Why I've Been Buying Less... And It's Not Because I'm Sensible.

The last major shopping trip I had was on 30th December. For me, this is incredibly unusual - normally the cravings to buy are kicking in all the time, nearly as much as the cravings that tell me to eat that next chocolate bar... but enough about my issues. The thing is, aside from buying some comedy bunting and a massive skull moneybox, I've been pretty - gulp - restrained. But why?

 [Image via Getty Images].

I'm not one for making New Year's Resolutions; in fact, New Year's Eve normally makes me feel pretty dejected, after realising all of the things I didn't achieve in the last 12 months, but this time it was different. As someone who works in travel and is currently focusing on several different projects, I'm finding that more and more of my time is spent checking out travel bloggers, lusting over photo spreads in Lonely Planet Traveller and getting envious. Things came to a head when I spent the early hours of New Year's Day chatting to several people who were much more travelled than I am - you know, the ones who have actually been to all of those places you see in the pages of Elle; the place behind the US Vogue shoot that made my heart skip a beat (it was a piece called El Dorado, in the September 2012 issue). It was then that I decided that 2013 would be the year I'd travel a hell of a lot more. 

What really sealed the deal was when I began to measure the cost of all the clothing I never get round to wearing, then I put that against the price of travel (after taking the stuff down to the charity shop, obvs). I dread to think how much I waste in a year, but already I've managed to cut down and actually think, then double think, about whether I seriously need what I'm buying or if I just think it's bloody hilarious and might be worth a laugh if I wear it for one night, which probably equates to 2/3 of the contents of my wardrobe. You could say I'm employing the kind of values championed by Mary Portas, to buy less and buy better, but I don't know whether I'll necessarily always make investment buys; the main goal is to just minimise the crap and put it towards experiences. 

I've also recently started a travel blog, so I don't keep bombarding you all with irrelevant content. You're welcome. 

Ready to travel.

[Image my own].

One of the things I did invest in recently was a JW Anderson paisley quilted t-shirt, in the Topshop sale. I'd had my eye on it for a while, but suddenly I had a real reason for buying it: I'm going to Iceland in early May, with one of my best friends, for a girly city break in Reykjavik. Perhaps JW Anderson didn't have whale watching and island hopping in mind when he designed the piece, but I'm sure it will come in handy as a practical layer for Iceland's early summer temperatures. In Reykjavik itself I doubt I'll be doing much shopping at all, as it's pretty expensive, but I'm hoping to treat myself to some more affordable bits and bobs from the city's flea market - as long as they're useful and not just impulse buys. Ditto my forthcoming trip to Rome - I have my eye on a few vintage stores, but fully expect to return empty-handed due to the not-so-pocket-friendly prices, but I've also done my flea market research too. 

I don't honestly know if I can keep up frugal shopping all year round, especially as we're only just ending the first month of the experiment, but hopefully in 12 months' time I'll be telling you about the fashionable destinations I've visited and not the bulging bin bags I've taken to the charity shop. Fingers crossed...

A Fashion Postcard from Berlin

 A snapshot of Berlin from my travels.

I've just got back from a whistlestop tour of Berlin, Colditz and Dresden (yep, I don't do holidays by halves) and it seemed only fitting to share some of the sights of the German capital which is known for being a gathering point for hipsters. 

Local residents are so sick of trendy gangs of youths - think Dalston but with Euros instead of pounds being dropped on achingly cool fashion and overpriced cocktails - that they've told them to leave Berlin alone. Having managed to avoid most of the scenesters on my trip, I can safely say that the city is fascinating enough without paying them much lip service.

 The leaves were beautifully rusty around the city centre.

If you want a style reference, think Christina Hendricks' hair.

 A mime artist reclines by the Brandenburg Gate.

 If you want to buy authentic vintage that gives back to charity, go to Humana.

 The Humana store in Alexanderplatz is an affordable treasure trove. I loved the coats!

