Last Day's of Summer: Coral Tones

Hello!

Summer is swiftly leaving us behind (where did it go this year?) as Autumn approaches. I'm actually not sad about that. Autumn is my time.

Autumn/Winter is undoubtedly my favourite season in the fashion calendar. I have friends who are all about the bronzed legs, cut-off shorts and strappy tops of the summer but seriously, give me fluffy knits, rich velvet and chunky boots over that every time.

That said, I am partial to a bit if sunshine, even though my complexion might suggest otherwise.

A few weekends ago, the sun seemingly came out of no where so me and the boy made the most of the nice weather by going out for a Sunday lunch at a pub down the road.

Whenever the weather's not grim (and it usually is in Manchester) and I have a bit of spare time, I always try and get an outfit post shot outside.

Black felt fedora hat- Primark

Sheer floral kimono- DivaDames*

Wu-tang Clan halter crop top- Forever 21

Riding Pants- American Apparel

Religion coral spike clutch bag- Psyche*

Cleated sole patent heels- ASOS

Kimonos have been my saviour for the past few months; they're so easy to just throw on over a summery top to keep the chill out when the sun goes behind the clouds. This one's from a new site I discovered called DivaDames who do lots of trend-led clothing at really good prices.

I found myself wearing lots of coral in this outfit. From the coral tones in the print of my kimono to the gorgeous colour of this Religion box clutch from Psyche. It's the perfect size for a night out for a bit of makeup, some money and your phone. Psyche stock lots of accessories including Michael Kors bags and watches, Olia jewellery and Ted Baker purses. I was pleased to see Religion in the lineup which has been one of my favourite brand's since I was about 13.

This clutch isn't really a colour I would usually choose but I'm glad I did as it adds a nice pop of colour to my typically all-black outfits. It also perfectly matches my new Loreal Colour Riche Intense lipstick that I picked up on a three-for-two offer a few weeks ago. It says that it's for blondes but who I am to be told what does and doesn't suit me!

Are you enjoying these infrequent bursts of nice weather?

A Very Special Sale Buy

Hello!

This post is to introduce you to a bit of an extravagant buy I made in the sales.

Let me introduce you to new Vivienne Westwood handbag!

Isn't it amazing! It's from the cameo collection and although it isn't the one I originally wanted, I really love it's classic design, shape and gold hardware (very me).

I would never usually spend so much money on one item- I think it's the most expensive thing I've ever bought. In terms of fashion anyway...

It wasn't a purchase I made lightly though. I've wanted a Vivienne Westwood for probably as long as I've loved fashion. I saved for ages to get it which makes it all the more appreciated.

I'm sure you'll be seeing much more of it on my blog!

Have you made any grand purchases recently?

Love,

Foxy x

Sweet Charity!

Hello!

I thought I'd do a little haul post as I've been a bit quiet on the blog lately and sadly haven't been up to much of interest!

I have, however, managed to pop into a few charity shops here and there.

The charity shops I visit now are mainly around Manchester, though I had a trip down to Warwick recently (the boyf's hometown) where the charity shops are amazing- and so many! He isn't really fond of being dragged round them though so only popped into one or two.

Here's a few bits I've picked up recently.

Black rucksack bag: £1.10; Bum bag (brand new): £2; Silky 80s scarf: £1; Sekonda watch, £3

The black rucksack bag is one of my favourite bits. I'm going on holiday next week (totally not prepared!) so this will be perfect for throwing on to walk into the town.

Sorry for the very un-blogger like photo with not an ounce of makeup other than  a test slick of my new lippy (Rimmel Kate Moss collection in 12) and the front of my hair piled up in a hair clip!

I also love the little Sekonda watch which was £3. I don't think that the leather strap is the original (says 'Apollo' on the inside) but the face is so pretty, you can see all the inner workings.

Other vintage buys include a fancy silk jacket, a floral blouse, crocodile-effect leather purse, a £1 St. Michael sheer top and a big mohair cardy.

In other news, you may have noticed that I've added a 'shop' link to my blog tabs. I'm feeling a bit inspired to start selling at the moment. I've always fancied an outlet to sell the amazing things I come across that maybe don't fit me so I can't get them for myself, or stuff that I make and DIY.

One of my good friends has recently set up a vintage company (see it here) and with other bloggers starting their own shops I thought, why not!

