Refashioning Finished!

Here’s the red top now it’s just a wrap cardi.

Outfit: Casual Friday

Guess what?! It’s forecast to rain again today. So that means it’s boots again. I picked up this lovely teal wrap dress in a charity shop on Wednesday afternoon for the bargain price of £5.

Teal wrap dress – Primark (charity shop)
White cami – Topshop
Cuffed crop jeans – Dorothy Perkins
Teal boots – Faith
Teal heart pendant - Scope

My Readers – An International Bunch

Earlier this week, Stylefinder posted details of where in the world her readers are from. I thought this was interesting and decided to share my statistics too. In the last 100 hits on this site there have been:
33 British
38 Americans
9 Canadians
2 Australians
1 New Zealander
1 from Singapore (Singaporean?)
1 Korean
1 Netherlander
1 Japanese
2 Norwegians
2 Icelanders
1 Brazilian
1 Czech Republican
1 Swiss
1 Croatian
1 Italian

Which only totals 96 so I must have counted wrong, but you get the idea. I find it fascinating that people from all over the world are reading this! Please, stop being a statistic and leave me a comment to say hi!

Outfit: Black & White

Black & cream stripe dress – charity shop
Black shirt – Tommy Hilfiger (Designer outlet store)
Red shoes – Next
Red belt – Next
Red heart pendant & red earrings – Claire’s Accessories

Refashioning Project

I picked up this red top in a charity shop for just £3.50 yesterday. It’s a George at ASDA one and it’s brand new as it still had the tag attached. You can just about see that it’s a wrap style with an inset and although it’s a fixed wrap, it had little buttons on where the closure would be were it a real wrap. The problem is that the inset part is far too low to wear it alone. I have been looking for a red cardi so decided I would get this as it was so cheap and just chop the inset out so that it’s just the wrap part, and then wear it over a white vest. I’ve cut it up but have yet to try it on – I’ll take a picture of the finished article this evening.

Outfit: Rainy Wednesday

Black pencil skirt – Long Tall Sally
White shirt – Long Tall Sally
Black cardi – Long Tall Sally
Red ribbon belt – Haberdashery
Red shoes - Next

Outfit: Sunny (Almost!) Tuesday

Black v neck sweater – New Look (charity shop)
White v neck long sleeve T – Tall Girls
Brown tweed shorts – H&M
Black brogue style shoes – Dolcis
Green sequin scarf – Christmas present
Brown pendant - Scope

Belt - DP

This Week I Will Be Mostly…

…wearing autumn/winter clothes again – it’s cold and wet even though it’s June.
…reading Handbags and Gladrags by Maggie Alderson
…watching chick flicks
…listening to the Wicked soundtrack
…eating chocolate torte
…shopping for cushions to go with the new sofa

Outfit: Bad Monday

So it’s raining, it’s cold and I have a sore shoulder. I would sooo much rather be on the sofa watching a DVD right now!
Beige/blue/green dress – Long Tall Sally
Black leggings – Long Tall Sally
Electric blue cami – Topshop
Black shrug – unknown
Blue suede shoeboots – New Look

Sale Picks at Dorothy Perkins

It’s sale time again and there’s plenty on offer at Dorothy Perkins, especially if you’re tall like me! These picks are all from the Tall range but similar items are available in the regular lengths too.

The sale is a good time to stock up on basics so how about this suit for work? It’s a linen blend so will be perfect should the warm sunshiny weather return.

Jacket £17

Skirt £10

Black trousers are a staple of any wardrobe, this pair is now just £10.

Leggings, £6

Jeans, £12

For something a bit brighter, and especially for the lovely ladies over at the Shiny Fashion Forums who love all things green, how about this skirt? It’s just £10.

Who knows, the sunshine might return! And when it does, you’ll be ready for it with this lovely bright pink tunic top, a bargain at only £15.

I’ve never been sure about boobtubes, but if there’s a better time to try out a trend than when it’s reduced to just £3.50, I don’t know when that is!

