Vintage Schmintage

I received a hefty Topshop voucher when I left my old job a couple of months back, and I just kept in my purse for ages. I mean like two months. There’s something about vouchers – they are more precious than money. In fact vouchers arebetter than money because you won’t end up spending it on the gas bill instead of something frivolous at Topshop, because lets face it, that is what you really want to spend it on. Who needs heating when we’re expecting an Indian summer, etc etc.

Anyway, after much deliberation, I spent the damn voucher. My patient friend R accompanied me to the big Topshop in Oxford Circus and I knew I wanted…something. We spent at least an hour and a half in there. I tried on shoes, I looked at clothes and I spent a lot of time cooing over non-vintage vintage bags on the ground floor. Eventually, we went back to the ground floor and to cut a long story short, I bought this wonderful bag. It is made in the UK from vintage leather, in a vintage shape but isn’t actually vintage, if you see what I mean.

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day...

The shape is wonderful, somewhere between a strict briefcase and perfection. The vintage feel allows it to be fun whilst the structure gives it resilience. It makes everything I wear look more sophisticated and I’ve been using it every day since I bought it (practically a record). It is made by a brand called Etui (no website sadly) and I’d recommend them if you’d like something unique you want to treasure (mine was a hefty £125). But with a voucher, it was a bargain. Sort of.

A close-up

Sadly, the bag can only do SO much on days like these.

A

Edinburgh Festival

As S mentioned, I went to the Edinburgh festival last weekend. This week has been so busy that it feels like a lifetime ago. I would recommend the festival to everyone who enjoys a bit of culture – there are apparently over 10,000 performers, so you get to choose from comedy, music, theatre and dance.

With so many shows, you do run the risk of picking something rubbish and feeling as if you’ve wasted a tenner on the ticket. But by the third week of the festival, the worst shows have been wheedled out and we saw five good ones from a comedy sketch show to a performance about time and chaos. Too pretentious for you yet?!

And here’s a few pictures to show you what it was like:

Day 1 Outfit - we got a travel at 7 am so this was a multipurpose outfit. Skinny chinos from Gap, Topshop brogues, Cos top, Gap jacket, Mum's 'vintage' bag.

I've always been jealous of people who inherit loads of amazing items from their parents - most of my Mum's cool stuff from the 70s is in storage in Pakistan. Except for this vintage bag. Which I love.

My favourite part of this outfit - purple knee high socks from Tabio to keep my ankles warm

The 80% cream banoffee pie

T in snazzy red cardie looking for our next show.

There were a lot of shows to choose from.

Day 2 Outfit - polka diamond tights, H&M shorts, Chemise Blanc top, ghetto chain, Gap jacket again and the new vintage bag from Etui.

Most performers just handed out flyers. These ladies found a novel way of getting our attention.

I love Edinburgh's architectural beauty and a lot of that comes grey tones of the city's stone. Except when it is lit up by blue lights at night, like here.

A

Spendthrift

Last night my Mum told me, in quite a sweet way, that I am, and have always been, a spendthrift. As with normal mother-daughter relations, I disputed this whilst really knowing that she was right, of course. Inwardly, I told myself to be more thrifty (a friend once told me she thought spendthrift meant that she was good with money, i.e. thrifty).

But then I went online, browsed some brilliant blogs with a dash of Outnet thrown in and poof, like Cinderella’s pumpkin carriage, my resolution disappeared into thin air. I didn’t buy anything, so I suppose I stuck to my resolve, but I knew I wanted to and as with emotional betrayal, if I’d had had the money then I wouldn’t have it any longer.

I think this embodies the true definition of spendthrifts – we don’t always have the money because we spend it as soon as we can on something that fits into that moment. The moment can be created by me, just thinking about a particular item for a while, or by the environment (excellent sales assistant).

So, in the true spirit of the spendthrift, here’s a few items I’d just love to buy. In no particular order.

'Because it is still officially summer' Marc by Marc Jacobs mixed strip jersey dress

'The boyfriend hates them but I don't care' Boots - Topshop

Tallulah Tu Black Leather Rose Cuff - pretaportobello

Powwow - Yellow Drape Front Dress, Whistles

Parka from Full Circle

Well, lucky that I haven’t got any money then, isn’t it?!

A

Something from Nothing

Recently a friend asked me where I shopped and how I put outfits together. I found this seemingly simple question almost impossible to answer and I’ve been pondering the answer ever since.

A fuller answer will have to wait for another but I did say one thing, and although it seemed absurd to me, even as I said it, I’ve since come to fully believing it:

If you want to dress better, then go into a shop and pick up ugly things to try on

Now, this comes up with more than one caveat – firstly, this advice is more sound if you feel that your current style is in need of modification. As everybody’s definition of ‘ugly’ constantly changes, it’ll force you to try on items you may never have touched before. And you could be pleasantly surprised. This approach has certainly worked for me and I’m constantly amazed at other people’s ingenuity when teaming one item with another.

