Lust List: American Apparel

With my 21st birthday looming (eek!) I thought it'd be fun to do a round up of some of the lovely things I definitely don't need (far too many clothes!) but have always liked the look of. The expense of it and lack of one nearby has always stopped me from shopping in American Apparel, but I've always admired how they many to make basics look desirable and how they aren't afraid to subvert boring items with bright colours or patterns. Some of their things are a little on the short side which is a shame, but with the right pair of tights or leggings I'm sure the dresses and skirts would be fine. Here is a round up of a few of my spring favourites.

New Look Lust List

Happy sunday everyone! I've had ever such a busy weekend - yesterday I was lucky enough to be invited down to The Guardian offices for a masterclass day on how to break into the fashion industries (more on that in a new post soon!) so today I've mainly been catching up with Homemaker work and doing some online window shopping. My eye has been particularly focused on New Look - my brother bought me a £20 giftcard for christmas that I've not spent yet, so I think a trip to town is in order. 

Whilst perusing their site, I came up with this little selection of beauties under £20 (or a cheeky bit over, but a couple of pounds to make up the difference never hurt) and it seems my love of pastel isn't going away any time soon. I love making this moodboard but it didn't half make me pine for summer! I particularly love the crochet top, brown sandals and the longline floral blouse, perfect for adventures. 

What do you think I should buy? I've also got a £10 Boots voucher to spend, so if anyone has some beauty advice, let me know...

Spring Pastels

Here's to my first proper outfit post! This is a look I put together for the second issue of Judy's Affordable Vintage Digest, which should be out very shortly. I can't wait for the weather to cheer up a little so I can actually wear this outfit outside without looking like a fancy dress party reject. Although I suppose the skirt would also work with something darker on top for a more 'School Librarian meets HBO Girls' look, with a Parka coat casually thrown on top.

Outfit

Lilac Jumper - Judy's Kilo Sale

Plaid Wool Skirt - Judy's Kilo Sale

Bow Pumps - eBay

Pearl bracelet and headband - handmade (tutorial here!)

October/November Haul

For the past couple of months I have been somewhat chained to my computer desk doing work, so I'm afraid this two month haul is mostly random little online buys. Hope you might enjoy a little insight into my purchases anyway.

Topshop Skater Skirt (via eBay)

My first purchase of October, this came about as I realised how much I had been neglecting all of my old favourite band t shirts, simply because I never wear trousers anymore and didn't have any plain skirts that would look nice with them. A good simple skater skirt has been missing from my wardrobe for months, and now I can't really see how I lived without one - the fit is so much more flattering than straight skirts on my body shape. It's was only a couple of quid and is a great 'throw-on' piece for work, adding a touch of smartness to my otherwise pretty simple cafe uniform.

Vintage Cream Blouse via eBay

Again pretty plain and boring, but a definite necessity in Autumn when layers are less of a fashion statement and more of a health precaution. This blouse was just 99p and fits perfectly on it's own or under dresses for a more retro look, which has allowed me to revive some of my old favourite pinafore style frocks.

Wax Coat - Tesco

For those who don't know, Huddersfield is the rainiest place ever. I ventured out to uni one day in October and got caught in a rainstorm, resulting in a drenched backpack and most unfortunately, a passport in the front pocket that had soaked up so much water than my picture in it was totally ruined. An incredibly irritating waste of £70, but a proper wake up call that I could do with dressing more appropriately for the weather. Luckily Tesco turned up the goods with this lovely Barbour-style wax coat, complete with hood (a surprisingly rare attribute in fashionable winter coats) and for only £35. There was only one left in my size in this colour, so I like to think that it was my reward for having such a rubbish rainy day. Stupid passport.

Care Box from Ma and Pa!

Having not had a chance to visit home properly since July, I REALLY miss my Mum and Dad. Third year of Uni is really full on and sometimes I miss the days where I had somebody else to be the adult for me. I guess they must have realised that I was feeling a bit down because just after Halloween, I received this lovely little care package which included sweets, my favourite Revlon nail varnish, new squishy socks, craft paper and my hideous Year 7 school photo (I guess that one was to amuse Kev). Mum also put in this lovely necklace/collar which I can't wait to wear over a plain dress. They know me so well and it really perked my day and reminded me that I CAN do whatever I set my mind to. I can't wait to see them over Christmas.

