Thrift Inspiration, Paul & Joe Sister Style

Fair Isle knits are very much in style this winter and over at Net-A-Porter they have a fabulous selection in knitwear. This waistcoat by Paul & Joe Sister will keep you snug and looking great this winter:

Paul & Joe Sister waistcoat, £170

So to sport the trend, I was pleased to pick up this vintage St Michael lambswool fair isle waistcoat at the boot sale a few weeks ago

I'm also wearing my other bargain of the week (well last week) my F&F shearling clogs, reduced from £28 to £7.50 which I picked up when doing my food shopping.

Will you be wearing any fair isle knits this winter?

Being a Gucci Thrifty Gal,

This outfit post comprises of two of my Gucci finds, my recently thrifted Gucci tan bag at the local boot sale and my Gucci sneakers that I thrifted last year and haven't worn yet from the Salvation Army charity shop.

You can read about when I bought them here:

I'm also wearing my faux fur gilet that I thrifted at the boot sale for £2 and my grey skinnies and grey sweater, it was quite a lovely day so there was no need for a jacket

I would also like to say a big Thanks to the gorgeous Kate at Make Do Style for featuring me in her fabulous series of posts for Style Budget Special Week- Day 3 Thrifty Ways-please check it out as its a very intuitive and inspirational post. It also links to my one of my favourite bloggers, Vintage Vixen, who also is so very inspirational with her constantly awesome and amazing thrift finds!!

I hope you are having a lovely week so far!!

Vintage !!

This weekend saw a drive out and a stop at a town I've not visited for a while, so I was really pleased to pick up a couple of good finds, one of them being this vintage Topshop dress.

Its typical 1970s material, 100% polyester and its really disco diva with the spaghetti sequin straps and long length!! The label dates right back to the 70s, a real blast from the past and reminds me of my local Topshop, which sadly went in the early 80s.

I also got a Zara gold knitted pleated skirt and a black Kate Moss for Topshop sequin jumper from the same shop, the St Francis Hospice charity shop.

Hope you are all having a lovely week so far, its half term for me, so a nice week or not doing too much hopefully!!

UPDATED TO ADD: Here is the label of the dress, I am pretty much sure this is a mid 70s one!!

Modern stripes and vintage leather, 80s Style

This weekends outfit post was a find from last weeks boot sale and a find from the charity shop. The striped tee is by TU at Sainsburys and was only £2.99 from the Cancer Research charity shop. I liked the colourways, very Autumnal and also the 3/4 length sleeves.

I was especially pleased to find this vintage leather skirt last weekend-I actually found two, the other one is a full 50s style, with panels and splits at the hem. Both are so soft and were a fabulous bargain of £6 each.

I'm feeling very 80s in this outfit, what with the leather skirt and the electric blue tights, its my decade of choice at the moment!!

Hope you are all having a lovely weekend so far!!

My Designer and High Street Collaboration pieces

The lovely Christina at Fashion's Most Wanted did a post on the new H&M and Lanvin collaberation, which she followed on with her own gorgeous finds from the H&M and Stella McCartney and Jimmy Choo collaborations.

This inspired me to do a slide show of my High Street and Designer collaboration pieces, all of which I bought from either ebay, charity shops or the boot sale over the past years:

For anyone who loves designers but not the price tags, this is a great way of accessing their pieces at reasonable prices.

Thrift Inspiration, Jonathan Saunders Style

Jonathan Saunders collection for Summer 2011 features a lot of pieces using block colouring and mixing colours ranging from neutrals to brights to pastels:

So on my charity shop run last week, I was really pleased to pick up this Jonathan Saunders for Topshop dress priced up at £4.99 at the Red Cross charity shop. So when I got to the till, the manageress said I could have it for £3.99, what a bargain!!

I've worn it already and I love how it will be a year round wardrobe staple.

Whats been your best designer bargain lately?

Post it on-Thanks to F&F at Tescos!!

I was contacted by the folks at Tesco online and asked if I wanted to take part in their tag game of Post it on-I was allowed to choose an item from the F&F online range, show it in MyStyle and nominate a fellow blogger to choose something for themselves!!

As I don't have a lot of jumpers, I went for this black lurex ladder jumper, which I've styled as a sweater dress under grey opaque tights and over the knee boots.

I was impressed with the jumper, its quite delicate and a great layering piece and for under £20, a great addition to pep up the winter wardrobe-do check out their full range here

My tag goes to the lovely Mrs Fab over at Trying to Look Fab in your Forties

Hope you enjoy picking something out my dear!!

Thrift Inspiration,

Todays outfit post is inspired by two trends that are in style this season, leather cropped trousers and cardigans. This weeks Grazia shows their favourite picks of boyfriend style cardis:

Novembers issue of Vogue UK also has a feature on cardis and chunky knits, called 'This Old Thing?', very inspirational for pulling out your much love worn, years old cardigan and bringing it up to date for winter:

Vogues 'More Dash than Cash' feature also shows their favourite picks of leather cropped trousers:

My outfit consists of a black merino Italian wool cardi that I thrifted for £4 a couple of years ago at the boot sale and I'm wearing it with one of my Sunday boot sale finds, these brown leather cropped style trousers, which were only £1!!

As the trousers are vintage and high waisted, I've tucked my tee in 'Alexa' style (above)

I'm wearing my Jasper Conran wedge black leather courts to complete the ensemble.