 The woman on the left had some amazing baggy harem pants that caught my eye.

 Someone should tell Miuccia Prada that a nail salon in the U-Bahn rather likes her name.

 A short walk from Potsdamer Platz, I spotted this man deep in hipster thought.

 How to do brand awareness, German style: dress up your workers in lederhosen and other traditional costumes. Add copious amounts of Schnapps and some fake gold bars.

 I'm pretty chuffed with how this photo of the Berlin Wall turned out.

This particular section had an almost pebble-dashed chewing gum pattern.

The poster art promoting the film museum was really interesting.

[All photos my own. Please ask before reproducing].

This is just a small portion of what I got up to on my travels, but I hope you'll excuse the absence from blogging. I did take my iPad and intended to blog but the Wi-Fi costs in hotels still remain ridiculously high (and I refuse to pay them) and also my trip was utterly packed with little down-time, so I decided to focus on photography for a bit. 

If you're thinking of going to Berlin then I'd thoroughly recommend it, whether you're into fashion or not; there's so much to see and I certainly don't feel that I've done enough.

Es Mi Cumpleanos

[Photo my own].

 The skull-tastic window of Cheap Monday, Carnaby Street.

Today I turned 23 and celebrated with a fashion-centric day out in London, taking my mum along for the ride (and my ever-busy sister, who found a window in her schedule for the sausage and mash restaurant at lunch). We checked out Vivienne Westwood's shop, World's End, which is on the King's Road in Chelsea - not a part of London I spend much time in, but it was great to explore. My best discovery of the day was finding the Chelsea branch of Oxfam that sits next door, where I had a field day rifling through vintage clothes and homeware and definitely did not come away empty-handed. 

Later we tried out the new Monki flagship store in Carnaby Street, browsed in Cheap Monday and got excited at the surprisingly reasonable prices of Mango. We finished the day in the incredibly hard to find Wapping Project exhibition space, near the Tate Modern, where Paolo Roversi (one of my favourite fashion photographers) is currently showing some stunning images.

I'll stick the photos up A.S.A.P, but in the mean time I'm kicking back on my day off and enjoying being a year older!

Best street style spotted: a man in a poncho with gold buckle detail, walking past COS on Regent Street.

Strangest fashion discovery of the day: Shoppers in Monki have really big feet. I couldn't find size 40 boots for love nor money, but sizes 36-39 were in abundance - as a result, I now own size 39 red platforms and just hope I've stopped growing.

Magazine observations: the readers of Shortlist (London's free weekly men's magazine) obviously know how to splash the cash. An extensive feature on brogues had nothing under £150.

I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues: COS Dress

[All images my own. Please ask before reproducing].

Apologies for the not-so-happy face. I was having one of those days where you try and smile and you end up looking like you have trapped wind, so I decided it was better to look vaguely serious instead. Anyway, I was a bit more excited than I appear here, because this is my new dress from COS which arrived on New Year's Eve. I didn't wear it out that night as I was going for the careless-night-of-freedom look rather than fashion-conscious-person-who-will-drink-responsibly-thanks. The reason I chose this dress was because it reminded me so much of Miu Miu's S/S12 collection, with the little collar and the intense print. I wore it with a studded black and silver belt from a charity shop.

As you can see, it's quite long, so there's a definite vintage feel. I love the print because it's so dark and messy, in contrast to the very prim and proper shape. I might have to take it up an inch or two, as I'm only 5"7 and I tend to look a bit on the small side with things that are cut on the calf, but this is definitely a purchase that I'll wear again and again for smart occasions. 

Dress, 50EUR in sale, COS online.

Vintage Fashion Dilemma - should you buy authentic or shop on the high street?

