Outfit Post & Current ThriftMyStyle Summer Style Obsessions- Lace, Embroidery, Espadrilles and Denim

 Hi everyone! After hearing the weather report on Wednesday evening for Thursday to Saturday I was really ready to embrace summer dressing-bare legs, dress and some summer sun ready to sit out in and enjoy. Alas, the outfit was there on Thursday but definitely no summer sun to radiate in! 

Style obsessions are currently lace, embroidery and denim and in various mixes for good measure. This outfit features a thrift find from last Sunday- a Gap slim fit denim jacket in exactly the shade I've been looking for this coming summer. I was at a local boot sale on Sunday and saw it on a ladies rail, so I asked the price and she said £2. Definitely cheap enough but for some reason I said to her 'Will you take £1.50?' We both burst out laughing at the same time and I'm sure it was because of my cheek but she said yes and off I went!

I'm wearing one of my items from the clothes swap party a couple of months ago, a Topshop blush pink lace dress. It's sleeveless and backless and is an ideal length for me and so perfect as a daytime summer dress if I wear it with denim. I'm also wearing some tan sandals which I thrifted a couple of summers ago- they are Clarks and were from my local Sue Ryder charity shop for around £8:

My new pinterest board, Crafted Style-Embroidery, Lace et Al is quickly expanding with images of everything embroidered, lace and summer boho orientated:

With this inspiration in mind I stopped off in another local town for a spot of charity shop thrifting this morning as the boot sale didn't appeal weatherwise and found this charming embroidered lace cotton camisole by Fat Face in the £1 Sense charity shop:

It's a replacement for one I stupidly put in the charity shop bag a couple of years ago for no good reason and will be perfect under denim jackets and waistcoats and summer blazers too.

Another style inspiration that's been hot on my mind are espadrilles and slides so how chuffed I was to find an unusual mix of the two earlier as well- they are Pare Gabia espadrilles made in France and were in the Sue Ryder charity shop for £3.95:

Brand new too and a much needed addition to my summer wardrobe, these will get worn a lot and will go with so much that I have already.

Unfortunately the sun shows no sign of returning any time soon where I am and my feet are freezing- I may have to get the socks and boots out  ;- (

What is on your style radar at the moment- are you shopping for summer and if so do you have current obsessions of the moment?

Have a lovely Easter weekend and I hope the sun is shining for the rest of you, wherever you are!!

Jean Paul Gaultier Exhibition, Barbican Centre London

 Hi everyone! I was fortunate to be gifted some tickets for the fabulous Jean Paul Gaultier exhibition at the Barbican Centre in London. Lovely blogger friend Kate of Twisted Skirt and I decided to go last Saturday and we met just before midday for our timed viewing at 12pm. 

Jean Paul Gaultier was born in 1952 in Arcueil, a suburb of Paris. He grew up thinking and creating for his future career as a fashion designer and was suitably inspired by magazines, 60s TV programmes and films from the interwar period. Gaultier is self taught and discovered the tradition and skills of haute couture by working at the fashion houses of Pierre Cardin and Jean Patou between 1970-1974. He set up his own company in 1976 with a womens ready to wear line and adding a mens collection in 1983. In 1997 he opened his own couture house showing 2 collections a year and from 2004-2010, 4 collections a year including two other for Hermes. Gaultier is best known for his love and design staple, the Breton stripe. He is also a master worker of denim, tartan and sequins and not forgetting his expertise and precision in using feathers, which see beautiful and labour intensive haute couture pieces that are just totally magnificent and awe inspiring.

I've picked my favourite photos from the collection and could of easily added more- I took around 80 and these made the final cut! I do so hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed the exhibition- I can honestly say he is a true style icon of our times and his clothes are forever inspiring throughout past decades and for decades to come and I would definitely recommend you visiting the exhibition especially if you are a fan of his work, you will not be disappointed. The exhibition also covered his work for Madonna and Kylie Minogue for their world tours-the outfits are just spectacular viewed close up.

The mannequin here has Jean Paul Gaultier's face transposed onto it as did quite a lot of the mannequins throughout the exhibition-it was eerily spectacular!!

How could I not wear my favourite Jean Paul Gaultier baroque embroidered denim jacket and JPG top to see the exhibition??!!

This outfit of biker jacket and tutu skirt is from his first pret a porter collection in 1977- nearly 40 years old but still so inspiring for trends of today

Kate of Twisted Skirt!

