Belt up!

I thought I would share a relatively new furniture purchase together with a slight obsession I have with belts!

Haberdashery heaven

My wooden haberdashery unit was a steal, my lovely dad salvaged it from an office clearout where he worked. I snatched it up knowing the 27 drawer unit would be the ultimate place to house all my accessories; belts, scarves, perfume, jewels and make up.

Anyway, back to belts! I haven’t actually counted how many I own, must be going on for 40 maybe? To be honest there are some that I haven’t worn in a long time, but for some reason I love purchasing belts – more so those that I have picked up in vintage and charity shops for couple of pounds here and there.

A few new finds!

Pictured above, a few of my recent belt purchases… including a woven cotton belt, a beaded Peruvian leather belt picked up from Vintage Village, a neon skinny belt from Primark and a couple of charity shop finds! I hope you have just as much luck belting up!

Spring, where are you?

I had no photographer at my disposal today, meaning no one else was in the office this afternoon to snap me! Rather than trawl round the building to find someone to take a photo (who didn’t think I was totally vain) I decided to give the old self timer a whirl on the camera!

Spring has sprung

Well the results aren’t exactly Testino worthy but I think you get the jist of my outfit; a sleeveless blazer style dress from H&M (new purchase) with a sheer Reiss patterned top underneath for good measure, oh and an old faithful vintage belt. I am wearing this today as I am desperate to bring out some new spring goodies from my wardrobe – but with the weather not being too kind I am having to work in my new spring pieces with some old favourites! Hurry up spring and bring Mr Sunshine with you too!

A weekend of vintage

I was most excited when I got the weekly email update from The Guardian fashion team, to find at the bottom all I craved, a couple of sentences about a vintage fair happening a mere half an hour’s drive away from home, in Stockport. My first question was how I hadn’t heard about this sooner!

Vintage Village goodness

                                                                                  

Normally my Sunday mornings are reserved for being quite lazy, consisting of reading the papers and pottering about, but the lure of a fair filled with vintage goodness, well I couldn’t resist! The early start was a challenge, but more than worth it when I reached the haven of the old Victorian market – from the moment of entry it was pure indulgence; the buzz of shoppers, the old music sounding from the gramophone and glamorous sellers in their vintage regalia – all setting the nostalgic scene. I was glad I had tried to fit in with the glamorous crowd by wearing a vintage dress my auntie had kindly passed my way a few years ago.

Me, myself and my dress!

After a couple of hours of wondering around the stalls and devouring the vintage wares, I emerged with more than a few purchases; three dresses, one folk art inspired waistcoat and a beaded Peruvian belt just in case you were curious! That should cure my vintage shopping demons for a while, well until the next fair on the 10th April. Hope to see you there!
For more information visit the Vintage Village website

Image of me - courtesy of Lady, Behave!

Fashion leader in training!

I have exciting news to report – I have been selected to attend the Drapers Next Generation Academy at the end of March in London. Yaahoo!  Moi, a next generation fashion leader – here’s hoping!

The one day event will include and I quote (from Drapers online) “exclusive content from leading names in fashion” – this is very exciting and a great opportunity to learn from some key industry professionals.

Look out for an update after the event! Now what does one wear to such an occasion… must get planning!

Lunchtime shopping delights

Before I leave work for the weekend, I couldn’t resist posting a little picture of my vintage haul from the local charity shop this lunchtime! I squealed with delight when I noticed from across the cobbled street that they had got all of their vintage goodies out of storage and so ten minutes later (I was pushed for time and whizzed through the rails!) I emerged with five items costing less than £30!

Bag of goodies!

Now, the telling part will be when I get home and try everything on… let me say there will be tears if the vintage Lanvin skirt (still with the original tags on and unworn) doesn’t fit – fingers crossed I have lost a few pounds since I ate my sandwich and cake earlier today!

Full photos to follow soon - happy Friday one and all!

A wardrobe highlight!

The closest I have got to this season’s neon trend is none too careful highlighter pen usage and subsequently ending up with yellow streaks over my hands! Not a good look, but not one to be deterred I decided to go forth and inject some zing into my wardrobe and experiment with neon.

So, off I popped to the shops last weekend, and on my travels I managed to pick up a neon belt in Primark for the bargain basement price of 50p! I don’t normally shop in Primark, mostly because I don’t like picking up clothes to try on that have been sat on the floor! However, I did find myself drawn to the accessories department and 50p lighter I have my first piece of neon!

A slice of neon around the waist

A skinny minny belt to go over my oversized denim shirt, I quite liked the flash of yellow amongst the sea of denim! I might have to experiment a little more with other brights in the neon colour family again soon!