Ever since my last post on a visit to Beyond Retro, I've been thinking about vintage clothes and different people's attitudes to them. Some of my friends love the style from the 1950s but would never dream of looking for something that was that old, worrying more about where the item had been and if someone had died in it (yep, if you've ever been vintage or charity shop shopping then you'll be familiar with that sort of comment). Personally I'm happy to think of things as pre-owned and pre-loved, and if someone else has had amazing adventures in my jumper before I did then that's pretty damn good. I do know that not everyone has the same opinion about all things old, so I thought I'd get to grips with some of the stereotypes surrounding retro fashion:

• THE VINTAGE SNOB - she only likes it if it's been picked up from one of the best niche markets and it comes with a long back-story. If you try and fob her off with Topshop's latest take on the Peter Pan collar then she'll have a hissy fit. It must be genuine and it must be a little bit out there. If it comes complete with moth damage then she'll see it as part of the price you pay for the real thing. Her most over-used phrase is: "It's vintage, daaaahling,".
  
• THE JUMBLE SALE JUNKIE - she scours jumble sales and car boot fairs in the hope of bypassing the insane prices for vintage clothing pieces that are essentially just someone's unwanted goods from the 1970s. If something cost her £3 then she'll love it that little bit more. She's into customising and is happy to repair her purchases to get them in good nick.
• THE CHARITY SHOP VOLUNTEER - one of the main reasons for her stint in the shop (aside from giving back to the community, blah blah) is to get first dibs on the stock. Yep, I've been one of these in the past, and now I look at current volunteers and mutter, "You don't know how lucky you are..." as I scour the rails for the perfect tea dress that might have escaped the dreaded rag pile for textiles recycling.
  
• THE SECOND HAND PHOBIC - she'd run a mile from anything that might look used. Charity shops give her goosebumps, and not in a good way. She'd have to wash something ten times before it vaguely smelt of anything other than grannies, and even then she'd be paranoid that someone would judge her. It's all about shiny newness and screw the upcycling, because you can always buy another one.
• THE RETRO COPYCAT - why waste time trawling through vintage fairs when you can pop down the shops and see what Primark's take on the shift dress is? The benefit of styles that come back round again is that you can take the idea but make it modern, with forgiving fabrics and easy care wash labels. None of that dry-clean-only rubbish. If you can get it for under £30 on the high street then it's a bonus.

If you do want to look for a vintage bargain near you then I've posted on quite a few shops in the past, from London to Edinburgh, and I'd also recommend Judy's Affordable Fashion Fair, which travels round the UK and is a great way to shop cheaply - they sometimes do special sales where you can buy goods by the kilo.

Happy shopping!

D.I.Y. Leather-Trimmed Mac

I mentioned previously on the blog about how I was a little bit in love with Topshop's leather edged mac, but I struggled to justify the £100 price tag. I bit the bullet and decided to use my old faithful charity shop mac and give it a make-over (or should that be mac-over?). It already featured some gorgeous tortoiseshell buttons, which I decided to keep, but I added leather on the cuffs and on a single lapel. The leather was left over from some trousers I bought on Ebay and turned into shorts, but you can buy offcuts from any good haberdashery or even just buy a cheap imitation leather product and use the raw material.

Here's a shot of the upper part of the mac, with gold studs in the top that I bought in a pack from a local haberdashery store. You can also just about see my hand-sewing of the leather onto the coat fabric, in a basic running stitch; I do have a sewing machine in the house, but I prefer to rely on hand-sewing if there's a lot of layers involved, as it can jam easily or break the machine's needle if you're not careful.

A full frontal view of the finished mac. I had originally planned to put leather on both lapels, but they were different sizes so I stopped half-way through to survey my work. It turned out that I preferred the asymmetry of having one plain lapel and one shiny.

I put the mac in the kitchen for these shots, as the light is strong there in the evenings. I also liked how the creamy colour of the base fabric contrasted with the stained wood. My D.I.Y. project seems to be a success and I'd happily add leather panels to another item in the future, such as a pocket for a t-shirt or as elbow patches for a jumper. It was incredibly easy but looks very expensive, and it'll see me through more than the current fetish trend - the mac will always be a fashion staple.

