Tuesday 20 August 2013

Charity Shop/ Boot sale/ Jumble sale finds!

Hello everyone! Sorry I haven't blogged in forever, I've been really really busy, although doing what I'm not too sure haha.
I've spent the last few days in Essex with my boyfriend and over the weekend we decided to take a look at some local charity shops and boot sales to see what bargains we could pick up.



My first purchase actually happened on the very first stall of the boot sale, which really excited me as I thought that was a sign of things to come! Unfortunately this was not the case as this was the only purchase I made throughout the whole boot sale! I managed to pick up a lovely pair of black strappy heels, with a platform and chunky heel! I've actually been looking for a pair like this for ages but gave up as they're always way above my price range! But how could I turn these down for £1.50? And they were in my size! (it's a sign.)



My Second purchase of the day was a very simple navy jersey dress with pleats. I really liked how soft it felt and it was really comfortable when on! It wasn't until I tried it on though that I thought it might be a ballet teachers dress as it looked exactly like my old ballet teachers one when I looked in the mirror! But still, I think it's nice and only cost me £1.20 in a charity shop! (sorry about the quality of the photos, they were taken on my phone)

I've recently realised how few tops I own, especially as I've picked up a lot of fabric that I'd like to use to make skirts recently, but i'll have nothing to wear them with! I came across this Ralph Lauren shirt and fell in love with all the tiny details on it. At £3.99 it's more than I'd usually pay for a top second hand but I thought i'd never see that kind of deal again! It's just a pretty white shirt with lace, embroidered flowers and ribbon which has been woven through the sleeves. It isn't something I would usually wear but I'm hoping I can make it work with one of my skirts.





The last of the charity shops had to be my favourite, they had a room out the back especially for crafty things at crazily cheap prices! I bought some lovely pink and white candy striped fabric, and some really bright purple fabric, I'm not too sure what to do with them yet but I fell in love with the colour! and at £2 each for way over a meter it was definitely worth it. Before leaving the shop I decided to go back for another rummage and the woman working there asked me if there was anything in particular I was looking for as she had loads more out back, although I couldn't think of anything I asked if I would be able to go out and see what was there, she kindly took me round there and I got some really nice thick checked fabric for £2, in some really warm colours which I think will make a good winter skirt! I also picked up a huge amount of tweed which I've been looking for absolutely ages! (again to make a skirt.) This was £4 but still a massive bargain due to the amount I got! I picked up lots of lace, elastic and ribbon, as they're always so useful to have when being a fashion student! And they kindly gave us three free marrows which one of the staff had grown when we paid! How funny!


Anyone that has ever spent any time in a shop with me will know how much I love all kinds of boxes and tins, i'm not too sure why but I just love containers! I'm also a big fan of all things tapestry. Callum got this one for me to put my make-up in when I move to portsmouth next month! It can fit a really good amount of things in it and even has a mirror inside! Perfect!


Our last stop was a local jumble sale that we saw advertised whilst driving around. On our first look around we didn't really come across anything very interesting so we decided to take a second look. I got a scarf for 50p which i really like. The colours are really vibrant and it has a lovely silky feel to it.


 I also got a lovely knitting basket. The basket wasn't actually meant to be for sale, the woman was just displaying her own knitting in it, i felt really bad once she told me she hadn't intended to sell it, but she kindly gave it to me for only £3! I love it!

 The best bargain of the day was a pair of shoes Callum picked up, they were quite squashed when we looked at them so they'd obviously been stored away for a while, they had a few marks on them and were missing laces. So the man on the stall sold them to him for 50p! Once Callum got them home, cleaned them up a bit and put laces on them they looked a million times better! (The picture really doesn't do them any justice and they look really nice on!)


These are just a few other things he managed to pick up over the weekend for less than £5 all together!

Hope you're all doing well! Again I'm sorry that I haven't blogged in ages, I'll try and do so more often now! Let me know what you think of these bargains or even better, if you've picked up any of your own! :)





Wednesday 27 March 2013

Interview Outfit

Just a quick post to show you all what I wore to my Ravensbourne interview today. I'm applying to do a fashion design course so I wanted to make sure my outfit stood out a little bit! (I'll apologise now for the really awful quality of the photos, as you can imagine i was in a big rush before the interview so i asked my mum to quickly take some photos of me on my phone! Sorry!)



I decided to wear a black lace midi length dress as I thought it would look quite professional for my interview, this dress was my latest purchase from a local charity shop. The lace is quite a unique design and I love the scalloped edges on the sleeves and hem (You can't see it too well in my photos, sorry!) I teamed it with a pair of platformed Chelsea boots from h&m (see earlier post) to add something more current into my outfit.  



I kept to the black theme by adding one of my favourite black Jackets which  got for an absolute bargain in Primark a couple of years ago, only £10 on sale! (I changed the buttons on it to give it my own  unique twist, which only cost me a few pounds more!)

