Thrifting on the 1st Feb...

What better way to start off February, than with a spot of thrifting?

I didn't have a very enjoyable week last week, it was rubbish. I actually ended the week in hospital! (It's a really long story which I won't bore you with, but I'm fine now and it wasn't all that serious). So, to cheer myself up, I took the day off today to recover and met my mum and sis for coffee and thrift time.

First score was this Jigsaw top above. I loved the orangey/terracotta embroidery. £6 from Cancer Research in Bury St Edmunds.


I also found this little cute-cream-coloured-cape (try saying that a few times) for £2.50 from another thrift shop in Bury St Edmunds. I'm not sure exactly what I'll wear this with, but it is really pretty and a nice girlie addition to my wardrobe.


And finally, this union jack belt in Oxfam for £3.99. Bit chavvy... agreed, but I was feeling patriotic. I'm going to try wearing this with a floral dress... not sure why... I just had a vision and in my head it looked good! We shall see...

COMPETITION WINNER NEWS! Before falling ill, my colleagues and I did manage to choose a winner for the competition to be published in my ickle magazine.

We had more than 50 entries, so picking a 'best' was an impossible task. So it came down to what most suited the February issue. And the winner was... northwestlondongirlinthecountry.blogspot.com Congratulations!

Thank you all for your entries, they were all fantastic. The magazine is produced monthly, so I may publish some more of the articles as the months go on. I'll be sure to let you know if I do. And feel free to keep submitting articles you feel may be suitable.

Who knew thrifting would be so sociable?

Today I went all thrifty (the bank manager's idea not sure why?) and found this skirt in a charity shop in Bury St Edmunds.

One thing I love about shopping in our local charity shops is the random conversations you find yourself getting into. It's a very sociable thing to do evidently. Now, not wishing to totally stereotype, but, most of our local shops are manned by lovely elderly ladies, and boy do they love a good chat!

This skirt for example started an interesting discussion (which I was not entirely comfortable with, and is far too long to go into here), but resulted in the elderly lady knocking ME down on price... um, a strange haggle indeed, I was quite happy to pay full price but she wouldn't let me, there was a tiny fault on the zip you see.

One of my top tips for thrifting* is 'do not rely on the sizes they mark them up as'. Just because you are say a size 10, don't just look at the size 10 rack! This was marked up as several sizes larger than I would usually wear, although really it is a little snug on my waist! There was no actual size label in the garment, so they had basically guessed!

You may notice this look isn't as summery as previous posts, well, that is because the typical British Summer is being typically British, 30° one day / 10° the next – I have decided it is impossible to have a 'Capsule Summer Wardrobe' in England.

Total spent today: £4 (should have been £5 and I feel bad about it so may just donate that other £1 anyway)

*Why do you thrift?

1. Because thrifting is a Green practice involving the reuse, recycle, or re-style of a product and allows that product a longer life in its use thus diverting the product from a landfill.

2. Because more often than not, thrifting supports charity.

3. Because by definition of the noun, thrift, thrifting is a frugal practice that can bring significant savings to the thrifter.

4. Because thrifting diverts mass market spending into a market of one-of-a-kinds and originals.

5. Because socially speaking, thrifting is a lesson in the treasures a culture tosses and the junk people keep

6. Because I just want to alright? now please stop going on about it...