Style Diaries: World Fashion from Berlin to Tokyo

A book about bloggers and their style, picture heavy, could have had a bit more context and words in it. It’s an international whirlwind of a tour of style bloggers, recommend. The other interesting thing about this book is the copyright issue as only a handful of pages are not the copyright of the bloggers. The rest of the copyright belongs to the blogger and they are in most of the photos and the angles don’t look like DIY shots. Begs the question, who dose the image belong to? I found and bought the book at the V&A shop for £19.99 after a meeting about teaching a 1 day digital t-shirt design course in March 2011. Took the book into a workshop with my styling students at LCf and they enjoyed flicking through the style candy.

Garnet Girl

Oh you’re a Garnet girl a vintage jewellery seller once said to me. I found and bought this Silver Garnet ring at an auction in Berkshire for £19. Caused a bit of a storm buying this as the dealers get very territorial about anyone else bidding, hello it’s an auction. I think its Victorian as it looks very similar to another ring I bought from a trusted dealer the year before. Photo not that great showing the detail, trust me it’s a stunner.

More royal mugs and prince and princesses

My fancy, collecting royal mugs to use as everyday use seems even more appropriate with the announcement of Kate and Wills wedding this year. For now here are some of the others who decided to either tie the knot or be king or queen. I am fascinated with the kitsch royal ceramics and have branched out into prince and princess orniments. Fear not there is a reason for this I have been collecting for a while now to use a characters for a real fairytale book, shameless TV programme style, when I get round to it. Found these royal mugs in an Berkshire antique shop in the £1 box and orniments 50p each in the 50p box, love a rummage through a get rid box.

Baby you can drive my car

I wish, I have been learning to drive forever and the closest I have got to own a car is this 1930s vintage pink glass ash tray. Oh well 3rd test lucky, try to pass this year and you never know the vintage ash tray could be a real car. Found this for £1 in a charity shop in surrey. Tip, vintage ash trays look great with a tea candle light in, a touch of the cosy needed right now to chase those January blues away.

Club Tropicana – Jump Around ?

Jumps suits, all in ones there not right and I don’t know why I do it to myself. It’s as if each time I buy one I believe this is the one that will perform jump suit magic on me. Boyfriends never like or understand them and I stubbornly won’t listen even if he might be right on this one. I bought this for the bright jade green colour and crazy appliqué pattern and it reminded me of what a lively older lady would wear if she retired to the sun. This piece for me is so Florida mixed with 80s Wham Club Tropicana, where I am sure by the time I retire the drinks won’t be free!



Found and bought in a charity shop in Weighbridge Surrey, very posh round there they know how to charge £8. Listen to me I have been living in planet boot sale for too long. Well I only hope I jump around in this jump suit in spring, if not its going back to the chazzer, not sure about this fuy: (

Men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses - Dorothy Parker

One of my favourite Dorothy Parker quotes, why because she was so right back then in 30s! I adore beauty and brain in a gal, darling! Sadly I am coming to that time in life where I squint at the London A-Z. So check these vintage reading glasses and another pair of sunglasses (remember my draw full of sunglasses in previous blog) found at a boot sale in surrey for £1.50 each. I bargained the lady down from £2 a pair to £3 for both.



Here’s another little tip I had a pair of vintage glasses updated with new lenses at specsavers a couple of years ago , luckily the guy that was serving me collected all sorts of glasses, a bit of a geek and was up for giving it a go. Today I am the proud owner of pink and white vintage wing reading glasses. It’s all about the wing when it comes to vintage reading glasses style. These ones are next in line for the new lens transformation, books at the ready gals.

Dare to be different – you bet baby

The slogan says it all really, Lulu Guiness make up bag found and bough for £19.99 from TK Max on Charring Cross Road London. What’s TKs doing in Central London? Guess it’s a sign of the times, prime site with St Martin’s Fashion Students being right opposite.

