Upper Gardner Street Market

During the winter months I suffer from CBSW - Car Boot Sale Withdrawal Syndrome. It's a series business. Not willing to get up in the dark to face the icy cold and rain of a weekend morning, I need something to see me through. Charity shops go someway to scratching the bargain-hunting itch, but I still long for a good old rummage in boxes filled with random bric a brac, through rails of second-hand clobber and tangled piles of fabrics, accessories and shoes, and miss the thrill of the haggle and the amazing deals you can pull off.


My medicine comes in the form of Upper Gardner Street Market in Brighton's North Laine. Open from the respectable hour of 9am every Saturday, the residential road plays host to those selling furniture, second-hand and vintage clothing and accessories, books, CDs, vinyl and hand-made crafts. There's even hot food on offer, as well as cakes and organic fruit and veg.

Last winter I picked up this super cosy faux fur coat for just £20, and while I only get to wear it for a few weeks a year, it's a outfit essential on those days when the temperature drops below freezing.


Dressed in my teddy bear coat, this weekend I paid £5 for these Clarks heeled loafers - I love the fringe and link detail on the front - and was also taken by a faded framed Tretchikoff print. The Lost Orchid depicts what can be interpreted as the remains of a night on the tiles in 1948 (when it was painted) - a vibrant button hole flower with safety pin still attached and water droplet 'tear', cigarette butt, match and party streamers, all discarded on grey concrete steps. It's somewhat bleak - like an early version of those 'Drink Responsibly' adverts - but I fell slightly in love with it and am going to head back next weekend to see if it's meant to be.