I wore my hair up in a bun using a hair donut with a bow tie around it to make it a bit more exciting, and my makeup was quite neutral as I didn't want to look as though I was heading for a night out! I kept makeup minimal apart from blended shades of gold eye shaddow on my eye lids.

Have any of you had any interviews? Hope they go/are going well for you!

Tuesday 19 March 2013

The Liebster award!

I have been nominated for the Liebster award for the first time! After some research into what this means I discovered that The Liebster award is given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. (In case anyone was wondering 'Liebster' is German and means dearest.)

Upon being nominated, you are asked to do the following;
1. Tell 11 things about yourself.
2. Answer 11 Questions asked by the nominating blogger.
3. Nominate 11 new bloggers with less than 200 followers.
4. Ask 11 questions to the bloggers you nominated.
5. Inform the bloggers you chose.

I was nominated by http://colourmein-sc.blogspot.co.uk/ (Everyone check out her blog!)

Okay, here we go!

11 Things about me

1. I am 5"2 and a half (the extra half is very important!)
2. I am a size 3 to 4 foot, and I tend to buy any shoes I see on sale in my size, as I've managed to convince myself that 'its a sign' that i must own them. (mental)
3. I have incredibly bendy fingers which really freak people out. (I can bend them backwards to touch my hand)
4. I am currently studying a Fashion Foundation year at Ravesbourne, and I want to go on to do a degree in Fashion design.
5. I'm really bad at watching films! A lot of people get really shocked at the lack of films I've seen!
6. I'm incredibly clumsy. I fall over and break almost everything!
7. I really like to learn things from people, like when people start to share things about something they're really interested in. Not only is it interesting, but I like that people want to share their interests with me!
8. I'm quite a fussy eater, but recently I've got much better, I've been really trying!
9. I am capable of pulling the strangest faces.
10. I seem to attract strange situations that people can never believe are real!
11. I have an obsession with pillows, and I currently sleep with ten of them. 

The 11 questions I was asked are:

1. What is your most recent purchase?
    The boots and skirt I previously blogged about.

2.Makeup, hair or nails?
   Definitely makeup! I rarely have my nails painted as it chips off within minutes, and I don't mind having my hair scraped back into a ponytail as long as my makeup is done!

3. Where do you shop most often?
    Charity shops and eBay, I'm a massive bargain hunter. (Although I do go to all the usual shops too.)

4. Most embarrassing moment?
    Oh gosh, where do I start! The first thing that comes to mind is, I once fell over on stage in a dance show, with the whole school watching! (I was in a very visible place on the stage so i was definitely seen!)

5. What is your number one life ambition?
    I don't usually like to think to far ahead, but I'd really like to have a job that I love and doesn't stress me out or make me worry too much. (I'm a massive worrier and get really stressed quite easily so it'd be nice to be able to stop that!)

6. Is your wardrobe organised?
    Yes! It used to be in colour order, but I'm not quite that organised anymore, however I do know exactly where everything is!

7. What is your favourite beauty product?
    Dry Shampoo! I can't live without it, not only does it make your hair cleaner but it adds volume and helps my hair stay in place a bit more! i use it all the time, even if my hair is freshly washed.

8. Fashion crushes?
   Ooh this is a tough one! I can't really say I have one but I absolutely love everything Katy Perry wears in her video for Thinking of You. I wish i could buy every single one of the outfits!

9. What is your favourite album?
    Again, I don't really have one! I go through phases of liking an album and then I listen to it so much I end up hating it! (I don't know if that's normal)

10. What first attracted you to blogging?
      I found that a lot of people I knew were complimenting my outfits and were really interested in some of the bargains I had picked up and i wanted to share my finds and opinions with more people!

11. Is there a current trend you dislike?
       I'm not the biggest fan of studs anymore, don't get me wrong, they can look nice on some things, but I think the phase has been around for far too long now and I feel like they're making an appearance on way too many things!




My 11 Questions!

1. What first made you want to blog?
2. What is your favorite piece of clothing and why?

3. What is your proudest moment?
4. If you could travel anywhere in the world where would it be, and why?
5. If you could describe yourself in one word what would it be?
6. Where's your favourite place to shop?

7. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life what would it be?
8. What is your idea of a perfect day?

9. Number one beauty product?
10. Do you have any bad habbits? If so what are they?
11. What would you like to have achieved before the end of 2013?




And finally my 8 chosen people! (I can't find enough links to get 11, or they had over 200 followers, sorry!)

1. http://katievholt.blogspot.co.uk/
2. http://gabrielegzimailaite.blogspot.co.uk/
3. http://gilbsy.blogspot.co.uk/
4. http://www.theproverbs.net/
5. http://thegravityandshe.blogspot.co.uk/
6. http://colorloud.blogspot.co.uk/
7. http://anotherbeautifulthing.blogspot.co.uk/
8. http://stylewithfriends.blogspot.co.uk/


Make sure you take a look at all their blogs!