I would say my favourite trends this season are leather, lace, chunky knits and boyfriend cardis, all of which I've managed to thrift for this coming season.

Hope you all have a great weekend!!

Vintage Gucci and Classics that don't date

I've been looking for a tan bag all year really-once you have a quality one, it can be a stylish classic that will last for years.

Gucci Sukey Medium, £580

Gucci Joy Mini Boston, £335

My other bag find at the boot sale on Sunday was this tan vintage Gucci bag. There is considerable wear on the handles, but the exterior is still in good condition and the interior is in excellent condition.

I like 'lived in' bags, I feel I can properly use them and if they have a few knocks, it doesn't matter. So now I have a tan bag at last!

What item have you been after for a while that you are still coveting?

Thrift Inspiration, 80s Style

For some reason, I'm having an 80s phase for fashion and style, so any quality pieces I see on my travels, I'll be snapping up.

Sundays visit to the boot sale was very successful, with finds ranging from bags to winter knits, to leather to faux fur and to lace-a lot of these were inspired by looks from Vogue UK Novembers issue, so I'll be sharing these in future posts.

My 80s nostalgia fix was cured with this leather and suede jewelled bag by Stuart Weitzman-I love to look at an item and know exactly what era its from. I remember this bejewelled look everywhere, on dresses, corset tops, earrings and bags, with the stones even bigger than what's on this bag below!!

So for £2.50 I had to get it-very retro, but I just couldn't resist!!

What trends are you following this season?

Suits you Sir, From Simpsons of Picadilly

Another thrift find this week was this pristine condition longer length leather jacket by 'Simpsons of Picadilly'. I think its from the 70s and was from the St Francis Hospice charity shop.It is a perfect fit, despite me already having 3 black leather jackets in the wardrobe!

I'm wearing another thrift find this week of 'I love Ldn' tee, by Topshop, from Barnados charity shop, £2.99 and new River Island leggings, which have a faux leather panel down each side-these were £24.99.

Hope you're all having a good weekend-I managed to bag some great pieces at the boot sale today, but will share them in future posts!!

Thrift Find this week, some Jean Paul Gaultier for Winter

Yesterday I had a wander to my local Sue Ryder charity shop-it is the closest one to me, only ten minutes walk if that, but over the years I've found many a designer bargain in there-the main one being the Ossie Clark dress which is now sadly long gone.

Anyhow, I found this Jean Paul Gaultier dress which has a wintry pattern to it and not much hanger appeal-but on and belted with some thermal tights underneath, will be perfect for this coming season. It originally had a drawstring waist, but the previous owner must have taken it out. I do have a few dresses, but mainly summer ones, so this one will be a welcome addition to my wardrobe, rather than a 'repeat' buy.

It was £25.00, which is more than what I do generally pay, but when comparing what you spend in the high street it isn't at all, plus it is a nice amount going directly to my local charity shop, who I would be very sad to see go if rent increases mean they had to leave where they are now.

What is your best thrift find so far?

1980s, Elle and 25 Years of London Fashion Week

On my travels this weekend, I picked up this DVD of Back To The 1980s. Decade wise, this has to be my favourite era, as I have really great memories of films, fashion, holidays and general good living once leaving school at 16 in June 1985.

In my magazine collection, I have the very first Elle magazine, dated November 1985. In this issue, it celebrates the work of Katherine Hamnett and Azzedine Alaia and also London Fashion Week for Spring/Summer 1986.

Designers showing at London Fashion Week then included Wendy Dagworthy, Mark & Syrie, John Flett, Body Map, John Galliano and Rifat Ozbek.

With London Fashion Week just finishing for next summer, I thought I'd also show some pictures from Elle UK October 2009, which celebrated 25 years of London Fashion Week.

Past and present designers include Vivienne Westwood, Christopher Bailey, Gareth Pugh, Richard Nicoll, John Galliano, Paul Smith and Christopher Bailey.

Its amazing how the time flies and how trends have come full circle to be re celebrated every few season or years. My favourite trend from the 80s was definitely the bodycon look and I love how it is still in style now.

What is your favourite decade for style and fashion?

Thrift Inspiration, Brogue Way

This season, the mannish brogue is in trend.

Over at Net-A-Porter, they have a great selection, including some fabulous picks from Miu Miu, Maison Martin Margiela, Marc Jacobs to name a few. Here are a pick of my favourites there:

Churchs, £210

Marc by Marc Jacobs £290

At the boot sale on Saturday I picked up these Russell & Bromley brown leather brogues for only £10. They are very comfy and the weaved detail makes them a bit different from the usual style of brogue.

Will you be sporting brogues this season?

Thrift Inspiration, Burberry Shearling Style

After finding my black boots on Sunday, I had thought that would be my best find for the month-which from the boot sale it was. So when I decided to take a stroll down to my local Sue Ryder charity shop on Tuesday, I couldn't leave without my find in the last picture below.

I was greatly inspired by the gorgeous Burberry shearling jacket, which is available at Net-A-Porter for £2395, seen here:

Like my find, it is cropped, double breasted and deliciously snug!!

My one doesn't have the Burberry embellishments of shoulder epaulettes and arm details, but considering it was only £19.95, I can overlook that and it is a simplistic, minimalist style that will not date, so I'm sure I'll be wearing this for years to come.

So thats the winter coat sorted-my 2nd shearling in the wardrobe.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend, I hope the gloomy weather clears for a dry one for us in the UK!!