ek het drie handsakke by die Hope Charity Shop - twee blokke daarvandaan -  gekoop. Funny set-up... a very casual person (with a cigarette in his mounth) prices the donations on the pavement. Most of the stuff lies on the tarred surface under a tree waiting to me marked. That was where I "scratched them out" and got them at a reasonable price.

One of the most high-end vintage shops I have been to in SA. Lots of 50's lace, luxury lurex evening dresses, deco smalls and a rail with fabulous furs.  Very expensive, but a feast for the eyes.

Lunch at Melon with Liezel joining us was more
than a light lunch. It was a feast.

My vegetarian stack consisting of fried haloumi cheese,
baby marrows,red peppers, fennel and mushrooms
was a fitting goodbye lunch.

An appealing signboard ... Ratz is a cocktail bar...
but we had to leave before sunset ...