Shepton Mallet Flea Market Bargains – Part 4

A week ago on Sunday I headed down to my favourite flea market at Shepton Mallet. However, this time it was a family affair with my mum, dad, uncle and cousin in tow. It would seem that I am convincing everyone how wonderful secondhand and vintage things are. Yes, my plan is working!

Ever since I found my new house I’ve had an idea of what I wanted the smallest room to be like. It’s going to be a room with two purposes, a walk-in wardrobe (something I have wanted ever since I was a teenager) and an office. Therefore I wanted something girlie and very un-office like for my desk and I became obsessed with looking at vintage French style dressing tables on eBay. So, imagine my surprise when I saw one at Shepton!

This beauty is an Olympus which apparently was very expensive in its heyday during the 1950s and 60s. Each item of furniture was made to order and was only sold in the most prestigious department stores, such as Harrods.

This one is in really good condition with the odd scuff mark here and there and a tiny amount of discolouration on the gold detailing. The glass the top, which is rare to see these days, is still in one piece and doesn’t have any scratches on it. The guy who was selling it also had a matching chest of drawers and bedside tables but this was the only piece I wanted.

The complete set of dressing table, detachable mirror and stool was a bargain at £160. I have seen just the dressing table, no stool and no glass top go for about £250 on eBay! I can’t tell you how chuffed I was.

And this is how it looks in my new office. I’ve removed the mirror so that my monitor can sit where I want it to and I love it! Although I think I probably need a new pen pot now, the Batman mug doesn’t really go.

I also bought a few small bits and pieces including a Picturegoer mag which I chose purely because it had Mamie Van Doren in it. If you’re a fan of Kiss Me Deadly then you’ll know that their Van Doren range is named after this sassy lady.

I also picked up a gorgeous cut glass perfume bottle for the vanity table I’m going to create from the weird feature in my bedroom. I also couldn’t resist this cute oversized glass milk bottle. I have no idea where it’s going to go but it was calling to me!

I kept going back to one stall that had so much jewellery on it. There had about 10 ice cream containers just full of bracelets, necklaces and earrings that you could rummage through but what caught my eye was this beautiful ceramic floral brooch sat on its lonesome. It cost me £5. I have no idea if that was a reasonable price or not as I’ve never really taken much notice of them before but this one was too sweet to resist.

All in all I’m really pleased with my purchases and I can’t wait for the next on in October and who knows how many of my family I’ll have in tow!