Thrift Inspiration.......Autumn Check Shirts plus Valentino and Marks and Spencer thrift finds

Hi everyone! I hope you've had a really good week- the weather here has been quite up and down- not much rain, fairly mild and some sun- all quite 'ordinary' for September really, which makes for layering.

As I stated in previous posts I've become quite taken with the shirt- summer saw stripes and checks and now Autumn has arrived I'm continuing the theme with checks and am loving flannel, with three now in my hopefully to be extended collection. Although this is a silk number, it would be my number one choice if money were no object, I really love it:

Equipment silk check shirt at MyTheresa, £332

For those of us with budgets in mind you can't go too far wrong with Uniqlo. A real autumnal must visit store, I'm sure a lot of us will be quite taken with either their merino or cashmere knits, the winter jackets, the collaborations- for me I'm loving their check shirts in a fabulous variety of different colourways: 

Flannel shirt, Uniqlo £19.99

Really love this and could be very tempted to indulge, Uniqlo £19.99

I featured my Uniqlo thrift find a few posts ago- a flannel shirt bought in hot and sunny August seemed rather premature but now the weather is cooler, I wouldn't be without it. It was a bargain £2.99 from the British Heart Foundation: 

I was really inspired by the Equipment outfit above to team my shirt with all black, so I wore my Dune ankle studded boots gifted to me last year, River Island thrifted skinny jeans from last year (recently dyed to get them jet black again- I highly recommend this for any faded black items you're tempted to part with purely over the lack of black in them), my Primark thrifted leather biker jacket which is a few years old now and my black Celine style cross body bag: 

So this morning saw a thrifting trip on the bus to a neighbouring town to see what goodies I could try and snap up. The first shop off the bus was the Sue Ryder charity shop who had a £1 rail outside the front of the shop and I immediately picked up this Marks and Spencer flannel shirt:

Love the blue/black colour combo, this will be so easy to wear with blue or black jeans and like wise any style jacket too.

Before I actually caught the bus I went into my local Sue Ryder charity shop to check out their offerings. This charity shop has been extremely good to me over the years- I've found an Ossie Clark dress, Thierry Mugler, Jean Paul Gaultier, Stella McCartney, Belstaff as well as top quality high street too. Today was no exception as I found this fabulous navy collarless coat by Valentino Red for just £7.95. It is raincoat material so will be perfect for milder autumn days for smartening up a jeans and shirt:

Not a very good picture unfortunately, but it's really nice in the flesh and also unworn with the tag still attached. I  reserved it and picked it up at the end of my travels- a shirt and coat for less than a tenner can't be bad for a morning out! 

What style of items are you drifting towards this season? I know the oversize cardigan is very popular and I for one am looking out for the right one! Do share what items are on your autumn style wish list! 

Thank you as always for your continued support, reading and commenting- it really is very much appreciated and welcomed and I hope to visit you all back as soon as I can, have a great weekend and a good week ahead too, lovely people!!

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!!

Celia Birtwell for Uniqlo

Hi everyone! I was very excited to read that Celia Birtwell, a long admired designer of mine and of course the ex wife of Ossie Clark has just released details of her forthcoming collaboration with Uniqlo which will be  launched on 21 March.

Celia's iconic prints and designs have been reworked and rescaled to produce an exclusive new range which will include, tees, tunic tops, shirts, jeggings, tote bags and culottes.

Here is a sneak peek of what we can expect:

I really love the outfit to the right, the prints of the blouse and jeggings really work well together

These culottes look amazing too, the shape and cut look so modern

In preparation for this collection, Celia flew to Japan and selected several prints including ones from her Home collection and she is hoping this collaboration will have similar success to the one she had with Topshop.

I will definitely be purchasing an item when the collection comes out this Spring-my favourite brand with a much admired designer-what's not to love??

Wishing you all a very relaxing and great weekend!

Images: Uniqlo/Daily Mail

Thrift Inspiration.........Doing it McQueen style with the humble grey sweatshirt

Hi everyone! The weather is absolutely freezing outside and I would say at the moment its all about layers and keeping warm. This brings me to a wardrobe staple that most us may already have, which is the humble grey sweatshirt. I thrifted a Uniqlo sweatshirt earlier this week for just under £4 and whilst browsing the internet I was inspired by what it can be worn with:

This look featured at the MCQ pre fall collection presentation for 2013 and I love how this sweat top has been layered over a black chiffon dress and paired with black ankle boots to fierce the look up. 