You'll see there's nothing in it at the moment; I'm playing around with the set-up. A lot of bloggers seem to use Big Cartel or start an eBay shop but as I just want to test the water, I don't really fancy paying a monthly fee.

I found some coding to create items which link to a Paypal checkout so that's what I'm trying at the moment. If anyone knows of a Blogger plug-in or anything else which could work please let me know!

I've got that holiday feeling so I'll leave you with this!

Love,

Foxy

x

Bits and pieces...

Here's a post of things that I either forgot to share at the time or just didn't get round to.

Waaaaaay back in December, my lovely uni girls and I had a fun 'secret Santa' exchange/boozy lunch (you can watch the video of the excitement here- on my friend Jess' awesome YouTube channel).

I was very happy to discover that my beautiful friend Louise was my Santa- I love her style!

She got me this gorgeous vintage-style locket.

(WARNING: Photos are not great. Haven't yet fathomed out how to take pictures of small shiny objects with my new camera! Any tips?)

Jewellery box (possibly)- charity shop

I photographed it by some of my other jewellery (even though the camera wouldn't focus on the bloody thing) so you can see how nice and big it is. Big, gold jewellery? Yes please.

It's not very clear in the pictures, but the rose cameo is really intricate and pretty. My boyfriend was having a good inspection of it the other night and said, "I bet some bloody work went into that!". Well, I think it's more likely to be made by some kind of machine than hand-crafted by Native American Indians- but beautiful nonetheless!

She also got me this cute vintage bag.

The leather is really buttery soft and I love the little gold details at the top. It's quite small so I've been using it as an evening bag.

I think the brooch I mentioned in the last post would look really nice on it, though I can't get it through the leather- might have to enlist a man to do it!

And...

Whilst at uni a week or so ago, I found myself with a bit of time before my train home so decided to quickly pop to bodycare to get some mouthwash, but me being me, fannied about a bit too long and missed it! With another half an hour to wait, I decided to pop into the Perry Barr Age Concern by the station.

And glad I did!

I managed to get myself another tartan scarf- 50p.

And an aran knit jumper for £3.

70s looking I thought, what do you reckon? I don't personally like the style (the neck and shape mostly) but thought I could sell it on. The ones on ebay don't seem to be making much at the moment and wondered whether I might try ASOS Marketplace- anyone had any experience with selling on there? Would love to hear!

And to those with a critical eye who may have noticed that I always use my bedcover as a background (if you haven't, I've just announced my lame secret), I apologise. It's just there and, well, better than the floor ey?

Foxy
x

Just a quick one...

Despite having an exam on Friday which I'm immensely unprepared for, I thought I'd do a quick, picture-lead post to tide you lot over- I've been a bit neglectful again haven't I?

So, at Christmas-time I was pretty brassic and couldn't really indulge in much sales shopping, but there's always funds-enough to do it thrift style!

My local Age Concern (still not yet made the switch to Age UK), in Settle, North Yorkshire, is one of the few charity shops I know of to put on a 'New Year's sale'- you'd think things were cheap enough right? But who am I to complain...

So as there was 50% off pretty much everything, I thought I'd go have a look. I picked up this belt for a pocket-friendly 50p:

It's leather with little silver and gold tone metal accents. I've seen a few of these in COW vintage, Birmingham- I think they're probably American and seem to have a bit of a line dancing influence (mine has little cowboy boots on)

And I also got this small navy bag for 75p:

Excuse the sinful, chipped nail polish

Thought it was quite cute and most of my bags are black, so a good addition I think.

My Age Concern also has an amazing fancy dress section, which I hadn't visited since I was 17 for a fancy dress day in sixth form.

(This is the place where all the great fur coats are exiled)

I had a little time to kill so popped up. It really is amazing!

The majority of the stuff up there is vintage- some really obscure stuff which they would make a killing off if they sold it on eBay!

Anyway, here's a few pictures I took up there on my phone:

I attemped to buy this vintage sequin top but they wouldn't give in!

They're very reluctant to sell items from the fancy dress area. I was told that they often chuck some of it out (!!!) when there's too much stuff and they were planning to have a mass cull in due course- gutted I'm back in Birmingham now!

Later that day I went to Skipton to do a little more charity shopping- I'll post my buys sometime after Friday.

