Harvey Nichols and the High Street-Aiding and Abetting gets the better of me!!

Our long awaited lunch date at Harvey Nichols finally came round and it was really great to catch up with the gorgeous Kate of Make Do Style once again.

We both had a very decadent and delicious lunch-I had a golden beetroot salad with figs and walnuts, followed by a passionfruit creme brulee whilst Kate opted for a rare (as in she rarely eats them) Harvey Nicks burger followed by a refreshing sorbet.

We had a lovely laugh and chat and the topic of 'High Street' style came up-well what better way of walking off lunch than having a little browse-no harm can come of that surely!!

Well Kate had to show me the much debated pleated skirt she found at Topshop and when it fitted like a glove I had to nudge her in the right direction-the cash till that is!!

Onwards to Zara, where we found a gorgeous pair of tan leather courts reduced to £14.99-oh they fitted like a glove too, so after pondering the rest of Zaras offerings, she was nudged in the the direction of the cash till yet again.

The reason I didn't indulge in some High Street therapy as I so want the wide legged trousers we both tried on in Topshop, but have seen another print variation online-oh dear, decisions decisions huh!!

All in all, I'm guilty as charged-but had real good fun in the process and I'm sure you'll agree, she broke her High Street rules but it was worth it-doesn't she look fabulous!!

Thrift Inspiration, Ebay Style

The January retail sales and ebay are the time to be picking up bargains, particularly style pieces that are not trend led and will re-emerge season after season.

This black sequinned jacket is now £278, reduced by 51% in the Matches sale, available here:

I spotted this one on Ebay earlier this week and its by Miss Selfridge.

My photo is not very good quality, but the jacket has black and electric blue sequins and has cropped sleeves:

Have you a sequin piece in your wardrobe that is a favourite?

Hope you all have a very nice weekend!

Vintage Versace Ad is My Latest Jeans Find!!

For some reason I do love all things Retro style and on my thrifting visits I do try and keep an open mind for any pieces I can get hold of.

On Saturday myself and Robert went for lunch, a spot of charity shopping and also to spend some of his Birthday money on X Box games. I didn't have high expectations of the trip, as where he used to look through stuff when he was younger, I think he is frankly quite bored and wanted to be in and out as quick as possible, meaning I couldn't rummage as much as I wanted!!

Well the last shop and last item paid dividends, as I came across a pair of cobalt blue (electric blue back in the day) Versace Couture stretchy jeans.

I tried them on and what a perfect fit-they are typically of the era, high waisted but so stretchy and soft and in really good nick too. They were only £4.99 from the Cancer Research shop and I snapped them up.

Doing a search on google, I came across this Versace ad-here are my jeans-the girls are modelling yellow and pink, mine are blue, but are exactly the same fit!!

Versace Ad by Bruce Weber-1991

I've been after a cobalt blue piece from back in the day and to get it in jeans that are a perfect fit have to be my 'wow' find of the month, I'm really pleased with them!

Whats been your most recent best vintage buy so far?

Thrift Inspiration, J Brand LoveStory Style

January is a lean month for spending on clothes, so I thought I'd re-evaluate my wardrobe for what I felt I could use regularly and to make sure I don't spend out on anything unnecessary.

Over the last couple of months I've given a few pairs of jeans away to the charity shop, styles I didn't feel suited me anymore and more importantly those that didn't fit me properly in the waist and leg.

So as a natural jeans lover I was keen to track down some replacements. This season, it seems anything goes in the jeans department-bootcut is back, boyfriend style and skinnies are still in, wideleg and 70s are in trend as is the new skinny flare style.

I have like these for a while, these are J Brands Lovestory, available at Net-A-Porter for £230:

So with some inspiration in mind, I was happy to find these in my local Sue Ryder charity shop midweek on my way to work.

They are Levis jeans and are a low rise, with skinny fit to the knee and a gentle flare to the ankle and in my favourite 34'' length too-for only £4.95 I had to snap them up.

The material is so soft and they have a stretch to them ensuring a perfect fit-these are going to be in my outfit of choice this weekend for sure!!

Its so hard to get a perfect fit in jeans, so these will be a firm favourite of mine and a good basic investment for my wardrobe.

Will you be wearing jeans this season-if so, what style, cut and colour are you going for?

Thrift Inspiration, From Selfridges Kate Moss Style

On our outing to London on Sunday, we had a nice browse around Selfridges and I came across the book section within their WH Smith concession. The array of Fashion and Style books was amazing, I could have pitched up on a sofa for the rest of the day, lol!!

The book that grabbed my eye was Kate Moss Style by Angela Buttolph. I had a flick through and liked what I saw, but sadly didn't feel like parting with the full book price of £19.99 for it.

So I was very pleased to win it on ebay last night for only £2.2o-thats more like it and the seller is going to send it by recorded delivery so I can track it-I get virtually all my purchases sent by recorded delivery from ebay now as for the extra pence, you're generally guaranteed delivery of your item this way.

I saw via Amazon there are good reviews for the book, I'm a fan of Kate Moss anyway and her style and although the book is a couple of years old, for less than the price of my monthly Vogue or Elle, it was worth buying!!

What Style book is on your radar-that you have already or intend on purchasing?

Thrift Inspiration, In Oscar De La Renta

Kimonos are very much in trend at the moment and are such pretty versatile pieces to own.

Here are a couple of my favourite ones from Topshop, currently available to buy now:

Topshop, £55

Topshop, £35

I was fortunate to thrift my own kimono two summers ago, its a vintage Oscar De La Renta gown from the Salvation Army charity shop

They are a perfect cover for evening wear, lounging, swimwear or over a cami top and denim cut offs. Have you got a kimono gown already or be investing in one?

Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Prada and Lunch at Selfridges for less than £10

On Sundays if we've nothing planned, hubby and I generally look out for the boot sales open and then go for either a country drive or a drive through London afterwards, with lunch thrown in.

Today we went to a fairly local boot sale and I bought a Beatles album on cassette for 50p and a Soul To Soul 80s album on CD for 50p.

We weren't there long, so we went off for our usual drive and we ended up driving through Camden, past Regents Park and London Zoo and parked up on New Bond Street for a spot of lunch and some window shopping.

We headed to Selfridges and browsed through the designer handbags and in the Hermes section, I picked up a free Catalogue and cheekily asked them for a bag to put it in! I'm sure many passing shoppers thought I must be quite fortunate to afford a piece of Hermes so soon after Christmas, lol!! I'll be using the bag for my vintage and designer scarves.

We went to the Food Hall and ate at Eat, sandwiches, nuts and tea and coffee for less than £10-bargain!! Refreshed, we browsed back through the departments of Rolex, Prada and Louis Vuitton and picked up their latest Catalogues too-they are so well made and not bad for a bit of freebie browsing material!!

We then took a leisurely stroll up South Moulton Street back to the car and a nice leisurely drive through Westminster, along the Embankment and past the Tower of London.

London has to be my favourite place and living so close to it is an added bonus, I'll certainly be visiting again in the near future!!

What is your favourite city or place in the country, do you get a chance to visit it regularly too?

Thrift Inspiration,

One item that is forever in style is the classic boucle tweed knit Chanel jacket. Every year it is reworked into the style of the season, but where this is a classic, the shape generally is the same. This seasons jacket features three quarter sleeves, embellishment around the collar, cuffs and front fastening and is in the classic box style.

These jackets look equally good as part of a suit or with jeans, as seen below.

My find is from Summer last year and I've not worn or shown it, so I thought I would now. It is by Escada and I believe from the late 80s and was from the Cancer Research charity shop.

The photos don't do it justice, it really is a gorgeous wool jacket with lovely black and red sequin and pearl embellishment and three quarter sleeves.

This will go with jeans for a casual look or for a smarter look, then maybe a black pencil skirt and silk blouse or a silk tea dress

What unworn pieces will you be wearing this Spring and Summer?

My Pashmina Rainbow for Summer

For the last couple of years, I've been collecting different colour pashminas. Depending on the 'in' colour for the season, dictates what colours I buy for the year. Last years buys were the khaki and white ones and this year I added orange, navy, cream and camel to the collection.

I generally get mine from my local ethnic store in the High Street for £1 or £2, when I visited Lakeside Shopping Mall last month I got three for £5 and they had a lovely range of colours to choose from.

The only one not in the picture is my nude colour one, which I seem to wear so regularly, it goes with anything and everything. The coloured ones will certainly be worn this summer and will go with any type of outfits-dresses and denim mainly, either as a throw over my shoulders or as a scarf with a jacket.

How will you be injecting colour into your wardrobe for this summer?

Thrift Inspiration, Louis Vuitton Oriental Style

A key look for this Summer is Oriental and Louis Vuitton have featured this trend in their Spring Summer Collection for 2011.

A visit to Barnados charity shop earlier today (I was good too, as my prime reason for going was to drop off a donation) sourced this Oriental jacket by Yushan. The all over pattern is actually embroidered, rather than a print and the jacket is lined and I'm sure it is silk.

Its a perfect little jacket for summer and although I do love the Oriental look, a dress would be a bit too much for my style of wearing this trend

Will you be going Oriental this Summer?

Shopping my boot sale wardrobe for 2011

January seems to be a rather anti climax month, after Christmas we are all skint and wishing for warmer weather-I'm also aware we are due for more snow very soon, so things won't change on this front for a while!!

I am missing my boot sales though, my favourite one only starts up around late March to April, so I will be driving around looking for alternative ones up to then, weather permitting.

Here are some of my previous favourite finds from my local booty over the last couple of years:

Leather pencil skirt, £6

Gucci Bag, £5

Thierry Mugler Top 50p and DKNY Pants, £1

Claude Montana Jacket, £2.50

Christian Dior Clutch, £5

Leather Trousers, £1

Oh well, it looks like I will be shopping my existing wardrobe for now and come boot sale season I'll be seeking to thrift good quality designer and vintage pieces that will work well with my existing wardrobe.

Summer Dreaming Wishlist-Item number one

Now it is 2011, I am officially allowing myself to think of future purchases for the forthcoming Summer. Inspired by offerings on Net-A-Porter and The OutNet, I really want to get a pair of gold sandals, preferably flat ones, but it depends on how much I fall in love with them!!

I've been checking my wardrobe for what I feel I need, or should I rephrase that to want?? As I don't have any gold shoes or sandals, I think it will be a justified purchase and they will go with so much in my wardrobe already.

Alaia, £651

Guiseppe Zanotti, £735

Vanessa Bruno, £164

Lanvin, £178

Have you a Summer Wishlist yet?

These boots were made for.........crappy weather!!

Well my first purchase of 2011 was a retail purchase, in the sale and was much needed.......... a pair of wellington boots. I bought them at Freeport in Braintree from the Soled Out outlet and they were reduced from £29.99 to £20.99, 30% off. They are JuJu Wellies and can be seen online here too

I'm coveting a pair of UGGs, but I will now wait until next winter as I did get some flat winter boots in November that can see me through along with these wellingtons.

What will be one of your first purchases of 2011?