Hippy Chic - On The Cheap

Inspired by Leticia's fabulous blog post yesterday I thought I'd recreate the Boho-meets-folk vibe of last month's Italian Vogue only on a tiny budget.

Ethnic print, fake fur, statement jewellery, aged leather heaven, totally gorgeous and prohibitively expensive.

Here's my cheapo version.

Tonnes of ethnic jewellery (Carnelian & silver ring from my girl Krista)

Lamani Indian gypsy anklet worn as a choker, earrings from the fabulous Sandy.

This 1970's English-made leather bag (50p, car boot sale) was a dirty cream colour but I re-dyed it denim blue with Dylon specialist leather dye (£3.95, local cobblers)

1970s Dashiki kaftan (£3.75, PDSA), Embroidered denim waistcoat worn inside-out (£1.99, Banardos), Skinny leather belt (10p, jumble sale), River Island boots (£2, Salvation Army)

Total cost - £12.29

Less money spent on clothes, more cash for living the hippy dream in Goa.

Lovin' Lurex

As soon as the nights start drawing in I like to ramp up the bling to counteract the gloom.

I was pleased to win this 1970s lurex maxi for £1.20 on eBay earlier this week and even more excited when arrived just in time to wear it to the pub last night.

Liz & Adrian

Isn't the print on Liz's vintage dress fab?

Adrian & Jon

Here's the boys, resplendent in their vintage shirts.

I haven't shared our curry with you for ages. Here's last nights' Rezalla Garlic vegetables and Jaipuri-style vegetables, with chips on the side, naturally.

Lurex is not only sparkly but it's also really warm and perfect when you're walking back home late at night.

It was freezing at chucking out time last night.

Despite the epic amount of booze I knocked back on Friday night I was up, dressed and in the jumble sale queue by 9.30am yesterday. Amongst other things I snaffled a large piece of 1960s lurex threaded crimplene for 10p. 

The fabulous Kitty sent me this 1967 Simplicity pattern a while ago and as I was up early this morning I decided to get cracking on this dress.

I wasn't keen on the original length, mid-thigh is far more me.

Handmade dress worn with an up-cycled fake fur collar and suedette platforms (£5, local boutique)

I didn't take my camera out with me on Friday but you're welcome to join us ladies next time, the more the merrier.
I'm off to catch up on all I've missed in blogland while Jon makes pizza.

Hope you've had a brilliant weekend.

See you soon.

It's Ladies' Night

I was going to show you the frock I'm wearing to hit the town with the girls later but today's been hectic so what I wore today will have to do. I'll be changing into a 1960s bell-sleeved psychedelic mini dress, turquoise opaques and killer platforms later once I've found the energy to get the iron out.

1960s maxi (Courtesy of the fab Sarah Misfit), fringed suede jerkin (£9, junk shop), Leather boots (£2, Salvation Army)

I rarely visit a certain charity shop in our town centre but when I do I find something amazing. The manageress had kindly put the most fabulous 1960s cocktail dress aside for me. It needs altering slightly but I can't wait to show it off.

Last year I bought this Jean Varon maxi dress from there for £14.

As well as a new frock I bought these River Island boots from the Salvation Army. I'd been after a pair of tan leather boots for ages and these are so comfy it's ridiculous.

What's my favourite thing on a Friday? It's a toss up between causing mayhem with my girls in the town centre later and this amazing starburst clock I spotted in a charity shop window between jumble sales last Saturday morning.

I nearly fainted when I saw it was marked up at £2. I've wanted one of these for ever and it keeps perfect time, too. No doubt due to it's efficient West German movement. 

 Have a fantastic Friday whatever you get up to and if you see me out tonight run and hide, it could get messy.

Work It, Girlfriend - Fashion Fix vs Vintage Vix & Pearls Of Wisdom

The fabulous Pearl and I share a mutual loathing of poor quality clothing of questionable origin and during Tuesday evening's Gok's Clothes Roadshow we indulged in some frenzied Twittering, shuddering at puckered seams, ultra-sheer synthetics and shoes so cheap they were almost disposable. Instead of running down to the nearest supermarket and snapping up some fast fashion we decided to create our own version of this season's key trends using clothes we already own. Queen of designer chic, Pearl, had an imaginary outfit budget of £250 and me, the goddess of cheap, had £50.

Whilst I'm not a follower of fashion I'm always up for a challenge and after all, most trends are simply a rehash of fashions from decades gone by.


Trend 1 - Winter Brights

Gok's Outfit: Blouse (£27.99), Skirt (£29.99), Shoes (£59.99), Necklace (£16.50), Belt (£19.50)

Total Cost: £153.97

My verdict? They're not the biggest but even I would have trouble keeping my bangers covered in this.

My outfit:  Kimono dress hand-made by me from a 1950s embossed satin curtain (10p), Ribbed tights (5p), Suede ankle boots (£10), Belt (20p), Bangles (all gifts), 1960s leopard scarf (50p)

Total Cost: £10.85

Trend 2 - Leather

Gok's Outfit: Skirt (£24.99)  Top (£30)  Bangle (£14)  Shoes (£79.95) 


Total cost: £148.94

My verdict? Work it girlfriend? More like working girl.

