Thrift Inspiration.....My Version of The Maxmara Carrara Coat, aka The Teddy Bear Coat

Hi everyone! I hope you've all had a lovely Christmas and Boxing Day, ours was very relaxing with a lot of good food and drink, films and Christmas TV thrown in! Thank you all for your lovely Christmas wishes-they were so much appreciated and I hope your holidays have been all you wanted them to be and if Santa didn't bring you that elusive pressie you've been after then hopefully you may be able to track it down in the sales that are all on at the moment!

I thought I would share a find from the summer holidays with you that is my inspirational version of the gorgeous and most covetable coat of the moment, the MaxMara Carrara coat, which I know is Carine Roitfeld and Kim Kardashian's winter coat of choice:

MaxMara Carrara Coat

It's just like a blanket coat, enveloping you like a big fluffy dressing gown and making you feel like a teddy bear-thus giving the coat it's nickname of the 'teddy bear coat'

I have a feeling the coat is sold out now, but it certainly is such an inspiring look and style- I love the casual wraparound vibe, the gorgeous caramel colour and of course the thought of the feeling you would get wearing a coat like this, I don't think you'd want to take it off!! 

So here is my inspired version- it's a vintage faux fur coat by Tissavel of France, a very renowned but now sadly defunct, faux fur manafacturer established in 1953. I have owned a couple of Tissavel coats in the past which were such fabulous quality, but this one is defintely my favourite. My favourite features of the coat are it's wide collar, the 'no buttons' style so you have to wear it in a wraparound style and of course, the length-this coat is definitely keeping all chills at bay!!

The true life colour is more as shown in the second picture, a 'caramel camel' colour and it was the perfect coat of choice to wear at the weekend for a brisk walk around St Katherines Dock- which was a very brisk and short one as we decided to go for a drive and enjoy a forthcoming coffee out at Cafe Nero.

I'm wearing a lurex pom pom beanie from Primark last winter, River Island faux leather panel leggings, ankle boots from PrettyLittleThing.com, a Marks and Spencer thrifted black merino wool polo sweater and a Chanel inspired black leather quilted chain bag:

Because of the wraparound style I just felt like hugging myself and of course you have to with this sort of coat as it comes apart otherwise!!

I bought this in the heart of summer from a local towns Sense charity shop which sells everything for a £1- so this is definitely my cheapest coat bargain of the year! 

Have you found your perfect winter coat yet? Do you love vintage or will you be seeking a bargain in the sales? I'd love to see how you're all styling up your chosen winter coat this season!! I am linking this post to the lovely Claire Justine for her weekend blog hop, I hope you get a chance to check out her fabulous blog! Wishing you all a very happy weekend and happy sales shopping too!

A Very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays To You All!!

Hi everyone!! I would like to take this opportunity to wish each and everyone one of you a very happy and peaceful Christmas with lots of festivities and fun!

A Massive Thank You to all of my lovely followers and readers for your continued support and friendship and for the lovely comments I've received from you, they are very much appreciated.

I am trying to get myself organised for Christmas, I still have a few things to do but with any luck it will all pan out ok! Today I'm out with some girlfriends for Christmas dinner and then working tomorrow, Monday and Tuesday morning!

I hope Christmas brings you all that you hope and wish for and I look forward to seeing what Santa has brought for you!!

Have a Fabulous Weekend and Happy Holidays, Lots of Love To You All!!

Dining In with Tiffin Tin

Hi everyone! I had to blog about my recent 'fine dining experience at home' from my all time local favourite eatery, The Tiffin Tin. 

"The Tiffin Tin is one of London's Top five places for a great take-home meal," Tom Parker-Bowles. 

"The portions were enormous: the meat was juicy and well spiced-the spices for each dish are ground daily on the premises. The freshest Indian food this side of Brick Lane." The Evening Standard.

I had already bought food from here before I knew of it's fine reputation and the first time I tried it I knew it was a place that would be forever a favourite and is frequented on special occasions for it to remain a treat.

We traveled to our local branch in Wanstead so we could personally check out their open plan kitchen and see the cooks in action. The service was excellent and it was great to watch the food being cooked in front of us and enjoy the aromas wafting around. 

The Tiffin Tin uses the finest ingredients and the freshest and most different vegetables in their dishes and they do not use any artificial colourings or preservatives. Your chosen dishes are vacuum sealed and also put into plastic reusable containers and your meal comes with complimentary popadums and chutney.

We had a Tandoori mixed grill for starters, murgh (chicken breast) dansak, pilau rice and vegetable biryani, which between three of us was more than adequate as we had food leftover for the following day too: 

I love how you receive your food too-no bog standard white carrier bags, you get this funky cardboard box which is based on the original Tiffin Tin carrier which is a standard for the Indian way of life of how people carry fresh food from home to work. I already have a couple that I keep in my room to store scarves. As the food is tightly secure, the boxes are immaculate and always reusable immediately:

Like I said we went to our local Tiffin Tin branch in Wanstead, (East London)-they also have branches in Hornsey, Totteridge Lane, Tuffnell Park and West Hampstead. You can actually order online and credit cards are acceptable as well as cash if you wish to take advantage of their free delivery for orders over £10.

