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!!

Thrifty Finds: Chanel, Valentino, Vintage Celine, Burberry and DVF-My Charity Shop Haul!!

Hi everyone!! Well what an amazing few days I've had!! On my way home from volunteering on Wednesday afternoon, I had a few things to do and my last port of call was the local Salvation Army charity shop. I was going in there to see if I could track down a black wool polo neck or turtle neck-which I actually did, even though I've not shown it here. It's a Marks & Spencer lambswool turtle neck which was £2.99, so am now sorted on that for Autumn and Winter. Well I first saw a couple of Ralph Lauren blazers which I picked up to try on, but they were left in the end as they were too short in the sleeves. Then I picked up a paisley dress (which didn't even get a try on due to the forthcoming excitement and also the shop was due to close, so it was hurry hurry hurry!).

THEN I PICKED UP MY NEXT ITEM-LOOKED IN AWE AND SHOCK AT IT AND MADE A BEELINE STRAIGHT FOR THE CHANGING ROOMS.........

Yes, a Chanel cardigan jacket AND in my size too!! This is from the Autumn collection in 2005, you can see the date code on the label 05 (year) A (Autumn) 42 UK 12

 Of course the detailing is just wonderful, there are cute little pockets, ribbon threaded throughout with boucle knit trimming, a double C zip pull and 3/4 length sleeves:

It's a wool, cashmere and angora blend-so soft and warm

The main detailing which I didn't see until I get home is the silver chain around the bottom of the jacket to weight it down.

The price? As you could see in the first picture- an unbelievable £4.99!!! I'm sure the staff must have thought it was a fake to have sold it for so cheap. Having already my 90's Chanel jacket, I could compare the two and the labeling and the quality are just top notch and 100% genuine:

This is definitely a keeper- I've regretted selling finds in the past and this is up with my Ossie Clark find which was in 2006 and got sold a couple of years later to help pay for bills. I'll always have bills, but I won't always find Chanel jackets in the charity shops!!

The interior of the jacket does not show any of the ribbon stitching which just goes to show what exquisite quality Chanel pieces really are:

My photos are not good quality though, so please excuse how some of them have come out! I could not believe my luck and that wasn't all, I also found this gorgeous dark green olive leather gilet by Valentino which I bought and was my 2nd bargain of the evening- also priced at £4.99 and a perfect fit too!!

The gold chain detailing is totally gorgeous and I can't wait to start wearing this!!

 So as I had found these treasures just before the shop closed I was itching to check it out again first thing yesterday morning and did I came up trumps yet again- a vintage Celine wool skirt suit, in my size for £9.99:

THE perfect colour for this coming Autumn and Winter and I'll enjoy wearing them more as separates

The tailoring and attention to detail is superb, the buckle on the skirt band has the double C and is also engraved with Celine

I pulled this bucket hat out of the £1 basket-it's a fully reversible Burberry one which is plain beige on the other side:

Here is the Diane Von Furstenberg dress which I snaffled too, it's in tissue paper fine silk and unfortunately when I washed it, it caught on something else and  there is a little rip in it, but I should be able to mend it. Another summer dress for a wonderful £4.99:

So it really looks like someone had the job of sorting out their own or someone else's designer wardrobe and thankfully it came to me via the charity shop.  It just goes to show that there are things to be found if you're prepared to be patient and look hard enough too. I really love my finds and very thankful I am for them!!

I hope you've enjoy viewing them and that it also gives you real inspiration to seek and find your next designer bargain-you never know what you will find so be sure never to miss out on giving your local charity shop a visit!

Valentino: Master of Couture

Hi everyone!! You may already be aware that master couturier Valentino has an exhibition currently on at Somerset House in London. It is celebrating his life and work and showcases over 130 iconic and exquisite haute couture designs worn by the likes of Grace Kelly, Jackie Kennedy Onassis and Sophia Loren.

The exhibition is split into 3 sections and is accompanied by a series of talks, screenings and events- without doubt, Valentino: Master of Couture is a journey into the secretive world of Italian couture and should be a must see event for any die hard lover of style and couture.

 

Tickets for the event should be prebooked if possible and are £12.50. The exhibition runs until 3 March 2013, so if you can't get there before Christmas then this can be a New Year's treat!!

 

 

 Of course, a Valentino red dress would be the most coveted item to own and wear, unfortunately unless I stumble across one in the future I shall have to just dream of owning one. However, I was very fortunate last year on my of my boot sale trips to find this stunning Valentino black tuxedo, which has lace detailing around the collar and fits like a glove-thats proper tailoring for you. The icing on the cake was that I paid less than £5 for it and it definitely is a piece that I will keep forever:

I am really looking forward to seeing the exhibition and marvelling at Valentinos extraordinary works of art.

 

Check out what the grand master of couturier has to say on all things Primark in Vogue yesterday too!!

Thrift Inspiration........TheLittleBlackJacket.chanel.com-plus MyStyle by the decade

Firstly, a big HIYA to all my readers and followers!! I have been very noticeably absent for a number of life consuming reasons, but I seem to be back on an even keel and I'd like to resume blogging life if possible!!

I was suitably inspired by Karl Lagerfeld's and Carine Roitfeld's exhibition which has taken place already in Tokyo and is due to open in New York on 8 June: The Little Black Jacket, with the book to follow later this year. There were109 fashion and famous personalities taking part by wearing the iconic Chanel little black jacket in their own way, with Karl and Carine taking the photos in his Paris photographic studio within six days with the results being shown in the forthcoming exhibitions and the lavish coffee table book:

The exhibition will be visiting London later this year with the book coming out on sale too-I will definitely make my way to see this, cannot wait!!

Anyhow, it inspired me to show off some of my collection of Little Black Jackets- I had a count up and have 10 in total!! Here are my favourites which span the decades, from the 1970s right upto the 2010s-you can never have too many, no??

This first one is my most recent and current in style purchase-by COS, I purchased it from the British Heart Foundation on Sunday for only £6.99 and I love the flared 3/4 sleeves and zipper detail-a very minimalist and deconstructed style:

2010s-COS jacket

This next jacket is a boot sale find from last year, bought for only £3 and it is one of my absolute favourites-none other than Valentino, with the trademark lace detail around the lapels and neckline in a classic tuxedo style:



00s Valentino

Next, another favourite is this Thierry Mugler sculptured little black jacket, so tailored and form fitted, bought from my local Sue Ryder charity shop a couple of years ago now for £12:

                                            

90s Mugler

This next jacket was a special find a few years ago now in my local Salvation Army for only £2.50, a gorgeously cut fluid wool jacket by Issey Miyake from his Plantation line-classic 80s styling with batwing sleeves:

                                                                

 80s Issey Miyake

Lastly another favourite find is this wonderful unlabelled Janice Wainwright 70s jacket, with her distinctive applique and art deco styling in black wool crepe:

70s Janice Wainwright

So you can see I have a weakness for Little Black Jackets (as well as denim, but thats another blog post story!!)

What is your fashion weakness, I'd love to know what your indulgences are!!!

PS-Although I have not been commenting I have still been enjoying reading your blogs and will hopefully be over to leave a comment or two! Wishing you all a great week ahead!!