Easter Monday in Greenwich

What a gorgeous Easter Monday! The sun was shining and instead of sitting at our desks we were free to actually enjoy it! This afternoon I ventured south of the river to visit my friend Kirsty in one of my favourite places in London, Greenwich. It’s got the Thames, The Cutty Sark, some amazing pubs and a fantastic park which offers some of the best views on the city.

With it being such a gorgeous day I was desperate to dig out one of my beloved summer dresses, but it wasn’t quite warm enough to go bare legged so I opted for the dress and leggings look. I wore this adorable sun dress that I found in Hackney a few years ago, and teamed it with a cosy navy blue cardigan that I found in Compton Hospice, Wolverhampton.

My back pack is also a recent purchase, bought from Save the Children in Clapham North for £4.99. I love a good back pack and have a few sitting in my wardrobe, but this Claire’s Accessories number is cute and summery and I’m loving it.

Daisies and Lace

I don’t just buy from charity shops, I donate to them as well, and after a bit of a sort out my boyfriend and I are always taking in bin bags of the things we don’t want. The trouble is, whenever I take stuff into a charity shop, I often end up taking something new home with me!

This was just one of those occasions. I was taking a bag of things to the Mind charity shop on Stoke Newington High Street and left with this gorgeous navy blue AX Paris dress, bought for £9. I love the lace daisy detail around the sleeves and collar, and am considering wearing this to my cousin’s wedding next month.

Feeling Fruity

I have discovered a new charity shop mecca, and it’s in Walthamstow Market. It’s the longest Market in Europe and that’s room for LOTS of charity shops!

On a recent weekend wander I found this adorable fruity print cotton dress in Age UK for a mere £3.It has a button up front and a tie waist. I love it, and can’t wait for summer to arrive so I can wear it everyday.

Clapham Delights

On a recent lunch break charity shop session, I was lucky enough to find these two pretty dresses in Save the Children store on Clapham High Street. Both will be perfect for when the warmer weather arrives, which will be soon I hope!

The first dress is a cute cotton shirt dress in purple tones, bought for £4.99. It fits perfectly and the colour is nice change from my usual pastel pinks!

The second is a peach floral dress, originally from Pull and Bear, and bought in mint condition for £4.99. It’s super cute and will look even better with some sun kissed skin 🙂

Giddy for Glasgow

Last weekend me and my housemate Fee went up to Glasgow to visit our bestie Kirsty, who is working up there on a TV programme. Now, I’ve never been to Glasgow, so did we spend the weekend exploring the city, the famous landmarks, museums……? Nope. We spent an entire day charity shopping. On one street. Dumbarton Road in Partick is the mecca of charity shops and och aye did we find some bargains!

The first is this gorgeous black velvet mid length dress. (snuck in a little link to Alannah Myles there as I can’t write Black Velvet without thinking of it). I wasn’t sure about it at first, as I had tried it on over clothes and was wearing red converse trainers which didn’t quite go, but after several minutes of deliberation a little old Scottish lady came up to me and said “It looks lovely, you should buy it.”. So, not one to defy a wee old Scottish lady, I bought it. And I’m glad I did, as it really is a gorgeous dress that fits wonderfully and will be perfect for a posh evening do (should I ever get invited to one!)

Bought from St Margaret of Scotland Hospice for £9.

My next fabulous purchase is this totally awesome black blouse from Next. I love the colourful boat print,  gold button detailing and peplum style shape.  I’ve teamed it here with a plain black tube skirt, but it will look equally as awesome with jeans.

Bought from Marie Curie for £3.00

Whilst in Marie Curie I also picked up this cute little gold necklace, bought for 50p. It’ll look lovely over a buttoned up shirt.

Now, it’s very rare that I go on such an extensive charity shop binge and don’t walk out with some kind of embroidered / patchwork bag. And this was no exception. I found this adorable little blue embroidered number in British Heart Foundation for £3.

 

In Shelter, I picked up these cute little pastel pink pumps, which will look fab in the spring with a pair of ankle length jeans. And for £2. Bargain.

And finally, I have saved the best till last. This may be my all time favourite charity shop purchase EVER. I have wanted a old school style rain mac for ages, so imagine my delight when I found this amazing red number in British Heart Foundation, for £7. It is so adorable and colourful and I can’t wait to go splashing in muddy puddles in it.

I Heart You

January. The worst of all months. Like most people, I got a little giddy over Christmas – presents, nights out, food, train journeys, musicals, more food.  At the time this is great, you’re loving life. But in reality it leaves you a cereal for dinner eating, antisocial, ‘I’ll walk’ rather than get the tube mess 6 weeks later in January.

And so it was, last week I was faced with a challenge. My housemate and girlfriend were ‘just popping into Dalston’ on a Saturday afternoon, and ‘would I like to join them?’. Now, I know what popping into Dalston means. It means charity shops, which would be filled with unwanted  Christmas presents and treats, and usually this would be music to my ears. But pay day was two weeks away, and I was barely able to afford my food shopping, let alone a charity shop binge. But I went, with a promise to myself that I wouldn’t spend anything. Not a penny….. unless it was AMAZING and under £10.

You all know where this is heading readers. I went into Oxfam in Dalston, and low and behold I did find something AMAZING, and it was well under my £10 limit at a mere £3.50. I didn’t even feel guilty.

I’m a sucker for a cute dress, and cute this one was. A very simple, but wonderfully fitted tulip dress in a navy blue colour with a white hearts pattern. It’ll be fabulous for nights out, but also for important worky stuff too. Teamed with some tights, little black boots and bit of pink lippy, I have a feeling this will become one of my firm favourites amongst my collection.

Dresses, dresses, dresses

I have collected so many dresses from charity shops over the last few years I am losing count! And getting them all up on this blog has been on my to do list for pretty much the whole of 2013….so now we are in a new year and there is no better time than now.

To help I bought myself a present, a dress makers bust! Now I can take pictures of all my fabulous charity shop purchases more easily, and without looking like a total goon in them too.

This post is all about floral (surprised?) dresses, some vintage, some Primark rejects, but all bought for a mere few pounds.

The first is a lovely pale green/grey number originally from H&M, but bought in a Cancer Research shop in Welshpool for £3.

The next one is a primark number, bought from Scope in Hackney for £5. I absolutely love this dress, the cut is gorgeous and it has these lovely little buttons on the bust.

This one is a Topshop number, and is a great summer dress, with very cute detailing on the back. Also bought from a Hackney charity shop for £5.

The next is a gorgeous silky dress, originally from Next, bought for £6 from Helen and Douglas house in Didcot. the autumnal colours are lovely, and the fit is perfect. I wore this out to an afternoon tea with my housemates Kirsty and Fee.

This next one is another primark number, but I just fell in love with it. Another purchase from Scope in Hackney for £6, it is a little tight on me, but I couldn’t help myself. The pattern is so cute, and the lattice detailing on the back gives it a little something extra.

This dress was bought from Mind in Stoke Newington for £9. I love the floral pattern and that it could also be worn as  a smart dress for work.

This next dress is an international purchase, bought in a jumble sale for 1 euro in Ceglie Messapica, Itlay. Bought at the same time of one my other favourite dresses, this looks lovely in the summer worn with a brown waist belt.

Lastly, this dress is one of my all time favourites. Not actually bought from a charity shop, but from a garden sale in Clapton, Hackney, for £5. The length and cut is gorgeous and I wore it several time last summer, including posing on a Vespa in Brighton 🙂