Outfit Post & Current ThriftMyStyle Summer Style Obsessions- Lace, Embroidery, Espadrilles and Denim

 Hi everyone! After hearing the weather report on Wednesday evening for Thursday to Saturday I was really ready to embrace summer dressing-bare legs, dress and some summer sun ready to sit out in and enjoy. Alas, the outfit was there on Thursday but definitely no summer sun to radiate in! 

Style obsessions are currently lace, embroidery and denim and in various mixes for good measure. This outfit features a thrift find from last Sunday- a Gap slim fit denim jacket in exactly the shade I've been looking for this coming summer. I was at a local boot sale on Sunday and saw it on a ladies rail, so I asked the price and she said £2. Definitely cheap enough but for some reason I said to her 'Will you take £1.50?' We both burst out laughing at the same time and I'm sure it was because of my cheek but she said yes and off I went!

I'm wearing one of my items from the clothes swap party a couple of months ago, a Topshop blush pink lace dress. It's sleeveless and backless and is an ideal length for me and so perfect as a daytime summer dress if I wear it with denim. I'm also wearing some tan sandals which I thrifted a couple of summers ago- they are Clarks and were from my local Sue Ryder charity shop for around £8:

My new pinterest board, Crafted Style-Embroidery, Lace et Al is quickly expanding with images of everything embroidered, lace and summer boho orientated:

With this inspiration in mind I stopped off in another local town for a spot of charity shop thrifting this morning as the boot sale didn't appeal weatherwise and found this charming embroidered lace cotton camisole by Fat Face in the £1 Sense charity shop:

It's a replacement for one I stupidly put in the charity shop bag a couple of years ago for no good reason and will be perfect under denim jackets and waistcoats and summer blazers too.

Another style inspiration that's been hot on my mind are espadrilles and slides so how chuffed I was to find an unusual mix of the two earlier as well- they are Pare Gabia espadrilles made in France and were in the Sue Ryder charity shop for £3.95:

Brand new too and a much needed addition to my summer wardrobe, these will get worn a lot and will go with so much that I have already.

Unfortunately the sun shows no sign of returning any time soon where I am and my feet are freezing- I may have to get the socks and boots out  ;- (

What is on your style radar at the moment- are you shopping for summer and if so do you have current obsessions of the moment?

Have a lovely Easter weekend and I hope the sun is shining for the rest of you, wherever you are!!

Double Denim Outfit Post, My New Red Handbag and some Vintage Sunglasses

Hi everyone! I hope you've all had a lovely week and are enjoying your weekend-it's great to see Spring is officially here and the sun is shining today even though temperature wise it is cooler than in the week.

On my day off midweek I decided to wear my degrade denim shirt that I got from the Voucher Codes swap shop party last month and I paired it with my 7 For All Mankind indigo straight jeans that I've had for a while (originally thrifted). I think this shirt does work well with a darker denim rather than a bleached or lighter colour denim and I'm wearing my Matalan navy ballet pumps:

Even though ballet pumps are flat shoes and in theory should be comfortable, by the end of the day my ankle and foot was hurting- I believe I can't wear flat to the floor shoes for a long period of time so it's just as well these didn't cost me too much- the shoes themselves are great value for money at £6 a pair but I don't think this style of shoe is a regular for me!!

In one of my previous posts I mentioned how I've been searching for a red handbag. I've looked in charity shops and decided this morning whilst in town to look in the department stores. I went into Dorothy Perkins, River Island, T K Maxx, Debenhams and Marks & Spencer and although I did see a couple of bags I liked, they were either just too small or too much money for non leather. I didn't really want to pay £25 upwards for a bag that isn't leather- I was tempted by a Jasper Conran cross body bag in Debenhams which with their 20% discount would have made it £28, but it was just too little.

On my way back to the car I stopped off in a local handbag and shoe boutique that has been in my town for years but I've never been into. I spied this red quilted bag and reduced down to £10 I knew I had to have it: 

It's rather more of a giant wallet on a chain as the inside has credit card slots, a zipper compartment and 3 clear compartments for keys and phone, definitely big enough for carrying the essentials and style wise it's quite classic and ideal for day or evening.

