ThriftMyStyle with Vintage and Preloved Jackets and Blazers

Summer and Transitional Jackets and Blazers in key basic neutral colours for a perfect capsule wardrobe 

Hi everyone! I think this post is a long overdue one from me- I really do love a blazer!

My Summer favourite, year in and year out ALWAYS consists of a good quality blazer or jacket- preferably vintage or preloved in a key colour that I know will last me for seasons to come. You can't go wrong with having a few in your wardrobe- they can either transition for Autumn or be kept again for the following Summer!

This first blazer is one I found eleven years ago- check my original post 'Ferretti and Frills' from August 2009! Its definitely one of my all time favourite finds and I always wear it every Summer. A navy blazer is a must and this one by Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti has stood the test of time in quality and style in my wardrobe for sure! I really love the longer length and double breasted style and this style never dates, so timeless and classic in cut and colour:

This next blazer was bought a couple of years ago and was found in the same Salvation Army charity shop as the one above, its a Calvin Klein steel grey light wool blazer and was £3.99.

When I thrift a blazer I always try and source either designer names or brands with a high natural material content, such as wool, silk or linen.

If you can find a good quality well made jacket that covers these bases you will have a piece that will have longevity in your wardrobe and be a keeper for many years to come! This Calvin Klein one has a white striped lining on the arms so I do like to fold them up sometimes for that relaxed 90s Summer vibe!

This Jaeger beige linen vintage blazer was also £3.99 and I found this in a charity shop last year. It's a go to jacket for wearing with shorts or a mini skirt as it is a longer length style and again I like to wear it with the sleeves pushed up. This one is unlined and a perfect cover up over a cami or a new trend season vest top and I do think a neutral colour is a must for any Summer wardrobe.

Viewers of my Instagram page will know that I purchased this Gerry Weber tobacco brown linen blazer from ebay earlier this month. I've never really worn brown much, but have really embraced this tonal colour this season and it really is a great colour to have in a neutral colour capsule wardrobe as it goes with so much. This classic single breasted style works well with jeans and floral or plain coloured summer dresses. I love ebay for preloved items- this was just £4.99 with postage and a key tip for finding a bargain is to check 'ending soonest' in your chosen colour and size, that's how I won this one!

This last jacket was a fabulous find a couple of weeks ago from my local Cancer Research charity shop- it was on the 50p rail! I love the shorter length of this black linen jacket from Marks and Spencer, it makes a change from the oversized or longer length jackets that I already have in my wardrobe. I do actually own a few black jackets but I didn't have a linen one, so for 50p I couldn't leave it behind!

A good quality blazer really does pull an outfit together and it's amazing what can be found in your local charity or thrift shops and also from the boot sale too! As I've said before, look for ones with a high natural material content, that is a neutral colour and style and choose styles that are either longer and shorter to mix and match well with pieces already in your wardrobe!

What are your favourite Summer styles, are jackets on your radar too? 

My Round Up: Outfit Post, More Thrifted MaxMara and Total Spends for January

Hi everyone! I hope your weekend was a good one, I spent Saturday afternoon in a neighbouring local town thrifting and yesterday afternoon I finally managed to track down a pair of skinny distressed jeans- I had planned to splurge and get the Always Skinny distressed jeans from Gap instore, but when I went in to try them I wasn't impressed with how they had distressed them. Around the distressing was squares of white stitching (?) which to me really spoils the appearance of the overall look- I checked the website earlier and zoomed in on the picture and there is definitely shapes of stitching around the distressing of the jeans online too. So these jeans were ruled out before I even tried them on! I decided to check out River Island and H&M and was pleased to find my pair on the sale rail, reduced from £24.99 to £9.99- I'm sure they will appear on the blog sometime soon!

My outfit of choice on Saturday was my oversized Hype grey sweatshirt which was a Christmas present and I wore them with my Levi's boyfriend jeans and Dune biker ankle boots:

I have a real thing about distressed jeans at the moment, my newly found interest of Pinterest has a dedicated Denim Inspiration board which is chocka full of distressed jeans! I also made my distressed rips and holes a bit larger on these jeans on Saturday too: 

My favourite go to this season, a grey sweatshirt goes with anything and the fleecy lining keeps me just snug too:

Going to town on Saturday the weather was lovely-all sunny and dry. Midway through though, the clouds blackened and the heavens opened-the rain was torrential so it was lucky I had a lift back home! 