Jean Paul Gaultier used to appear in the 90s cult series, Eurotrash and here is his Spitting Image puppet!!

The shop afterwards was amazing, I really could of let loose with the debit card but decided to be good!!

As I said before, my chosen outfit of the day was my 90s Jean Paul Gaultier Baroque denim jacket, Jean Paul Gaultier body con top (originally a tube dress) and my DKNY black crepe loose fit trousers with black leather flat sandals, all thrifted.

I do hope you enjoyed the pictures and a big thanks to Barclaycard for being able to enjoy this memorable and awe inspiring exhibition.

I hope you all have a really good Easter weekend whatever you get up to!!

Boot Sale Buyer and Seller Tips- The ThriftMyStyle Way!

Hi everyone!!  I hope you are all enjoying the week so far- for us mums it's Easter school holidays and my youngest is enjoying a well deserved break, where as I'm working on and off over these two weeks!

I thought I would revisit a post from last year as it's not long now for the boot sale season to be fully up and running and I for one can't wait!! These pictures are from a popular Saturday boot sale not far from where I live and is held at Chigwell Rise in Essex. As our shed is again fit to burst this Spring I don't think it will be long before we're having our next sale to clear out more accumulated clutter!

About this time last year hubby decided to do one with a selection of vintage items, antiques and general household items that we no longer wanted and I decided to go along to be an early bird to catch some goodies. This was the view from our window queuing to get in at 5 am on Saturday morning, so cold yet so lovely to see the mist and dawn rising over the fields so early:

Once he had paid the pitch money to get in (£12) he started to set up while I decided to wander around and wait for people to start setting up and selling. As you can tell from the frost, it was freezing cold and I was glad I had my layers of a tee, sweatshirt, scarf, gloves, boots, socks and parka on, with my hood glued to my head for the first couple of hours!! First tip of the day, make sure you wear layers- as the morning proceeds, you will start to lose them but they will be well needed the earlier you start. Second tip-if you are doing a boot sale then it's also a good idea to bring a thermos flask of tea or coffee and some home made sandwiches to keep you going for the duration as you won't want to end up spending your hard earned cash on food at the site.

I haven't been to a boot sale so early for years, so it was glorious to see the dawn rise and take pictures of the red sky beckoning a new day ahead:

Another useful tip is to make sure you take a fair amount of change and some carrier bags with you- no one will be too happy to be greeted with a £10 or £20 note at 6:30 in the morning and having your own bags will save time to dash on to the next eagerly sought after bargain too! So by about 6:45 a lot of stalls were set up and buyers were descending on sellers like their lives depended on it-what a frenzy!! I didn't know whether to elbow my way in or wait my turn and a crucial tip here-definitely do both to get those all important early bird bargains!!

The boot sale is held in two adjoining fields so it was good to cross over every so often to catch new sellers setting up. Make a point of checking them out as soon as possible as you may miss out if you carry on looking at stalls that are already well set up. Another tip-if it is very early don't always buy on the first price that a seller says (unless your heart is set on the item of course) as in a couple of hours they may well be welcome to a bit of haggling. Also when we actually do a boot sale we never mark up prices on our items-buyers as I well know love to not only get a bargain but haggle too, plus it gives you the opportunity to have a chat with them.

Just because items are cheap does not necessarily mean they should be bought for the sake of it-in the heat of the moment it is tempting to buy up everything you see because of the low prices but you do still need to be selective about the labels and items you choose. If you do see something that you are in two minds over, then do buy it-going back for it means it won't be there later!! Also just because something has a designer label in it does not always make it a must buy and constitute good value for money-it's only worth buying if it's going to mix in successfully with the rest of your own wardrobe and be worn regularly.

Don't be afraid to have a go at haggling yourself either- if you're reasonable in the offers you make and are polite and friendly it's odds on you will get that item for cheaper but if not, at least you asked! Don't be put off by something if it is a bit dirty or has some loose stitching-this is an ideal way to haggle and it's not hard to do some cleaning or a repair job on your chosen item when you get home.

 By mid morning the layers of scarves, hats and gloves were gone-it's amazing what a difference a few hours makes!! As you can see the sunshine there was positively glorious by midday, even if parts of the field were still waterlogged-another tip, make sure you wear your walking boots or wellies if the weather has been previously rainy, the fields can still be squelchy and muddy even if the skies are blue! If you're not in a hurry another invaluable tip is to go around the boot sale again- buyers have a habit of not putting everything out initially and a disregarded stall first time around may reap you a bargain buy on your next visit.

