The spirit of Christmas present(s)

Well, I don't know about you but Christmas 2014 went past in something of a blur for me, albeit a very enjoyable blur at that.  Now here we are already but three days away from 2015.  I blame the weekend, personally...  Actually I feel the real reason in my case was a combination of putting up the Christmas tree a week late on the 20th due to a head cold the previous weekend and working up until the afternoon of Christmas Eve.

Anyway I ended up having a lovely Christmas Day at my sister's (she does read this, so hello Sis! if you are - thanks again for the dinner and pressies!) where I was able to play Monopoly with people who actually wanted to for the first time in years (discovering my 19-year-old niece has usurped me as the family Monopoly Champion), enjoy a delicious roast beef dinner and listen to my brother-in-law's Hoagy Carmichael collection.  Bliss!



But of course, you'll want to see what presents I received!  Let's have a look, shall we?

My parents have been in Pittsburgh, PA visiting my aunt & uncle since the beginning of the month and aren't back until after the New Year, so as an early Christmas present mater bought me this spiffing wool jacket when we were browsing in the local TK Maxx (some impressive bargains to be had in that store if one's willing to sort through a lot of stuff) a few months ago.  It's been worn often in that time (including on Christmas Day itself) and is fast becoming a staple of m'wardrobe.

source

However one thing that has long been missing from the same is an overcoat of similar [earth] colours for days when I'm in a country mood and wearing greens and browns (currently I have a number of blue/black coats only - plus the heavyweight 1940s Kaufmann's full-length wool jobby from m'aunt, which is too good for day-to-day wear).  It looked like being a long and ultimately fruitless search for an inexpensive brown or green ¾- or full-length coat that wouldn't risk making one look like Arthur Daley/Inspector Clouseau/a flasher, until an old favourite online emporium - Samuel Windsor - came to the rescue with their Country Coats sale.  Now the splendid-looking Bedale Tweed coat is winging its way to me as I type.

Just prior to Christmas I'd also order some new woollen ties from the same source, with a view to further augmenting my autumn/winter wardrobe.  I already have a few secondhand [skinny] woollen ties, which have stood me in good stead over the years, but I fancied some more [wider] ones including one or two in blue - an underrepresented colour in my tie collection's palette.  SW were able to oblige with four in very pleasant colourways - including a Navy and, interestingly, "Air Force" blue.

The fourth tie - not pictured here because I'm currently wearing it - is called Corn, 
a nice green-gold that will go well with both greens and browns.

As I may have mentioned my new office has a very relaxed dress code; fortunately that includes a relaxed attitude to me flouting it (showing them the way, more like!).  I initially took the opportunity to break out my cravats but as winter began to bite I started missing my ties.  I've always felt that woollen and knitted ties are more informal, so now I'm glad to have a few more from which to choose during these colder months.

My first work Secret Santa was a jolly affair and proof that they've "got me pegged", as my manager put it, as I received this nice little lapel pin in the form of Morgan Motor Cars' crest.  Quite an early example, too, dating from the 1940s so I'm told (the "secret" part of Secret Santa falling by the wayside somewhat when we all had to guess "who got who" at the end of the proceedings!).

Finally, my sister came up trumps again with a copy of Cooking For Chaps, the new cookbook for chaps and "the man about town" by editor of The Chap magazine Gustav Temple and professional cook Clare Gabbett-Mulhallen, plus an apron and tea-towel set featuring a splendid quote from Roderick Field - "Tea is the finest solution to nearly every catastrophe and conundrum that the day may bring"!  Quite right too! 

That's it from me for now; I'm looking forward to seeing what other vintage bloggers were given by Father Christmas, and to the forthcoming new year.  Plus I hope to have a few more posts up before 2014 draws to a close, which - along with all those for 2015 - I can't wait to start writing.

Slipper, (car) boot, hat and kettle - no, it's not Monopoly!

Only about half as big as this today, the Nevendon boot sale
(since when did boot sales have their own website?!)

First of all apologies for a week of radio silence, but some times these dry news spells come along and as much as I would like you to think I was gadding about during my "birthday week" I actually wasn't up to much of interest - I really am rather a boring fellow most of the time!  Although I did go to my first car boot sale for years today, a length of time made all the more shameful by the fact that it takes place just a mile down the road.  Two (or three if there's a bank holiday) times a week.  Today I resolved to check it out though and I must admit I've rediscovered the car boot bug.  I didn't end up buying anything but among the piles of charity shop rejects and dubious electrical appliances there were a few interesting items and I shall certainly be returning there in short order.