Outfit: Overcast Friday

So, I failed on my no jeans challenge. I guess I just love them too much! And since I can’t wear them throughout the week, I like to wear them on a Friday and on evenings and weekends.

Cuffed crop jeans – Dorothy Perkins
Blue and white pattern dress – Internaçionale (charity shop)
Black shrug – Unknown
Metallic blue shoes – Office
Turquoise necklace and earrings – Accessorise
Turquoise and silver bangles - Oxfam

Outfit: Denim & Red

Denim dress – Miss Selfridge
Red belt – Market stall
Red wedges – New Look (charity shop)

Refashioning Finished!

I’ve finally finished replacing the straps and edging my dress and it looks much better now. And I can still get it on even though the top is not stretchy anymore so that’s good news.

Outfit: Brown and Blue

Brown pinstripe jacket – Long Tall Sally
Brown pinstripe trousers – Long Tall Sally
Electric blue cami – Topshop
Metallic blue shoes – Office
Blue & silver bangles – Oxfam

Charity Shop Bargain

I got this Firetrap cardi on Monday afternoon for £4. It’s acrylic and wool and has a hood and the longest sleeves ever! It’s a grey-blue colour and will be great when the cooler weather comes.

Outfit: Denim Skirt

Is this cheating on the no jeans challenge?
Denim skirt – Tall Girls
Electric blue cami – Topshop
Navy flip flops – Primark

New Sofas

You may remember way back in February I posted about shopping for sofas. (Isn't it lovely? We have the 3 seater shown, a 2 seater and a matching footstool.) Well yesterday our sofas finally arrived. Almost four months later! We were given a delivery date of 8-9 weeks. The young man has come up with a new slogan for the store advertising its ‘Double Discounts’; more like ‘Double Delivery’ he said. To be fair to them they did give us a further discount on the price, but not a huge one. It would be wrong of me to name the store in question, so I won’t tell you that it was SCS.

Style Icon: Carrie Bradshaw

Yes I know she's not real, but who didn't love all her cute outfits in Sex and the City?

Outfit: Brown & Black

Black dress – George @ ASDA
Brown shrug – Ann Taylor Loft (charity shop)
Brown belt – Dorothy Perkins
Brown shoes – Roberto Vianni (Debenhams)

Outfit: Brown Cords

So, my first casual outfit for the week, eschewing jeans. (please forgive the poor quality of the picture!)

Brown cord trousers - Tall Girls

White v neck long sleeve t - Tall Girls

Brown pendant - Scope

Beige flat shoes - Evans

Style Icon: Kate Middleton

Style Challenge: Banish the Jeans

I have 20 pairs of jeans in my wardrobe. So I thought it might be fun this week to try not to wear any of them. I love my jeans so this could be a real challenge. During the day it’s not a problem as I can only wear jeans to work on Fridays, but I live in them in the evenings. Outfit pictures throughout the week…

This Week I Will Be Mostly…

…wearing anything but jeans
…reading Girl Meets Ape by Chris Manby
…watching the last episode of Mary, Queen of Shops
…listening to Billy Joel, who I firmly believe is a genius
…eating fruit
…shopping in the charity shops again

Refashioning Update

I’ve made a good start on the dress, but ran out of time so will have to finish it during the week. I got thwarted on the cap though. The young man said he wanted it as it was so I’ve got a piece of green felt to put on it should he change his mind and not wear it this coming winter.

Outfit: Thundery Monday?

The forecast today is for heavy rain (again) and thunder storms so I’ve gone for boots again since I got wet feet on Friday.

Brown shrug – Ann Taylor Loft (charity shop)
Brown tweed shorts – H&M
Green tank t – Topshop
Brown belt – Dorothy Perkins
Brown boots – Nine West (Debenhams)

Outfit: Church on Sunday

Green dress – Florence + Fred (charity shop)
Dark red cami – Topshop
Dark skinny jeans – Gap
Black shoes - Dolcis

Outfit: Saturday Shopping

Black v neck sweater – New Look (charity shop)
Silver chain belt – Dorothy Perkins
Dark skinny jeans – Gap
White tank t – George at ASDA
Blue boots – Priceless Shoes

Charity Shopping

I did a quick scour of the local charity shops on Friday afternoon and came up with a couple of gems. This brown cord jacket from the Topshop Tall range was £5 in Oxfam.