My thrift trip was quite successful- I found two items that will be lovingly worn and used and this first one was on my style wishlist for a while too. As soon as I saw this wool blended steel grey blazer by Maxmara from Barnado's charity shop and in my size too, I knew I had to have it:

It's ideal for Spring and Summer and the just the right shade of grey too-not too dark:

It's my kind of perfect jacket to go with all my jeans regardless of the style and colour-with a tee underneath and my footwear of choice this will feature a lot in future outfits- I may already have a lot of jackets but I haven't got a grey blazer so it was definitely worth me getting it.

My second item was a Gap dusky pink leather mini slouch bag for £1 which is just perfect for Spring and will provide a pop of colour with neutral styled outfits.

So with the end of January in sight, I've bought the DKNY bag (£3.99) faux fur collar (£2.49), black bobble hat (-50p), necklace (£3) and earrings (£3) from TU, Windsmoor longline jacket (£10), Gap slim boyfriend jeans (£3.99), a white shirt (£1), Primark checked scarf (£4), MaxMara jacket (£6.99), Gap bag (£1), H&M jeans (£9.99) TOTAL £48.95 for 12 items. 7 Thrifted, 5 Shop Bought.

Would I be without any of the above? I am quite happy with all my purchases and I'm pretty sure they are buys that will fit in with what I already own- I am trying to make sure that any purchases I get will be instantly wearable with pieces I already have and are not one season wonders either. If they don't get used this season, then I would want them to roll over to the following appropriate season and not be too trend led that it could easily go out of style.

How has your style spending been going this month-have you managed to stay on track with your budget and did you buy items that will truly fit into your existing wardrobe, regardless of how much you paid for it?

I hope you all have a good week ahead, I'm working most of the week from tomorrow, so I hope to catch up with you all soon!

MYSTYLE ESSENTIALS: BLACK TAILORED JACKET

Call it predictable or bordering 'boring', but for me a constant style essential is a tailored black jacket. As Michael Kors recently remarked on twitter, 'I truly believe 70% of a woman's wardrobe should be classic, basic pieces'.  I've never been a fan of capsule wardrobes but I do appreciate the significance of having certain style basics in my wardrobe and if I'm a repeat offender of any particular item then it's a tailored black jacket. 

Looking back on previous pictures over the years, this is one style essential that is still in my wardrobe, winning over items that continually get turfed out for being out of trend or favour to a new home either via the charity shop, ebay or vintage fairs.

All of my black tailored jackets have been thrifted from boot sales and charity shops and over half of them are vintage or designer too- Stella McCartney, Thierry Mugler, Valentino and Janice Wainwright. The others are either made in France or Italy from wool and crepe, ensuring quality and style. None of them cost more £12 and I wouldn't be without any of them:

Thierry Mugler early 90s black tailored jacket

Made in France black tailored dress coat

Artigiano Italian wool tailored jacket-this was only £1 from the boot sale a few years back!

So hands up- I am guilty of repeat offending on the black tailored jacket front-but quality wins over trends for me any day. What is your main style essential for the coming season?

ThriftMyStyle...Mixing modern and vintage + navy and white

Hi everyone! I am very much looking at trans-seasonal pieces that will be versatile and stylish to be part of my wardrobe. After my wardrobe revamp at the weekend I wanted to ensure the jackets, blouses, tees and jeans that I have will mix well and work for any season.

