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.

Kilo Sale Haul Part 1 - Judy's Official Kilo Sale, Leeds

Who doesn't love a bargain? Even better, who doesn't love a VINTAGE bargain? Even seeing the two words together puts a smile on my face.

Having only really got into vintage shopping a year or so ago through eBay, I have grown to love the 'real woman' sizing and lengths, the well made fabric, the ladylikeness, even the musty granny smell, of vintage. I absolutely love the idea of buying a little piece of history and something that you won't see every other person wearing - I like to think of it as creating a 'clothes collection' rather than a wardrobe.

With this in mind, I am still pinching myself that I managed to convince Judy of Judy's Affordable to let me and my coursemates Jack and Johanna create an official Judy magazine for our third year project. To celebrate and to research our first article, we popped down to the brands Leeds Kilo Sale.

If you've never been to a Judy's kilo sale before, the premise is simple: grab a carrier bag, fill it with whatever you like and then pay £15 for every kilo you buy. Averaging at 4-5 items a kilo, that can mean as little as 3 pounds an item. So bargaineous!

Johanna, Jack and I had a great day mingling with bloggers, Judy's fans and Leeds students, snooping on their buys and trying on the most ridiculous things we could find (see picture of me in a massive bear coat!). I particularly was really happy to meet and go for coffee with the very lovely Kate McDougall from Leeds based blog Trends With Benefits (check it out, it's amazing!), who was a lot of help with our article and scored some awesome buys herself.

More on that later, but for now I thought I'd share some of my purchases!

Blue and White Patterned Playsuit - The shorts on this are pretty short and might make this playsuit seem a teensy bit slutty, but worn with tights it's not too bad. I completely fell in love with the big white buttons and the 70's gold heart belt - so tacky but brilliant.

Blue Pinstripe Wiggle Dress - I absolutely fell for this dress and thought it would fit me but alas not, my bottom half has let me down again. I don't know why I always forget that Pencil Skirts are not my friend! Still, I love the top half so am planning a bit of D.I.Y work with a skirt I have in the same shade of denim and then using the pretty blue striped fabric that I cut off to make something else or to add some embellishment.

Black and White Check Dress - Probably my best buy of the day, this dress is so versatile and looks great dressed up with a sweater and frilly socks. The skirt just hits my calf and I feel so ladylike. Probably worth 15 quid on its own!

Floral Skorts - Being a little bit on the pear-shaped side of hourglass figure wise, I never thought skorts would do me any favours but these were a little longer than ones I've seen before and in such a pretty fabric that I thought I'd give them a go, and I'm so glad I did. I think they'll look really nice with thick tights, a simple top, cardi and brogues.

Not bad for £15 eh? If you're feeling a little jealous, head over to http://www.judysvintagefair.co.uk to see when a kilo sale is hitting your town. And stay tuned for another kilo post coming very soon!

September Shopping

Ola readers! How have you been? It's been a bit quiet on the shopping front this month - student loans are still a week or so away and I've been focusing on getting rid of lots of my old stuff on eBay rather than buying. With graduation looming in less than 12 months (eek!) I'm making an even keener effort to put some of my wages aside each month and watch the spends on things I don't really need. Sorry justeat.com, no more saturday night fun for you.

Still, I did make a few purchases this month - little treats or things that I actually could justify as needing!

Collection 2000 Nail Varnishes and Make Up Bag, Poundland - £3 for three lots of each colour, £1 for the make-up bag

One of my favourite things about being at a uni so far away from home means that I don't get to see my parents and brother that often. Wait, I'm not being heartless, stick with me. It means that when I do go home on visits, I get to spend some proper quality time with them and appreciate the time we have together. One of the things I miss most when I'm away is shopping with my mum. We're both savvy shoppers and invariably end up going to town and then coming home four hours later empty handed, but it's the looking and the laughing at how tacky lots of modern clothes are that I love. Luckily on our latest trip, Poundland yielded some true bargains. As we all know, my nail varnish addiction is well and truly alive, so I was thrilled to find some Collecton 2000 bottles (my favourite brand!) in lovely shades of brown ('All That Jazz') pink ('Milkshake') and Grey ('Angel Wings'). Each colour came in a pack of three, so mum and I bought a pack of each colour and split them. 9 varnishes for £3 - can't complain!

Mum also treated me to this satin russian doll make-up bag, which is super roomy for only £1. My old cherry print bag was looking a bit stained and sad so I was desperately in need of a new one. I'm not that big of a make up wearer compared to most girls my age, but I do love a good mascara, eyeliner and of course nail varnish, so it made sense that I had somewhere nice and girly to keep all my bits and bobs. 

Granny Cardigan, Matalan, £22 (£9.20 for me with student discount and a Matalan voucher- winnng!)

Anyone who follows matalan on twitter will know that they do something called #fashionfriday, where they give away £10 vouchers to their followers who come up with the best way of spending the money instore. I was lucky enough to win one a few weeks back for my summery festival suggestion of their adorable gingham cropped trousers and an ice cream coloured vest. Sadly for me, the beautiful summery weather has taken a bit of a dive, so rather than buy my suggested outfit I put the £10 towards a well needed autumn cardi. With four shades to choose from, I went for this lovely faun which goes perfectly with dresses or jeans. Don't expect me to be taking it off any time soon!

Rimmel 60 Seconds Varnish in Lilac, B&M Bargains, £1

I know what you're thinking - another bloody nail varnish! Still, I have been searching for a lilac one for ages and now my pastel collection is complete, I feel I can give it a bit of a rest. What can I say, I love varnish - painting my nail is one of the my favourite therapeutic things to do and it's a great way to modernise an old outfit.

Filofax Diary Pages, WH Smiths, £5.50

A pretty boring way to spend £5.50, but much needed. My friend Georgie bought me a beautiful Filofax when I started University and I decided that the start of third year was the time to do it. Now I've got all my lectures, work hours, gigs, journalism deadlines and little note-to-selfs all safely and neatly jotted down in one place, and I've got to admit, I love feeling this organised. 

Dresses, £5 total, Huddersfield Market

These were a little but naughty, but hey, freshers week is coming up and as it's my last I'm determined to go out. This means party dresses! Anybody who lives in Huddersfield knows that the go to place for bargains is the market, and my favourite stall is the one that sells the most amazing old or damaged Arcadia stock at next to nothing. Both of these dresses are Topshop (the Aztec was originally £30 in store, the mustard £46), but I got them for just £4 and £1 each! The mustard maxi dress was £4 but only has a really tiny rip in the strap, nothing I couldn't easily stitch up. Despite being a really summery dress I think it'll look lovely this winter with warm leggings underneath, a jumper and some boots. The Aztec dress was £1 due to a broken zip, but considering that it won't cost me more than a fiver to buy a replacement I think it has to win as best bargain of my blog so far! It looks really cute worn as a pinafore over a band tee with converse - ideal for lectures or a casual night out.

What have you been buying recently?