You could adapt this look with a black chiffon pleated skirt or layer it over a black floaty dress, check out what's already in your wardrobe.

This grey sweat top from Topshop has been paired with it's tall crystal stud tube skirt, £40

It's a really inspiring look to wear a statement 'dressy' skirt with a grey sweat top for a more wearable, every day look and it ensures you get extra mileage out of that 'best' skirt.

As a fan of Uniqlo here is a link to their men's grey sweat which is just £19.90- go for a smaller size for a fitted look or a couple sizes up if you like it slouchy. Either look will be great with a black belt over the top, McQueen style.

Uniqlo grey sweatshirt, £19.90

Will you be pairing up a grey sweat with a statement skirt? It really is something that can be worn right now, a great way to wear those thermal tights and tees without feeling like you haven't tried with your outfit choice!!

Dress MyStyle-Layer up this winter with Uniqlo Heattech

Hi everyone! Well it's definitely winter weather now and our first snow here where I live hit this morning and settled slightly. So style wise it's all about layers and over Christmas I stocked up and bought three of my favourite layering pieces from Uniqlo in Oxford Street, their Heattech scoop neck long sleeve tees:

Brown (more like greige) Uniqlo Heattech tee, £12.90

I bought them in the brown, light grey and off white and they are simply perfect for wearing under short sleeved tees, chunky jumpers and shirts to keep in the warmth. I originally bought Uniqlo's Heattech tops a few years ago and cannot recommend them highly enough, they are comfortable and come in a great range of  different styles and colours as well as accessories. They are available in store and online too.

I am wearing my light grey one with my thrifted H! for Henry Holland for Debenhams tee and thrifted 7 For All Mankind jeans (I have done a review of these on my denim style blog Live To Love Denim):

This is not a sponsered post, just a very satisfied customer who loves Uniqlos range of clothing. What will you be wearing to keep snug this winter and who do you recommend to keep you warm-stylewise, that is-not hubby or the hot water bottle!!

Have a great week ahead and thanks for visiting!

HeatTech @Uniqlo

I've always been a fan of Uniqlo, I find their items really wash and wear well, are stylish and are very reasonably priced. A couple of weeks ago I decided to try their HeatTech range.

It has Seven Technologies, which are: Heat Generation, Heat Retention, Soft Texture, Odour Control, Stretchable Comfort, Anti-Static and Non Deforming.

Well I ordered a dark brown polo neck jersey and a royal blue scoop neck jersey and although I've only wore the royal blue one, it certainly kept me warm when I layered it with a bolero on top. It also washed up well and looks like it barely needs ironing.

The polo neck version is available in an array of different colours and is on sale price for £7.99

The scoop neck is also available in different colours for £9.99

There are also different styles available and I do recommend them from personal use-they are a stylish and warm way to layer up this winter!!

Oh, Oh, Uniqlo!!!

Oh, just when I had a plan, its gone out the window!!! Well, I thought I would thrift my cardis and yes, I did bag a couple yesterday. Today I browsed Uniqlos online shopping site-I was soo inspired, I just had to go and get the cardigan in purple at Uniqlo in Knightsbridge!! I also loved the cardigan in dark grey, but another time maybe!!

The worst of it (well really the best of it) is these all come in LOTs of different colours, so as well as wanting more than one style, I wanted more than one colour too!! All the knits are 100% merino wool and the best bit is the prices-the cardi is £19.99, the dress is £24.99, the skinny jeans are £24.99, the short sleeve top is £14.99 and the polo neck is £19.99!!! Click on my title to view their range of wonderful knitwear!!

I really could have browsed and spent more time and money here, but I stuck to my budget reluctantly and if I'm still coveting an item, I will go again next month!!

The skinny jeans are in all different colours, but I love the purple!!

This top is great under a cardi or jacket!!

For the price, the quality and style is very hard to beat, I heartily recommend you get your winter knits from here!!!