The Chap Olympiad...

...This year, with added gazebo! Oh yes dear readers, if you have followed me for a year or more you will know of the almighty wash out which occurred last time we Olympiad-ed. Never to be repeated; Retro Chick and Reginald Spleen saved our bacon this year with a new fangled pop-up gazebo thingummyjig! There were marquees available too, but darlings, who wants to struggle with the hoi polloi for a folding chair when one could be in the VIP (Vintage Inebriated Persons') tent?

VIP tent with Lena of VGtL, Penny Dreadful,  Retro Chick, Reginald Spleen,
Tuppence Ha'penny and Southern Retro.

It was a bit of a pic-nic fest, with everyone bringing foods made by their own fair hands. Or in my case, my husband's own fair hands whilst I wandered off to a bootsale that morning- to be fair I did own up! Now, you're not supposed to bring in booze to the Olympiad, but I have a sneaking suspicion that some of the tea and lemonade we were drinking had a nip of something stronger in there. By the end of the night I had both that sneaking suspicion and a bruised knee, having miscalculated my footing in my high heels (which I'm not supposed to wear) after several fruity drinks (grape, mostly) which I'm not supposed to have too many of on my painkillers. Oh deary me. Reckless to wreck in 24 hours.

In contrast to me, I don't think this man is actually injured.

The events were as daft as ever; umbrella jousting being particularly ludicrous this year. I must admit the major activities seemed to be outfit spotting, 'where did you get that..?' chatting and drinking. Which is the very definition of a good weekend. The outfits were, as ever, marvellous - from VoH and Heyday repro outfits, to perfect mid century vintage, to quirky takes on the tweedy look. All great fun! As ever there were some youngsters with pretend taches on, and, bizarrely, pretend bushy ginger eyebrows (not a good look folks, not a good look).

I went for a kind of whimsical 70s-does-Edwardian Holly Hobbie dress. £3 from Judy's Affordable Vintage Fair in Brighton. I love it when bargain-bin rescues come up classy in the wash...

Note the hair, which actually worked for once!
This lovely photo was taken by Margaret for VGTL.

Oh... and there were some nice gentlemen there who gave out crisps for free and for nothing! I fear I may have eaten my bodyweight in Tyrell's BBQ flavour...

Well, now I just need a year to sober up and plan my outfit for next year!

If you like drinking in tweed, or are gazebo-curious, check out The Chap magazine website or events page for details.