Burnt Orange

Vintage faux fur coat // Charity Shop
Breton dress // Topshop
Vintage scarf // Rokit (Stolen from Jian Wei)
Grey tights // Primark
Cream Mary Janes // New Look
Vintage camera bag // Used to be my dad's
Velvet hair bow // Made myself using thrifted bow tie

Poetry in the Post

I love receiving surprises in the post and when it's the sort of thing you regularly see and admire, yet never actually part cash for, all the better. This lovely little magazine was sent to me on a whim by my boyfriend who studies and lives in London. Poetry is a monthly publication by The Poetry Foundation featuring new poetry and essays. February 2011 contains articles from Adam Kirsch and David Orr alongside new poetry from Jessica Jopp, Alicia Ostriker, Carolyn Forche, Thomas Lynch and Todd Swift amongst others.

Each edition features original artwork and the sort of adverts you'll actually enthusiastically pore over. It's printed on gorgeous, substantial paper with a solid spine and looks great among my books, guaranteeing more longevity that the average fashion glossy. All in all, well worth a tiny £3!

New in the Shop: 1960s Floral and Rasberry Knit

1. vintage RASBERRY CREME handknitted top - medium

2. vintage SPRING BLOSSOM blouse - medium

I'm currently setting myself the target of adding two pieces to the shop everyday while I'm studying for my exams. My spring stock rail is overflowing and I'm sick to death of all the old pieces lingering in the shop, it feels great to finally be injecting some new life into it. I can't wait for the exams to be over, as soon as they are I'm going to stock up on new houseplants as most of mine died over the Christmas holiday, start some sewing projects, hit the dead shop, begin shopping for my new Topshop uniform, list lots of old clothes on eBay and tuck into my reading list for next term. I hate the way exams totally take over your life. Oh and I also desperately need to finalise my applications to University for postgraduate study next year...

New in the Shop: Cable Knit and Gingham

1. vintage FISHERMAN cable knit cardigan - medium to large

2. vintage PRINGLE gingham shorts - small to medium

Grandad Trousers

Cardigan // Uniqlo

T-shirt // Primark

Vintage trousers // Charity Shop

Loafers // Charity Shop

Belt // Dorothy Perkins

Vintage Bag // Charity Shop

I found these tweed trousers in a charity shop in King's Lynn over the Christmas holidays. One of this small, miserable town's redeeming features is its abundance of charity shops which are always stocked with extremely reasonably priced treasure. These trousers cost me £3 and they have the exact high-waisted and taper-legged tailoring that would cost me in excess of thirty quid in Topshop. Unfortunately they're just a little too short in the leg to allow turn-ups but you can't have everything! The t-shirt is doing pretty well considering it cost £2 from Primark and I've been wearing it regularly for nearly two years. It has a lovely scoop-neck and navy-marl colour that help it to look everso slightly more expensive than it really was. The loafers were a real find at £5 new in a charity shop. I've worn them to death and they're still holding firm structurally which is more than I can say for my Topshop ballet pumps which have got to that really sinister elongated stage. I bought the bag over three years ago from a charity shop for £4 and I consider it my very own 'Mulberry' imitation replica. The cardigan was a great investment piece, £25 from Uniqlo's men's section but it's 100% pure new wool and I wear it almost every day.

And... I believe this is my 200th post! Thank you so much for stopping by! I have just made myself incredibly happy by learning how to put big pictures on my blog. It involved a freakish accident, the creation of a new Yahoo account and then a new flickr account but I am here and I'm so happy with how it looks I just want to post pictures all day but I can't because I'm supposed to be revising for my exam tomorrow. Seeing as these are my university finals I should probably be taking them a little more seriously...

xx

My very first Etsy purchase

Although I have been selling vintage clothes on Etsy for over a year I had never actually taken the plunge, picked up the tape measure and entered my paypal details that is, until the day before yesterday. One of my new year's resolutions, along with learning to knit and dressmake, is to try and stop buying as many clothes from the highstreet and focus instead on either, buying the best quality I can possibly afford and investing in classic wool, silk, leather pieces that will last decades and/or shopping entirely in charity shops, vintage shops and on eBay and Etsy. Almost everything I buy from the highstreet ends up in the 'to be listed on eBay' pile within a maximim of two years and the only pieces that cling on comfortably on my clothes rail are the less identifiable scraps I've picked up in random places. The conclusion is simple, mass produced clothes are instantly recognisable and therefore date excruciatingly quickly. Plus I really can't afford to spend £38 on a polyester blouse from Topshop anymore when I can find a similar style, albeit in need of a wash, for £2 secondhand. There is an exception to my resolution however, as an employee of Topshop I will still have to allow myself to buy the three items allowed every three months at 60% discount as uniform allowance. I intend to stick to this limit and hopefully it will make me think a little harder about what would be a good purchase!

So, the dress! It's so divine I just had to have it. It's woolly so I can wear it in the winter and the (British) summer and I think it will look adorable with these shoes which are still sitting pristine and unworn in their box...

I ordered the dress from a beautiful company called Mother's Daughter. They trade on Etsy but also have their own website complete with impressive photography, styling and web design. I challenge you not to be tempted...

CSN Giveaway Announcement + news

Since coming home from Manchester to spend the Christmas holidays at my parental home, my family seems to have been hit by a tidal wave of ill health and bereavement. Without wishing to go into too much detail of the actual events, it has been a period of intense sadness and it will take time for a sense of normality and routine to return.

I have just spent a week taking care of my recently bereaved uncle's house in London and lovely as it is, an actual 1960s time capsule, there is no internet connection and so please forgive me for my late drawing of the winner.


Congratulations to Lottie who has won the £25 voucher for CSN Stores! I look forward to seeing what you choose...

I am planning to return to Manchester on Monday night and will be heading straight into the heart of exam territory so please persevere with me and in February you should be seeing some new threads in the shop and some detailed blog posts with pictures and things.

(Photograph at top of page by me.)

First GIVEAWAY of the New Year

CSN Stores have kindly offered me the opportunity to pass on another £25 voucher to one of my lovely readers* to spend in any six of their comprehensive online stores. They specialise in homeware and stock a wide variety of celebrated, not to mention vintage-inspired, brands including Le Creuset, Cornishware by T.G Green, DeLonghi and Anglepoise, to name but a few. Whether you're looking for a chest of drawers, a pair of curtains or simply something pretty to drink your tea from, you're sure to find something to fritter £25 away on. In fact, I found quite a few fabulous items to lust after...

Anglepoise Original 1227™ Table Lamp - £119.50

Cornishware Set of 4 Cappuccino Cups and Saucers - £49

Dualit Lite 2 Slot Toaster - £56.99

KitchenCraft Cookie Cutter in Large Elephant Shaped - £3.99

Sagaform Retro Storage Container in Blue - £10.99

To enter the draw all you have to do is be a follower of my blog and leave a comment underneath this post containing your email address and anything else you'd like to add. The winner will be selected with a random number generator at MIDNIGHT on FRIDAY, JANUARY 14th, so you've plenty of time to enter. Only one entry per person but please tell your pals about the giveaway.

*Please note that the giveaway is ONLY available to readers living in the UK, US, Canada and Germany due to shipping restrictions. If the winner selected is a resident of the US, Canada or Germany, they will be directed to the online CSN stores available in that country.

Best of luck to all who enter!

Washing line

Style Inspiration: Chloe Sevigny

The coolest girl in the world.