Lepoard Lady

Forever, since my college years I have always had a Lepoard item in my wardrobe each season. From a big old vintage coat to Lepoard print converse. This AW I found a little Lepoard print cardigan from H&M Oxford Street £14.99, worn it lots so it was a good buy, looks great with a bit of tweed and blouse. Got excited about the styling of this find as I feel I am starting to explore making the clothes look alive in a still life photograph. If this chair was a woman she defiantly seen a lot world and its men, a posh Bet Lynch type of lady! How rude!

South African Statement Necklace

Found this mother of a necklace at a boot sale in Surrey for £3 one of my fav haunts for bargains. The lady I bought it off said she bought it in South Africa, as a holiday treat. I was drawn to as it has an insect inside the main feature bauble and at first it reminded me of Victorian mineral jewellery. Then when I got it home realised it was more tribal than Victorian. Styled it on a Victorian vase my sister bought me for my birthday a few years ago, the vase is the real McCoy, completely over the top home wear.

Autumn Winter wardrobe change over

Most of my clothes are Vintage and due to my hording, when it comes to clothes, the change of season is a dress up, trying on fest. Remembering the pieces I had forgotten all about and I own. The first stage is easy anything Spring Summer in a pile, then do I want to keep it. The answer is usually if it’s vintage yes and if it’s anything else did I wear it and dose it still fit. If not then two more piles a storage pile for next Spring Summer and a Charity shop pile, back to the source for most of it. I kid you not some of the pieces in my wardrobe I have had for 10 years or more. So I went for it a couple of nights ago and here’s what my wardrobe is looking like this season.

Oh England my boot sale heart

What to do the morning after a 40th party night in the country near Rye, feeling a little worse for wear? Hit a gentle boot sale on mass, I loving going in a group and seeing what finds and objects everyone goes for. So no further a do here are our finds from the booty on glorious sunny day in the English countryside. Ahhhhh

Tom Girl Checks

Two style icons who do checks really well for me are Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz in her gingham check dress storming the yellow brick road and Marylyn Monroe in Misfits doing a sexy jeans and western shirt look. So when I found this blue check dress in a charity shop in Surrey for £4 I got very inspired to play with these looks this summer.



The dress is by Monsoon so I its either late 80s or early 90s and because of this could also do a bit of a Bananarama tom girl look. I bought this and was due to go out that night to the country for a 40 th birthday and as a strict rule I don’t wear charity shop clothes without a good wash. Being so desperate to wear it I washed and ironed it dry in 2 hours.



The check shirt is from TKMax in Croydon £12.99 a good little number to wear with denim and looks just fine with the navy cuffed army style trousers I bought from Debenhams in Croydon, £15 in the sale. Do I ever buy anything not on the cheap the answer is no not in these times love!



Can’t beat a good check for a bit of pattern

Nurse, Nurse!

When I was a snip of a young lady I had my fortune told she asked me if I was a nurse. At the time I was full on designing with a design ego and scoffed at such nonsense. Well she could have been a bit right as my latest fuy is a light blue chambray nurse’s dress, found and bought in Brighton from an army surplus stall for a fiver. I tried before I bought and the guy selling told me it was the same pattern as the uniform dresses used in World War 2. That didn’t help really but I did have a visual of the women in my head that I had seen before that got me interested. It’s very flattering and utilitarian with lots light buttons and more gathers at the waist and on sleeve head that I would have imagined and pockets galore. This dress could easily be a new denim trend teamed with a great belt and boots, carry on nurse denim into next A/W 10 season.


Outside a pub in Brighton checking out my new fuy



Full length of the dress , great shape



Love the button sleeve detail

8os hair combs and long Victorian gray hair

When I found these hair combs I had two memories the first my great grandmother and how she use to wear these in the plainer colours and how she keep her long old gray locks all tied up neat with one or two of these combs. The neatness of her hair and cunningness with her combs said Victorian properness all over it. The second memory, my early teenage years in the 80s, wearing the combs to school, neon flashes trying desperately to lift my navy school uniform. I feel they are due a come back, especially in these colours and the tribal abstract print on the comb would look right on any East London fashion lovely. I found and bought for 20 pence each at a boot sale in Surrey so I splashed out and bought five for a pound.