Boots Gift Card from the in-laws

 Speaking of Mum's, my boyfriend Kev went home to visit him Mum recently and she was lovely enough to give him a £10 Boots gift card to give to me. How sweet and kind is that? I'm not sure exactly what to spend it on yet but I'm thinking smellies - I love Boots's natural collection body sprays and moisturiser but my Passion Fruit spray has just run out. Maybe I'll try Vanilla next...

Freebie promo Cd's

With our uni set to move their SU building over to a new multi-million pound development, we've been made to clear up the Student Magazine's offices ready for the move. In the process, we unearthed a stack of cd's that had been sent to various Music Editors over the years that had been left behind, encountering more than a few blasts from the past. Whatever happened to Klaxons?

Primark Navy Polka Dot Kagoule - Inherited from lost property!

There are many perks to working at a Cafe (yummy cake, hot drinks to perk you up on a morning shift, overhearing customers gossip) but the best thing is that often, people will leave their possessions behind. Yes, I know this sounds awful, but we do have a lost property policy and we do keep things in case people come back for them, but sometimes though, things are left for so long that they just need a new home. Such was the case with this Primark Kagoule, which must have been left with us for well over a month. Everyone knows I'm a sucker for a good polka dot and it's so useful how it all fits back into it's own pocket. Still, if you are the Kagoule-less student and would like it back (sob), please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Business Cards from Moo.com

With graduation getting ever closer, our uni have set us a module this year called 'Professional Development Portfolio', where we are required to put together a Media CV, Cover Letter, examples of our best work and a business card. I had so much fun designing mine that I thought I'd share it here. Using my favourite printing service (Moo.com) and some voucher codes online, I managed to get 50 cards for just over £13, which isn't bad at all considering the high quality of the paper and how carefully they have been cut.

Magazines

Other university work has sent me on a bit of a magazine spree. I LOVE magazines but I normally deprive myself as they seem like a bit of a luxury. Still, since I enrolled on 'Writing For Magazines' this year I can justify it a little more and splashed out on Company, NME and The Times Higher Education Magazine to give me some inspiration for assignments. I'm really looking forward to getting stuck in with this weeks NME - My big case study project this year is centred around Women In Music Journalism so I can't wait to investigate how they have approached M.I.A's big comeback.

Bon Marche Tartan Skirt (via eBay)

The tartan trend has been all the rage for a little while now, and as a child of the 90's I've been itching to try it. It's mad how people will pay so much for stuff on the high street when you can get in on the eBay for 99p. Now, Bon Marche wouldn't be my first choice (although my Nana used to love it), but the colours on this skirt are so perfect for autumn and the material is far better quality that I was expecting.

Primark Mustard Jumper (via eBay)

I've never been quite sure about wearing yellow as I was scared it might hollow out my skin tone, but after experimenting my £4 bargain Topshop mustard maxi, I thought I'd take the plunge into some bold knitwear. Mustard is such a great shade for this time of year anyway as it matches the leaves, and I managed to snag this off eBay for just over 3 quid. I normally find cropped jumpers pretty annoying as they tend to just make me look as if I'm wearing something that doesn't fit properly and often leaves slopping hems hanging out underneath, but as I'm planning to wear this over collared dresses hopefully it will work a bit better.

New online discovery - Oasap High Street Fashion

Evening! Just a quick post to update you all on my latest favourite online store, Oasap. I'm not even sure myself how I stumbled upon this one, I think I spotted it on a different blog. But that's not important! The important thing is how cute and affordable some of these dresses are. Taking inspiration from High Street fashion around the world, they are a Hong Kong-come-American based brand and offer all sorts of trends. They're also incredibly blogger friendly, offering free shipping around the world and an affiliation service which earns bloggers comission for click through links from their site through to oasap's. Sadly, I am definitely not a big enough deal in bloggerland for that to work for me, but that didn't stop me putting together a lust montage of some of my favourite pieces anyway.