However, I did promise to show you my birthday presents when they arrived.  Well... most of them still haven't!  This is what comes of liking things that are not readily available in your high street shops, which these days usually results in money changing hands with the instruction to "buy something you like, you know where to get these things".  Not that I am for one second ungrateful for this, not a bit of it, but it of course adds to the equation time spent ordering gifts and waiting for them to be delivered.  A wait compounded by the presence of a bank holiday in the week following my birthday.  What this means is that of the objects I am about to show you, only one is currently in my possession - the others are still en route.

Churchill Grecian Slipper in brown (also available in black)
£17.50 (from £60) plus £5.75 p+p from Samuel Windsor

The item that has already reached me, that I have on my feet (big clue!) even as I type (not with my feet, you understand) is a new pair of... slippers!  I've never been one for just taking my shoes off indoors so the only gentlemanly answer is a pair of comfortable slippers.  Every other year or so I buy a new pair when the old ones wear out but this year I thought I'd try something a little different.  Whereas since time immemorial I've had standard cloth, rubber-soled jobs from Clarks et al., for some while I'd had my eyes of a pair of allegedly "handmade" full leather slippers from Samuel Windsor.  The splendid-sounding (and -looking) Churchill Grecian Slipper "comes from the Edwardian gentlemen's era" (so that had my attention immediately) and is supposedly handmade from the "finest" leather - upper and sole - and wool (for the lining).  The price - £17.50 (plus £5.75 p+p), still no more than I would have paid for a normal pair, from a RRP of £60 - ensured that my attention did not wander and the promise of "hardwearing properties" sealed the deal.  I've heard mixed reviews of Samuel Windsor and its wares in the past but I honestly can't envisage these being any worse than your bog standard house shoe, so I'm looking forward to these moccasins lasting longer than a couple of years.

When they first arrived they were a little tight despite being the size 10 I usually take, but a helpful note included in the box suggested that if this were the case I should remove the wool-lined innersoles and wear the slippers for about a week to allow them to "give" a little for "a perfect fit".  This was the one surprise for me; being used to a cloth slipper that would give and feel completely comfortable almost instantly these initially felt more like proper shoes, which being all-leather should not have come as a total surprise.  I'm happy to say that they are becoming more comfortable by the day (they arrived on Saturday) and I have high hopes that within a fortnight they should indeed be a perfect fit.

Staying with the sartorial theme my favourite online hatters (who I will continually recommend to anyone who will listen) came up trumps again with a sunhat that I hope will get some use before what passed for summer this year comes to an end.  Some of you may recall the grey fedora I purchased from Village Hats back in '09 (actually just before I started this blog, but I have mentioned it since).  Now along with the still-available (albeit now slightly more expensive) felt version a new straw one seems to have appeared as well!  I'd been after a new Panama-style hat for some time; the one I currently have, a Debenhams purchase from some years ago, while perfectly serviceable always had too high a crown I felt.  Attempting to counteract this by pushing the hat down low would only leave me with a noticeable dent in my hair(!).  This new hat, being a C-crown, shouldn't cause me to suffer from the same problem.  Plus at only £16.96 how could I resist?  (Admittedly this was with a 15% off code and free shipping - but I really do suggest signing up to Village Hats' newsletter which frequently contains such discounts on top of their already quite reasonable prices).

Jaxon Hats Summer C-Crown Fedora in Ivory (also available in Natural)
£19.95 (plus £1.50 p+p) from Village Hats

My final item is a mixture of style and necessity.  I believe it was Jeremy Clarkson who once said that you know you're grown up when you start buying useful things you actually need, but I still see no reason not to inject a bit of vintage charm into the proceedings.

Having gone through three electric kettles in a little over one year I have decided to turn my back on this new-fangled electricity (that's a lie, really, as I'll still be using an electric oven) and invest in a good old-fashioned hob-top whistling kettle.  No more burnt out elements and dangerously leaky spouts - just a plain old kettle with a whistle.  Hardly plain, though; this is what I'm getting:

Kitchen Craft Le'Xpress Coloured Whistling Kettle in Chilli Red
(also available in Midnight Black and Seashell Cream) from Amazon, price varies

Well that's it, that's all for now (although there will undoubtedly be other sundry purchases that I may show later, especially if and when I go back to the car boot sale) and it's enough, I reckon!  Another birth day, week and month is nearly over and done with; soon it will be time to look forward to the big 3-0 next year.  In the meantime I hope to resume normal service very shortly and see what new fun and frolics are occurring in the vintage blogosphere.

Tinkerty-tonk!