Real exotic suburban bond girl top

This top was found at a boot sale in Surrey for a £1 the older lady I bought it from made it herself and she couldn’t remember what size it was. I absolutely get a kick out of buying vintage things from the actual people that made them. This top reminds me of exotic bond girls making cocktails and photos of my grandmother’s suburban cocktail parties in the 70s. I am going to wear it with my clogs (walking the dog in clogs post)and Charlie’s Angles Jeans (in my tk-maxing post) another suburban cocktail darling?

Walking the dog in clogs

Seasonal fashion can be cruel or kind depending on your personal style and body shape. A look can be in for a season that totally suits your fashion thing and then out the next. So I have learnt to stock up when my era 40s, 50s or 70s is in the normal shops. Then the rest of the time I rummage for it charity and vintage. The return of the clog was one of these moments for me this summer. Clogs’ are so right for a 40s or 70s look. They give height and balance my legs as lets put it this way I couldn’t ever join the Jeggins gang as leggings don’t do anything for my legs. I bought these clogs from Kurt Geiger in Bond Street on sale for £59, love them they look great with floral dresses, big leather belts and Charlie’s Angels style jeans. sadly I still make mistakes as I bought these red Indian style sandals on the same day from Kurt Geiger for £29 ( sale ) and hardly worn them. Strap round the ankles not that great or easy to walk in as my feet slide around in them. The heart ring was a lunch fuy £2 from Primark in Hackney, that has to have the trendiest customers I have ever seen in a Prirmani.

Fuying ahead for next season with me Frank Usher

This totally 70s Hippy Moroccan Folk dress is a stunning winter warmer, got one of my fashion feelings about this one. Add pattern and cosy in the gloomy months to come. It’s a Frank Usher and I found it in a vintage shop in Rye for £8 . The only shame about this is that the Moths have had a nibble but I think I can do a bit of mending and it will pass for a bit of vintage wear and tear, you pay extra for that you know!

My mums denim skirt - style memories

When I saw that Stella McCartney had sent a denim skirt down the catwalk for this S/S 2010 inspired by her mothers from the 70s, I smiled. Because brother did my mother have a denim skirt too. She had a denim skirt and Jesus sandals her daily uniform with a change of printed tops. I so wished that she wouldn’t wear it on parent’s evenings and grown up things. I prayed to the style goddess above that she would go in a pencil skirt, stilettos and a clutch bag! (What a nightmare I was)How wrong I was as her denim skirt and sandals represented carefree fun and sister I am so glad about that now. So when I saw this one in a charity shop in Surrey by Per Una for £7.50 I snapped it up for myself. On that day I had already bought a Brown and Tan bag from a boot sale in Surrey for a £1. Then low and behold to finish my out fit I bought a Brown and Cream striped jersey Breton style top for £2.50 from a charity in, you guessed it Surrey. What a haul an outfit in a day all for £11, thanks for the denim skirt memories and a reminder of the style Stella!

Tk Maxing

The Tk Max shopping experience for me is so similar to Charity shopping and Car booting. It’s as close as I get to shopping in the real commercial world and Tks on clearance sale can be better than charity shop prices. As mentioned I adore the thrill of the find, rummaging and valuing anything if it’s my style and it doesn’t matter where it’s from. Below my latest designer finds from Tk Max in Staines (out of town Tks even better just as the Charity’s, same, same)



Antoni and Alison orange striped Cardigan £18.I have noticed my uniform appearing before my eyes and a little patterned cardigan is one of the things I always need to have and replace. A good quirky little number useful layering option that so needed with our British Springs and Summers.







The hippie in me just wont give up the ghost of 1969 with these J Brand Jeans £7, Tk Max Staines, and Gharani Strok floral floaty hippy top again £7, Tk Max Staines. I am not usually that keen on see through tops on ladies over 40 but this one looks smashing with a little cotton vest under and digging the puffy shoulders too man.

Under the Mulberry bush

To find one Mulberry bag in an Antique Shop in Hampton Court ( check out my fist post “the beginning” in January )and then return months later to find another bag felt like it was to good to be true. This one is a great user and a brilliant school - work type of bag. Just realising how sensible Mulberry bags are and I am sensing sensible is the new rock and roll these days.