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...

Kilo Sale Haul Part 2 - Revival and Working Class Hero Vintage, Huddersfield

I know what you're thinking - how many clothes can this girl buy? But when your university project is a vintage fashion magazine AND there are so many pretty things to be had for next to nothing, what am I to do? I doubt ill be needing to shop again this side of Christmas.

After all the excitement of Judy's Vintage Kilo on the Thursday, Friday yielded another treasure trove in my very own Huddersfield courtesy of my favourite local vintage shops, Revival and Working Class Hero.

Whilst their sale wasn't quite as grand or as big as Judy's (and some of the items were old high street stock rather than 'true' vintage), simply held on trestle tables in the Byram Arcade (Huddersfield's coolest hotspot), there were plenty of items in amazing condition and good sizes, which is always a rarity at kilo or vintage sales. Even better, these guys were charging £5 a kilo, meaning pretty much any light-ish item was the equivalent of £1! I for one have never seen a vintage sale this cheap.

So what did I buy, I hear you cry? Well, for an outrageously lowly £10.60, I bagged the following...

H&M Dress - I wasn't sure on this when a friend first held it up, thinking it might be a bit mumsy, but after getting it home and trying it on, I'm so glad I added it to my bag. The fabric is wonderfully thick for a H&M item and the pattern is far less garish than it looks in this photo. Best of all, the bodice fits perfectly and and the skirt is a decent enough length that I think this would look really nice for a formal event.

'Housewife' cotton dress - You know when you find a dress type and shape that works for you so you just keep buying the same thing over and over again in various patterns? Well this is a typical Jenessa dress! I have a million and one simple cotton tea dresses like this that I've bought from vintage fairs, but my wardrobe was well in need of some green and I love the pattern. Like my other dresses in this style, it's a wee bit long so I will probably lop it off at the knee and make a matching bow out of the spare fabric.

Lilac Cardigan - A proper granny classic! I bought a similar cardi off ebay a while ago that I was planning on using for a tutorial, but when it came I ended up loving it so much that I kept it plain. So finding this ones means I can do my old D.I.Y idea after all! This one is a lot thicker and stretchier than my old one anyway which was already beginning to get a little baggy around the sleeves. It looks really nice just thrown over a dress or a plain white blouse.

Miss Selfridge Pearl Collared Jumper - Probably my favourite buy from across the two days (even though it's not really vintage), I've barely taken this jumper off. I'm even wearing it now as I type. I rarely wear black but it matches with my black gingham Judy's dress perfectly for some subtle schoolgirl chic. The pearls are well stitched which is pretty rare in these sorts of items so I'm hoping they survive the wash!

Floral Skirt - It looks a bit droopy and sorry for itself in this picture, but this skirt is a lovely silky material. I was really drawn to its wintery colours and hope to team it with a simple vest, fluffy cardigan, thick tights and DM boots this winter.

Denim Skater Skirt - Considering I have been trying to find a skater skirt that isn't too damn short for ages, I was thrilled to find this one in  heavy denim. It'll need a few inches lopping off it, but it has a great shape and the fabric is immaculate, a definitely rarity for vintage denim. Plus, it has pockets - definite bonus!

Scarf - This was a bit of an impulse addition, but I thought the simple colour was a safe investment for the upcoming months. It's in the same felty fabric as my red winter coat, so hopefully the two will go quite nicely together for a casual winter look.

Pretty crazy right? Hopefully now that this first one was such a success, both stores will think of doing another one - my bank balance certainly hopes so! Even if they don't, both shops have some amazing full price stock that I'm constantly lusting over, and which you can check out at the links below.

http://www.revivalvintage.co.uk/

http://www.wchvintage.com/

Do you like to shop vintage?

My first mini bargain haul - the pastel edition!

Hello team! Hope you're all well. I've had a bit of a stressy couple of weeks what with a broken laptop and various other bits and pieces not going to plan, but, determined not to let it get me down, I thought I'd cheer myself up with a bit of retail therapy, pastel style! In typical Jenessa style, the whole lot happened over a period of about 10 days and only added up to just over a tenner but I still feel a teeny bit guilty. Still, on to the bargains!

Sally Hansen and Revlon Nail Varnishes

These were £1 pound each from poundworld. I normally favour rimmel or collection 2000 nail varnishes as a rule, but after hearing that you could get branded varnishes in poundland of all places, I thought I'd give some others a go. It always disgusts me how expensive nail varnish is! The colours were a bit hit and miss instore, lots of crackle varnishes and ugly reds, but after scouring a few branches of poundland and poundworld I settled on these two. The Sally Hansen 'sea' coloured mint was a bit runny but after three coats that were easy to apply thanks to the super wide brush, they came out a really sophisticated shade that was summery but not too in your face. Sadly I think I might have applied it a little too thick as it started to peel round the edges two days later, but I shall have another go. The 'electric' yellow from Revlon was a lot better - two coats and you could see it glowing from the other side of the room! the high pigment is great, especially for a yellow shade - I don't want my nail to just look like they've gone mouldy! I'm very happy with it and looking forward to wearing it with...

Juju Hello Jellies for TopShop

I'm normally pretty good at resisting the Topshop summer sale, but these were crying out to me at the lowly price of £5! With the british summer all over the place(heatwave one second, thunder the next), i figured a waterproof sandal was the way to go. Costing me only £6.50 after opting for the instore click and collect option and using student discount, they are a great happy medium between a cheap sandal and the more expensive traditional juju gladiators which I love but would almost certainly never wear. Plus look at the colours, they're so happy! the jury is still out on how comfy they are but I am very impressed at the speed of TopShop's instore delivery - i ordered these friday afternoon and picked them up at my local topshop branch at 3pm the very next day. I just wish I was going on holiday now...

Papaya Mint Short Sleeved Sweater 

 This was a little ebay bargain at only £3, including postage. Clearly tired of how long it takes me to choose outfits in the morning, my boyfriend pointed out recently that it'd probably do me good to get some more plain things to work my love of patterns around. Wise boy eh? I actually tried one of these super-soft knits on in Matalan about 6 months ago and loved it, but never actually got round to buying it, so I'm very glad it popped up online! With it's gentle hue it's a very versatile piece, although it's going to need a run through the wash as it still smells a bit smokey from its previous owner. Still, that's what you get with ebay isn't it? I'm looking forward to pairing it with jeans, a white undershirt and ankle boots come uni in autumn. Back on the hunt for the lavender version.

And last but not least...

Vintage Pink St Michaels Skirt 

For anyone that hasn't been to Huddersfield, it's worth it if only for the sunday market. I've recently discovered a new favourite stall that sells amazing granny chic at ridiculous prices - my friend charlotte got an incredible satchel for a pound that upon reflection, i probably should have nabbed first! Still, on our last visit i saw this skirt peeking out and thought it was perfectly twee - even better when I spotted the label of my favourite vintage brand, St Michaels,closely followed by a label that said £2. The elastic band means it fits perfectly worn at both waist and hips and has a great demure length that should see it last me all the way through summer and autumn.

Not a bad haul for £11.50! Have you bought any bargains recently?