For a non leather handbag the price was right and just an ideal size too! 

If the weather's nice then I may go to the boot sale tomorrow morning- I managed to pick up a pair of vintage 70s Ted Lapidus sunglasses at last weeks one for just 50p-it's inspired me now to get a cracking little collection like my lovely blogger friend Vix at Vintage Vixen- hers include a few Ted Lapidus, Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent so watch this space for future finds!!

My vintage Ted Lapidus 50p find from last weeks boot sale

Have a great weekend everyone!! 

Vintage Presents:The Classic Car Boot Sale

On Saturday 12 October over 100 classic cars and vintage vehicles will descend on to Southbank Centre’s riverfront for London’s first classic car boot sale, curated Vintage Festival. The Classic Car Boot Sale will take place on the riverfront at Southbank Centre between the Queen’s Walk, Hungerford Bridge and Jubilee Gardens. 
Traders will assemble the finest vintage fashion, homewares and pop culture memorabilia, operating from the boot of their vintage vehicles. Show stopping car displays will include vehicles of all shapes and sizes; from classic cars such as the Aston Martin DB4, to VW campervans and beautiful vintage bicycles.

The event will also boast some of the finest food traders, serving premium street food and craft beers from converted vans and campers. Traders include Engine, who serve artisan smoked sausages, B.O.B. Lobster’s famous lobster rolls and street food favourite, Bleeker Street Burgers. Drinks will be provided by Beetle Juice, a stylish mobile cocktail bar. British Music Experience’s “Traffic Jam”, a renovated Austin Morris J4 Dormobile, will have DJs playing a mix of music inspired and influenced by Lord Kitchener’s 1950s calypso classic London is the Place for Me. In between DJ sets, visitors will be invited to try out playing BME’s selection of instruments, such as a tea chest bass, ukulele and percussion steel pans.

Further musical entertainment comes from Vintage Festival DJs, who will be playing vinyl from the top of an open air London Routemaster. Also appearing at The Classic Car Boot Sale will be [re]design’s Chalkyvan, a rejuvenated campervan redesigned and upgraded to be used as a mobile chalkboard. 

Entry to The Classic Car Boot Sale is £3, and tickets can be purchased at Southbank Centre on the day of the event.

Thrift Inspiration.....Day Birger Et Mikkelsen and Dune Way!!

Hi everyone!! Over the last few weeks I haven't been visiting the boot sales as often as I have done in the past, so on Sunday I decided to visit my local one as inevitably boot sale season will be coming to a close shortly. I do love Autumn as I'm most happiest in jeans, jackets and boots which are my three favourite items that I can have in my wardrobe. I was fortunate to be gifted some flat ankle boots from T K Maxx which I showed you all at the beginning of the week and I was inspired by Vogues Spy section in choosing them.

Well my latest boot sale trip provided dividends as I was rewarded with this pair of black leather riding boots by Dune, which I so love and can't wait to start wearing:

They're knee height and being flat are perfect additions to my wardrobe as I've far too many heeled shoes and boots that rarely get worn:

As you can see, riding boots are very much on trend this season and not cheap either- to shop Dune for their current riding boots you're looking at an eye watering £250 and Ralph Lauren's are an even more unbelievable four figure amount of £1050-gulp!!

Which is why I love to see what is on trend for coming seasons and try to thrift accordingly!! My Dune pair were a bargainous £3- a lady spotted them before I did, tried them on and slung them aside and I just pounced and paid my money for them without any hesitations! If these are my last boot sale bargain of the year, I shall be most pleased!!

My second bargain over the weekend was this stunning cotton and silk peasant blouse by Day Birger et Mikkelsen a Scandinavian company which produce really unique covetable pieces and can be found at the likes of Net-A-Porter and My-Wardrobe:

The colour is very much plum/grape which is a perfect Autumn colour and will work easily with existing jeans, trousers and jackets in my wardrobe already and the price from my local Sue Ryder charity shop? A wonderful £3.25, less than a bottle of wine and a perfect weekend self treat!!

