Thrift Inspiration....Autumn Classic Must Haves, The Brogue

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend and what a mix of weather we are having at the moment! The sun is out in spurts and it's really quite nice and warm- those extra layers have been held at bay for the foreseeable future. So when layers are not necessarily needed the next logical style step to think of is footwear. After indulging in some skate shoes and wearing these in between trainers and sandals, I was really pleased to find some long lusted after pair of  shoes last week which are ideal for all seasons- the classic black brogue. Here are my picks of the best this season:

Saint Laurent patent leather, £530

TODS, £270

ASOS Millionaire leather brogues, £35

ASOS brogues, £25

Here are my version- they are vintage Loakes, bought as new and unworn in my local Salvation Army charity shop for just £15. Brogues are such a versatile and stylish alternative to a trainer or skate shoe and can so easily smarten up a jeans and jacket combination too:

To what I wore one day last week for a day out in London- my newly thrifted Monsoon blouse in one of my recent posts, some Reiss skinny jeans which were thrifted last year from my local Sue Ryder charity shop for just £1 in their sale and my Primark skate shoes:

I can't believe how comfortable skate shoes can be, if I'd realised I definitely would have bought some in Spring, but better late than never, huh!

Wishing you all a fabulous week ahead and I do thank you for your continued reading, support and comments- they are so much appreciated and I look forward to visiting you as soon as I can! 

Easing into Autumn with some August Thrift Finds- It's all shirts, blouses and shirts!!

Hi everyone!! I hope you are all enjoying your bank holiday weekend and the summer holidays in general! The weather in the UK has definitely become cooler and more sporadic outbreaks of sun are now more regular than the summer heatwave we experienced only a couple of weeks back.

I'm slowly laundering and packing away my summer items, I've a drawer left of skirts, shorts and dresses that is staying put just a while longer in case we have an Indian summer over the next few weeks, you never know! In the meantime my latest thrift finds are for wearing now and the next season-shirts and blouses.

I have never really been a big shirt or blouse wearer over the years, but over the last few seasons I've noticed that carefully picking the right designs can mean longevity, versatility and ease of choice when picking pieces for casual or smart outfits.

I love wearing jeans and having a multiple choice of blouses or shirts that I can wear on rotation means having a nicely growing collection is perfect for all seasons for me, especially the in between ones. My most recent find of which I've been searching for a while is the perfect check shirt. I've seen many on thrifting trips and have come across many variations of little checks, big checks, monochrome and coloured but this one by legendary jeans manufacturer Lee (a real 70s favourite) was the 'one'. It is the perfect fit, colourway and has lovely detailing across the bust and for just £3.99 from the PDSA charity shop it's one I'm wearing already and is perfect for the milder weather:

 I love how it sits under a jacket too and a real requirement for me now the weather has turned cooler is to have a collar on at least one of the items I wear as I'm not a fan of an exposed neck whilst wearing a top and jacket:

This buy was a really perfect Autumnal find and the bird print and blue and brown colourway is just a real stylish classic that will be a permanent fixture in my wardrobe for years to come:

I've always been a fan of Liberty print and this was a must have for just £5.30 from the British Heart Foundation charity shop last week. In the same shop I found this Uniqlo flannel shirt for just £2.99, another perfect shirt for wearing come Autumn:

In the thrifting trip at the PDSA I also found this lovely London Fashion Week stalwart designer Paul Costelloe silky style blouse for just £2.99. I love the colours-again, perfect for a chic daytime look with jeans or dressed up with some smart black trousers for a stylish evening outfit:

Another item which I just had to have too was this cute fine gauzy boho style blouse by Monsoon- at £2.99 it was a real steal and is again a versatile piece ideal for day or evening wear:

I know a lot of bloggers have not been spending too much in August- I admit to indulging in quite a few items which were mainly summer wear at the start of the month when I was away in Worthing and in the last couple of weeks my spending has been mainly on the shirts and blouses for now and later seasons. I'm very pleased though as I've picked up five quality items for less than £19- I'd be hard pushed to even get one of the above for that in any of their original shops- all hail charity shopping I say!!!

What is on your Autumn style wish list? Have you started buying any clothes or accessories to update your wardrobe or are you saving for bigger items, such as coats or boots- I'd love to hear!!

As always, I value your continued support with reading and commenting-thanks so much for stopping by and I look forward to visiting you all as soon as I can-wishing you all a great week ahead!!