(I'll also do that outfit post soon too. Promise!)

Well, turned out to be a longer post than I expected! I always feel the need to narrate what I've done and indulge in a bit of rambling- must be the journalist in me.

Oh and...

I've had a lot more views these past two weeks, despite not posting for some time; mainly thanks to an old post of mine on retro swimwear, mentioning the impossibly gorgeous Katy Perry.

So for all my new readers, made up no doubt of horny teenage boys google-ing 'Katy Perry in a bikini', here's another:

Goal for the summer?!

Enjoy!

Foxy

x

A new coat fur me...

Firstly, I vow to get my arse in gear and blog more regularly...
Secondly, look at this gorgeous new (well, old- you know me) faux fur coat I bought!

Sorry about the pictures by the way, I've lost my camera again! These were taken on my amazing new phone (though admittedly the photos aren't great!) And my general appearance probably warrants some sort of apology too...

Anyway, the most amazing thing about this coat, I think, is where I got it from.

Now, the words ‘Perry Barr’ may mean nothing to you, but to those familiar with this north Birmingham area, I’d image you’re saying, ‘seriously’?

Yes deadly. Perry Barr is the unfortunate area where my university is located. Let me tell you, it’s in no way Birmingham’s style hotspot.

Perry Barr, from what I’ve seen of it, has one charity shop- Age Concern (another which hasn’t yet made the switch to ‘Age UK’). This branch of Age Concern is right next door to the train station, so I pass it often enough.

Doesn't look pretty, does it?

I can’t really justify why I don’t go into this charity shop; though I did once pop in to buy a cheap picture frame for a uni project.

Maybe it’s the location within Perry Barr- so many students pass it on their way to and from uni; however I’m not embarrassed about my bargain hunting or anyone spotting me (I do blog about it for God’s sake!) so this isn’t really a good enough excuse.

Perhaps it’s the mindset that won’t allow me to believe that any residents of Perry Barr (besides the students of course, who I doubt give their clothes away often) have a single scrap of style consciousness.

(N.B. I’m sure there are some stylish Perry Barrbadions out there, they’re obviously just an elusive bunch)

So what made me go into this branch that particular day?

Well, I was on my way to uni via the inconceivably unreliable London Midland train service, a record 40 minutes late for my lecture (I still slipped in unnoticed), when I passed the Age Concern window.

I spotted said coat, proudly displayed at the front- and it wouldn’t leave my poor brain alone all day. It was like the coat was sending me telepathic messages of “buy me!” throughout my day.

With less than 5 minutes to spare on the way home, I decided to call in for a closer look. The coat had been removed from the window but I soon found it hiding around the corner.

I flung it on, had a quick glance in the mirror and made the split decision to buy at £10- and I’m so glad I did!

Like most things I haven’t had the chance to think about properly, I wasn’t so sure about it when I first got it home. I thought it looked too big on me and noticed a stain on the collar I hadn’t seen in the shop. Upon first outing however I loved it. It’s so warm and I got lots of compliments.

A yellow stain and a black one on the collar (noticed the black one after buying)

The fur is really soft, much better quality than my black C&A faux fur. It’s from Debenhams, and going off the label, looks like it could be a few years old- anyone like to hazard a guess?

 The label underneath says ‘tissavel of France’, which I’ve seen on a few other vintage faux furs. The lining is an orangey colour in a silky fabric. There were also a couple of the coat's original buttons, which had been taken off, in one of the pockets. I've placed them on top of the coat so you can see what they're supposed to look like. Personally I think I prefer the coat buttonless.

Anyone who knows me is familiar with the fact that I haven't really been a massive fan of brown in the past; however I've quite warmed to the colour.

I'll be wearing my new coat with this gorgeous satchel bag that my lovely friend Lucy bought me for my birthday (it's from Topshop) and these New Look brogues, only £27 with my student discount- bargain!

I didn’t really have time to look in this branch of Age Concern properly, but I also spotted a sheepskin flying jacket and a full length leopard print fur coat.

It may be worth a trip back; sorry for the preconceptions Perry Barr!

Foxy x

A day in Sutton Coldfield

Today I fancied a trip out so decided to visit Sutton Coldfield- a town north of Birmingham. Sutton Coldfield, so I heard, has quite a few charity shops so I thought I'd go have a mosey around.

