Thrift Inspiration............Blue and White Checks and Stripes for Summer

Hi everyone! I hope you've all had a great weekend, what with the freaky windy and rainy weather I haven't been up to a lot over the weekend- a lot of rest and relaxation, watching films, listening to music and indulging in my favourite pastime, pinterest. I've updated my cover boards and added more pins with my current summer inspirations, blue and white- in particular checks and stripes:

 

I'm wearing an All Saints shirt which is a thrift find from the St Francis Hospice and was only £2- this is my first time of wearing it and I've paired it with my black French Connection capri pants and black espadrilles:

I haven't worn the shirt 'blogger style' aka 'the half or full tuck', I'll check out this look another time!

I've been after a blue and white stripe shirt for ages now- I actually saw one at the boot sale a few weeks ago and should really have bought it, I don't why I didn't! Anyhow, I found a perfect one on Saturday which I'm hoping to get into an outfit very soon and these stylings have very much influenced how I may wear it. I don't own any white skinny jeans, so I'll substitute black or blue instead:

images: via pinterest and google

I think blue and white stripes are very chic and a smart or mens one can easily be dressed down with jeans and a blazer or black shorts, it's definitely a look I can't wait to start wearing regularly this season.

Are you hunting down anything in particular for this coming Summer? Black for Summer is also on my style radar and I'm keen to thrift some perfect cotton pieces, I'll keep you posted with any future finds!!

Wishing you all a great week ahead, here's hoping this heatwave we've been hearing so much about actually starts to materialise!

Thrift Inspiration....Singing The Blues in All Saints, Reiss and Vintage Yves Saint Laurent

Hi everyone! I hope you've all had a great week so far-my day today has been so up and down, I don't know if I've been coming or going! Firstly this morning saw me running late for work, completely run out of petrol on the way, problems parking which led to me being late and then on my return to the car park later a parking ticket! I was rather stressed by the time I got home early afternoon but it got better with a meet up with girlfriends for a meal and catch up at a local restaurant and with hubby cooking and washing up for himself and younger son I feel like I'm now fully calmed down, hehe!!

I was really chuffed to have been nominated for 'best thrifty blog' by The MAD Blog Awards for Mums and dads 2014 this weekend. I've displayed a 'Nominate Me' badge on my sidebar and would deeply appreciate it if you could take time out to nominate me please! IF I get through to the next stage then more voting is required and I could be in with a chance of attending a lovely finalist awards evening and winning an iPad Air, woo hoo! Anyhow, it's been lovely to have been nominated and any further nominations and votes will be much appreciated!!

Back to style matters in hand, I thought I would show you some fairly recent thrift finds that seem to be very much on a recurring theme-blue to be precise.

As you all may be aware I am very much a denim enthusiast-ok, addict might be a better word if 25+ pairs of jeans is slightly more than the norm! I'm thinking that it's not so much jeans I'm into but the colour more so? I pretty much love denim jackets, waistcoats, skirts shirts and jeans and all in different shades of blue but particularly this year faded blue has definitely been on my style radar a lot, very evident on my denim inspiration pinterest board if you fancy taking a look!

My latest thrift finds were from a couple of Saturdays ago- I found this fabulous vintage cheesecloth Yves Saint Laurent mens shirt in a neighbouring town's St Francis Hospice charity shop for just £2.50!!

It's such a great fit and is definitely my current favourite go to shirt for summer, to be paired with faded jeans, cut offs and white jeans (if I find a pair that I like):

My next find that day was in the afternoon at my own local Sue Ryder charity shop, which was a pair of Reiss high waisted skinny zip ankle jeans for a bargainous £1 in their sale!! In my size too and another pair of perfectly shaded blue jeans that I can't wait to start wearing!

The middle pair are some Gap boyfriend jeans that I thrifted in January for just £3.99-again the perfect distressed lighter shade of blue that will be perfect once ankles can be shown in warmer weather!!

