Altering Vintage

Do we? Don't we? Should we? Shouldn't we?

On the whole, I think go for it. Not with anything precious or very old but alas, life being what it is, I am not likely to own anything like that.

I do often have to battle the nagging voice in the back of my head that says "Should you even be altering this? It is vintage." (the voice says vintage in a very Ab Fab sort of way) Let's not be precious though. Just because something happens to be more than 15 years old is no real reason to preserve it untouched. Fashions and hemlines change and a piece of clothing is far better off being altered so that it fits and is wearable rather than hanging on a rail unloved for all time.

If it was an expensive purchase or difficult to alter, I may consider sending it to someone who is slightly less cackhanded with a sewing machine than I am but with things that aren't quite so old, I don't feel quite so much pressure. I (eventually) have a crack at the alterations myself. Here's one I did last year.

I picked up two very nice Welsh tweed skirts from Oxfam months ago. Rather a snip at £6.99, thought I. But, oh, they were a hideously unflattering length. Look, see for yourself (and ignore the Mitch Benn tshirt. I only realised at the last minute that I should probably take a photo before starting the alterations):

Turns out it wasn't so very difficult to make them look good after all. Measure, pin, hack and hem. Bish, bash, bosh. They're both beautifully made, so it was just a case of trying to do it neatly enough to do them justice.

Additional bonus - a lot of offcuts! I think I shall attempt making a clutch bag. Watch this space. I may get round to it by...ooh...September?

And what do they look like now? Well you can only see one because I haven't photographed them both, but here is the darker of the two. I'm very pleased with the results.






Shirt - Zara, via charity shop
Skirt - vintage, via Oxfam
Cricket jumper - Oxfam. No idea if it's vintage or not, it's just cute
Brogues - Dune, via TK Maxx
Coat - Kookai, via car boot sale
Gloves - Accessorize

Jeans (and why I loathe shopping for them)

I think that shopping for jeans is one of the most unrelentingly miserable tasks in the shopping universe. It can never be described as fun. If you want a nice pair of shoes, well, you wander round various shops going "Oooh" or "Ergh!" as the mood strikes you. A size 6 is generally a size 6. If you want a nice pair of jeans you have to wade through 47 different cuts/colours/lengths per store just to narrow it down to which ones you take to the changing rooms. Then comes the dreaded task of trying them on, complicated by the fact that a size 14 is not a size 14. I still don't understand how, IN THE SAME SHOP, a pair of size 12 jeans in one style can be too big and a pair of size 16 jeans in another style not go up over my thighs. Yeah, Next, I am hereby naming and shaming you. Sort your sizing out.

I honestly thought I had struck lucky. I've been buying Dorothy Perkins dark wash skinny short jeans for a good few years now and they've always been a good fit, a good colour and even better, a really good price: £15 (and often on offer for cheaper). Things appear to have changed with my latest pair.

I still like the colour and price very much but the fit has changed. I actually like the fact they sit a bit higher up than my previous pairs but that slight tweak seems to be matched to an increase in leg length. Now I don't think I've shrunk, but my other pairs have always sat nicely at the right length. These are decidedly too long, hence today's turn-ups.

I'm not sure I can face the drama of finding a new style from a new shop. Probably easier just to take these up myself.




Hey ho. At least my cardigan gives me no woes. I made the official Charity Shop Noise Of Joy when I found it. It reminds me ever so strongly of the things that the Dreaded Grandma (an entirely affectionate nickname: she was lovely really) used to knit for me when I was little. Little pearlised buttons and everything!




Top - H&M
Cardi - Charity shop
Jeans - Dorothy Perkins
Coat - Kookai via car boot sale
Brogues - Dune, vastly reduced in the TK Maxx sale
Pearls - honestly can't remember
Ring - Landbaby

Floral Frenzy

Clashety von clash clash. That's how I feel today. I don't usually do two floral patterns together at once. Today I've clearly lost my senses as I've got three on, if you count the madly patterned tapestry coat.

This top has a very odd drawstring waist. I like it more when it's tucked into things.

