As some of you may or may not know, I have been a bit of a travelling fraudster of late. Trying to catch up with the backlog of photos and potential posts still lingering from my year abroad, I’ve only gone and relocated to London without saying anything about it on LLL. Bearing in mind the fact that LDN has so much going on all day every day, I thought it was well overdue for me to document some of the things I have been up to of late! I’m currently staying with my friend Henry in Battersea at the moment and as a result my weekends seem instantly longer as we try to pack in as many pub trips/catchup sessions/lazy days as possible. As part of one of these lazy days I noticed a sign for his local carboot (YES!), Battersea Boot, and so dragged  ‘accompanied’ Henry in for an afternoon of bargain seeking.

Battersea boot has it’s fair share of customers and punters alike.

The best things about carboot sales are you really never know what you might find. Highlights included a full Koala mascot suit, stormtrooper outfit, ‘The Land Before Time’ films on DVD (blast from the past), loads of LPs of course, vintage fur coats, an old formaldehyde bottle (sounds grim but was surprisingly aesthetic), an original coat made by a local Central St.Martins student and a whole array of costume jewellery that looked like it belonged on an episode of Strictly Come Dancing.

The things you can find in a carboot are wonderful! Here’s Henry rocking the head of what we guessed to be a Koala costume?

That said, it wouldn’t be a car boot sale without its fair share of rocks to hide the gems, lowpoints including: vintage porno mags (that is not something I would want to buy second hand thank you very much), half coloured in colouring books and an array of very dodgy looking mobile phones.

Trying on a Zara coat,  impromptu photography courtesy of Henry.

For some reason I found myself attracted to outerwear all day (in the words of the Starks, ‘Winter is coming’ after all) and there was one particular coat I had my eye on for £15. Unfortunately however, we found a stain on it and being unsure as to whether it would wash off, had to walk away 😦 . Sod’s law of course had it that having gone to a 1920s-ish themed party last weekend, there were also loads of amazing Gatsby style numbers everywhere as soon as I didn’t need one.

Henry realised his financial error when a can of 7up cost £1 and so did most of the rest of the car boot…

  My haul. Small yet satisfying!

That said however, we didn’t come away completely empty-handed. I found a pair of earrings that I had already owned and lost much to my disappointment for £1, the book ‘How to Walk in High Heels’ by Camilla Morton which I’ve wanted to read for ages for 50p and a nice handmade maternity/baby card which I wanted to give my pregnant pal when appropriate. Add the fact that Henry and I enjoyed trawling through the maze of stalls all afternoon (we had a methodical system by the end), indulged in a bit of nostalgia and soaked up some autumn sunshine, and I think we can call it a pretty successful Sunday.

Next stop: Wimbledon’s Car Boot, which apparently has 200+ people selling 3 days a week! Elbows at the ready!

Battersea Boot is every Sunday, 12 – 5pm, Trade entry is from 12 and costs £3, Public Entry is from 1.30pm and costs 50p. If you would like more information on trading or attending, you can visit Battersea Boot’s website here.

Over and Out,

Liv xxx