Vintage and Domesticated

October has flown by and I seem to be writing this month's report because I have to rather than that I feel like I want to- Off the top of my head I can't even think about what's happened (apart from smashing my half-marathon personal best- toes are looking pretty purple), but I look back into my photo folders and see that October has been productive: so, what have I been up to?

October 6th- Vintage fair weekend in search of a Christmas party dress; and if you remember, I said not to get me started on "vintage hipster" because the concept makes my head want to explode. I love it and hate it- love the classic-classy 40's and 50's junk, hate the pretentious hipsters that think that they are individual with their grandpa sweaters, over sized specs, and "wanker beards"-  if you were truly individual, you wouldn't all be exactly the same to the extent there is an entire genre named after you! I hadn't planned on coming back to this concept, but on the back of watching a skit this evening that summed up my summer ("Harry and Paul- Series 3, Episode 1"), it has brought the idea back to the boil. I can't seem to find the skit that I want to link to on YouTube, so will dialogue it for you instead:

Scene: Summer Music Festival: Market-style clothing tent: 40-something woman with a gold headband pressing down her centre-part- you know the one. Woman (Nutella) approaches a 50's something man (Marcus) with longish hair, tortoise-shell framed glasses, and a "wanker beard" (trimmed lower goatee). They exchange hellos with about eight cheek kisses. He explains he has a clothing tent now because the posh thick-os don't visit the store on the weekend. She explains it's because they all go to the festivals- Fleeced, Cashtonbury, Pay-on-Wye (I think this is the one I go to), and Platitude. Nutella then sees the "cheap gum boots" that Marcus has for sale- he says because they have hand painted flowers, he is selling them for £30 a boot or 3 for £100. She buys 3. She talks about feeling like she's back in the 60's; he says "Ah, then you'll like this S£!+" and points to the rack of vintage clothes. As Nutella flicks through the rack, she asks if they are vintage or retro. Marcus says "I'd say they are horrible, you'd probably say they are vintage". Nutella asks what the difference is between vintage and retro. Marcus explains "vintage is old and horrible, retro is new and horrible, but made to look old and horrible". 

This doesn't mean that I think that the entire vintage concept is wrong- it works well in many ways and there are people that make the entire look work for them (I'm hoping to make it work with a vintage dress-up photo shoot next weekend, but that's besides the point). These are the people that embrace it all- they keep their decades separated- not mixing 50's with 80's just because it's old- keep your Cosby sweaters away from your below-the-knee pleated skirts. Brogues and woolly leggings and late 80's acid-wash denim shorts don't work, neither did fringe in any time other than Woodstock. 

Rant over and I have spent most my weekends in October as a 50's housewife in the kitchen-  my power bill on the up and up with the oven on for much of the time. Drying fresh herbs from the garden, pickling 4.5kg of onions, meatloaf, stews, pumpkin pies, chocolate banana loaves, and- the highlight for me: mastering- well, beginners luck, with a chocolate roulade. I'd talk you through it all, but I think that I will leave it for this month, and end with a photo diary of my kitchen adventures.

Sage, lemon balm, oregano, mint, lemon oregano in the "airing cupboard"

Roulade

  

Meatloaf

Pickled Onions