I LOVE the bunny dress and pastel heels - I think they're look great for a summer BBQ or garden party. Looks like I best get saving that student loan!

Have you visited Oasap yet? You can find them at http://www.oasap.com/. Enjoy!

Boden Bargain!

I seem to have been on a bizarre little bargain spree recently, despite trying to curb my summer spending - I blame lack of uni lectures! Still, I rarely spend more that 7 or 8 quid at a time and with my New Look dress having to go back to the shops, I was feeling a little disillusioned with online shopping. That was until I got a delightful little pink envelope through the post from Boden, inviting me to take £15 off a shop with them. Result!

Having been signed up to the Boden catalogue for a few months, I've always thought that their adult clothes were a little plain and mumsy for me, but their Johnnie B range, designed for girls aged 8-16 is adorable - lots of ladylike skirts bold patterns and modest cuts, exactly the sort of thing I like. Just a shame that I'm 20 isn't it really? Here's a few of their bits and bobs to give you an idea - 

Super sweet no? In hindsight I really wish I'd bought pretty much all of the above, particularly the minty dress, the sandals and the love jumper. They would have been really cute layered up for the odd rainy summer weather we're currently having and considering that the mint dress combines broderie with pastels, it's practically my dream item! Maybe I'll have to pop back... 

 With prices similar to that of Next clothing (a little upmarket but not outrageously pricey), I knew that Boden was a brand that must boast decent quality. So with £15 in my metaphorical hand, I set about trying to scout out a bargain. I looked through women's, but nothing jumped out at me. I thought I'd risk a look at the kids wear - I'm not particularly tall so I hoped that I might be able to squeeze into one of their age 16 dresses. And result! A look at their size guide showed that I might be able to get myself into their biggest kids size.

Bolstered by this new, I settled upon this here dress. I've been after summery stuff to brighten my wardrobe for a while and I am a big fan of breton stripes. Considering I was trying to fit into clothing designed for someone 4 years younger than me, I also thought it'd be a safe bet as the skirt was quite long.

Now, the dress was retailing at just under £17 (I forget the exact price), so with my discount voucher and the free postage that the lovely people at Boden offer, I ended up snagging this dress for just £1.38! A definite contender for all time bargain. I waited patiently for three days, and it arrived like this - 

I was even more delighted when I ripped open the package and this fell out - who doesn't love free stationery! This will be perfect for some handing dissertation planning.

Unfolding the tissue paper with minute johnnie b, detailing, I unfurled my dress...

And pulled it over my head...

And here we have it! A perfect fit that I'm pretty proud of - I don't think I've ever fitted into kids clothing before. The heavy fabric means the dress hangs really nicely with the pleats, and has a demure length that will lend itself well to a tights-less summer. This dress will be perfect with a simple belt and sandals for those days where you can't be bothered to think about your outfit but still want to look nice. And who doesn't love a bit of nautical? In fact, the stripes and neckline have given me a idea for a handmade sailor collar tutorial: watch this  space! 

Boden are certainly a company who know how to treat their customers, from their rapid delivery time (with up to a years returns policy), gorgeous free gift and the quality of their fabric. Not to mention their generosity - I don't think I've ever managed to buy a dress brand new for less that £2 before! I couldn't recommend them more, and will certainly be making a return visit - that is, unless I finally grow out of children's clothes...

Have you bought anything from Boden before? If not, check out boden.co.uk.

How To: Make A Simple Hair Bow

Seen as I'm off uni for the summer, but am pretty skint, I thought I'd start trying out some small, easy and cheap craft tutorials to share with you all on here. I'm definitely no Kirsty Allsopp when it comes to sewing just yet, but in my experience of crafty blogs, it's sometimes nice to see a tutorial that actually makes you think 'I can do that...right now!' without having to rush out for loads of materials you'll only use once or any complicated techniques. So here goes, with hopefully the first of many...

You will need:

• A rectangle of fabric, whatever size and pattern you like or have. I thought gingham would be cute for summer and you can make loads which will all have exactly the same print. For a small bow, I used a rectangle approximately 15cm long and  8cm wide
• Scissors
• Needle and Thread
• Kirby Grip to attach it to hair. Or else a brooch pin/ hair elastic will work just as well depending how or what you are wanting to attach it to.

