Something old, something new

I’ m not into mindless consumerism, but I’ve been broke for a long time and things are getting ridiculous. Yesterday I went and bought a sorely-needed cardigan and found myself considering haggling with Zara. A visit to Le Grand Topshop revealed lots of pretty things but parting with money for clothes that are already coming apart at the seams aggrieved me too much. I did buy a maxi skirt (I think they look cool again) and a lovely hairband so it wasn’t a total bust.

But after reading this post “Bad New” at favourite new blog No Signposts in the Sea, I really want to buy things I can pass down. I went out the other night and like this blogger, realised a lot of what I was wearing was vintage, inherited from my grandmas: an embroidered clutch bag, a jacket, a Russian scarf and most of my jewellery.

So, it’s not really possible with my money as it is but I’d love to replace these beloved items from my wardrobe that are no longer what they were. The bow shoes above from Topshop and these Shelleys ballet flats that are way past the point of acceptably mangled, I would replace with Ferragamo Varina flats:

This is a very beloved jacket but it’s now too small. Strangely, I found that a sequinned jacket is quite useful for putting over stuff as metallics go with everything; zebra print perhaps not so much. I bought this about five years ago and it was considered a bit weird at the time but now sequinned shoulders are everywhere. I have no idea why someone would name their label S’nob.

This jacket would get replaced with a lovely quilted flowery jacket from Rebecca Taylor. I am over my magpie phase but I still want things to be pretty and not sportswear inspired. Crucially, it also needs to button up: while looking for jackets I found some that don’t do up as a design feature but, calling from the real world designers, jackets need to do this.

More quilting on my only leather bag, from Accessorize, the one I take to interviews:

But I can’t anymore because it’s destroyed and the handles are hanging by a thread:

There is only one handbag designer for me and that is Miu Miu. In Opposite World, I will replace the above bag with its classier sibling, which will presumably last a little longer:

And finally, one of my most loved items: a lace dress that I bought from Joy about 4 years ago. It has done its utmost to survive but now looks very worn and ropey – I have started wearing  it as a nightdress because it can’t really go out anymore but even that application is beginning to not really work as the straps are broken. It may find new life as a skirt if I can get my sewing act together.

I did find a very good look-a-like in Topshop yesterday and spent a long time staring at myself in the changing room mirror trying to decide whether to buy it or not. A few years ago, I would have spent that £35 in a flash (although it’s only £30 on the website. But a big part of me looked at the already fraying synthetic lace and thought “who made that? Why does it already look like it’s falling apart? Why does it cost £35 when it’s so transparently poorly manufactured?” It just wasn’t worth it – I’d rather wait (around 20 years is my guess) and get the dream Stella McCartney version or chance upon a good replacement in a vintage shop.

S

Topshop. Is it over?

Reading this article over on the Guardian about how Topshop has lost its mojo has made me think. When was the last time I bought anything in Topshop? It’s been a long while. When I have money in my hand, I run straight to Cos for staple t-shirts, I buy jeans at Gap and if I want an amazing party dress it’s French Connection or maybe Asos. There used to be nothing I enjoyed more than going to Topshop Oxford Circus and coming home with something cheap and shiny to add to my magpie’s collection.

There’s a combination of factors in my losing interest in Topshop. For a start, it’s not cheap anymore. You can still get a vest for £10 (I imagine) but you’re probably looking at a starting budget of £40 for anything else. And the quality hasn’t improved – it’s still a high-street shop and fond as I am of it, you are in denial if you think it’s not sweatshopped by some poor unfortunates on another continent.

In most minds, this wouldn’t matter but it’s also true that the desirability of the clothes has gone down. The designs aren’t edgy, they look homogenous. The expansion to America and elsewhere has taken the shine off the quirky Britishness of it all and it doesn’t feel like it belongs to you anymore.

Or perhaps it doesn’t belong to me anymore because I’m too old and out of the Little Girls’ Club? Last time I went there I actually felt out of place and I’m in my 20s. I felt too big for the clothes even though I come in under their specious size 14 cut-off point (if you can find one on the racks that is). When I worked in Topshop I served women of literally all ages (not sizes however) and I imagined I would shop there my whole life. But when I go in, even though they have pretty things, something stops me from parting with precious pennies for it. It doesn’t give me that uplifting feeling anymore.