My outfit - 1960s leather trench coat (£32.17)  Tods' python boots (£7)  1960s leather driving gloves (50p)  Vintage clip earrings (20p)

Total £39.90

Trend 3 - Red Carpet Glamour

Gok's Outfit: Dress (£17)  Belt (£25)  Cuffs (£7 each)  Necklace (£30)  Shoes (£24.99)


Total cost: £110.99


 My verdict? I can only imagine the horror of bumping into at least ten other women at a posh do wearing the same, mass-produced frock.

My outfit: 1960s Young Mayfair dress and 1920s Ostrich stole (Inherited), Earrings (£1.99), Velvet gloves (10p), Opera glasses (£2) 1950s Dorset-Rex brass and pearl cage handbag with lucite handle (£1)

Total Cost: £10.09

Trend 4 - Pleats

Gok's Outfit: Blouse (£19.99)  Skirt (£14.99)  Shoes (£24.99)  Bag (£15.99) Sunglasses (£3)  Belt (£5.99)  Sock in hair (£2) Tights (£2)


Total - £88.95


My verdict? The quality of this blouse was shocking and peach polyester just doesn't float my boat. 

My outfit - 1970's maxi dress (£5)  Vintage scarab pendant (£1.50)  1960s vinyl clutch (£5.99)  Velvet platforms (£9)  Vintage clip earrings (the fabulous Desiree)  Sock in hair (Free)


Total - £21.49


Check out Pearl's post here.




Me? Host a TV Show? You'd need subtitles to understand my Black Country accent.

The £5 Outfit Challenge

After my fab friend Lucy challenged me to post an outfit costing less than £5 yesterday I was upstairs in a jiffy perusing my wardrobe, praising my legendary Rain Man memory which enables me to recall the cost and places I've bought everything I own in an instant.

This 1970s English-made fake fur coat was 40p from the Methodist church's monthly jumble sale and the leather Gladstone bag was 20p from a Salvation Army jumble in September 2009.

These 1960s faux pearl and gilt earrings were 50p from a car boot sale last summer.

Under the coat: 1970s Lerose Match Set maxi (40p, from a jumble sale in March), Richard Shops nylon blouse (50p, last Thursday's car boot sale), vintage ostrich skin belt (20p, car boot sale), Leon T Mitchell 1960s false lashes (20p from a car boot sale)

The square bangle was 10p from last Saturday's jumble sale, the black cocktail ring was 50p from Acorns Hospice and the vintage gold and turquoise dress ring was £1.50 from Cancer Research. The gold and lace bangle was from Sandy and the faux tortoiseshell ring was from Dee-Dee. Everything else was inherited from my Mum.

My friend Cheryl found the fake snakeskin shoes at a jumble sale for 20p. The tights were one of 15 pairs I bought for 50p at a car boot in the summer, so just over 3p a pair.

All-in-all a total outfit cost of £4.73 and with the exception of the shoes, tights and jewellery most of it was made in the UK. Are you reading, Gok Wan? A bargain outfit doesn't have to mean compromising with cheaply-made clothes.

Come on, Frugalistas, let's see your cheap-as-chips outfits. 

Presence Of Mind & Presents

One of the two jumble sales we went to on Saturday charged 10p per item of clothing and when stuff's that cheap (and it's for a great cause) you can see the potential in everything. 

If you've only spent a few pence on something it's not scary to customise it, like this 1980s tee shirt which benefited from some scissor-happy DIY.

Fringed cat print tee shirt worn with 1970s C&A maxi (50p, car boot sale), 1960s wood love beads (20p, charity market), 1970s suede patchwork shopper (50p, Bridging The Gap charity shop), Denim waistcoat (had forever)

The Autumn's no friend to bloggers. It was only 4pm when we took these photos and it looks like midnight. I must try and get my act together sooner in the day.

I've had two exciting parcels from some wonderful bloggers recently:

The fabulous Louise sent me a leopard scarf, a Top Shop leather bag I'd admired on her blog, two pretty hair clips, an Indian anklet, a groovy Floozie make up bag, a stunning doll face compact, some beautiful ethnic earrings and a scary thriller.

The divine Dee-Dee sent me this beautifully packed box of goodies on Friday. It seemed almost a crime to rip them open.

An wonderfully kitsch orange plastic swizzle stand, retro sweeties, a frame worthy Trechnikov card, a Sara Moon poster, a huge plastic cocktail ring, a funky vintage shopper, vintage buttons...

...some of her own gorgeously packaged home made green tomato and apple chutney (can't wait to give that a go), 1980s wild spotty tights.....

and a 1970's Ronco Buttoneer which after watching the TV adverts as a kid always longed for and am so excited to finally own one.

Spoilt, me? Definitely! Thanks ladies, you are so thoughtful and have my taste down to a tee.

See you soon.