Peter Pan Collars

As i'm unemployed at the moment, i've tried to spend my time wisely and limit lying in bed watching TV all day to once a week! I have been doing lots of organising of my room and my life in general, which I think has made me feel more calm and positive about finding a job. Today my lovely Nan wanted to take me out for the day so we decided to go to Frome, Somerset which is around a 45 minute drive from Bristol. Somerset is a really lovely place and Frome is just one of the beautiful areas along with Wells and Glastonbury. If you live in Bristol/Bath I would definitely recommend a visit or if you are visiting the South West for a weekend, a trip to any of these places would be well worth it! Frome is somewhere I have been meaning to visit for a while, ever since I read a great blogpost from Bristol blogger Niki about the large vintage shopping on offer!

We decided to stop for lunch first and found this great cafe just off the high street called 'The Garden Cafe'. I know it sounds ridiculously enthusiastic but this is probably one of the best Cafes i've ever been too! Everything on the menu was vegetarian and vegan friendly, plus most of it was organic and gluten-free. I chose a toasted cheddar sandwich with avocado and sweet chilli, which was so delicious, plus I was really happy to discover they sold their own fruit and vegetables on the side of the cafe...how sweet! 

I had to include a picture of this little kids seating area, how lovely!

After the delicious food we headed up the road on the look out for St Catherine's Hill, an area renowned for vintage and second hand shops. Beautiful independent stores lined the classic cobbled street, and victorian style lamps hung on the sides of the stone clad buildings, it really was beautiful. The first shop I encountered was 'Roundabout' the clothes weren't really my style, but my Nan fell in love with several beautiful dresses. I was however really impressed with the layout of this shop, upstairs the building had been preserved in its original room set and all the clothes were merchandised around bedroom furniture. It was really unique!

The rest of the shops however were perfectly my style! First up was Truly Sopel, unfortunately the shop was closing down so there wasn't much of a choice, but the brand has been set up by an LCF graduate, who has created a unique brand mixing girlie styles with colourful fabrics and childhood classics. I fell in love with all of the prints and waffle cardigans, but sizes were limited and I was gutted to leave with nothing. I was assured however that the brand would continue online and if you are interested in seeing some more check out the website Truly Sopel.

My favourite find of the day had to be Poot. A classic vintage shop, full to the brim with bags, dresses and shoes. I got chatting to the shop owner, who was absolutely lovely and she showed me a load of new vintage she had just received. After a good 45 minutes of trying on shirts, shoes and dresses I settled on a gorgeous pair of toe capped shoes and a blouse which could have been created from my own mind; black with a white peter pan collar..my favourite! Sorry for the photo of the blouse, it would not photograph well because of the contrast in colours! The owner also told me she would be running a stall at Glastonbury Festival in the Avalon field, which i'll definitely be going to find!

Finally there was 'Make and Mend Vintage' which I was super excited about as soon as I spotted it! It has a fantastic entrance with large windows and an art deco style exterior, and a huge array of vintage dresses. I fell in love with a gold 70's dress but it was a bit too expensive for how often i'd wear it (me being sensible!) I did find a couple of great pairs of chelsea boots, some 60's dresses and a few jackets - I would definitely recommend a visit if you're in the area. 

As you can tell I had such a lovely day and if you live in Bristol, definitely take a trip out to Frome if you get the chance, the shops are all lovely and the people were so friendly! Even if you don't love vintage shopping as much as I do, I would definitely recommend a trip to the 'Garden Cafe' they are open late and have a full bar ♥♥