I'd rather be thrifting

Cardigan - Brand is Smudge, from a clothing swap
Dress - vintage, thrifted
Shoes - vintage, thrifted

I went thrifting today as a treat for finishing the book. I have been trying to avoid non-essential spending for the last couple of months in preparation for our UK trip early next year, but a vintage dress and a book from Goodwill didn't put me back too far! I love thrifting. There's nothing better than sifting through a pile of junk looking for treasures. I think I have said this before, but I see thrifting as a creative activity (I'm going to avoid being too wanky and saying it is an art); you have to be open and willing to see the potential in unlikely things, or to try something that would never have occurred to you. You never know what you are going to find - it might send you in an unexpected direction or open up a surprising possibility. And that's why I (and you, I know) love it. Although it is rather dangerous - it's very easy to over-fill a house, bookshelf or closet with thrifted finds.

Speaking of which, here's my crowded closet. I can't tell you how nice it is to have a huge closet after the coffin-sized mould and spider trap that we had in New Zealand. Please excuse the flash photography - it's very dark in our closet and my skills with a camera are woefully inadequate!

Some of the hats are lined up along this shelf - the rest are in a metal steamer trunk on top of the dresser (a trunk that my grandparents on my stepdad's side brought over to Zimbabwe from England in the middle of last century).

I'm afraid I do take up more space than LOML. He does have two rails on the left, though, which you can't see here.


The aforesaid trunk o' hats and dresser.

Mink will sometimes wander into the closet, give a disgusted sniff and walk out. I think it's a bit too girly for him.