1)Cut a rectangle of fabric to relevant measurements.

2)Fold the fabric in half longways, and then fold each end in on itself until you have what looks like a garden gate- two flapping 'door's. This will make a smaller, shorter, tighter rectangle which will form your bow. Stitch up the middle to seal this into a small package.

3)Pinch the rectangle in the middle and loop a few stitches to tack it into place

4)Using a spare scrap of fabric or bit of ribbon, sew a simple band around the middle to keep it in place and hide any ugly stitches. This could look quite nice if you used a contrasting fabric too - get creative!

5)Slide a kirby grip into place, or loop some elastic through the band.

6)Wear away! This could also look nice pinned to a cardigan or attached to a ribbon to make a  simple belt to accessorise a plain belt.

Bargain Hunting in Manchester - Judy's Affordable Vintage Kilo Sale!

With summer finally in my clutches, like some sort of nefarious over worked villain, I thought I'd reward myself for getting a First in my second year of uni with a little trip to Manchester. Having been to a few Judy's Affordable Vintage events in the past, I jumped for joy a few months ago when the Leeds based comapny announced that they would be bringing their legendary Kilo Sale to Manchester's People's History Museum.

For anybody who isn't accustomed to Judy's work, what they do is admirable and completely fair-focused. They tour the country with their vintage wares, all within student friendly budgets, in an attempt to share the wonderful world of sequins, peter pan collars and circle skirts with vintage fans all over the country. As somebody with a build slightly bigger than your average Topshop model, I have always loved vintage clothing - dresses from the 50s and 60s were made with the average, realistically sized women in mind, meaning plenty of space for a few extra inches on the waist. What Judy's are doing breaks down the elitism that sometimes surrounds vintage shopping, suddenly making it something affordable.

Whilst Judy's run 'normal' vintage fairs, their kilo sales are a different beast entirely. Based on a principle of paying £15 per kilo of clothes that you pick up, they are not for the faint hearted - after queuing to collect my Judy's carrier and pay my entrance fee of £1, I entered a hall that had ten enormous storage tubs on the floor, with effortlessly cool girls and boys alike crowding around like wise men at the nativity. Well, maybe slightly more ruthless versions of wise men, anyway. All grabbing items, holding them up, bagging some and discarding others, only for somebody else to leap on their relegated piles in search of a bargain. Carnage.

Despite the competitive native of magpie-like searching, the camaraderie in the room was amazing. Three seperate times I picked something up only for a complete stranger to smile at me and say 'buy it, it'd look amazing on you!'. Totally heartwarming, and not something you get in normal changing rooms. I myself took great deligh in helping other sort their piles, and coax the more reluctant of shoppers into buying that item that fitted them perfectly.

So what did I buy, I hear you cry? I went to the fair with the intention of buying some summery things to brighten up my wardrobe, and I think I managed to meet my goal. After just over an hours work and endless soul searching over whether or not that gingham skirt really did look like a tablecloth, I ended up with the following - 

Rainbow Stripe Euro Club Blouse (styled with my already owned dungarees and a white tee)

Whilst this was in one of the men's tubs, I fell in love with it's pastelicious stripes - very Vampire Weekend prep! There is a teeny stain on the front but I'm hoping that'll wash out with a bit of luck. I'm hoping to wear it to the festivals this summer with my dungarees or buttoned to the neck and tucked into a bodycon skirt.

Take Nine Red Button Down Dress

This dress was sized as a small maternity, but I didn't let that put me off. One of the things about vintage fairs is that they often require a bit of creative vision - the fabric is often more important that the size if you think you can do some alterations. This dress was actually floor length, but having faffed around in front of the mirror I think I'm going to cut it to just above the knee to give it a more summery feel, and whip out the shoulder pads too. Paired with a denim jacket, a skinny belt and my topshop red patent mary janes, I think it'll make a nice casual day look.