Now, a day out is me being a little over ambitious; it was more like two hours. Mainly because I slept in, then forgot to use my Young Person's Railcard, so I'd be damned if I was going to fork out for an Anytime Return! (This makes more sense if you already assumed that I took the train- you now know).

Photos may not be so great because I forgot my camera- these were taken on my not-so-brilliant phone. Although I did find it easier to take sneaky pictures on my mobile, you can pretend to be texting which stops you looking like some sick voyeur!

I'm probably the worst person in the world at navigation, my satnav even takes a sarcastic tone with me ("I've said turn around when possible six times now...") , so finding my way around somewhere unbeknown to me is quite a task you're asking.

So having got off the train and trotted off into Sutton Coldfield in the wrong direction, I quickly realised (a good 10 minutes) that there was noting much about and that I needed to find the centre. I followed some groups of kids milling around and was lead right to some railings in the centre of town where some more miserable teenagers were loitering about- oh and chucking things at passers by.

In fact, that's what probably surprised me most about Sutton Coldfield- there were so many teenagers hanging about! If I had a quid for every midriff on show and bumfluff-chinned child I saw, I'd be laughing all the way to the bank. Coincidently this didn't happen, and I wasn't laughing.

I don't know where I got the idea that Sutton Coldfield was a pensioners haven- but I was wrong. Sadly, this is the main reason I went! I expected the charity shops to be filled with lots of granny-esque cast offs. Strangely though, I did see some such old ladys selling their wares.

In the centre of town today was some kind of street market (I wasn't aware that this was going on prior to going- a pleasant surprise). It was sort of like a mini car boot sale; most of the sellers were older people selling their antiques and old jewellery- right up my street. Though the gear was quite pricey; these folk were clearly clued up and had read their share of Miller's guides.

The street market

Earrings for sale. 80s clip-on heaven

Onto the charity shops. Now, if you take a look at this map I've put together you'll see the charity shops (as listed by google) in Sutton Coldfield. I think I hit all of these today, apart from The British Heart Foundation, which I can't comprehend the location even looking at the map, and also the Severn Trent Trust Fund.


View Sutton Coldfield- Charity Shops in a larger map

I've also added the Walsall Hospice charity shop to my map. Google won't admit it exists, but it was there! I've guessed the location, I think it was between Oxfam and the Birmingham Settlement charity shop. You can't be sure with my memory, but it might help.

I wanted to mention the Walsall Hospice shop because I thought it was a particularly good one. I nearly bought a bag in there but resisted. There was also a great vintage brush and mirror set for £4.something, gold setting with a floral design- very pretty. The shop has quite a bit of furniture too- if you're after an old armchair this is the place!

Oxfam was a bit of a let down, as I'm often finding these days. It's got very overpriced; my Mum was in an Oxfam today too because she saw a vintage suitcase in the window and thought I might like it- it turned out to be £48! She also spotted a short leather jacket in there for £150, madness!

The Birmingham Settlement shop was good however. I bought this tapestry bag for £1.

I'm not sure it's really my cup of tea- I'm not really into brown clothes or accessories. So this one might be a buy to sell on, hopefully I'll make a profit!

I also bought this cream leather skinny belt for £1.

It's quite long, which is what I wanted so that I can wrap it around and tie it like a boyfriend-style belt. I love that it's such an old, worn belt- the leather's really cracked and battered.

Happy shopping.
x

P.S Oh yeah, and I'm in London next week to do some work experience at Mizz magazine so it's highly unlikely that there'll be any posts. There will probably be plenty afterwards though so stay tuned! 

Something for the boys...

Today's post is something that the males can enjoy- hopefully!

Now, don't be scared fellas, but I'm going to talk about the MANBAG- oh yes.

I'm not talking about some kind of unisex, glorified handbag-esque thing (we've all seen that episode of Friends yeah?). Nah, this variety of bag is one which any diserning male can proudly carry around- the sports holdall.

My lovely boyfriend has recently been the object of my amusement for his reluctancy to get himself a decent bag.

He already owns a messenger/record-style bag which is only really suitable for trips to uni or similar. At the other side of the scale he has a medium-sized suitcase. This means that if he comes to visit me for two or three days, he's lugging a mainly empty suitcase around- not so practical.