I'm sorry this is really really late, I've had a complete nightmare with my internet, but that's a long uninteresting story! I wrote this a while ago but the internet went before I could post it! Hope you're all good :)


Friday 1 March 2013

Todays Bargains!

Today I managed to find a little bit of time to go shopping after a very hectic month of work work work! I can't lie, I've been a bit dissapointed with the range of clothes that are in the shops at the moment as i feel like all the main shops are selling pretty much the same things! However, I did manage to find a couple of really good bargains!

My first item was a red floral dip-hem skirt from Primark. It is a combination of lots of my favourite things all mixed into one! I love to wear red, as I am very pale and I think red works well with my skin tone, I also love the floral print on it and it think this will be lovely through the coming spring months or on a summers day. The dip-hem style is one that I am still a fan of because I love the way it can be dressed both up and down, but most of all I loved the price! I found this little beauty on a sale rail which said everything on it was reduced from £10 down to £5, you can only imagine how delighted i was when i got to the till to find out it was only £2!! I thought she must have got it wrong but I didn't want to question it! I still can't believe how bargainous it was as it came with a belt and everything! (And a very nice belt I must say!)








The second purchase of the day happened in H&M. I rarely find anything amazing in H&M so I generally don't go in there, but today I was summoned by the massive SALE SALE SALE signs hanging everywhere. As I searched the rails for something I liked, I stumbled across these babies (Yes I literally fell over them.) All I could see at this point was some lovely platformed boots (much like ones I've been watching on eBay for a while but have been too stingy to buy) with a big red £7 sicker stuck on them, I couldn't believe that they could really be this price, and I said to my sister that if the price was true and they were in my size then it must be a sign and I had to buy them, especially since I had actually tripped over them! (I have a massive shoe-buying problem and i always convince myself that if shoes are on sale in my size that I have to buy them, because size 3 or 4 shoes on sale is rare!) and would you believe they were a size 4! I really love the high platform at the front and the mirrored plate on the heel! I can't wait to wear these out and the high platform and chunky heel make them really comfortable!





What do you all think of my bargains? I'd love to know any amazing deals you've picked up recently! 


Vintage bag- Better late than never.

Hi everyone!
Sorry I haven't blogged in ages, I've been really busy preparing my portfolio for interviews so I've been a bit of a hermit and haven't really left the house! 


At the beginning of last month, I took a trip into London to do some project research, and of course found my self getting distracted by some of the wonderful vintage shops that were about. I spent ages in one shop looking for a new handbag. I knew exactly what i wanted (I always do this, definitely not a good thing because I won't settle for anything different) and was very disheartened when I couldn't find it, especially after missing out on a few on eBay! 

I got home and complained to my mum that I still couldn't find my perfect bag anywhere, I described it to her as a Tapestry Doctors bag and explained that I wanted quite a small one, but one that was big enough to fit everything I need in it, and asked her to keep an eye out for one. She then went on to say "I bought one of those 25 years ago!" This was not what I wanted to hear as it made me feel one hundred times worse knowing she used to have one in my very house! I told her this and she replied "No, I still have it! I know exactly where it is!" she then whizzed off upstairs and returned with this bag! It was exactly what I had been looking for!  I am so happy with it so I thought I'd share my little story with you! Me and my bag have been inseparable over the last month! 






What do you all think of it? Hope you like it! 

And Leah and her bag lived happily ever after...

Monday 4 February 2013

Charity Shop Haul

Anyone that knows me, will be aware that I get a massive buzz from picking up bargains at local charity shops. I woke up on Saturday morning and thought I deserved a little break from my non-stop portfolio preparations  so off to the Charity shops I went. 


One shop I went to, recently had a generous donation from Urban outfitters, there was several lovely over-sized 'Granddad jumpers,' I wish I could have bought them all! However, as I am quite petite, they don't always suit me as they swamp me and make me look like a child that's played dress-up in their parents wardrobe. I did manage to find one which is nicely over-sized on me though. I loved the mix of blues, greens and greys in a repeated squares pattern and the wool is so soft! It's so comfy I think someone may have to amputate it off me! This was a massive bargain at £5, especially since it still had the original Urban Outfitters label with the price on it! (£32)





Another Urban Outfitters piece i bought was a Bow-Tie for £1. I know this may seem a strange thing to buy, but i thought this might make an interesting hair piece, and for only a pound if it didn't work out, it didn't really matter! (And it's for charity.) I go through stages of getting really annoyed with my hair being down, so i tend to scrape it all back into a ponytail or a bun, which does get very boring! I thought this bow-tie could work very well around  my bun when I wear a hair doughnut, and I was more than happy with the outcome! I decided to give it a try today and wore it to work, and I got so many compliments on it! (Ignore how messy my hair looks in the second photo, I had just got home from a whole day at work when it was taken.)