And the oversize black sweater (it’s almost a dress!) in the post above was £3.50 in the PDSA shop. It’s from New Look but the sleeves are so long, I can’t help wondering whether it’s from the tall range that is stocked in the York New Look store.

Weekend Refashioning Project

Well I’m at it again. I have 2 small projects I want to work on this weekend. Firstly, this dress:


The straps were once white but now they are not, the discolouration is probably due to suncream. So I plan to chop them off and replace them with some tape in pale blue, and also to edge round the top in the same tape.

Secondly, my Guinness hat. It’s a patchwork tweed flat cap, similar to these


and it has the Guinness logo on the front. I love the hat but since I don’t drink, I want to cover over the logo with a piece of fabric. So the hunt is on to find something suitable.

Pictures on Monday if the projects are finished.

Outfit: Rainy Casual Friday

I don’t think it’s stopped raining in 2 days now. Why did I not put on boots this morning? I’m going to get wet feet when I have to venture outside now.

Pink & orange spotted dress – H&M (charity shop)
Black cami – Topshop
Black shrug – New Look
Dark skinny jeans – Topshop
Pink shoes – Faith
Pink pendant – Scope
Pink bangles – Gift from friend

Outfit: Thursday Night Out

We went to a concert given by my friend’s singing class at the music college. It was excellent.

Teal shrug – Ann Taylor Loft (charity shop)
White t – Dorothy Perkins
Brown tweed shorts – H&M
Teal boots - Faith

Updates…

So what do you think of my new banner? It’s a quote from ‘Wicked’.
And I’ve added the Wardrobe Refashion site as a link for easier access for me to get inspiration for more refashioning projects.

Outfit: Rainy Thursday

Brown pinstripe jacket – Long Tall Sally
Brown pinstripe trousers – Long Tall Sally
White shirt – Long Tall Sally
Teal v neck tank – Next

Teal boots - Faith

Don’t you just love Long Tall Sally? I’m like a walking advert for that store today, they should pay me to model for them or something!!

Stop Your Shoes Rubbing With Compeed Anti-Blister Stick

Compeed Anti-Blister Stick invisibly helps prevent blisters and chafing and instantly reduces rubbing from shoes.
Its natural based lubricating formula:

• Instantly reduces rubbing on skin
• Is invisible so is ideal for open shoes
• Easy to apply

So says the Boots website. And I have to agree. It works. A stick of waxy substance that you apply to your feet, it instantly stops your shoes rubbing when you have bare feet inside them. Last summer I was forced to wear tights all the time as I had not discovered this miracle in a little green stick. Then a friend recommended Compeed to me and this year it’s been bare feet all the way, not a blister in sight. It doesn’t stain your shoes, it doesn’t make your feet slippy in your high heels. It just prevents shoes from rubbing. It’s magic! And you’ll find it in the foot section of Boots, with the Scholl stuff and the Party Feet, for just £4.39.

Outfit: Grey Wednesday

Green & blue flower print wrap dress – Long Tall Sally
Turquoise cami – Dorothy Perkins
Turquoise bangles – Oxfam
Turquoise shoes – Nine West (outlet store)
Necklace - Accessorize

Outfit: Black and Blue Rainy Tuesday

So the weather scuppered my plans for the shoes I was going to wear today – you can’t wear strappy sandals in torrential rain!

Black jacket – Long Tall Sally
Black bootcut trousers – Long Tall Sally
Electric blue cami – Topshop
Metallic blue shoes – Office

This Week I Will Be Mostly…

…wearing dresses
…reading the July issue of Elle
…watching the season finale of Ugly Betty
…listening to a summer compilation CD I put together 3 years ago
…eating blueberries & strawberries
…shopping my closet for new ways to use accessories

2 become 1: Refashioning Finished!

