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!

Thrift Inspiration..........Coloured Faux Fur for Winter

Hi everyone! I hope you've all had a good week, my week has been fairly hectic but hopefully most of the weekend should be quite relaxing with no plans- just how I like it, so I can just do anything or nothing!

I thought I would show a recent thrift find and alternatives to mine that are available online or instore at the moment. Faux fur is a really big presence for this season and it comes not only in traditional black and trendy leopardprint, but all different colours too. Here are my picks of my favourite colours of the moment:

BIBA dove grey short faux fur coat, £118.30

ASOS baby blue faux pelted jacket, £80

ASOS teal longline faux fur coat, £80

ASOS berry batwing faux fur, £85

A couple of weeks ago I found this really cute navy faux fur jacket in a neighbouring towns Haven House charity shop for just £15. It's collarless and is perfect for wearing with roll neck jumpers and scarves and is super cosy and soft too!! 

The lining is in a contrasting purple and blue pattern and being navy means it's going to be so versatile and go with a lot of items already in my wardrobe.

Is coloured faux fur on your radar this season? Do you already have some coloured faux fur in your wardrobe that you've started wearing already?

Wishing you all a really fabulous weekend and hope your plans or no plans go as scheduled!!

Blogger Inspiration......My Autumnal Thrift Must Haves

Hi everyone!! Style and fashion wise, I have been so inspired by my lovely blog friends these last few weeks- From the lovely Mrs Thats Not My Age whose love of French Chic, current crush on midnight blue and Burberry trenchcoats has inspired me big style. Not forgetting the wonderful Vintage Vixen who is a constant style inspiration with her never ending awesome jumble sale finds and her love of faux fur.

So based on these lovely ladies style loves, it was easy to create my Autumn Thrift Essentials List- the concept of which is currently being posted by Atlantis Home here and here and which gave me the inspiration to share with you my favourite finds this year and last year which have made my top picks for this season:

First are these black cowboy boots that are by New Look that I found earlier this year-they were only £2 and with cowboy boots firmly back on the style radar this Autumn make these my footwear choice this season-perfect with black skinny jeans:

This next find was a few weeks ago-its a mens slightly oversize v neck merino wool sweater by Gant in this seasons favourite colour of wine. It's a great layering piece-a great alternative to a sweatshirt and was found in the Salvation Army for just £3.99. It's also my take on getting into this colour trend without going up the coloured jeans route-not to say they aren't great but a mid blue shade of jean is my current style choice for Autumn:

Of course a v neck will require a couple of different style blouses and my next find is one I've had for a couple of years now-it's a midnight blue vintage crepe de chine pussy bow blouse by Aquascutum which was another bargain from the Salvation Army for just £2.99. A pussy bow blouse is a perfect Autumnal style as it means a scarf is not required with your chosen outfit:

My next find was from the summer boot sale and is an oyster silk shirt (originally a shirt dress, but shortened by me as the bottom was too tight!) by Equipment- a total find for £2 and perfect for under v neck sweaters:

My most recent find was this vintage mens trenchcoat- I was drawn to it as it is a perfect knee length and just slightly oversized if I want to wear a chunky sweater or layers underneath-its a fine example of trench coat tailoring and was £14.99 from the Barnados charity shop:

My last find was a total Vix find in that I found it from my one and only jumble sale of this year for a rock bottom bargainous price of £1.50! It is a faux fur gilet by the Debenhams brand 'Maine' and I've worn it twice already, making it a current cost per wear of 75p!! I love how its a size bigger than my normal jackets so I can wear it as a layering piece over my favourite black leather biker jacket and the collar is a high one, making it soo cosy and the colour is perfect-a mix of light and dark grey:

So thats it!! What bloggers have inspired you for your latest buys this Autumn, I'd love to share your current style crushes! Thanks for all your well wishes-along with my current regime of R&R, they have made me feel so much better emotionally if not quite physically, lol!! All your comments are so much appreciated and I hope you're all having a great week so far!

Faux Fur, Teddy Bear Style!!

In a way, I haven't minded the chilly weather, as it means I can wear one of my faux fur coats. As there was a boot sale on yesterday morning, I decided to layer up and wear my new vintage Tissavel black teddy bear coat:

I'm wearing black patent over the knee boots, grey skinny jeans, Levis thrifted gilet and my purple wool polo neck from Next.

My newly thrifted vintage leather camel colour bag got its first outing too.

What are you enjoying wearing this winter?

Vintage Faux Fur-My Teddy Bear Coat!!

My main find of last week was in my local Sue Ryder charity shop. I found this black faux fur vintage coat by French label Tissavel. What I like about it is the leatherette trim and silver studs, so typically vintage but something different from all the faux furs flying about this season.

The arms are 3/4 length and the coat is just above my knee, its a really snuggly coat and a bargain for only £7.95!

I now have faux furs in ivory, cream, beige, leopardprint, brown and black, lol!! I can't help it-I think with the cold weather we are having, I know I'll wear them all, so its nice to have virtually one for every day of the week.

What style item do you tend to repeat buy on?

Kenneth Jay Lane and Vintage faux fur for winter

In an October edition of the weekly 'Look' magazine, there was an article on retro accessories and the brooches section particularly was of interest to me:

A couple of years ago I bought via Ebay, a Kenneth Jay Lane for Avon brooch, which I've rarely worn.

So when I went to the Frock Me! vintage fashion fair this Sunday gone, I wore the brooch with my white faux fur cropped vintage jacket which was my mums and that she wore on her own wedding day in the mid seventies to my stepfather:

Here is the jacket too, it was my first time of wearing and it was incredibly warm and fitted like a glove-I love the crop style and even now is a perfect addition for my winter wardrobe

What accessories will you be wearing this season?

Faux Fur Fest

In Harpers Bazaars last catwalk report, faux fur is a trend that will be very popular for the Winter season. As I already have a couple of faux fur coats in my wardrobe I wanted to add some gilets, as I don't have any winter ones and I do think they are a perfect layering piece and are very versatile in that they can be styled with virtually any type of outfit.

Topshop have this cute faux fur gilet, available online for £50:

I visited the boot sale today and managed to nab two gilets-this faux fur cream one by New Look for £2

What item are you coveting for the Winter Season?

Leopardprint Love and Stud overload!

Well, this was my outfit for boot sale Sunday-it was freezing and foggy early morning, so I wrapped up accordingly and this is my vintage faux fur leopard print coat that I said I would show you all!! Its quite showy, so I like to wear all black (or jeans) to dress it down!

I did really well again today-I scored 2 stud belts-the skinny one was 50p and the wider was was £1 and they are both leather too!! My best bargain has to be these black leather and suede studded cowboys boots for-50p!!! I got to the mans stall and I only had 50p and a £50 note in my purse (for food shopping later!). He saw me trying on the boots and said I could have them for a £1, so I told him what I had left was 50p, so he said I could have them!!

So, quite a productive weekend for the boot sales-thats all for now folks!!