Wurzer Dirnl Green Patterned Prom Dress

This was the dress that a fellow shopper told me I had to buy, and I'm so glad I did! It's super heavy, I absolutely love the length, the way the skirt falls and the colour - forest green is one of my favourite tones to wear. I'm actually wearing the dress back to front in this picture, but I quite like it - the actual front is a very low square with a hook fastening (I think from this and the brandname it must be some sort of german design) but I think it makes a much more elegant back that means I don't have to show too much barmaid-esque boob! With a little round neck cardi and a satchel I think this dress will be great for uni or shopping weekends.

Deus yellow floral summer dress

I was a bit wary of trying to pull off Yellow to start with, but I simply couldn't resist the prettiness of this dress. It also fits perfectly, so was a good find in amongst the jumble! Like the red dress, I think I'm going to lop off the bottom, make it knee length and then have some fabric left over to make a matching hair bow. I might also swap the buttons on the top half to blue, to match the flowers. I think this dress is the perfect excuse for me to buy some summer coloured converse... I've had my eye on a duck egg blue pair for a while that would co-ordinate just right.

Lisa Jo Floral Pearl Dress

Last but not least, probably my favourite print of the day. Thanks to the lace up back, this dress also fits perfectly, and I don't think I'm even going to shorten it. This has gone right to the top of my list of potential festival outfits, so I might test drive it at Parklife next weekend with black tights, dm's and my light parka over the top, just in case it rains...

So that concludes my lovely selection from Judy's Kilo Sale, which I am delighted to say came to the lowly price of £20! With all of the items in really good condition, I couldn't recommend a rummage more. Sure, it requires a bit of patience, but the potential for wardrobe rejuvenation on a budget is simply too good to pass up! 

For more information on Judy's Affordable Vintage Fair or Judy's Kilo Sale, visit http://www.judysvintagefair.co.uk/

What do you think of my outfits? Have you been to any of Judy's events recently?

HaberdasHer Hello!

Before I carry on decking my site out with new posts, I thought it would only be fair to introduce myself! My name is Jenessa, I'm 20 years old (just, my birthday was yesterday!) and I am a Music Journalism student. You can see me above looking slightly mental with my friend Georgie. I promise this isn't really how my face looks.

Having run safetyinsound.com, a music blog for the past four years, I thought it was about time I try something new, so here is HaberdasHer, a site where I can share all my adventures with thrifty fashion, crafting, homewares and more general snippets about my life. Expect lots of pastels, homewares, dresses as well as updates on my sewing experiences as I venture into the world of dressmaking.

Hope you enjoy!

Bargain Hunting in Huddersfield!

On top of all my uni work and with payday fast approaching, I decided to pop into Huddersfield town a few weeks ago for a bit of bargain hunting. I was armed with £20 and my able assistant Charlotte, who has a certain eye for picking out things that you think are just average, coercing you into buying them and they fast become staples of your wardrobe.

I love a good dress, and today yielded two beauties. First was this pepper grey jersey bodycon from Huddersfield markets best clothing stall, which essentially resells old Topshop stock. I'm a massive sucker for tight dresses with full length arms: I think the fit gives you a confidence of a night out whilst still retaining some class and elegance in the long sleeve.The collar just topped it off, as did the £10 price tag and the smaller-than-i-normally-buy fit. Result! And even better, it's still selling on the topshop website - for £38!

I'm looking forward to experimenting with layers- I saw someone in Huddersfield town centre wearing the dress with a big slubby cardigan over the top which looked really nice. Shall have to give it a go, especially with the near freezing weather outside! Until then, here I am  with my friend Johanna, wearing it at my housemate Will's birthday party -

Second was an even better bargain,courtesy of the British Heart Foundation.There is a million and one charity stores in Huddersfield, most of them full of overpriced tat or things in massive sizes, but today I hit the jackpot with this floral full length dress made by none other than Laura Ashley. Having lusted after LAshley dresses on ebay for months but always seeming to lose out at the last minute, I was amazed to find this beauty in perfect condition at the lowly price of £5 and simply had to buy. With the hem shortened a little or folded over under a belt, I can't wait for the weather to cheer up a little so I can wear it with a hair bow, my denim jacket and DM's. 

What do you think?