Crinoline Robot's vintage week

Four 1960s fabrics and three 1960s brooches, all greenAre you on Instagram? I'm currently doing #thevintage fashionchallenge - each day has a theme, and you simply take an image each day to go with the theme. Some people don't like Instagram as they feel there's a lot of one-upmanship and promoting unreal expectations on there, but it really depends on who you follow. I like it because it's generally a very cheerful sort of social media, with people sharing good times and pretty things, and just about everyone could do with more of that. I've found it's got me to look afresh at my clothes and accessories, and it's made me realise I'm really lucky to have so many nice things that I love. Not as many nice things as a lot of bloggers own (most of my clothes fit into a single wardrobe) perhaps, but enough.

Today's theme was 'favourite colour', and I had to choose green. I have rather more green jewellery than I'd realised, too. That said, navy was a very strong contender; that's probably the colour I wear most. Tomorrow has an accessory theme; it's handbag time for me!

On Thursday we went to Nottingham to see Iron Maiden. Mr Robot's birthday was on Monday, and his ticket was his big present from me. I felt a bit bad as I only let my old uni pal Paul know we were going the day before we went, and Tania mentioned on Instagram that I'd been in her neck of the woods, which hadn't even occurred to me at the time. Though as Mr Robot has social anxiety problems, and with my stress levels the way they've been lately (I've got a doc's appointment on Tuesday) a day just for the two of us was probably for the best.
Ye olde Trip to Jerusalem pub, Nottingham
Nottingham is a fantastic place. We had a good look around the city - there's an excellent Sue Ryder vintage chazza in the town, though I didn't find anything I loved enough to buy - and admired the many impressive buildings. Before going to the concert we had a beer in Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, which claims to be the oldest inn in England. It might not look very big from the outside, but that's because the rock beneath Nottingham is packed with caves, and the pub extends back into the stone below the castle. Here you can see Mr Robot in one of the cave rooms, with the back and side wall and ceiling cut from the rock. That model ship in the case above the bar is supposed to be haunted, and they claim anyone who's tried to clean it has died a horrible death. Given how filthy it is, I'm guessing they died from some horrible infection!
Inside Ye olde Trip to Jerusalem pub, Nottingham
Iron Maiden were really excellent. I'd never seen them before, they're my husband's favourite band, not mine, but I loved every minute that they played.
Two tabby cats in a brown leather chair
The urchins are both fine. Here they are, actually behaving like nice kitties for once. They very rarely sit together; if I'm sitting in the chair one will come to sit with me, but if the other turns up they both then run away. Funny little beasts. And don't ask me why Ziggy's staring at the ceiling, he just does that. When it's not full of cats, I like to sit in the chair with my knitting and catch up with my telly programmes. The Tivo recorded a load of early episodes of The Avengers for me, from 1962 with Venus Smith and Cathy Gale. It's been interesting watching them, as they feel less glossy than the Emma Peel episodes of just a few years later. There's far less of that high 1960s mod quality, and they're also considerably less bonkers. It shows how quickly things changed during that decade. Still, I've been watching for outfit hints nonetheless. The Avengers, and the Instagram challenge, have got me all revved up to finish knitting my friend's cardi so I can make some swinging 60s things for myself.

I hope you're feeling similarly energised, and nowhere near as stressed!

Comments

  1. I'm glad you and Mr. Robot had a lovely time in Nottingham. I lived there many years ago.

    I just can't cope with too much social media. I don't use FB very much but it takes all my time to keep up with it and the blogging - never mind Instagram and Twitter!

    I love the patterns and brooches in your instagram pics!

    The urchins are gorgeous!

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    1. I tend to stay off FB; that does get very involved and rambly. Instagram and Twitter are much more 'of the moment', so they're easier to dip in and out of.

      They are good cats. Though I had to get up early this morning as Pippin had brought a frog in.

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  2. Nice to know Iron Maiden are still at it.

    I look at a few Instagrams of people I know, but haven't felt tempted to use it.

    Happy belated Birthday to Mr. Robot.

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    1. He says thank you :-)

      Steve Harris, the only original member of the band, is now 61. And still hot... They sounded great; I've decided I really should get round to seeing more bands before they're too decrepit to enjoy.

