Emma Forbes Life & Soul book launch at The Club at the Ivy

Last night we were invited to The Club at the Ivy in London to celebrate the launch of the lovely Emma Forbes new book, Life & Soul.

Emma has her own website, ForbesStyle.com, which is a lifestyle online site which gives fresh inspirational advice on presents and parties for any occasion or age. Her book shares all her secrets on entertaining and celebrating in style-for anyone needing help or inspiration on hosting that all important party, her book is a must read!!

The evening was a decadent and fun affair and Emma looked totally amazing, she was wearing a Dolce & Gabbana number which was fabulous!!

Photo: Celebrity-pix

It was also lovely to see again the fabulous Mrs TNMA too, we had a fun filled evening with drinks and canapes a plenty which were totally divine-I loved the mini shepherds pies!!

I was fortunate to receive a copy of Emma's book and hubby managed to get it signed-for him!!

I didn't get any outfit shots, but here is a picture of my two favourite pieces that I wore last night- my recently thrifted Valentino lace tuxedo jacket and my coloured snakeskin clutch:

Hubbys signed book!!!

A very big thanks to Halpern for the invite too, it really was a fun filled glamorous evening and I wish Emma a lot of success with the new book too!!

A chunky knit for this season

Autumn has arrived and my winter wardrobe is slowly amassing some heavier layers. Mindful that chunky hand knits are very much in trend this season, I was pleased to spot this really good condition, aran hand knit jumper which is so thick and warm and was purchased in my local Sue Ryder charity shop this week.

I'm sure it will be such a versatile piece in my wardrobe-I'm wearing the jumper today with thrifted Topshop skinny jeans, but it would also go well with a pencil skirt, a floral dress underneath, or even my 50s skirt featured in my last post!

I'm wearing Christophers horn necklace from Topman and a floral Gap shirt underneath

I also have a chunky aran knit cardigan which I thrifted in Spring and I've already worn it this season

What item of winter clothing is on your radar to buy this season?

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!!