Thrift My Style Inspiration for Summer Boho Tunic Blouses

Hi everyone! I hope you are all having a lovely weekend! The weather has been really nice and sunny and I've been able to wear a recent thrift find that I know is going to be a firm favourite this summer- a boho tunic blouse. I was fortunate to find it at the beginning of the week and was hoping I would be able to wear it this weekend. I've been drawn to this style of top as it's not only stylish, but having different colours in it makes it so versatile for wearing day or night. Here are my Net-A-Porter picks which gave me real thrift inspiration whilst hunting down my perfect blouse:

Matthew Williamson £346

Kate Moss for Topshop £60

Etro £555

Diane Von Furstenberg Bryn £240

Diane Von Furstenberg Syrah £144

Diane Von Furstenberg Jana £203

As you can see, my newly thrifted blouse is heavily influenced by the Diane Von Furstenberg styles, so when I found my Monsoon patterned chiffon tunic blouse in a neighbouring towns Sense Charity shop for £6, I eagerly snapped it up! I wanted a chiffon style so it would be lovely and cool in the hot weather: 

 

I really love Monsoon pieces, I thrifted a patchwork print tunic top a couple of months ago and because of the mix of colours which are predominantly peach, blue and brown, it also goes with a lot in my existing wardrobe. I did a spot of denim diy last week on my Gap slim boyfriend jeans and turned them into cut offs, so I now have a couple in rotation.

What style of top or blouse are you favouring for summer? Last week whilst in Primark I bought a bright pink and a ribbed grey vest, both £2 each which are also proving their worth to my existing wardrobe- you can never have too many of these!

Thanks as always for your lovely comments and reading, as always it's much appreciated and I'll be trying my best to visit you as soon as I can- wishing you a lovely weekend, whatever you are upto!!

My Weekend with Michelle of MyFashionable40s and a Thrifty Sunday!!

Hi everyone!! I hope you've all been having a great week, the time seems to be flying by and I'm so behind with catching up with my favourite blogs! I hope to remedy this over the next couple of days as I'm not working so should have time to make overdue visits to you all!!

This weekend was an absolute scorcher weatherwise and for me a really fabulous one too as I finally got to meet a wonderful blogger friend- Michelle from MyFashionable40s. We've been in contact with each other for a while and our day on Saturday has been a few months in the waiting and we met at Paddington station and immediately went into the nearest bar for a glass of prosecco and an eagerly awaited chat!! Fast forward nearly two hours later we decided to jump on the tube to Kensington for shopping and firstly lunch at Cafe Rouge. We started off sharing some pain a l'ail, which is rustic bread served with garlic butter and we were very good for our mains as we both had Paysanne salades, which was a chicken salad with bacon, egg, avocado, tomatoes, french beans and parmesan, soo delicious!! I had martini and lemonade and Michelle had prosecco to accompany our meal and after we were delightfully replenished we decided we had to check out the shops along Kensington High Street. Sadly, we both pretty underwhelmed by H&M, Uniqlo, Zara and Topshop- not for the want of looking, we just didn't really see anything that got us swooning. Just as we were about to leave Topshop, I did spy these slides and for £22, I did indulge as they will be very handy for Summer:

We then decamped to the nearest pub for some much needed liquid refreshment and sadly had to make a move so Michelle wouldn't miss her 8:30 train back home. As I had known I was seeing Michelle for a couple of months it gave me a chance to put together a goody bag of thrifted bits and pieces for her that I'd seen over the last few months. I was over the moon when she sent me these pictures of her looking fabulous in this Celia Birtwell for Uniqlo dress I'd found for her:

Plus these gold Gizeh Birkies which she manged to wear whilst out and about this week!

It was testament to what an awesome day we had as we were both as bad as each other in that we never got any obligatory blogger shots of us together, our outfits or our meal, hehe!! It was too much chatting, laughing and enjoying the day which was top priority and Michelle is such a wonderful kind lady who is now a very lovely and good friend indeed and we've already made plans for future visits this year- I so cannot wait to see her again!!

So after having a fabulous Saturday I was up and out early on a gloriously hot Sunday to the local booty, where I did quite well on the thrifting front. I'm into black for Summer and I found this perfect little black wraparound Broderie Anglaise sleeveless shirt by Ralph Lauren for just £2:

I also found a pair of black linen shorts for £1.50 which I'm so pleased with as I currently had only 2 pairs of shorts in my wardrobe- a pair of 7 For All Mankind denim cut offs and my Liberty print floral shorts:

After the boot sale I went into town for a much needed iced fruit smoothie and sit down in Costa Coffee and walking on route to the park I found these gorgeous Monsoon Fusion floaty bird print chiffon shorts for just £5.99 in the local Barnados charity shop:

I then went onto my local park and spent a couple of hours chilling out under a shady tree, watching the cricket and relaxing- a great way to spend a hot sunny afternoon!!

I had such a wonderful weekend and it was made all the more special for meeting up with such a lovely lady-thanks Michelle for a great day and a firm friendship-look forward to seeing you very soon my lovely!!

I hope you all have a good long weekend to come-it's a Bank Holiday here in the UK so fingers crossed we get a weekend weatherwise like last week! 

Thanks as always to you all for stopping by and catching up with reading my posts, it is very much appreciated and I look forward to visiting you all as soon as I can!! xx