Vintage Accessories

I bought this very retro ticket holder from Oxfam for £5. It's incredibly organised and has that edge of glamour that modern travel really doesn't conjour up (delays, airport lounges, bad coffee anyone?). So please let me indulge in my dream of travelling in style with this little gem.

Sometimes you just want to roll the dice and see where you end up.

This picnic hamper was another local Oxfam purchase - £4 but very sturdy. It's not one of those posh ones that has different sections, but it will certainly do the job as an alternative piece of luggage for day trips. The hat is from Urban Outfitters in New York (though it's a couple of years old, but you can pick up similar bowlers in a wide range of shops at the moment).

The beauty of wicker is that it's intricately made and it shows good old-fashioned craftsmanship. It's also remarkably resilient. In case you're wondering, my cameo print duvet in the background is from Primark (£10).

What are your favourite vintage accessories, either genuine or modern copies? And are you enjoying the huge vintage revival at the moment in fashion, or do you crave a bit of futurism for a change (a la Versus by Versace)? Personally I love the retro look as it's very British and a little bit eccentric at times, with clashing patterns, but I know it's not everyone's cup of tea.

Vintage Clothing Review: Edinburgh

The window displays at Armstrong's are blissfully eclectic, but not in the annoyingly twee way that many vintage shops present themselves (all sweetness and light with roses and polka dots, til you get stung for the bill of overpriced clothing). Here the windows are a blank canvas which the sales team have transformed into a sort of safari holiday on acid. I'm immediately intrigued. A key advantage of vintage shops is that the windows will be constantly changing, owing to the one-off nature of the contents, so it's worth popping past a few times in one week for ever-changing visual merchandising.

Setting themselves up as specialists (read the white writing and you'll see just how diverse the stock sections are), this is a place that would have Mary Portas dancing between the rails. The outside bears a short mannequin (just seen) with a floral tank top and high-waisted denim shorts, which nicely caters to modern trends: these people clearly know what they're doing. What's more, you're getting the newest fashion from the first time around, so it's a win-win situation.

Another couple of outfits at Armstrong's. As you can see, another short mannequin body has been placed on the other side of the entrance, also bearing a tank top and high-waisted white denim shorts, but this time with a tie-dye print and a chunky black belt. The near-symmetry of these outfits is incredibly inventive for a fashion subcategory (vintage) that normally prides itself on having no two garments the same. Below that sits a skirted look that wouldn't be out of place in a 1960s or 70s office: the ambitious Working Girl before Working Girl was a film in the 80s. Great styling here.

From Armstrong's to the vintage section of the PDSA charity shop, which is just along from John Knox's house in the heart of Edinburgh. The staff here obviously know how to spot what is a vintage gem and what is a mainstream charity purchase (something I spent years trying to explain to my co-volunteers at a local hospice shop). It's easy for non-vintage lovers to overlook a battered leather bag as being tatty and unpresentable, or to assume that a naff jumper with a dog's face on will not prove popular; however, both of those examples are now hugely in demand, owing to the cyclical nature of fashion and the backlash against throwaway synthetic garments. Even just this week, Grazia magazine was announcing on its front page that jumpers with animal silhouettes are big news.

With stacks of records and stacks of enthusiasm, this charity shop really is a popular destination. The quality of the vintage section is similar to that of Armstrong's, and it's great to see that the charity sector is benefitting from the demand for all things retro. It also makes far more sense to buy original pieces from 30-80 years ago (when you can) than to go and grab the brand new version that's only pretending to be from Granny's wardrobe, because you're helping to reduce clothing waste and giving that item a new lease of life.

Charity shop purchase of the month: Age UK does the pleated maxi

This is my new skirt in all its glory. I have been hunting high and low for a new maxi, without spending too much due to financial constraints, for quite some time. My inspiration was my sister's translucent American Apparel number and the bohemian edge of Rodarte's most recent collction (think wooden knarls and the great outdoors). Luckily the local branch of Age UK, the merged charities of Age Concern and Help the Aged, came up trumps, with this peach number at just £3.99.

