Thrift Inspiration....Pinterest & Lucky Brand

Hi everyone! I hope you are all having a really great week so far, it's half term in the Thriftmystyle house but with working and general life moving ever fast and forwards it's been hard to keep up with blogging.

It's great though when you suddenly get inspired and today's inspiration comes straight from this mornings activity of  scanning and pinning via pinterest. This has been an extremely slow burner for me and I originally opened an account 'just because' sometime last Summer. The account sat unused and that was mainly because I really didn't understand how it worked and how it would benefit me and my blog.

So last month after deciding I should check it out properly, I was so glad I did as boy, it really has captured me in all things style related and is definitely my guilty pleasure of the moment! A bonus is a lot of my favourite friends, bloggers and brands are on there too which makes pinning so inspiring and addictive.

So back to today's post- I started this morning with a cup of tea and the radio and some pinterest and one brand that I was constantly pinning was Lucky Brand, whose style aesthetics are right up my street! Being a lover of denim and tailored pieces their pictures for me are so inspiring and here are some of my favourites from what I pinned earlier:

Then while I was pinning, it dawned on me to share with you a find from late Summer last year which is this lovely little navy tailored jacket from...Lucky Brand clothing!

I'ts a wool jacket and having already so many blazer styles already in my wardrobe I was pleased to find this differently styled one:

I found it in my local British Heart Foundation charity shop for £8.99 and the pictures don't show the true colour which is a dark navy. I've pinned so many different pictures which pair smart jackets and jeans that I've a good idea of how I'll be wearing this one soon when the weather gets a touch warmer!

What is currently inspiring you style wise at the moment? I would love it if you did check out my pinterest board and follow if you like what you see!!

Wisihing you all a lovely week ahead, whatever you are upto and thanks to you all for your continued support, reading and commenting it is always much appreciated.

Thrift Inspiration.....Net-A-Porter & Blogger Style!!

Hi everyone! I hope you've all had a great week-the weather overall has been pretty awful with some being a lot worse off than others in different areas of the UK. I do so hope you haven't suffered very badly with flooding and the like. It is so sad and soul destroying for people who have lost goods and treasured possessions because of the continuous floods- I hope and pray they will be able to get their lives back on track as soon as possible.

My week has been busy with working at different libraries but I have the weekend off-yay!! When I go to different towns for work I always try to sneak in visits to the local charity shops. Wednesday lunchtime saw me browsing at six during my lunch hour, bagging a bargain and still having time for a sneaky McDonalds before going back to work! 

Style wise I've noticed that I go through phases-if it's not denim and jeans, then it's jackets and coats and if it's not neither of these then it's handbags!! Like jeans and jackets, I can never have enough handbags- if I spy a quality one then I'm there like a homing device!!

I've been on a slow burning mission to get a slouchy hobo style leather bag- I have a good few totes, structured handbags, cross body bags and clutches but wardrobe purges over the years have seen me get rid of my slouchy hobo styles. Here are my favourites at Net-Porter of what's influenced me:

Elizabeth and James textured backpack, £445

 Anya Hindmarch Maxi Zip satchel £795

Chloe The Marcie £1195

Marc Jacobs Classic Q Hillier Hobo, £350

 Proenza Schouler PS1 Large Satchel, £1440

So this is what I found below- a gorgeously buttersoft, slouchy hobo style leather black bag by All Saints for a fabulously frugal £3!! It is actually so roomy-it has three large compartments, a front zipper pocket and inner compartments too:

To be fair, I most probably didn't need another black bag, but I really couldn't pass on this one and on days when I need to store my brolly, hat, scarf, lunch and other general bits and bobs it's great to have just one bag that doesn't look like you've stuffed your whole world in there and can't close the zip! I've culled four bags that no longer make the cut in terms of quality and size so I don't feel so bad buying another one!

On that note, another bag which has been on my radar thanks to the lovely Michelle of Myfashionable40s is this Autograph leopard and black leather cross body bag. She blogged about it here in November and I couldn't indulge at the time as I had bought the wedge boots in the same post when M&S were doing their 20% off. However last Sunday whilst browsing ebay I was ecstatic to find it for less than £25 on a buy it now!! 

It arrived on Thursday and I'm so pleased with it-everytime I've seen Michelle wear hers I've been thinking how it was 'the one that got away'. It really is so versatile and stylish and the perfect size too and the money I spent was gifted so I actually didn't spend my own money-yay!!

So two 'new to me' handbags for February and having bought a red woolly hat in Dorothy Perkins on Tuesday too, my total spends thus far is £8-not too bad, but I had envisioned a couple of weeks ago that I might be doing Avril's Frugal February style challenge-it's been an unfortunate fail there for me but I shall certainly be trying to be as frugal as possible for the rest of the month.

How is your February going style and frugal wise? Wishing you all a good weekend-i'm having a relaxing one with a dash of housework thrown in and also looking forward to Sunday evening when the next installment of Mr Selfridge comes on-my TV highlight of the week!

Vintage Presents.......The Classic Car Boot Sale

Keen to fulfill your love for classic cars and vintage collectables? 

For the second year running, the banks of the River Thames will transform for The Classic Car Boot Sale, a TWO DAY EVENT on March 15/16 2014. Curated by Wayne and Geraldine Hemingway + the Vintage Festival team, the event will welcome hundreds of shiny classic cars and vintage goods to the riverfront.

Be prepared to discover wonderful vintage clothing, homewares, pop culture memorabilia, vinyl alongside the best in street food, cocktails, impromptu street performances and a London Routemaster bus hosting a bar and DJs.

