Thrift Inspiration, Worth-The Effort

A couple of weeks ago I visited a fairly new boot sale to me which is open on Fridays. This particular one doesn't tend to have many stalls but this one morning because I was prepared to rummage a big heap on the floor, I found a few treasures. I unearthed a couple of Jean Muir dresses (cleaned and already sold!), some vintage 40s handbags and a couple of 50s dresses. One was in great condition, a cotton day dress and the other one was sadly well worn under the arms but had to be bought because of the label and quality-Miss Worth of London.

According to the Vintage Fashion Guild,  Worth London Ltd and Miss Worth are descendants of The House of Worth, the grand French couture house founded by Charles Frederick Worth in 1858. The Worth name was bought by Sydney Massin, who founded Worth London Ltd and was open on Grosvenor Street, London until 1967.

Beacuase of the provenance, I had to ensure that I salvaged this wonderful piece to its former glory. The dress had a sleeveless fitted bodice with the skirt fanning out but on trying on the dress it was clear it could not be saved in its entirity.

So at the Vintage Fashion Fair on Sunday, the seamstress in residence there, the lovely Nanna at www.facebook.com/splendidstitchesclothes quoted me a price to alter the dress to a skirt and worked on it all day, making a completely new waistband, sewing the hem up, doing an invisible mend and putting in a new zip. She even put in the original label for me and it was ready for well before closing time:

It was hard work for her, as the material is silk and lined and she had to use silk thread to maintain a professional finish:

The original lining maintained, above and below, the exquisite print close up:

Above, the original Worth label-the dress now skirt is from the late 50s so is 50 years old!!



What lengths would you go as far as to restore a vintage or modern item?

There goes Summer, wearing thrifted Topshop

The weekend was an absolute scorcher and for October it was such a treat to go out not only in bare legs, but with shorts and no jacket required! We headed for the park for a lazy Saturday afternoon.

My outfit of choice was some 7 For All Mankind cut off jean shorts which are thrifted and are years old, a pair of pink Havaiana flip flops and my newly thrifted Topshop 70s style floral kimono satin bias cut blouse, which with its wide sleeves, was a cool and boho chic style choice.

It was from the same seller as my picture skirt at the boot sale last week for just 50p-I couldn't not buy it and its already a favourite of mine as it can be worn casually or dressed up!!

It ticks a lot of style boxes for me-floral, 70s style, kimono with a bias cut-thats a lot for 50 pence worth!! For me its a true last minute summer bargain!

Back to reality now, the sun is out today but the temperature has dipped-back to jackets and October dressing! What will you look forward to wearing as the weather gets back to Autumnal temperatures?

Last sunny day in September!!

For a long time now, I've always hankered after a 'picture' skirt-I had a couple as a teenager and I think they make such a pretty summer skirt.

I was pleased to pick this one up at the boot sale this week for only 25p-I think its from the late 70s, early 80s and perfect for the scorching sunshine we are having today!! It really is an Indian summer for us at the moment, I hope it goes right through this weekend!!

The picture is of perfume bottles, mirrors,dressing tables and accessories. The skirt has a side button feature too and I'm wearing a black Zara cami top with it. The skirt to me has quite a 'Carrie' vibe to it, I've linked back to a previous Sex and the City vintage outfit post I did back in 2008-it shows that vintage never goes out of style, especially when its paired with something modern.

Wishing you all a really great weekend whatever you get up to. There are no vintage fashion fairs for me this weekend but I'm at Primrose Hill next Sunday. I'll be browsing the boot sales tomorrow and Sunday for late season bargains most probably!!

Thrift Inspiration, Helmut Lang style!!!

I've always loved the minimalism of Helmut Lang-the sharp lines, elagant silhouttes and  his use of black and white, denim and deconstruction in his style have made him a designer whose pieces I've always admired through the late 80s and 90s.

Net-A-Porter have a gorgeous range of the current collection, which is now under the creative direction of designers Michael and Nicole Colovos-money permitting I would love the leather and wool asymmetric dress and the Analog leather jacket-perfect for the 'Fetish' trend going on this coming season:

Still, I am more than consoled by this Fridays find at my local boot sale, this gorgeous buttersoft black leather deconstructed style bag by Helmut Lang for only £1.

It will go perfectly with my charity shop find earlier this week in my last post, my black waxed River Island skinny jeans. Its a perfect day to night bag and is already a favourite in my wardrobe! 

What style of bag will you be wearing for this coming season?

Thrift Inspiration, Fetish Rock Chic Style!!!

My favourite look for Autumn and Winter is the 'fetish' trend, or for me, its more of a rock chic look.

I love the Giles outfit below, featuring skinny black jeans and a feathered jacket. Many designers such as Louis Vuitton, Givenchy and Alexander McQueen are channeling this trend with feathers, fur, patent, leather and waxed denim, plus lots of red lippy which is certainly the order of the season for this look.

 

My take on this look was very recent at Toni and Guy for London Fashion Week. I do love skinny black trousers and the ones I wore above have a faux leather trim down both legs and were bought at River Island last winter. I wore my vintage Thierry Mugler jacket and 'I Love London' Topshop tee with them for the evening.

Net A Porter have black waxed skinny jeans available for this season, Burberry Brit (above) are £225 and Ksubi (left) are £185. These style jeans are perfect for day to night wear and can easily be glammed up or dressed down with a cardi or hand knit jumper for casual day wear.

As I love this look and you can never have too many skinny black trousers or jeans, I was pleased to find these waxed black skinny jeans by River Island for £6 in my local Barnados charity shop this week.

They don't have too much hanger appeal but look great on-I'll do an outfit post with them soon!!

I know they will be perfect for a day look with a cosy knit or fur bolero and for night, with a tailored tuxedo or a leather black biker jacket. What look is inspiring you for Autumn and Winter?