The 3rd pair are some Levis demi curve straight leg jeans which if I can remember were also less than £2, thrifted last year in Autumn from a neighbouring towns Sue Ryder charity shop:

Left to Right: Reiss, Gap, Levis

The last picture features more shirts that I've thrifted and been gifted since Autumn last year:

From top to bottom: All Saints checked shirt, £2 from the St Francis Hospice,  River Island acid light wash shirt from the DEBRA charity shop for £3.99, my gifted degrade denim shirt from the swap shop party and dark wash thrifted H&M chambray shirt from the Sense charity shop for £3.50.

So you've seen a sneaky peek into my denim obsession and what sort of items are making their way and staying in my wardrobe.

What style and items are actually making their way into your wardrobe this season? Please share I'd love to know! 

Thrift Inspiration.....Net-A-Porter & Blogger Style!!

Hi everyone! I hope you've all had a great week-the weather overall has been pretty awful with some being a lot worse off than others in different areas of the UK. I do so hope you haven't suffered very badly with flooding and the like. It is so sad and soul destroying for people who have lost goods and treasured possessions because of the continuous floods- I hope and pray they will be able to get their lives back on track as soon as possible.

My week has been busy with working at different libraries but I have the weekend off-yay!! When I go to different towns for work I always try to sneak in visits to the local charity shops. Wednesday lunchtime saw me browsing at six during my lunch hour, bagging a bargain and still having time for a sneaky McDonalds before going back to work! 

Style wise I've noticed that I go through phases-if it's not denim and jeans, then it's jackets and coats and if it's not neither of these then it's handbags!! Like jeans and jackets, I can never have enough handbags- if I spy a quality one then I'm there like a homing device!!

I've been on a slow burning mission to get a slouchy hobo style leather bag- I have a good few totes, structured handbags, cross body bags and clutches but wardrobe purges over the years have seen me get rid of my slouchy hobo styles. Here are my favourites at Net-Porter of what's influenced me:

Elizabeth and James textured backpack, £445

 Anya Hindmarch Maxi Zip satchel £795

Chloe The Marcie £1195

Marc Jacobs Classic Q Hillier Hobo, £350

 Proenza Schouler PS1 Large Satchel, £1440

So this is what I found below- a gorgeously buttersoft, slouchy hobo style leather black bag by All Saints for a fabulously frugal £3!! It is actually so roomy-it has three large compartments, a front zipper pocket and inner compartments too:

To be fair, I most probably didn't need another black bag, but I really couldn't pass on this one and on days when I need to store my brolly, hat, scarf, lunch and other general bits and bobs it's great to have just one bag that doesn't look like you've stuffed your whole world in there and can't close the zip! I've culled four bags that no longer make the cut in terms of quality and size so I don't feel so bad buying another one!

On that note, another bag which has been on my radar thanks to the lovely Michelle of Myfashionable40s is this Autograph leopard and black leather cross body bag. She blogged about it here in November and I couldn't indulge at the time as I had bought the wedge boots in the same post when M&S were doing their 20% off. However last Sunday whilst browsing ebay I was ecstatic to find it for less than £25 on a buy it now!! 

It arrived on Thursday and I'm so pleased with it-everytime I've seen Michelle wear hers I've been thinking how it was 'the one that got away'. It really is so versatile and stylish and the perfect size too and the money I spent was gifted so I actually didn't spend my own money-yay!!

So two 'new to me' handbags for February and having bought a red woolly hat in Dorothy Perkins on Tuesday too, my total spends thus far is £8-not too bad, but I had envisioned a couple of weeks ago that I might be doing Avril's Frugal February style challenge-it's been an unfortunate fail there for me but I shall certainly be trying to be as frugal as possible for the rest of the month.

How is your February going style and frugal wise? Wishing you all a good weekend-i'm having a relaxing one with a dash of housework thrown in and also looking forward to Sunday evening when the next installment of Mr Selfridge comes on-my TV highlight of the week!

Thrift Inspiration.....Short Sleeve Chunky Knit Jumper

Hi everyone!! I hope you are all bearing up now the Wintry weather is setting in-apparently we are in for some real icy cold weather over the next couple of weeks so now is the time to dust down those winter knits and get them to the front of your wardrobe.