Wishing you all a lovely weekend whatever you get upto!! I've been a bit behind updating my other blog, LiveToLoveDenim.com, but I've just put a new post up-it would be great if you get a chance to check it out!!

Outfit Post: Jean Paul Gaultier and Double Denim

Hi everyone! I hope the weekend weather has been kind to you-where I am it's been getting warmer over the weekend and it stayed dry yesterday for the boot sale. It was slim pickings on the bargain front but I did manage to get some All Saints jeans for just £3 which are the perfect darker blue shade for Autumn and Winter. My outfit choice was a mix of double denim and my Jean Paul Gaultier 90s stretchy dress which I wore as a top. This was originally a boot sale find and was only £1 a few years ago:

The Gaultier top is ideal for wearing with blue denim and I wore my yellow neon hoop earrings to go with the yellow in the top. My denim jacket is by Gap and was a charity shop find earlier this year for around £4.99:

I also wore my trusty grey skinny jeans from River Island which are one of my favourite pairs to wear when it's not so hot. Grey jeans for me are an essential in a denim wardrobe, they are a great neutral and work with virtually any other colour for any season too:

I'm currently debating what items I want to invest in for the Autumn/Winter season- a couple more pairs of jeans and some knits definitely feature and of course as soon as I make my thrifty purchases I'll be sure to share them here first!! Look  out for my thrifted All Saints jeans in an upcoming outfit post on LiveToLoveDenim.com

I'm linking this post to the lovely Patti at NotDeadYetStyle for Visible Monday and the gorgeous Claire-Justine oxox for Creative Monday. Wishing you all a great week ahead too. I know there are some of you that are not even thinking of Autumn purchases but for those of you that are, what is on your style radar for the coming new season?

Outfit post: Thrifted Versace and Kimono Blue Florals for Sunday Boot Sales

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a lovely weekend, the weather is still really gorgeous and it's so nice to enjoy the school summer holidays with fabulous sunshine on tap.

We decided to visit a new to us countryside boot sale which is a few miles away but is mainly filled with sellers who are clearing their cupboards rather than new market trader stalls. It's a perfect size too-not too big and not too small and the bonus of this one is it's a 'lazy bones' one which gets going from around midday onwards. En route we also found another one which was literally only a few minutes away in the car from the lazy bones one and which shuts at around midday.

I decided to wear my favourite cobalt blue original 90s Versace skinny jeans with a mushroom colour cami top from Marks & Spencer (new) and a thrifted blue floral kimono from Matalan which I thrifted at last weeks lazy bones boot sale for just £1:

 I love how the modern blue florals combine nicely with my nearly 25 year jeans, which are so stretchy, so comfortable and still on trend colour and style wise all these years on. I thrifted these Versace jeans a few years ago for around £5 from a neighbouring town's Cancer Research charity shop- I remember I nearly passed on them but I returned a liitle while later to buy them and they've been a real style staple in my wardrobe:

This was photo was taken on the car park field of the first boot sale we pulled up on-the view was spectacular of the reservoir lake in front of us:

As it was our first time at this one and we arrived at around midday, the sellers were already packing up. Eager to get even just one bargain, I came across a lady selling this vintage and 'as new' faux fur jacket who didn't want to take it back home and said I could have it for £1!!

We then went on to the lazy bones boot sale but I didn't get anything-except a sugared donut to eat with some fresh watermelon that we had brought with us- it really was a yummy combination!!

En route home we decided to stop off for a cheeky drink before catching the athletics and football which were both on the TV. We love going to this particular little pub and we always seem to go there when it's gloriously hot and sunny:

The blooms were beautiful and the view from our seat over the village green was so lovely too:

It always seems to be so windy lately, excuse the windswept pose!!

A relaxing end to the boot sale walks was to enjoy a mid afternoon lager shandy before going home to a lovely roast dinner!!

I'm linking this post to the lovely Patti at NotDeadYetStyle for Visible Monday. Another week involving volunteering means I'll be in and out a lot but I will try my best to visit all my lovely readers and commenters-wishing you all a really great week ahead!!