Blouse - ASOS via charity shop

Shorts - River Island sale

Belt - pinched from another pair of shorts

Boots - swapped

Coat - Kookai via car boot sale

Necklace - H&M

Bangle - pinched from Mum

Earrings - giveaway win, made by the lovely Sarah of SBV. You can buy them from her fab Etsy shop

Haha, I've just worked out that the necklace cost more than pretty much everything else put together. Even that wasn't terribly expensive: this is a cheap outfit!! The coat may be a strong contender for best purchase of 2010. Keep your eyes peeled in July for winter coats at car boot sales. That's my tip for today.

I came across something whilst idly blog-hopping the other day that suggested that anyone who wore shorts and was bigger than a size 10 and shorter than 5'8 needed to hang their head in shame. I can't tell you which blog it was on as I got very cross and shut it down immediately. Seriously, bollocks to that. Mock my chunky thighs if you are the sort of pathetic person who wishes to do so but you won't stop me wearing shorts. And really, it's far from important. I don't want to bang on about things on here too much as I feel like I've been very doom-and-gloom recently but there are much bigger things worrying me than the size of my thighs.

Bargains and Brrrrrr!!!

I am not coping well with the cold at the moment. I'm blaming it on the diet - I'm considerably less padded than I was this time last year and I'm really feeling the effects of it. It's not so bad at home but my office at work is not on the central heating system and all the portable heaters are broken, so it's COLD. I think I need to a) buy a heater and b) wear warmer clothes. Lots and lots of clothes. I'm still thinking it's autumn and it's clearly not anymore.

Moan over. I spent the evening in a toasty warm pub for a colleague's leaving do which thawed me out and cheered me up. Wine, food, fire, friends - bliss. This is what I wore:

The lighting is so rubbish in this house! The dress is probably closer in colour to the second photo than the first.

Apologies for the boob shot but I wanted to show the draping in a bit more detail

Dress/tunic thing - ASOS via car boot sale
Black leggings AND tights - M&S
Cardi - Hawkshead
Shoes - New Look
Jewellery L-R - Blue John ring which I've had since I was little, my Grandma's Blue John pendant and a costume ring which I found in the bottom of my jewellery box

The dress and shoes are both way out of my usual comfort zone, but both were such bargains that I bought them anyway. The dress cost me 20p at a car boot sale and the shoes were £3, bought on a total whim during one of New Look's crazy, ooh-let's-reduce-all-our-sale-shoes-to-£3 moments. Had I seen the dress in a shop I might have thought "ooh, nice" but I would never have bought it online in case the drape looked bizarre on me. Either way, it's lilac, and I don't really wear pinks and purples. The shoes are much higher and thinner heeled than I'd usually be comfy in.

I definitely advocate buying something a bit different when it's cheap - one of the best ways in my opinion of trying out new things. But however bargainous they were, it's more important that I actually liked them. A £3 pair of shoes is only a bargain if you're going to wear them, otherwise you might as well just keep the money for something more useful. Luckily the dress is super pretty and, I think, quite flattering and the shoes are surprisingly comfy. Ok, so I had one minor wobble when I stood up to hug someone and then overbalanced and nearly landed on top of the person next to me but I don't think many people noticed...

Tapestry Tuesday

I'm sure we've all got our problem areas. Well mine are definitely the stomach and thigh sections of my body - they need covering up and not emphasing, hence why I've never ever worn shorts. However, as you may have read in my weekend post, I couldn't resist a beautiful tapestry pair in the River Island sale. Now they weren't available in my size so I had to get a 16 which do gape rather but I'd rather that than that they were skin tight. I can always nip the waist in a bit but I don't think they look too bad.

I'm very impressed with my bravery in wearing them. A year ago this wouldn't have happened. Actually, a few weeks ago this wouldn't have happened! Bravo me.

I look mildly obsessed with my shoes in these pics, don't I? Must look up!

Tapestry coat - Kookai, via car boot sale (£3!)

Shorts - River Island

Jumper - H&M

Brogues - New Look

Jewellery - ancient