Dressing down in denim

Well, one item off the wishlist is a denim shirt. I picked one up last week at the Salvation Army charity shop for £1.50, the same day I found the Gucci loafers.

The denim shirt is by Ralph Lauren and I'm wearing it with my Diesel denim skirt. I toyed with giving this skirt away because of the short length, but I feel comfortable when I'm wearing opaques with it.

To me denim is a great way for casual dressing-what is your favourite dressing down outfit?

Thrift Inspiration,

As you know, brogues and loafers are bang on trend for the new season, Times have a slide show with their best picks on offer from Designers and the High Street, check it out for some Fall inspiration.

So you can imagine how thrilled I was to pick up these beauties from the St Francis Hospice charity shop last week.

Authentic Gucci loafers in my size and with the traditional Gucci hallmark-the horsebit. They fit like a glove and are as new-the best bit was they were only £2.50!!

Will you be in loafers or brogues this Autumn?

The 25p dress!!!

Well you all know I love to bag a thrifting bargain, so I had to show you my cheapest purchase to date. I've been wanting a jersey wrap dress for ages, so when I spotted this one by New Look in my local Sue Ryder charity shop a couple of weeks ago, I thought it would be ideal.

Here I'm wearing it with my 'Virgin Vie' costume jewellery necklace and my Alberta Ferretti sandals which were from Oxfam a good few years ago.

I love the colours and pattern of this dress-turquoise is great for summer and it's what attracted me to it initially, plus the cut around the neckline is just right for me too.

The reason I got my dress for 25p is that I have a 'loyalty card' with my local Sue Ryder! Its a great scheme they run, in that for every £5 you spend they stamp your card and when its full of stamps you get a free £5 spend in the shop! So the dress was £5.25, but I only had to pay 25p-this is my cheapest buy this year!!

Whats been your cheapest find of the year?

My Wardrobe-part 2

Hi everyone!! Following on from my 'Whats in your wardrobe?' post back in June, I was inspired by the lovely Kate of Make Do Style when she wrote this excellent post -'Size matters(2)' regarding an overstacked wardrobe and the concept of 'Slow Fashion'-this is a must read, after you've finished here of course, LOL!!

Basically, because of the summer holidays, I've had time to re-evaluate my wardrobe with autumn looming and also to sell more items, including ones that I had acquired during my 'Buy on Ebay when I'm bored' habit. I've also passed on some more unwanted pieces to the charity shop to make way for recent thrifting purchases that will provide longevity in my wardrobe.

This is my wardrobe after my main sort out, the top wardrobe houses my favourite tops, jackets, dresses, jeans and handbags at the bottom.

This wardrobe has my winter and summer jackets and coats and remains mainly unchanged from last time.

These are the remaining drawers of clothes, which have summer dresses, tops and tees, woollies (cardi's and jumpers), summer skirts and blouses.

So, with reference to my first wardrobe post, I'd mentioned a summer wishlist and also a lack of costume jewellery. I have a lovely little collection of necklaces and bracelets now and regarding the wishlist, here is what I did get from it:

Dark indigo bootcut style jeans

Navy and white striped Breton tee

Leopardprint shoes

Denim waistcoat

I still haven't found red shoes I like enough to get yet.

My autumn wishlist consists of 2 items:

Black heeled ankle boots

Denim shirt

I've acquired a few black pieces in my wardrobe these past couple of months, notably a black pencil skirt, my black vintage Thierry Mugler jacket, black bodycon woollen Benetton dress and some gorgeous black heeled knee high leather boots.

I've learnt 'for me', that less is more-I like to look at a glance to see what I've got and be appreciative of the gorgeous pieces I've acquired over time. Some do not get worn for a while, but will have a long term place in my wardrobe.

What is your wardrobe philosophy?

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?