Well, the top is finished, and it didn’t take too long. About 3 hours in total I would say, and I think it looks pretty good! It’s a great length on me now and the sleeves are just right. I’m pleased with it.

I didn't take before shots, didn't think about it til too late, but it's not hard to imagine. One plain black long sleeve top and one white t shirt as modelled a few posts below, combined to make the new top in the picture above!

Outfit: A 50s Vibe

Black cotton dress – George at ASDA
Silver belt – Primark
Silver scarf – gift from friend
Silver shoes – Brantano

Mary, Queen of Shops

Do you see what they did there?! This series is fantastic! Take one failing boutique and one person who knows retail inside out, put them together and you have the Trinny and Susannah of the retail world! What Not To Stock! In last night’s instalment Mary Portas was in Surrey helping a boutique owner who aimed at the over 40s market and stocked nighties and what she called ‘dog walking jackets’ – horrid puffy anoraks. By the time Mary had finished with the shop, I was thinking I would wear some of the things in the shop, and I’m only 28! The customers loved it though and at the evening launch of the revamped boutique they made more in 2 hours than they had in 3 days in recent times.
Why Mary feels she can’t talk to the camera is beyond me, just who is she talking to off the screen? And in last night’s instalment – the boutique owner needed to learn a new word to interchange with ‘cute’. Which she said ALL the time. About everything. Catch the rest of the series on Thursdays at 9pm on BBC2.

Refashioning Update

It’s going to take longer than I thought! The sleeves on the black top are wider than the sleeves on the white one so I‘ve had to alter the seams on the black sleeves too. One sleeve is complete though and looks great. I’ll finish it over the weekend.

Outfit: Casual Friday

Pale long and lean jeans with blue embroidered flowers – Gap (embroidery by me)
Brown long sleeve t – Tall Girls
Blue vest (strap just visible on the shoulder) – Topshop
Blue shoes – Office
Brown scarf – Charity shop
Blue & silver bangles – Oxfam
Shoe necklace – Claire’s Accessories

Wardrobe Refashioning

I have recently been reading the Wardrobe Refashion site (take a look, there’s some great ideas and really creative people out there), and it has inspired me to do one of my own.

I just love this t shirt

but it’s really too short for me in the body. I have some long sleeve tops I was going to donate to charity because the sleeves aren’t really long enough for me, so I figure if I cut the sleeves and bottom of the black one, and attach them to the white shoe slave one, I‘ll have me a lovely ‘t shirt that looks like you’re wearing a long sleeve t underneath it’ type top, with super long sleeves and in the correct body length. If I manage to finish it this evening I will wear it tomorrow (or post pictures if it looks like it’s going to be too hot for long sleeves tomorrow). And if it goes well, I'll give it a try with some of my other tops.

Outfit: A Grey Day

Black and white houndstooth top – Dorothy Perkins
Red belt – Market stall
Black pencil skirt – Long Tall Sally
Red wedges – New Look (charity shop)

Outfit: Pub

We went out for drinks and a game of pool with some friends last night.
Black shrug – New Look
Black v neck sleeveless t – Dorothy Perkins
Dark long and lean jeans – Gap
Red belt – Market stall

Red shoes - Next

Outfit: Overcast

Blue wool round neck cardi – Ebay
Blue ribbed cami – 3 Suisses
Brown tweed city shorts – H&M
Blue suede & diamante strappy sandals – Next

This Week I Will Be Mostly…

…wearing strappy sandals – if the weather holds up!
…reading the July issue of Company
…watching the Princess Bride
…listening to songs from Wicked in my head
…eating healthily – too much junk food over the weekend
…shopping in the Tall Girls sale

Outfit: Brown and Turquoise

Brown pinstripe trouser suit – Long Tall Sally
Turquoise print cowl neck top – Dunnes
Turquoise strappy sandals – Nine West (outlet store)
Turquoise bangles - Oxfam

Outfit: More New Shoes!

Black cotton & cashmere cardi – Long Tall Sally
Black and white houndstooth top – Dorothy Perkins
Red belt – Next
Cuffed crop jeans – Dorothy Perkins
Red wedges – New Look (charity shop)