I can’t believe I just wrote a whole post about somewhere I am choosing not to shop these days, but that just shows what a massive part of my style Topshop was. Maybe I should go on a reccy and see if I can find something to change my mind because I’m not sure I’m ready to let go.

S

Helsinki – Stockmanns

Stockmanns is like the Selfridges of Helsinki, except not quite as edgy or exciting. It does have amazing sales and a lovely food department, plus a really comprehensive selection of magazines and its own bookshop.

I used to always get this weird Finland-only magazine called Bulgaria but this year it costs 29  euros, which is a bit beyond my means.

You should be here! It’s basically a manual on Finland’s awesomeness -  you can see on the left-hand page a little thing about Minna Parikka, a shoe and handbag maker who I’ve blogged about before.

I had a peek around Stockmann’s little Malene Birger department (they also stock labels like Bruuns Bazaar, Tiger of Sweden, Filippa K etc, which were all nice). The sale was insane – everything was at least 60% off. If I had any money from, for example, a job, I would have bought this skirt I have been eyeing up all year.

I also dug this leather feather dress. What is indeed not to like about it.

I made the mistake of telling my family about the blog while telling them about A’s trip to Paris (A is part of the family) and now my parents have started giving me advice on what to post about and how to frame my photos – all day my dad was saying things like “that jacket looks just like a moth! You should take a picture just like this and put it on your blog!” My mum contented herself taking lots of pictures of me – for my blog!

S

p.s. I am probably eating blueberry pie as you read this.

Life and Liberty

I decided to go and have a wander around Liberty department store yesterday, which I haven’t been to in years. Partly it was on the continued recommendation of Style Bubble and partly it was because I had seen on the website that there was a sale on and I know that they stock Acne and APC – when I got there I saw placards announcing a sale but there weren’t any reductions.

Just as beautiful and quirky as I remembered, Liberty is the opposite of Selfridges in some ways – it has small, low-ceilinged rooms and doesn’t carry huge amounts of stock, but all the lines were really well-selected. They have a “contemporary floor”, for which read, the stuff you will be interested in: See by Chloe, APC, Twenty8Twelve, Splendid, Luella, Marc by Marc Jacobs etc. They also have a lovely cosy bag and accessories room where the displays include lots of little bits and pieces, including a really good range of products in the signature Liberty prints – small floral patterns in warm colours.

There was a rail of Cacharel for Liberty clothes and I’d forgotten how much I like Cacharel. I especially liked this blue background camisole top with a flower pattern. I saw similar things in Topshop later in the evening  but they were nowhere near as nice. You get what you pay for I suppose!

Cacharel top, £65.

I felt a bit underdone and underdressed as the main clientele were glossy girls younger than me, some with their mums. I wasn’t hassled by sales assistants or made to feel uncomfortable but I think I would have enjoyed it more if I was having a good hair day (I went straight to John Lewis afterwards and bought a hairdryer).

My ambitions to buy only mega-bargains from now on and make them look a million dollars simply through the power of my amazingness took a hit when I compared the quality of the items in Liberty to those in Topshop and found that they really don’t compare. Sorry bank balance.

S

p.s. I road tested the Acne t-shirt and it’s much less neon in real life – more of a bright berry pink. Efforts to find a budget replacement failed. When you’re standing looking at a £45 t-shirt you think, I could find something like this for half the price but  CAN YOU? A quick sift through Topshop and Miss Selfridge reveals that you cannot.

You can, however, buy jeggings.

Picture courtesy http://www.londonamigo.com

If money were no object…

I am already bored of hearing about how I could buy some stuff super-cheap and want to indulge in some old-fashioned fantasy shopping. This collection is what I would buy if I had, say, a £3000 Net-a-Porter gift voucher and wanted to buy things that were supremely comfortable to get as much joy from my purchases as possible, as opposed to an Alexander McQueen corset dress.