If you do live in any of these areas around London I really recommend you try their food-you won't be disappointed and the standard of food is definitely the equivalent of eating in a top quality restaurant with the added benefits of being at home of course and you also get the chance to support a local, thriving and successful business!!

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend and that all your preparations are coming along nicely for Christmas too!

Ralph Lauren Fair Isle and Some Musings on My Blogging Future

Hi everyone!! Please excuse my absence recently, having started my new role as a library assistant I have been learning my trade by being at different libraries within my borough as well as my main local one. I am so enjoying my new job and it's great to work in the serenity and quaintness of the smaller libraries as well as the ever busy main library in which I am doing so many different duties. Being away from work for over a year because of health issues meant I had quite a lot of time on my hands to go thrifting, read and post blogs and of course doing housework at my leisure- now time seems to be running away from me and although it feels work is coming first at the moment, I wouldn't have it any other way. It's great to be in a job that I actually look forward to going to and making a difference too-unfortunately my blog posting has taken a back seat because of this and also because I am enjoying my free time by reading more books and blogs without actually leaving comments.

My blog is six years old in March (!!) and it's been a real journey of building relationships and friendships and a labour of love of showing my thrift finds. I've been extremely fortunate this year to find some awesome items, such as my Chanel jacket and my MaxMara coat and I always get a buzz from finding designer and vintage pieces for next to nothing, but I admit to being disillusioned with the boot sales this year-I've had much more success at the charity shops and without the need to be up at the crack of dawn too!

 As I said before, I am in the process of re-evaluating my work/life balance and I'm not entirely sure how my blog fits in the equation at the moment. It may well be that as Christmas is approaching, like everyone else life and work are priorities but as much as I love thrifting, style and fashion I am not sure if the 'passion' is still there for me to carry on blogging on a very regular basis. I suppose only time will tell, but I think my blog posting will be more infrequent and sporadic for the foreseeable future. I do however really enjoy my blog reading regularly so I will be attempting to comment more regularly via bloglovin.

This may well be my last outfit post of the year, so I thought I'd share a recent look from earlier this week when I wasn't working in my regulation work polo tee and black jeans! I am wearing my thrifted Ralph Lauren Fair Isle tank sweater, Primark chambray shirt, recently thrifted wine colour River Island skinny jeans and black leather studded Dune ankle biker boots:

A close up of my sweater- it is a really cosy top and with a shirt underneath gives just the right amount of warmth on days that are not freezing cold!!

I would also like to say as a given that my blog would not be where or what it is without the constant support, friendship and readers that regularly stop by to either lurk, read or comment- I am so thankful and humbled by the amount of love that is sent my way via the blog and without any of you I would have stopped blogging a long while ago. Even if one person is inspired or enjoys a particular post on my blog that makes me feel so appreciative and thankful and it's honestly been the catalyst for me to have carried on posting.

I do hope to stay in 'blogland' for the forseeable future but things and life do have a habit of changing so it is much a scenario of 'Watch this space!'

I would like to take this opportunity of wishing you all a very Happy, Peaceful and Festive Christmas and a Successful and Healthy 2014, God Bless You All xxxxxxx

UPDATED TO ADD-All my lovely comments have inspired to share my post with the wonderful Claire Justine for Creative Mondays and I really want to say a massive big thank you for all of your kind words, support and comments!!

MaxMara Camel Coat.....My Best Thrift Find for the Winter!

Hi everyone!! I hope you had a really great weekend, I had a positively relaxing one and took great pleasure in pitching up on the sofa for most of Sunday afternoon watching films and only getting up to prepare dinner!!

You may remember from a couple of posts back that I went to London last weekend and I thought I'd show you my best thrift find of the summer- a MaxMara wool camel coat which was an amazing £5 from a local boot sale. It sat in a carrier bag for a while awaiting to be dry cleaned and now it has been done, it is officially being worn! It's a really warm coat and I was deliciously toasty whilst I was doing the rounds around London-too warm in fact as I had to come out of some shops and get some cool air to stop me from overheating!!

My outfit of the day was the MaxMara coat, my Aquascutum scarf, River Island faux leather panel leggings and my thrifted Marks and Spencer merino wool black roll neck which I got a couple of months ago for £2.99:

Going back to when I got the coat, it was in July when the weather was scorching and I nearly didn't get it as I wasn't really into winter coat thinking mode and I didn't really want to lug it around the boot sale. I took it off the ladies car and tried it on and it's in great condition-the interior is immaculate and the exterior has the odd tiny patches of wear but overall it definitely has a good few years of life yet to go. Another lady who was buying something else was eyeing it up, so I quickly paid my £5 and bought it!

 To think that camel wool coats are so popular this season and to be honest, I wouldn't have bought a brand new one so thrifting the best name in winter coats was beyond a bonus for me- up with my Chanel jacket find, they are both my best finds this year!!

I'm linking up to the lovely Claire Justine for Creative Mondays, I hope you get a chance to take a look at her lovely blog and maybe link up yourself!!

Wishing you all a really fabulous week ahead, whatever you get up to!!