Recent thrift finds from the boot sales

Hi everyone!! No boot sales today, the morning started rainy so it's a day in for me, catching up on housework and blogging!!

I thought I would show some of my recent thrift finds. Last Sunday's boot sale was where I found these leather Wrangler cowboy boots, battered and worn, but with lots of life still to go in them:

Wrangler leather cowboy boots, £2

I also found these Gianni Versace navy suede loafers, worn but still in quite good nick!

Gianni Versace Versus navy suede loafers, £3

My favourite find of the month was at the same booty but 2 weeks ago, these Zara maroon flat chelsea boots for £2:

Yesterdays boot sale was where I found this jacket by St Martins- I love the floral styling for summer, plus the back detailing makes it rather unique looking too: 

St Martins jacket, £2.50

I have been after one of these Panther bracelets for soo long now-the lady wanted £5, but I paid £4 for it-I think its an 80s one as it is quite heavy and the diamante is all still intact too:

As I started this post, it was sunny and as I am finishing it it is torrential rain-typical British weather and not one of the better days!! Never mind, I hope you all have a good week ahead, sunny or not!

Trends I'm loving this summer-neon at Bottica

A trend for this summer that I am really feeling is neon, especially yellow-it reminds me of how much I loved it in the mid 80s and back then I was daring enough to wear it in clothing-now fast forward 25 years I find that accessories work so much better to buy into this fab summer style!!

Over at Boticca.com I came across a really cool designer from Dubai called Poupee Couture-their name is so unique, as is their backround story-''Poupee Couture began as a bit of a parody of how the Arab woman's behaviour is controlled by societal expectations. How she always wants to say, do and show more but always ends up holding back in fear of what the community might think. This concept materialised into bags that had a rigid perfectly calculated geometric form on the exterior but then on a closer look, contained vertical slits revealing brilliant colour from within. Colour always shone through, either by a material layering, perforated Arabesque metal, or in the form of frills peaking out from the bag’s interior''

This aesthetic is really a style choice I can relate to and admire and certainly their pieces are already formed on a wishlist of mine!!

Frame Clutch $165, in gold, white crotchet and neon yellow

Woven Apart clutch $155, in silver and neon yellow

Boticca's website features a host of independent worldwide designers and really is worth checking out- I really like how you can 'travel' the site by individual countries to get that all important and authentic item that makes you feel you've been to select it from that country personally!! With unique jewellery, bags and accessories on offer there really is so much too choose from, be it for yourself or as a gift for someone special, so go on- take a look now!!



Outfit post for Thrift Inspiration-Yayoi Kusama style!!

Hi everyone!!! It is well documented that Louis Vuitton's latest artistic collaberation is with Yayoi Kusama who is an 82 year old Japanese artist obsessed with polka dots and has produced a really awesome collection including leather bags, shoes, accessories and jewellery.

Her exhibition is currently showing in New York:

I was suitably inspired to wear my H&M and Comme des Garcons collab shirt that I thrifted last year in my local Salvation Army. As we are having such in-between weather it's the perfect layering piece over vest tees when a jacket is not required:

I am also wearing my thrifted J Brand Earhart khaki crops which were just £2 from a neighbouring towns Sense charity shop. My navy and white floral pumps are from Primark, £4.

And for all of you who remember me with long hair, it's all now cropped off!!!

Whats your thoughts on polka dots-do you like the large or little variety-do you actually like them at all??

A Week of Fashion-Graduate Fashion Week with George and London Collections: Mens

Hi everyone!! Yet again it has been a very hectic week both for me and in the general world of fashion.

I am very fortunate to be celebrating both Graduate Fashion Week and London Collections Mens 2012 in different ways. Firstly, I was fortunate to receive an invitation from George at Asda to join in celebrating Graduate Fashion Week. You may well ask-What is Graduate Fashion Week?

"We have the most exceptional design talent coming out of our Colleges here in the UK and I salute their energy, their talent and their well earned and deserved global reputation." says Christopher Bailey, Burberry Creative Director. Created to provide a showcase of the year’s best new talent under one roof for potential employers, national and international media and industry, GFW is the largest graduate fashion event in the world. Designers, marketeers, new media experts, buyers, pattern cutters, stylists, journalist's, illustrators and visual merchandisers all participate in GFW and represent the future of British fashion.

From Stella McCartney, Giles Deacon, Matthew Williamson, Antonio Berardi and of course Christopher Bailey (who won the very first GFW Designer of the Year Award) to the unsung heroes who populate design studios, buying offices, publishing houses and creative agencies all over the world, GFW has introduced some of the industry’s brightest stars.

GFW is a charity and receives no support from the government, it was founded in 1991 by Jeff Banks CBE, Vanessa Denza MBE and John Walford, to unify the many British fashion colleges which at that point showed around the country with no synergy or focal point. GFW is entirely dependent on sponsorship and is very grateful to its title sponsors George at Asda which are supporting the event for the second year running.