Here's the kind of colour clash I'm aiming for, using my beloved Barry M nail polish. The skirt is almost verging on salmon in its tone, so I'm aiming to put it with plenty of aqua and turquoise accessories and a fitted grey t-shirt. I've had a lot of problems finding a maxi that doesn't make my hips look matronly, but this one is a lot more relaxed than the straight sheath cuts at Primark and the fussiness of the pink pleated version that caught my eye in Zara (it was a horrific fabric overload that made me look about 12 stone).

Three tips for moving the maxi skirt into Autumn/Winter:

1. You can wear as many pairs of tights and socks as you need, because nobody will see them. Add a long-sleeved plain t-shirt from H&M or American Apparel and go heavy on the jewellery for interest, mixing gold and silver.
2. Slip a lace bodysuit underneath if you're feeling too sensible, then add a deconstructed jumper (you can pick up a cheap one and add a few rips, studs or holes to cotton or knitted versions).
3. Add a Fair Isle knit, as seen at Junya Watanabe. Basic high street knits like this can often be found in vintage or charity shops in the menswear sections. Don't be afraid of a naff pattern - just chuck on some wedges or biker boots and you're ready to go.

Thrifty Antics - The Customised Skirt

[Images my own].

Dusting off my Textiles GCSE from many years ago (where I made a wall hanging based on Queen - the rock band, not the monarch - involving a very sequinned Freddie Mercury portrait), I managed to transform a pair of charity shop trousers into a skirt. This simple bit of sewing also allowed me to create the sort of maxi that the high street doesn't make for my shape, because until now I was finding that anything remotely capable of fitting my hips managed to give me the distinct impression of a fishwife or a chubby school mistress. However, by unpicking the inside leg of the trousers and hand-sewing the remaining material into a tube, my very own maxi was born. It hasn't fallen apart so far (yep, I just checked as I typed that) and I'm pleasantly surprised with the results, especially as the trousers only cost £2 in the first place.

I don't think you'll make a seamstress of me just yet, but it's a start, and my wallet will thank me for it.

Charity Shop Revolution

So, Monday night was a chance to revisit the world of the charity shop in Mary Portas' follow-up documentary on BBC2, to last year's Mary, Queen of Charity Shops. I was an avid fan of the original program, as so much of it was faithful to my own experience of volunteering in such places - great fun when the donations are good, but often frustrating when people dump what should rightfully go in the bin (muddy socks and sweaty trainers, anyone?). I was looking forward to seeing Monday's program and checking on the progress of the project, however at least half an hour was dedicated to showing footage from her previous escapades in Save the Children. I'm not sure how good the long-term memory is of the average BBC2 viewer, but I found this a bit patronising and also sneaky; if they wanted to show 2009's episodes, I would gladly have watched them, but please don't fob me off with a so-called new program. The first 30 minutes left me with a strong sense of deja-vu, to say the least.

The remainder of the program dealt with seeking out a younger breed of volunteer, on a flexi-time basis, which naturally caused problems with the mainly elderly stalwarts of Save the Children. However, I think that flexible working hours from a volunteer should be regarded as help nonetheless, especially as the pace of life is a lot faster pre-retirement. You have to expect unexpected commitments and life's little interruptions these days, and it does become harder to commit to a regular time. The program proved that, although initially confusing, a new injection of people into the shops is definitely beneficial. I have found, as a younger volunteer, that my knowledge of current trends is also important when it comes to sorting stock, because some donated items may be seen as old-fashioned by one person, but might actually be coming back around again as the latest thing. Disregarding such items, or not selling them for their true retail value, is a waste and a shame. After all, the ultimate aim is to raise money for the charity.

Overall, I'm glad I watched the program, but would like to be considered less gullible by the BBC in future.