Like many men, I'd imagine, he wasn't too keen on the idea of getting a 'bag'. After suggesting a sports holdall, he agreed that this may be an acceptable form of, er, transporting equipment.

(why slapping the word 'sports' on something  makes it okay I'm not quite sure)

This is what he ended up with:

This vintage Puma bag was £12 from Urban Village, Birmingham- which I think is very reasonable.

For around the £15 mark , I reckon you're better off buying the real vintage deal; although the current trend among most of the iconic sports brands is retro reproductions.

Here's my pick of the bunch:

For me, Adidas' Originals range has always led the way in retro-inspired sportswear- takes me back to my classic canary yellow/sky blue silky polyester Adidas tracksuit I cherished in the 90s...

Anyway, this adicolor 'Teambag' is a great bit of retro arm candy. At £55, it's a bit steep but definitely my favourite of the lot. The garish 80s-inspired green colour (or in Adidas' words, 'Fairway') is my favourite but it's also available in Black and Gold for a more subtle look.

 

I've always been a big fan of Fred Perry and the brand's heritage. They do some great retro pieces and this contrast barrel bag is one of several in the range. At £40 it's not too expensive and best of all it's classic, a real investment of a bag. This particular style also comes in an array of colours including blue and orange.

Now let's talk about Fila. In my opinion, they've never really jumped out as being the coolest of brands. Recently though, I've been seeing the brand paraded in various shop windows, looking better than ever before.

It seems that this is down to their launch of the 'Settanta' range earlier this year. The range comprises "the most legendary pieces from the 70's and 80's Fila archive".

While there are no bags in the collection, pieces of interest include this track top:

 

This is Fila at its best. At £65 it's a pretty pricey bit of clothing, but the original versions of this track top have been known to go for up to £600 on ebay! Doesn't seem so expensive now, ey?

Sadly there are no bags in the range; though the regular Fila range seems to have had a bit of a makeover too and as a result isn't looking too shabby either. Here's one of their holdalls:

Some other brands which do good vintage repro bags include Dunlop and, of course, Puma who have their own Originals range alongside other collections including an Alexander McQueen collection- definitely worth checking out!

Kendal kicks

So as I mentioned yesterday, I went to Kendal today, a town in Cumbria.

I actually used to go to Kendal a lot (I spent one night a week humilating myself at the town's dry ski slope for some time) but haven't actually been for a few years.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I spotted a vintage shop on the drive in- not what I expected to find here!

As my bearings are difficult to establish in areas I frequent a lot, I already had a pretty poor chance of finding the shop once parked up in the immediate town centre.

After much walking, a near heart attack and a bit of google maps, I found the shop- which was closed!

Yeah so apparently the shop opens between Tuesday and Saturday. It looked pretty interesting so I'll definitely be remembering it for next time.









Vintage Revival has an online shop which meant I could still have a browse.

Some pieces are a bit pricey but on the whole, it's pretty reasonable. It was duly noted that the shop offered student discount- hope this transfers to the website too!

So onto the charity shops...

I actually didn't find many, four or five I think, although I didn't have a great deal of time to explore.

I bought this blue, embellished batwing jumper from Scope for £4.95.





I'm not so hot on the colour, but I like a good batwing style top and the sequin and bead embellishment is really intricate and pretty- so I bought.

I also bought this bag from Age UK for £3.50.



I can't decide whether the bag looks cheap or not, but I liked the gold metal detail on the straps.

I bought the dress today too, it's from Topshop and was £35. A rare treat as I don't buy too many new clothes nowadays but this one's for a night out.

I also got this unusual long necklace from Oxfam for £3.99.



It's a porcelain pendant on a long, gold tone chain. The face is dark blue and has a victorian looking couple on the front.

It's marked with 'La Reine Limoges Porcelaine France' on the back. I've been trying to find out a bit about this mark but without a great deal of luck.

From what I can tell, they are an old reputable porcelain company who took over another manufacturer.

I've found my piece and similar ones elsewhere like one on ebay which I'll be watching to see how much it makes. Maybe mine's worth something!

On another note, I bought some bright red hair dye (Live Color XXL in 43 Red Passion) as I'll be attempting to dye it red once again- goodbye black hair! (If all goes to plan...)