I am a convert to the harem pants cause – several bloggers have shown how they can be worn in a directional rather than sloppy, way. This jumper from Adam (which I’d never heard of before) is absolutely beautiful. It’s a sort of cloudy blue lace layered thing which I can see myself wearing for infinity. I chose a peachy-coloured linen top to go underneath for colour layering, a severe-looking Chloe handbag for putting books and papers in (I wouldn’t dare put Look magazine in there, it would spit it out) and low-heeled cloudy blue sandals to make it look less like my pyjamas.

S

Spending money wisely

No, I don’t mean getting a pension or anything (although I do have one, for all those savings fans out there). The above picture stands for all the high-end stuff I am trying not to buy from now on, plus all the impulsive Topshop buys that are a more realistic symbol of my shopping.

I am determined to take a really amazing trip sometime soon. I am quite a home person and I love London. This means I only rarely and grudgingly leave either my flat or the city. But I definitely have moments where I want to feel a gentle breeze on my face and trudge around cities looking at ten million churches listed in the Dorling Kindersley illustrated guidebook. Mostly I want to look at nice landscapes out of train windows and feel relaxed.

So I’m now officially saving up for some travelling. I’m already leaning towards being someone who buys fewer things, and only things I really love, although I’m pretty sure I won’t be cutting out clothes spending entirely as this trip could still be many moons away (and definitely not grooming, what with this impending blondeness). Hopefully the thought of a Motorcycle Diaries-esque trip across Latin America will inspire me not to buy too many more cream silk dresses or high heels. I can see myself in shorts, flip-flops and flowing top, looking at ziggurats or something. Now I just have to get out of the mindset that applies pricetags to everything in the picture.

S

House of Fraser

I generally do not go in House of Fraser unless it is to seek out the Benefit counter, partly due to a brief but traumatic experience working there. I was vaguely aware it sold brands and I think I went into the one on Oxford Street looking for Elle McPherson lingerie a while ago but in the main I give very little thought to HoF.

But with some time on my hands yesterday before meeting friends I went and had a look around the one at Bank and Monument and it turned out to be awesome! It must be new because it is small but perfectly formed, with a sort of art deco vibe. I scooted round the beauty hall and will have to come back for some supplies that ran out while I was jobless, but the best bit was a really excellent clothes department, which basically comprised the obvious Coast and Oasis sections as well as designer bags from Chloe, Marc Jacobs, Anya Hindmarch and Mulberry, and then a D&G, See by Chloe, Marc by Marc Jacobs and Day Birger and Mikkelson section. Joy! Just my level, especially if they have a sale… Shoes came courtesy of Kurt Geiger and French Connection.

I now have a little shopping list of things that I shall enjoy buying in this mini-HoF, which was the perfect amount of busy, i.e. just enough people to distract the perfume ladies but not heaving.

• Benefit Coralista blusher
• Lancome Adaptive foundation
• Black bow sandals from KG
• Yellow ultra-padded wooden heels from French Connection (I need a manicure before I can enjoy wearing either of these new sets of shoes)
• And this perfect white summer dress from Day Birger, which fulfils all my frolicking in the pastures dreams. When you see it in real life, it is that perfect white cotton dress.

S

p.s. I have not been able to find a picture of the bow sandals so this is my MS Paint interpretation for you.

 

The London Style Map

Cred: Style Bubble

The venerable Style Bubble has given the rest of us an early present by mapping all her favourite shops in London on this wonderful map. I intend to sift through it and let you all the results. If anyone has any comments on ones they have already visited then do let us know.

Oh, and check out her lovely new Miu Miu heels. Oh yes. They are brilliant. A

Web whispers

This month’s Vogue mentions a new sister website to Net-a-Porter called Outnet, which will apparently be an outlet or sale website to do justice to the past-season bonanza that already lives on the NAP website. A google search reveals nothing but let’s keep our ears pricked.

Also not exactly up and running but very interesting is a website called Girl Meets Dress, which works a bit like the designer bag rentals – you can rent and wear designer dresses from Chloe, DvF and the like. Okay, so it sounds a little bit skank but it’s basically like really amazing vintage. I think I would be interested, especially at Christmas when many party dresses are required. I draw the line at wearing someone else’s shoes though. I have to maintain standards somehow. Girl Meets Dress is not yet open for business but you can sign up for when it launches. ***EDIT*** Apparently Girls Meets Dress is shady but hopefully someone will work out a way to do the same idea.

S