The majority of my jumpers that I have are all long sleeved, but I do have the odd short sleeve jumper, that being my Sonia Rykiel thrifted jumper that I bought a few years back at the now sadly gone Help The Aged charity shop for only £2.49. It's great to wear over silky blouses, chambray denim or a thermal long sleeve top. Short sleeve jumpers are so versatile and stylish and make a welcome change to the normal long sleeved versions and what I'm liking about the current versions are they are cut like oversized tees, making them perfect for layering and cosying up in. Here are my favourite picks of short sleeve jumpers that are available now:

Sonia by Sonia Rykiel, £235

French Connection jumper, £69

IRO Kailey Jumper £259.50

Sonia by Sonia Rykiel jumper, £250

So I found another short sleeved jumper to add to the wardrobe recently- a lovely hand knitted aran chunky knit which is oversized and cocoon shaped and was a bargainous £4.49 from my local Salvation Army charity shop:

I chose to wear it yesterday with my Uniqlo heattech long sleeved top from last year, my All Saints jeans that I got from the boot sale a few months ago for £3 and my new tan Chelsea boots:

I'll definitely wear this over my light and dark wash chambray shirts in the style of Laura of the WIT blog and with skinny jeans too- it really is a cosy buy and being short sleeved and oversized means I don't get too over-heated and stay snug at the same time.

Do you have any short sleeved jumpers in your wardrobe for this winter- is it a look you could or would try? I do hope you enjoy the rest of your week and stay snug and warm whatever you get up to!

Dope Plaid Shirt, My New to Me Autumn Shirt

Hi everyone!! I hope you all had a good weekend, I'm trying my best to have a semi self imposed shopping ban in that I've thrifted (and bought) quite a few items over this month and now it's come to  the end of the month I'd like to start wearing all my new and existing items that I have in my Autumnal wardrobe.

The shirt that I am wearing below is 'new to me'. My eldest son is not only a freelance photographer he also works full time in a London men's PR fashion company, so does come home every now and then with new items for his own wardrobe. He actually brought this shirt home earlier on in the year and when I realised it would be ideal to have a flannel plaid shirt for the coming season I decided to swipe it and put it in my wardrobe!!

The shirt is by a Los Angeles street wear brand called Dope Couture and is in red and black brushed 

cotton, perfect for wearing by itself or as a layering piece over tees and under jackets. I'm wearing the shirt with my trusty All Saint's boyfriend style skinny jeans, claret Zara chelsea boots and a black Primark tee:

To be perfectly honest, although plaid, check and tartan are totally on trend for this season, I doubt if I would have gone and bought an item in these- I like the trend, but don't love it. For me the best way to adopt this trend was to 'steal' the look from the nearest men's wardrobe and as myself and my eldest are pretty much the same size, I dipped into his!!

Do you borrow items from the men in your life's wardrobes? Some items are ideal to 'borrow or steal' to create a different stylish look- a cosy wool knit is a great piece to have and is perfect with skinny jeans or faux leather leggings!

Wishing you all a great week ahead!

All Saint's and Converse for an Autumn Berry Inspired Look

Hi everyone! I hope you're managing to ease yourself stylishly and fashionably into Autumn, I've been picking up a few basic key pieces in Autumn hues to add to my existing wardrobe.

I really love berry tones and decided to get this boyfriend tee from Primark which was less than £4. It works well under my leather biker jacket and winter knits and jackets and provides a nice cheap pop of colour for this season:

I'm wearing my thrifted All Saint's jeans from the boot sale last month for just £3. They are a skinny boyfriend fit and having no lycra content just get more relaxed and comfortable with wear. 

I pulled the whole look together with my black Converses and I put new laces in them to colour co-ordinate with other pieces in my winter wardrobe.

At the weekend I did a wardrobe edit and put away summer dresses and skirts and put winter knits to hand. What with other unwanted clothes from around the family, two sacks of clothing and footwear were dispatched to the NSPCC and I walked a smaller bag to my local Sue Ryder charity shop where I managed to pick up a lovely designer item which is perfect for Autumn and that I'll show in a future post!

I'm really liking berry hues, brown, navy and monochrome tweed colours for this season and rather than buying major items in these colours, I'm adding accessories in these shades here and there to update my wardrobe. What colours are you liking for Autumn?