Another work outfits featuring a new handmade skirt. This one was made with some fabric sent to me by the lovely Donna sent to me a while back! I've had it made a while, but my waist measurement was fluctuating like crazy and I ended up making it slightly too large the first time (lesson learnt: measure yourself every time you make something). I took it in at last over the past week and decided to team it with this blue cardigan, which is slowly becoming my new favourite neutral item in my wardrobe. It's funny how, when you're gifted something in a colour you wouldn't have bought yourself, you sometimes discover a whole new colour palette - this blue and red seem to be a frequently appearance in my outfits of late.

Blue cardigan, gifted from M&S
Cami, £4, Primark
Red heart badge, traded online
Skirt, made with gifted fabric
Bow belt, £3, M&S
Red flats, £8, Barretts

Here's another work outfit for you, featuring a new tank top I found at a clothes swap recently. I bagged some new linen peep toes from Primark recently, though I'm sure the foul weather we've had began as soon as I began to attempt to wear them out. For them time being, it looks like they're getting relegated to the holiday packing pile! Curse the British summer!

Blouse, £15, Marks and Spencer
Tank top, £free, clothes swap
Skirt, self-made with some charity shop curtains
Belt, old vintage stock
Peep toes, Primark, £6

Here's another remixed work outfit for you all. I wore this last Friday, switching the skirt for my disco pants for the evening. I have to say this pencil skirt is definitely continuing to give and give. It has to be the most versatile and comfortable work item I own, and I love how form fitting it is on me. A good pencil skirt is hard to find!

T-shirt, Topshop, £3
Cami, Primark, £3
Necklace, Primark, £2
Tuxedo jacket, Dorothy Perkins via Fatshion Exchange, £10
Skirt, ASOS, £8
Shoes, Deichmann, £15

Disco pants!

Okay, so I've been packing all my stuff up (I type this at my parent's house in Surrey, surrounded by boxes) and well, having that realisation that I have every time I move, that I clearly have wayyyyy to many clothes. However, despite four suitcases and several shopper bags of clothes, somehow I found myself in River Island trying these on anyway. They're a super generous size 16, and I'm certain they're not supposed to be quite so skin tight, but they're the garish skinnies of my dreams and I'm a happy bunny as a result.

This was worn for a dinner and leaving drinks at my flat! Boo! Bye bye Brighton.

Top, Topshop, £3
Black cami, £4, Primark
Black necklace, £2, Primark
Belts, £6 for both, Marks and Spencer
Trousers, £22, River Island

This was supposed to be a post about how amazing these trousers are. They were a £5 score from a sale rail in a Brighton vintage shop, and I was in love with them. Last night I washed them for the first time, and they are now ill fitting pedal pushers. I'm an idiot, and most certainly in mourning mood today. However, here are the two ways I managed to wear them before chaos ensued :(

Blouse, Primark

Strapless bra, £7, Evans

Trousers, £5, vintage

Shoes, New Look

Belt, old vintage stock

Lace body, £13, very.co.uk

Cami, £4, Primark

Trousers and belt, as above

Shoes, Deichmann, £15

Let's talk about this dress. I stared at it lustily most of last year in the straight size section of ASOS, but at £65 and only going up to a size 18, it was always way out of my budget and too risky to chance on. Then, a week or two ago, I decided to look at the straight size clearance section and lo and behold, there was one left, size 18, reduced to £15! Needless to say, it was fate, and when it arrived it conspired to fit perfectly! It's a fancy dress and the lace it really beautiful. I wore it backwards here (with the bow front facing) and attempted to dress it down in a grunge-y style with a charity shop blazer and docs. I'd love a nice pair of wedges and a clutch to do it eveningwear justice.

Dress, ASOS, £15.20

Blazer, charity shop, £2

Belt, old vintage stock

Docs, gifted

Here's another British summer outfit for you! I hit a clothes swap at the Cowley Club the other week, and decided to drag out this blanket cape I scored in a charity shop over winter. This is normally my hangover outfit of choice (it's so comfortable!), but also worked well for swapping as I could take off the cape and try things on over my cami and leggings. My scores weren't hugely thrilling, mainly vests and a nice denim mini, but at least I have some basics in my wardrobe again (more money for absurdities!).

Blanket cape, £4.99, charity shop

Cami, £4, Primark

Belt, old vintage stock

Leggings, ASOS, £20 (I think?)

Shoes, New Look, £22

Big Beach Bums - outfit

Okay, so my second belated BBB post has arrived! This is what I wore on the day. I had dreams of crop tops and short shorts but sadly the weather called for a shift in my plans. I even had to bring my tights back out for the day!

This dress is my latest sewing project. It's made from a vintage 1960s shift pattern I bought on eBay earlier this year, with some 60s patterned polyester I bought at Brighton Marina car boot sale in January this year for £1! The pattern features a contrasting section for which I used the reverse of the fabric, and added a small bow made from some old white scrap fabric. The collar went a little wrong, and the dress needed shortening to fit me (for some reason it came out calf length, even though the picture argued otherwise. Whoops!). It was a step up from my normal sewing projects, though the stretchy fabric meant I could avoid zip fitting.

Teamed with bright blue tights and clashing red shoes.

Dress, handmade (total cost £7.50 including the reusable pattern!)

Tights, M&S XL

Shoes, Priceless, £10

...and a bonus styling method, from when I debuted it at work earlier that week on a sunnier day:

This time teamed with bare legs and some vintage peep toes I bought from Otley car boot sale in Leeds last year for £1.50!

Big Beach Bums

Hello once again!

I'm sadly still without internet (though my laptop has been repaired at last), so posts around here may be a little thin on the ground for a while. I did, however, want to devote some time to talking about Big Beach Bums, which happened over a week ago now. Of course, I was useless and didn't really take any photographs, so instead I've pinched a few from the lovely Claire and Ragini, who both posted about the day also.

We were a small group of five after a few people dropped out. This actually proved great as it met we could all go around the shops together, and I also really enjoyed being able to get to know everyone much easier! The day was absolutely foul, so sadly we kept our pottering to the shops and later a pub to avoid being swept off our feet on the beach! Oh, the joys of British weather...

Anyway, here are some photographs taken from other posts:

My boyfriend (who lasted all of about half an hour on the vintage front, haha), Rebecca, me, Claire and Nadia after first meeting up.

The cavernous Beyond Retro! We did the bulk of our rummaging here and came up with a good haul including:

this rather spectacularly garish jersey tie dye affair, which I actually could not resist (Belly swirls are the best)

Ragini

After this we headed off and ate some cheap grub at Pompoko, and then hit the bargain rails on Sydney Street (where I scored a lovely plaid 40s-esque dress, and Ragini found a lovely coral trench for £5!), before hitting a coffee shop for some well deserved rest and chattering.

After this we headed to meet up with our other halves in the pub for some more drinks. Overall it was a lovely day, and great to get to hang out with everyone for so long! I only wish I could spend more time with such awesome fats on a more regular basis.

Outfit post to follow shortly!