When I look around I tend to look at clothes and accessories- another good tip is to check out mens wear stalls as I've found really good buys such as belts and tees that can easily be unisex items. I love looking out for handbags too, boot sales are great for finding good quality leather handbags-both designer and vintage for really reasonable prices.

We packed up shortly after midday and headed to our local supermarket to stock up on some fresh crusty rolls, sausages and pure orange juice for a home made brunch for when we got home. Boot sales can be expensive for eating out and you don't always get quality food for the money, so we just had cups of tea and some fresh donuts there and ate at home. 

You can use google to find local boot sales near to you as well as checking out your local paper too- I would certainly recommend them whether you are a seller or a buyer and getting there early regardless will inevitably set you up for a good morning of bargain hunting-you can be back home again for around 1 pm to enjoy your afternoon, so what's not to love?!!

Have a great weekend whatever you get upto-I'll be checking out my local paper this week to see what ones have started up this year in my area. Do you have you any plans to visit a boot sale this season?

ThriftMyStyle Keeps Up with The Slogans with Nike, Adidas, J Crew and Comme des Garcons

Hi everyone!! I thought I would share one of my favourite wardrobe staples with you- the slogan tee. Whether I look subconciously or not, I always seem to be drawn to tees with some type of slogan on them-it's the sort of feeling that a lot of bloggers have for their Breton stripes- they can never have too many, whatever the style or detail! 

One of my favourite summer finds last year was this Nike Ken Griffey tee, which was from a neighbouring town's Sue Ryder charity shop for £1.50. It got its first wear earlier in the week with my new-ish H&M skinny distressed jeans which were in the sale in January for £9.99 and my recently thrifted Papillio Birkies:

 The tee is a really soft material and the cut is ideal, fitted but not too tight and not overly loose either. I think the orange Birkenstocks just give the whole casual look a pop of needed colour:

My next tee is a J Crew charity shop find that I've had a while: 

E' Tale Vita aka Such is Life

My next find is from years ago when I first started blogging, I found this Comme des Garcons tee at my local boot sale for just £1:

One, Two Three

This next find was from last year and scratched the itch for a red tee as well as the slogan too

Drink Coca Cola

This last one is a real Adidas original which belonged to my eldest son from around 8 years ago. It has languished in the cupboard and been resurrected by me for Summer to add a pop of colour when worn with my favourite jeans of the day: 

A real Adidas Original

What is the weakest link in your wardrobe? Are you mad over Breton stripes or do you go crazy for the perfect pair of black trousers or the must have grey marl tee, I'd love you to share!!

Wishing you all a really fabulous weekend, whatever you get upto!!

My Week in Pictures

Hi everyone!! I hope you are all keeping well and enjoying the lovely Spring weather at the moment! It's such a nice feeling to venture out without all the obligatory layers of winter and think about lighter jackets and bare ankles!

Last week whilst on a thrifting trip in a town not too far away I was very lucky with footwear finds. The Richard House Childrens Hospice was where I found these:

Adidas Original Stan Smith Brown Weave trainers, £8

Papillio Birkenstock Arizona sandals £5.99

On Saturday my eldest had reserved some items in our local Sue Ryder charity shop and of course I had to have a browse. There is a new manager in there and prices are very reasonable-my star find of the week was an authentic Belstaff blouson jacket for just £5.

Next day of course was Mothers Day and a joint card from my beautiful boys and a lovely summer tee was my present from them both.

Sunday afternoon was spent with my mum as we wined and dined at a newly found favourite Mediterranean restaurant of mine which I couldn't wait for my mum to try. We both had a shared Mezes starter, grilled sea bass, mashed potato and mixed vegetables for our main meal and for desert I had stuffed apricots and my mum had baklava.

My mum bought me some perfume for Mothers Day, Blue Grass by Elizabeth Arden, one she has worn for decades. 

I'm still being rather a bookworm at the moment and my spare time has been spent reading Martina Cole's The Faithless- well with my home town being mentioned, I knew it would be a must read and having finished it last night I'll sonn be on the look out for a suitable replacement when back at work-the joy of working in a library is I get to indulge my sneaky peeks of every different kind of book and my library card is constantly in use.

Wishing you all a lovely week and I hope all of you lovely mums had a wonderful Mothers Day too!!