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  3. I'd rather have a things I love in small quantities rather things I like in large quantities!
    I don't like Instagram's format and I'm still trying to figure out Pinterest. Social media queen I ain't.
    I didn't know Iron Maiden was still intact. The kitties look like they're posing for their portraits!

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    1. I use Pinterest for my own inspiration, it's not really a networking site for me. Instagram would be a lot better if they'd make the feeds chronological again.

      Steve Harris is the only original member of the lineup from the late 70s, but most of the others have been in the band for a lot of years. It's changed less than most lineups, I think.

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  4. No instagram for me, no iPhone you see. It's about all I can manage keeping my blog going!

    Happy birthday to Mr Robot!

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    1. I use it on Samsung. Though I follow more than post!

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    2. Yes, blogging can be terribly time-consuming. I keep thinking of putting this on hiatus, though I haven't done it so far.

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  5. I've seen people posting about the vintage fashion challenge on Facebook, and it looks like fun. So far, I've resisted Instagram, but I guess I'll succumb one of these days. Love the brooches you picked and the fabrics. Iron Maiden were in Antwerp too, I've read. What a pity you didn't meet up with Tania while in Nottingham, though. That photo of the urchin is fabulous! xxx

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    1. Yeah, Iron Maiden are on one of their big tours. It's great that they're doing lots of smaller venues instead of a couple of big ones, it must be more time and hassle for them but it's much more enjoyable than going to a huge stadium and staring at dots on a stage miles away.

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  6. The urchins are gorgeous! Who knows what goes on in the minds of cats? Ours fascinate us.
    Glad you had a top time in Nottingham. Happy Birthday to Mr Robot. Nottingham's a fab city. Next time you should give the My Sight charity shop a whirl, they've got some great stuff at good prices - Tania got stuck in a vintage swimsuit when we went. Curtise and I were so busy chatting we didn't notice she'd been missing for ages!!
    I have a look at Instagram every now and then but blogging and the off post on Facebook's more than enough for me. xxx

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    1. In Pippin's case, "Feed me, stroke me, and submit to my will." I'm not sure anything goes through Ziggy's mind apart from the occasional, "OOH, BUTTERFLY!"

      I avoid Facebook. Dunno what it is - I guess social media is like music, everyone prefers something, but can't always say why.

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  7. I wish I'd heard of the challenge sooner. Sounds fun. Oblivious as usual!
    I recognised that pub when I saw it straight away! Such an amazing old place. Went there about 6 or 7 years ago - a friend of mine met her husband there!

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    1. It's such a cool little pub. I love all the caves at the back. Nottingham seemed to have lots of good pubs and museums; I could happily spend a long weekend there.

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  8. I don't instagram either as I have an ancient brick of a phone!

    I hope you find some help/ways of coping with the stress. x

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    1. I'm on beta-blockers now and trying to limit the things I arrange to do in my spare time (worky things) so I'm not putting too much pressure on myself. I'm prone to stress. I *am* coping at work, that's the silly thing - there's no need for me to feel so bad!

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  9. I wondered where that pub was when I saw the pic on your Instagram, sounds like you had a good trip! Sometimes a quite day for two can be just the ticket. Or a noisy day, seeing as you saw Iron Maiden! I'm having a hard time keeping up with the vintage challenge but am enjoying everyone else's posts x

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    1. It was like a day on holiday. We pottered in and out of charity shops, had lunch sitting outside a Spanish place, then went to the pub before Maiden. Oh, and grabbed a curry on the way back to the hotel! One of those days that just feels goooood.

      I sometimes fall a day behind on the vintage challenge, but doing it is a good thing for me, I think. It's making me look harder at my vintage, and appreciate it, but it's only for 31 days so shouldn't end up being a burden.

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  10. I'm really enjoying the vintage challenge on Instagram and seeing everyone's interpretation of the tag for the day. I have to admit it's not always easy to keep up with, but I'm trying my hardest.

    I saw Iron Maiden back in the 90s but don't really remember much about it. I was young and beer was cheap back then ;). I do remember they were good though and the place was electric! xx

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  11. Happy birthday, Mr Robot. I haven't seen anything about the Vintage Fashion Challenge on IG yet but sometimes I think that I live in a bubble. I love it for inspiration. It is full of such eye candy but, like Pinterest, it is easy to lose track of time there. Glad that Maiden were good. I quite liked them when they had Paul Di'Anno in them too. Xx

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