In Autumn last year I found this pure wool tux blazer in a neighbouring town's Sue Ryder charity shop for £4.99. It's nearly vintage-from the early 90s and in excellent condition. What drew me to it was the single breasted styling, the tux style collar and the pinstripe-dot detailing:

The finer details which add extra dimension to this tux blazer:

On Monday I thrifted this J Crew tee for £4.99 in another neighbouring town's Scope charity shop. I've not bought any J Crew pieces before and the quality of the cotton is so lovely, the tee is made in Macau and is more of a fine knit rather than a traditional 100% cotton tee:

I thought this tee would again be an ideal item under jackets and go with any denim piece and colour wise navy and white goes with virtually anything. Here they are together and I would also add a summer scarf in a contrasting print and colour to make this work in Spring and Autumn. Being in pure wool it's also ideal for all seasons and can be taken into evening wear with a silk cami underneath. 

This jacket will be ideal with skinny jeans, boyfriend jeans and also white jeans, as well as any colour tee underneath too.

What style of jacket will you wearing this coming season?

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!

Forward Planning by Shopping my Wardrobe

Its the time of year where plans are made or invites are received for forthcoming events and occasions. My mum is celebrating her 75th birthday this year so we have decided to mark the event by doing something we've not done before and have always wanted to do.

So I'm booking up a day trip on the British Pullman Orient Express for us. I'm really excited as it should be a really unique and special day out!

Of course, I had been wondering on my outfit of choice-do I buy something or wear something I already have. So I scoured the wardrobe and unless something else really special appears before I go this is my outfit of choice, which I have tried on and am happy how they both look together:

Topshop ivory tuxedo jacket, thrifted last year for just £3 in Clacton on Sea.

Marc Jacobs silk tea dress, not worn for ages and thrifted about 3 years ago at Help the Aged charity shop for £5.

I'm not going to make a point of shopping for an outfit as for a change I'm looking forward to wearing these pieces.

Have you any special events this year which you will shop your wardrobe for?

Some Stella McCartney for H&M

My local Sue Ryder always seems to be the place where I'll pick up really good finds. I gave a black Anne Klein tuxedo jacket away last year because I thought I had too many jackets, and as always is the way, regretted it.

So late last week when I found the Benetton striped tee I also found this Stella McCartney for H&M black wool tuxedo on their sale rail. The lapel has some pin marks, so I'm assuming this is why it was on that rail. After dry cleaning, if the marks are still there I shall just put a brooch on the lapel anyway.

It was a must buy and I won't be getting rid of it in a hurry either!!

What items have you parted with and regretted it in that you want to replace it?

Claude Montana, Being a scarlet woman

Back in the 80s, I had a red blazer with a zipper front, which I wore endlessly and loved a lot, even though it was from the local market.

So last week when I found this gorgeous Claude Montana vintage 80s wool blazer for only £2.50 at the boot sale, it brought back memories of my first red one:

This one fits like a glove and now its been dry cleaned is ready to wear-I can't wait!!
Red is so on trend too-check out this article by the Daily Mail showing different ways of bringing scarlet into your wardrobe.

Will you be a scarlet woman this season?

Ferretti and Frills

One of my favourite thrift finds has to be this navy linen summer blazer, by Philosphy di Alberta Ferretti. It was from the Salvation Army charity shop in February and was only £3.99. I love it as I can wear it with the sleeves rolled up, and with the body being unlined, its a really great piece to keep cool in summer.

I've worn it with my freebie frilly Paul & Joe Sister vest top and my denim leggings

I love blazers, they are such a versatile item for all the seasons and I've quite a few that are summer and colder weather wear too.

Will you be in a blazer this summer?

Thrift Inspiration, doing it Alexander Wang Style!

So, the Alexander Wang post yesterday really inspired me as one of my favourite looks was pastels, particularly the blazer outfit. I think a blazer is a fabulous addition to your wardrobe and such a classic piece to own too-a decent quality one will last for years to come.

I was lucky to get this pastel pink Burberry blazer at Mrs Stings Designer Sale. What I love about it is the colour and the cropped sleeves and length, it is ideal to wear with jeans and also a summer dress too.

I wore my black camisole underneath, which has a sheer lace panel, again inspired by the Wang summer collection, my Sass & Bide jeans and my cream high heel peep toes by Next from the boot sale for £1.

A blazer can really pull an outfit together and I know I'll be making use of this one a lot this summer. My next post is also Alexander Wang inspired, but a more dressed down look-watch this space!!