The next charity shop I visited was quite a unique one, everything in it costs a pound or less, but you really have to get lucky to find an amazing item in there. Anyone that knows me will know that I have a bit of an obsession with pretty collars, I feel naked without one! For the last few months I have been looking everywhere for a vintage blouse with an embroidered collar, but I didn't realise how difficult it would be to find the perfect one! So can you imagine my excitement when i found this one for £1! It had a slight stain across the front but I manged to ignore this because I don't think I'd forgive myself if I went home without it. When i got to the till, the woman asked me if i knew there was a stain on it (I thought was really nice of her to mention it.) To which i replied, "yes, hopefully it'll come out in the wash" she smiled at me and said she'd give it to me for 50p just incase it didn't! I wanted to jump over the till and hug her! 





I also picked up a nice brown belt for 50p. I buy way too many belts because i get quite excited when they have them in my size as belts from most shops don't tend to fit me right! The belt is nothing too exciting but I thought the square buckle on it was really cute and it was shiny! 





I am so happy with all that I bought on my charity shop spree, and all i spent was 
£7! Let me know if you find anything good at your local charity shops, I get really excited! 

Monday 21 January 2013

SNOW DAYS!

So all weekend it's been really snowwy here in London, which meant that there was chaos on the roads, children throwing snowballs from all directions, and the whole of England has been working wellington boot chic. (Although I must admit, I do love my wellies!) 
We started off the day by going for a walk in the park with our puppy, Hattie as it was her first snow day! She was so excited to be out, and this must have been the first year where I didn't get grumpy from being cold! - anyone that does not own a faux-fur jacket definitely needs to invest in one! I think i need to get mine amputated off me! I wear it everywhere, and for £52 from BHS you can't really go wrong! (And it's super soft too) 


Hattie was so excited by the snow but we were apprehensive to let her off her lead (she's never been off it before) so we decided to take a trip to a nearby golf course, which surprisingly was completely deserted! It looked like something out of a very pretty film. 



After a little while of wandering, we decided to try letting Hattie off her lead for the first time. (To anyone that doesn't have a dog, this is a pretty scary moment) and thankfully she stayed right by our side! (below Hattie is modeling her ever so lovely starry jacket) 

After spending about 5 minutes along side us, she decided she had done enough behaving and went absolutely crazy! She was so excited to be in the snow and was running and trying to eat it at the same time! I can't say I've ever seen such a small animal move so fast, at some points it looked like she was flying! It made me so happy to see how much she enjoyed herself, bit of a proud parent moment, although she's been exhausted ever since, we can barely get her to move off her bed! 

These photos were taken a couple of days ago, and I apologise for the quality, they were taken on my phone as this was all I had on me! I hope you've all had lovely snow days, and that the snow hasn't caused you too much disruption (or grumpiness) and let me know if you have any animal-in-snow stories to share! 






Monday 14 January 2013

New year new blog!

I know we're already two weeks into 2013, but better late than never right? Towards the end of 2012 I decided there's a few changes that I'd like to make for the new year. One of them being to create a blog!

I wanted to be able to share my thoughts, mainly on fashion and show you all some of the ways I put outfits together to create different looks, and I also wanted to give a little insight into my thoughts. So although it's taken me two weeks to make a blog, I've actually kept one of my new years resolutions!

As well as this, i have quite a few other resolutions that i'm really trying to keep! 

-Stop worrying!

This has got to be my main resolution this year. I'm a massive, massive worrier! I tend to panic over a lot of things and often end up making myself more stressed than I need to be. This year I'd really like to learn to stop and think calmly about things, instead of instantly jumping to the worst case scenario in my head! 

-Get my work done before it's due in!

Okay, so I say this every year, but this year I really really want to strip me of my self-given title "The Queen of Procrastination"  During Sixth form I found it quite difficult to motivate myself, and ended up trying to distract myself from what I know I should have been doing. It wasn't until I got into Ravensbourne (where I am currently studying) that I got a sudden surge of motivation! I had a bit of an epiphany (which also included a bit of a panic) realising that if i carry on with a lack of motivation, I may never achieve what i want to in life! So this one's more of a 'keep it up' resolution than a change my ways one. 

-Be more organised!

I'm not great at planning out what needs to be done and when i should do it! So this year I'd like to organise my time a little better, I'm sure I'll get a lot more done this way too!


These are the main things I've been trying to stick to for the past couple of weeks, and so far I'm very pleased with myself! What resolutions have you set yourself?

I'm sorry if I've blabbered! That's another big trait of mine that i'm not sure a resolution will change! :)