A Fashionable Collection Of Christmas Gifts

Hi Everyone! With the festive season fast approaching, those who like to plan ahead are already turning their attention toward their Christmas shopping. Finding the right gifts for friends and family every year can quickly become a headache, as we all tend to descend on our nearest shopping centre and the pressure of shopping can sometimes makes it difficult to figure out meaningful, personal gifts.

Of course, there are always the predictable gifts to consider. This season for example, there will probably be a new Xbox One or Playstation 4 wrapped up for a lot of people on Christmas Day and of course the latest Apple and Samsung devices always make nice choices. If however you're looking for a particularly fashionable, stylish, or personalised gift for someone, you might want to look into something more unique. Marks and Spencer has a wonderful tool this festive season to help with the task as the store's 'Presents They'll Love' Collection section features gift ideas to match different personalities and taste, particularly with regard to style, beauty and fashion. Here are a few examples from this exciting selection to help get you thinking.

For Fashion Followers

This is a particularly excellent section, as it incorporates some of the hottest autumn/winter fashion trends as gift ideas for all tastes and budgets. The suggestions here range from trendy scarves, to chic clutches and handbags, to an array of other accessories and can make excellent additions to any woman's wardrobe this season and work wonderfully as gifts. Giving clothes is difficult, as fit can be tough to guess on - but accessories make fantastic Christmas presents, particularly when they are this much in tune with seasonal trends.

For Beauty Addicts

This is a great selection, particularly for stocking fillers and smaller gifts. For those people on your Christmas present list who love to take advantage of the latest beauty products you'll find some perfect choices here. Hand lotions, bath products, lip glosses are all fabulous choices in beautiful packaging and in some cases are available as mixed presentation packs - all making wonderful festive presents.

Gifts For Her

If you want to step outside of specific fashion and style collections, the "Gifts for Her" section is excellent for providing some variety. This section not only has a good range of fashion accessories and beauty products, it  also includes jewellery, stylish home accessories and even some gorgeous lingerie choices. It's a first stop choice collection full of the kind of gifts you always want to find for others but can't seem to track down!

These are just a few of Marks & Spencer's innovative stylish gift categories and collections, so if you're starting to look for presents already for the festive season with fashion in mind, these three are well worth checking out first!

Wednesday's Winter WishList Item by Barbour at Liberty of London

Hi everyone! For those of you wanting to add a pop of colour to your wardrobe and invest in a good quality statement item that will last you for years to come at the same cost as a high street sweater, take a look at my chosen wishlist item which is this merino wool and cashmere scarf by Barbour:

Not only does it give a splash of colour to any chosen winter coat and jacket, the cashmere wool mix will keep you really stylish and snug and from a heritage brand such as Barbour, you know you're getting a really lovely statement item for Winter. 

It's also a fabulous way to indulge into the plaid and tartan trend for this season and is easily an item that will never go out of style or fashion, looking great for day or night time dressing. I love the three way colour scheme of red, black and white as it would go with so much:

Now on to the price- a really worthwhile £40 from Liberty of London!!

I'll definitely be adding this to my list of 'Winter Wants', for me it ticks all the boxes for price, quality and colour, what's not to love?

What is currently on your Winter wishlist?

Wardrobe Re-organisation and Edit

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a really nice weekend-for me I didn't make the trip to the vintage fair at the SouthBank on Saturday as I'm pretty sure I'm coming down with something and with the weather being so temperamental I decided to just spend the day catching up with house work and a spot of local thrifting. 

Yesterday was a really chilled relaxed day which was just as well as the weather was wet and windy and was just perfect for staying in and browsing the 'net, watching films on TV and eating!! I have been thrifting quite a fair bit lately, but I've been trying to get items that I know will fit in with the rest of my wardrobe and get worn regularly and items that slot into this category include sweaters and more trousers and jeans. Over the weekend I really edited and sorted what I had, what I wanted to keep and get all winter items close to hand. Here is a snapshot of my wardrobes in general and this first one is for jackets only-everyday winter and other seasonal ones:

Next are my chest of drawers which in drawer one (top) are scarves and cardigans; the middle drawer is for tees, shirts and blouses and light sweaters and the bottom drawer is knitwear:

My other wardrobe has my jeans on the top shelf and all my vintage and designer jackets, dresses, skirts, trousers and tops that need to be on hangers:

Here is a picture of my storage for other items- the wicker Fortnum & Mason hamper basket holds my jeans that are on rotation, the green case below it holds knitwear on rotation, the case below has a mix of different items that are trans-seasonal. The 'Tiffin Tin' box holds woollen scarves, the wooden crate holds more scarves and the blue case has my summer tees and blouses.