The weekend is set to be a classic car and vintage enthusiast's dream.

Put the date in your diary and enjoy a vintage weekend with a difference!

The Perfect Professional Hairdressing Scissors To Create Fashion Forward Looks

When creating fashion-forward hair styles hot off the catwalk this season, a pair of super stylish professional hairdressing scissors is essential to create bang-on-trend haircuts. The coolest stylists match their tools to their individual style - try Jaguar scissors for the most chic and fashionable designs. Available in an array of trendy styles from zebra print to neon shades, the fun scissors are ideal for creating this season’s most-wanted SS14 haircuts.

Edgy Bob

The bob takes on a new identity for spring and is cooler, edgier and more daring than seasons past. Marc by Marc Jacobs and Chanel saw choppy textures, blunt ends, short fringes and bright and bold colours take over this iconic style, bringing it bang up to date. The new bob is ultra-modern, yet also nods back to the nineties thanks to its grungy twist. Think Milla Jovovich in the Fifth Element with her fiery messy bob, the perfect example of nineties does the future.

Dead Straight

Voluminous, bouncy hair is out and dead straight, so cool it hurts hair is in, according to Chloé, Donna Karan, Ralph Lauren and Miu Miu. Super sleek, flat and shiny hair is perfect for rocking a model style, meaning one thing – the straighteners are back! To avoid frazzled, over styled hair, heat protectants are essential to avoid the dreaded frizz – a huge no-no for this look. Hair needs to be seriously straight, with little or long layers and a ‘don’t mess with me’ attitude. A layer of shine will give the grungy look a glamorous twist.

The Crop

All the fashionable rebels out there will be chopping off their long hair for a funky short crop this season. From feminine side-swept long crops, choppy punk styles to sixties pixie crops, all seen at Burberry Prorsum, Marc by Marc Jacobs and Chanel, the crop is perfect for those craving an image refresh for summer. A short hairstyle may seem simple and sensible, yet it allows for adventurous makeup and statement outfits. Team a cute crop with extreme eye makeup to counteract the masculine style.

With an array of cool designs to choose from, such as animal print or colour pop, the specialist Jaguar Scissors come in an abundance of colours and patterns to suit your individual style. Essential for fashionable hairstylists, the scissors boast superb performance and reliability, enabling the trendiest haircuts be created in style.  

My Round Up: Outfit Post, More Thrifted MaxMara and Total Spends for January

Hi everyone! I hope your weekend was a good one, I spent Saturday afternoon in a neighbouring local town thrifting and yesterday afternoon I finally managed to track down a pair of skinny distressed jeans- I had planned to splurge and get the Always Skinny distressed jeans from Gap instore, but when I went in to try them I wasn't impressed with how they had distressed them. Around the distressing was squares of white stitching (?) which to me really spoils the appearance of the overall look- I checked the website earlier and zoomed in on the picture and there is definitely shapes of stitching around the distressing of the jeans online too. So these jeans were ruled out before I even tried them on! I decided to check out River Island and H&M and was pleased to find my pair on the sale rail, reduced from £24.99 to £9.99- I'm sure they will appear on the blog sometime soon!

My outfit of choice on Saturday was my oversized Hype grey sweatshirt which was a Christmas present and I wore them with my Levi's boyfriend jeans and Dune biker ankle boots:

I have a real thing about distressed jeans at the moment, my newly found interest of Pinterest has a dedicated Denim Inspiration board which is chocka full of distressed jeans! I also made my distressed rips and holes a bit larger on these jeans on Saturday too: 

My favourite go to this season, a grey sweatshirt goes with anything and the fleecy lining keeps me just snug too:

Going to town on Saturday the weather was lovely-all sunny and dry. Midway through though, the clouds blackened and the heavens opened-the rain was torrential so it was lucky I had a lift back home! 

My thrift trip was quite successful- I found two items that will be lovingly worn and used and this first one was on my style wishlist for a while too. As soon as I saw this wool blended steel grey blazer by Maxmara from Barnado's charity shop and in my size too, I knew I had to have it:

It's ideal for Spring and Summer and the just the right shade of grey too-not too dark:

It's my kind of perfect jacket to go with all my jeans regardless of the style and colour-with a tee underneath and my footwear of choice this will feature a lot in future outfits- I may already have a lot of jackets but I haven't got a grey blazer so it was definitely worth me getting it.

My second item was a Gap dusky pink leather mini slouch bag for £1 which is just perfect for Spring and will provide a pop of colour with neutral styled outfits.

So with the end of January in sight, I've bought the DKNY bag (£3.99) faux fur collar (£2.49), black bobble hat (-50p), necklace (£3) and earrings (£3) from TU, Windsmoor longline jacket (£10), Gap slim boyfriend jeans (£3.99), a white shirt (£1), Primark checked scarf (£4), MaxMara jacket (£6.99), Gap bag (£1), H&M jeans (£9.99) TOTAL £48.95 for 12 items. 7 Thrifted, 5 Shop Bought.

Would I be without any of the above? I am quite happy with all my purchases and I'm pretty sure they are buys that will fit in with what I already own- I am trying to make sure that any purchases I get will be instantly wearable with pieces I already have and are not one season wonders either. If they don't get used this season, then I would want them to roll over to the following appropriate season and not be too trend led that it could easily go out of style.

How has your style spending been going this month-have you managed to stay on track with your budget and did you buy items that will truly fit into your existing wardrobe, regardless of how much you paid for it?

I hope you all have a good week ahead, I'm working most of the week from tomorrow, so I hope to catch up with you all soon!