I saw another example of this today and feel that it illustrates my point well. You may have noticed the recent trend for crop tops? Why, I hear you cry?Well, that was also my initial thought but then I saw how blogger Diamondcanopy had incorporated this white lace Topshop crop top into her daily outfit and it made a lot of sense.

Blogger Diamondcanopy (photo courtesy of Diamondcanopy)

I recently moved jobs and got a great £75 Topshop voucher as a leaving gift. I intend to raid the sales racks and go for all the ‘ugly’ things. It’s going to be great.

A

 

 

 

Clear as glass

I made a quick outfit improvement earlier. I have always been one for pulling my sleeves over my hands and destroying them and generally looking like a slob. So today I rolled them up to keep them out of harms way. No major style revelation there you would think but I was pleased with how much better the proportions look and how much chicer the whole effort was. I was also trying out a pastel colour palette with this ancient pistachio chiffon dress from Topshop and an oversized and therefore super comfortable Topshop cardigan. Oh lord, I think the belt is Topshop too. I’m like one those of those girls who just buys everything straight off the mannequin. Susie Bubble I ain’t. Second prize don’t exist.

I’m pretty disappointed with the baggy state of my jeggings after one wash, necessitated by chocolate cake melting on them (the inevitable fate of all my clothes and furniture).

Check out my cool glasses. When I met my friend Karla earlier she said “you look so cool! Like an old granny.” Yeah!

Here ends your stream-of-consciousness outfit post for today.

S

 S

 

Signposts

• Susie Bubble went to the Topshop press day and supplies oodles of photos of what to expect. It straddles that line between ” disgusting” and “wearable”. Some of my favourites are the cage skirt, satin bras and studded denim shorts.
• Apparently lowkey Paris label Isabel Marant is going down the luddite route and insisting people travel to actual shops to buy their wears. It’s stocked at Liberty if you are a fan but I often wish labels could run their own web shops where you could buy every single item from the collections and weren’t at the whims of the buyers. I know it’s not possible but it would be handy.
• Sparkling Whine has found the most amazing charms designer Miss Bibi, and runs down their top 5 favourites from her “boutique en ligne”. This is mine:S

What I Wore on Holiday

A few posts away, I was bemoaning the lack of success when it comes to the luggage. There’s all sorts of does-this-go type confusion and not-the-right-shoes conundrum, but I think I managed to get by ok when I went to Cologne last weekend…well, just. And in the interest of keeping outfit pictures interesting I have done a little analysis to show you why I like this one:

And here are my other oufits but without the analysis – crucially, I have recyled items between the days which is brilliant for packing lightly.

N.B. I am no good at posing for shots so these are the ‘Best Of’.

Silly Pose - H&M skirt, Topshop pumps & vest, Mulberry bag & jacket from friend

H&M top(used to be a dress), Topshop necklace, American Apparel skirt

A

White Trumpet

I was in the big Topshop the other day and came across the White Trumpet label. The clothes had a fun, structured feel to them and made me want to stick to previous resolutions to save & only buy beautiful clothes (as opposed to buying on a whim which I do much too often).

This is the third womenswear collection from the London based duo, Julie Rouzioux & Reno Inchenko, who have previously studied history of art, architecture and interior design. Their previous collections tell of ‘basic shapes featuring complex ornamentation’ as inspiration, and the latest collection certainly features this. I have been meaning to take a plain black dress (bought on a whim & very boring) back to Topshop & I think I might trade it in for a small slice of Trumpet.

 

"Well, don't we look nice?"

A

Party Shoes

I don’t know if you remember the amazing/ridiculous shoes and my attempts to style these wonderful shoes, but I finally managed to wear them out on Friday night. I teamed them with a white vest, sheer black short-sleeved T and colourful grey flower print Topshop skirt and it seemed to work. The shoes brought forth cries of excitement from my pals, and even those who are not particularly bothered by shoes were forced to look down when they realised that I was 6 inches taller than usual. And I managed to totter around in them all night without much hassle. Brilliant.

A & S comparing party outfits

 

A

Unique at Topshop

Here’s the latest selection from Topshop’s Unique range. These items are causing a buzz as Unique’s show at London Fashion Week is eagerly anticipated. In recent weeks, I cannot escape my TopshopLove (TM) and I’ve always admired the way they pick out great new designers for their Boutique & Unique ranges. Who can forget the Peter Jensen cake dresses? Or Louise Goldin’s knits? I look forward to seeing more at LFW, and I cannot wait until I see the brave souls baring this in the icy London streets. Thinking about it, they’ll probably become indistringuihable against the snow, and you’ll only be able to see the studs.

A