These are all on a vintage trunk that holds my summer skirts and dresses.

I did do quite a bit of a wardrobe edit a couple of weeks ago with the unwanted items sent to the charity shop. I've only got less than five items sorted from the weekend that I'm going to put on ebay at some point and I'm hoping to put the funds towards a pair of ankle boots that I've seen!

I feel that I'm pretty much up to date with basics for winter but I will be on the look out for a couple of scarves-preferably with a red or pink mix to liven up my winter coats and jackets which are housed in my downstairs cupboard. I've a good selection of parkas, faux fur, black coats and trench coats- they just need a splash of colour I think!!

I really want to make the most of my wardrobe and really start wearing what I have rather than keeping worrying about what I haven't got- a re-organisation really helps you realise what you already have and just need to get on and wear!!

Wishing you all a really good week ahead! Do you have your wardrobe sorted for the winter season? Will you be making do or do you have a few items that you need to get to pull your wardrobe together, I'd love to hear about that!!

Thrift Inspiration..........For Autumn Tote Bags

Hi everyone!! Whenever I am on thrifting trips I'm always looking out for jackets, bags and jeans as first things to look for. I love thrifting bags as you can generally find really great quality ones that are leather or a good quality fabric for so little. 

If money were no object then I would definitely be choosing this gorgeous patchwork Fallabella bag by Stella McCartney-so many trends all in one: metal chain hardware, the colour of the season-oxblood, faux snakeskin and mock croc, this really is a lovely bag for Autumn:

Stella McCartney Fallabella Tote bag, £760

Earlier this week I found this fabulous leather patchwork oxblood tote bag for £5.99 at a neighbouring town's Oxfam charity shop. It's a perfect size, not too small and not massive but certainly big enough for all essentials and a fold up umbrella too:

It's ideal for daytime wearing and I'm so drawn to the rich colour too. It reminds me of a brown leather slouch patchwork bag that I bought for myself on my first ever girls holiday when I was seventeen from Ibiza and I used it until it fell apart, it really was a special bag and I'm hoping this one will live up to expectations!!

This next find was from my local Sue Ryder charity shop a couple of months ago and I absolutely adore it. It's pure wool carpet and I'm sure it comes from Morocco, it has such a hippy boho chic vibe to it and was a bargainous £3.99:

In the early 90s I went to Morocco for the weekend for a 'Diamond Hunt', it was a tour operator's educational as I worked for a major travel agents at the time. It was an amazing adventure and I brought home a wool rug for my mum that had been hand loomed by local Berbers in the Atlas Mountains. The bag really reminds me of the wool rug that unfortunately is no longer around as my mum got rid of it when she moved house last year.

Do you have handbags that have a sentimental value to you?

Wishing you all a really great weekend, it's pouring with rain and cold and windy where I am at the moment-(ugh) so it really is so right to turn on the heating and get the layers at the ready!!

Vintage Presents:The Classic Car Boot Sale

On Saturday 12 October over 100 classic cars and vintage vehicles will descend on to Southbank Centre’s riverfront for London’s first classic car boot sale, curated Vintage Festival. The Classic Car Boot Sale will take place on the riverfront at Southbank Centre between the Queen’s Walk, Hungerford Bridge and Jubilee Gardens. 
Traders will assemble the finest vintage fashion, homewares and pop culture memorabilia, operating from the boot of their vintage vehicles. Show stopping car displays will include vehicles of all shapes and sizes; from classic cars such as the Aston Martin DB4, to VW campervans and beautiful vintage bicycles.

The event will also boast some of the finest food traders, serving premium street food and craft beers from converted vans and campers. Traders include Engine, who serve artisan smoked sausages, B.O.B. Lobster’s famous lobster rolls and street food favourite, Bleeker Street Burgers. Drinks will be provided by Beetle Juice, a stylish mobile cocktail bar. British Music Experience’s “Traffic Jam”, a renovated Austin Morris J4 Dormobile, will have DJs playing a mix of music inspired and influenced by Lord Kitchener’s 1950s calypso classic London is the Place for Me. In between DJ sets, visitors will be invited to try out playing BME’s selection of instruments, such as a tea chest bass, ukulele and percussion steel pans.

Further musical entertainment comes from Vintage Festival DJs, who will be playing vinyl from the top of an open air London Routemaster. Also appearing at The Classic Car Boot Sale will be [re]design’s Chalkyvan, a rejuvenated campervan redesigned and upgraded to be used as a mobile chalkboard. 

Entry to The Classic Car Boot Sale is £3, and tickets can be purchased at Southbank Centre on the day of the event.