As such, I was asked by George at Asda to pick a gorgeous summer style staple which I have shown in the last picture below. I was suitably inspired by the official tumblr pictures from Graduate Fashion Week for choosing my summer dress, as it is boldly patterned and has a gorgeously frilled assymetric hem and bandeau top to create a really unusual and lovely summer dress.

Here is my pick of my favourite pictures from the official GFW tumblr:

I had to choose a gorgeous LBD too!!

This is the dress I chose which will keep me cool and stylish this coming summer!! Plus I also received a gorgeous Rimmel goodie bag containing some eyeshadow, a Kate Moss lippy, a concealer and mascara!!

Secondly, my gorgeous son has been working for an online magazine for London Collections: Men 2012 this weekend and we have been involved with helping him get to and from different venues-picking him up from Harrods last night meant we got to see Thom Browne's collection which took place just outside Harrods on one of their traditional London buse's with live music and some Lolas cupcakes-very delicious and a great evening too! He has been working really hard these last 3 days photographing lots of designers and his favourite was Topman Design where he not only did the shoot but also managed to get some very cool shots of Alexa Chung, Reggie Yates and Ronnie Wood plus Tinie Tempah at Thom Brownes yesterday!! I am beyond proud and please do check out his work uploaded so far here on his facebook photography page and also here on his tumblr!!

So heres to a very successful week and weekend of fashion and I hope you've all had a great weekend too!!

Greener Living- My Orla Kiely shopper tote bag from Tesco

Whilst doing some shopping in my local Tesco's this evening, on the way to the checkout I noticed this lovely exclusive range of reusable bags designed by Orla Kiely.

The first thing I noticed about them were the patterns-anyone who is aware of Orla Kiely knows these are so distinctive of her work.

The bags are 'juco', which is a material technology that combines the strength and natural properties of jute with the finishing and texture of cotton fabric-in other words a tough, hardwearing and stylish reusable bag, ideal for your weekly shop, or as a general tote bag for work or at the weekends.

I chose this design, the other two were in stock below too:

The other great thing about the bag was the price-only £4!! My bottle of rose wine cost more!

The limited edition bags were made to raise money for Tesco and Orla Kiely's chosen charities-CLIC Sargent and The Royal College of Art, with 50p from each bag sold going to the charities, the money divided equally to each charity.

I believe these bags have been in-store for a few months now, but may not be in each and every store, so if you do see them I would snap them up-certainly one of my favourite designer and high street collaberations of this year!!

Check out Greener Living from Tesco- you can pick up some great ideas and tips on being more greener and being aware of your environment.

Thrift Inspiration........TheLittleBlackJacket.chanel.com-plus MyStyle by the decade

Firstly, a big HIYA to all my readers and followers!! I have been very noticeably absent for a number of life consuming reasons, but I seem to be back on an even keel and I'd like to resume blogging life if possible!!

I was suitably inspired by Karl Lagerfeld's and Carine Roitfeld's exhibition which has taken place already in Tokyo and is due to open in New York on 8 June: The Little Black Jacket, with the book to follow later this year. There were109 fashion and famous personalities taking part by wearing the iconic Chanel little black jacket in their own way, with Karl and Carine taking the photos in his Paris photographic studio within six days with the results being shown in the forthcoming exhibitions and the lavish coffee table book:

The exhibition will be visiting London later this year with the book coming out on sale too-I will definitely make my way to see this, cannot wait!!

Anyhow, it inspired me to show off some of my collection of Little Black Jackets- I had a count up and have 10 in total!! Here are my favourites which span the decades, from the 1970s right upto the 2010s-you can never have too many, no??

This first one is my most recent and current in style purchase-by COS, I purchased it from the British Heart Foundation on Sunday for only £6.99 and I love the flared 3/4 sleeves and zipper detail-a very minimalist and deconstructed style:

2010s-COS jacket

This next jacket is a boot sale find from last year, bought for only £3 and it is one of my absolute favourites-none other than Valentino, with the trademark lace detail around the lapels and neckline in a classic tuxedo style:



00s Valentino

Next, another favourite is this Thierry Mugler sculptured little black jacket, so tailored and form fitted, bought from my local Sue Ryder charity shop a couple of years ago now for £12:

                                            

90s Mugler

This next jacket was a special find a few years ago now in my local Salvation Army for only £2.50, a gorgeously cut fluid wool jacket by Issey Miyake from his Plantation line-classic 80s styling with batwing sleeves:

                                                                

 80s Issey Miyake

Lastly another favourite find is this wonderful unlabelled Janice Wainwright 70s jacket, with her distinctive applique and art deco styling in black wool crepe:

70s Janice Wainwright

So you can see I have a weakness for Little Black Jackets (as well as denim, but thats another blog post story!!)

What is your fashion weakness, I'd love to know what your indulgences are!!!

PS-Although I have not been commenting I have still been enjoying reading your blogs and will hopefully be over to leave a comment or two! Wishing you all a great week ahead!!