Mint shoes

Pastels are big news for the new season, and as well as the sorbet pink dress I picked up in Dublin, I've added more candy colours to my spring/summer wardrobe with these mint green suede Topshop brogues and matching Models Own polish.

Sweet!

Dublin vintage & half-moon table

A trip to visit the in-laws in Dublin always entails a quick tour around the vintage shops - well, it'd be rude not to, and Temple Bar gives good vintage.

My two favourite shops can be found along the cobbled streets of this popular tourist and independent shopping district - 9 Crow Street offers an exciting mix of pre-loved designer, wearable vintage and re-made pieces, and Fluorescent Elephant some great Mid-Century fashions, from 1950s sun dresses to Sixties' cocktail shifts.


During my recent trip I picked up this Cerruti 1881 mist pink shift in 9 Crow Street - much like the M&S SS12 drop-waist pink dress the fashion press has been going mad for - for 25 Euros. And this pyschedelic wool jacket top was just 15 Euros in the Fluorescent Elephant sale - check out those colours!


If you're bargain hunting in Dublin, George's Street is also worth checking out for charity shops - Oxfam has a great array of reasonably-priced vintage - and is also close to Urban Picnic - the best lunch spot in town. I'd highly recommend the fresh Thai green curry.

Back in Brighton, I snapped up this 1960s/'70s half-moon table for just £4 at good old Spiral on Bedford Place. Still the place to go for furniture bargains.


Have you picked up any second-hand bargains lately?

Pattie & George T-shirt

I have been looking for this T-shirt all my life - well, ever since I fell in love with The Beatles as a young teenager and first saw the video to Something.


Taken on their 1966 honeymoon in Barbados, I love everything about this photo - the hot colours, the easy way the couple are leaning on each other and, of course, the clothes - George looks quite the beatnik in that hat. Just looking at it makes me melt.


Just like buses, two have come into my life at once and there's another Pattie & George T-shirt in the same collection. Featuring a sexy black and white image of the pair lounging on the beach in their tiny outfits and super-cool deck shoes, it's the next hit on my shopping list...

Stella McCartney mirror print mimics

High street designers have taken inspiration from Stella's psychedelic Hawaiian floral mirror prints for their eagerly awaited spring/summer collections. The edgy trend offers the perfect way to wear florals without looking too girly. Add these pieces to your shopping list now.


Stella McCartney Spring 2012


Left to right - Warehouse dress, ASOS T-shirt, Warehouse top


Left to right - New Look T-shirt, Topshop shorts

Modern vintage interiors - the book

Since moving in with my now-husband three years ago, I've become very much a home-bird. While I have very active social and professional life, I'm rarely happier than during those hours at the weekend when there's nothing to do but potter around the flat, re-style areas to accommodate new arrivals, blog and read magazines while listening to 6 Music.

A home should be an extension of yourself, your identity and interests, and ours is lovingly furnished in the Midcentury style I'm passionate about with pieces I've picked up on my thrifting travels - at car boot sales, charity shops, online and even out by the bins.


Through running www.vintagebrighton.com I've met many like-minded folk for whom their homes are a true reflection of their creative lifestyles and aesthetic leanings, which lead to the idea of creating a book that showcased what can be done on a small budget and with small spaces.


The 'modern vintage interiors' book dream became a reality when I joined forces with the dapper Mat Keller from Southern Retro, and last year we spent many of our weekends snooping round uniquely styled flats, cottages and houses, discovering the stories behind the looks and finds.

With the shoots over, all that's left to add is a few images of our own flats and the author photos, which is why I was slightly more dressed up than I usually would be on a Saturday morning in these self-taken snaps - Mat dropped by with his tripod earlier. So, now it gets exciting - copy is being edited as we speak, Mat is about to lay out the pages and soon we will have our very own book - published through Blurb.com - to flick through of a weekend.


Sadly, the print above won't be included in my pages as I only bought it today - it's The Lost Orchid by Tretchikoff that I was obsessing about last week (mine for £25 from Upper Gardner Street Market) and like all of my favourite finds, looks like it's always been part of our flat.

The book will be out later this year - I'll be harping on about it everywhere and to anyone who will listen when it is so you're unlikely to miss it.

Upper Gardner Street Market

During the winter months I suffer from CBSW - Car Boot Sale Withdrawal Syndrome. It's a series business. Not willing to get up in the dark to face the icy cold and rain of a weekend morning, I need something to see me through. Charity shops go someway to scratching the bargain-hunting itch, but I still long for a good old rummage in boxes filled with random bric a brac, through rails of second-hand clobber and tangled piles of fabrics, accessories and shoes, and miss the thrill of the haggle and the amazing deals you can pull off.


My medicine comes in the form of Upper Gardner Street Market in Brighton's North Laine. Open from the respectable hour of 9am every Saturday, the residential road plays host to those selling furniture, second-hand and vintage clothing and accessories, books, CDs, vinyl and hand-made crafts. There's even hot food on offer, as well as cakes and organic fruit and veg.

Last winter I picked up this super cosy faux fur coat for just £20, and while I only get to wear it for a few weeks a year, it's a outfit essential on those days when the temperature drops below freezing.


Dressed in my teddy bear coat, this weekend I paid £5 for these Clarks heeled loafers - I love the fringe and link detail on the front - and was also taken by a faded framed Tretchikoff print. The Lost Orchid depicts what can be interpreted as the remains of a night on the tiles in 1948 (when it was painted) - a vibrant button hole flower with safety pin still attached and water droplet 'tear', cigarette butt, match and party streamers, all discarded on grey concrete steps. It's somewhat bleak - like an early version of those 'Drink Responsibly' adverts - but I fell slightly in love with it and am going to head back next weekend to see if it's meant to be.

Cupid collars

Brighton-based re-made vintage boutique All My Finds have created a limited edition collection hand-made Peter Pan collars for Valentine's Day, and I for one have fallen in love with them. Here's how I styled their red suede collar for www.vintagebrighton.com - the perfect match for the vintage Aquascutum coat I picked up for just £5 in a charity shop on Hove's George Street a few years ago (best find EVER). Head over to the site now to be in with a chance of winning one of these cute outfit fixers.

Damn you rogue strand of hair...


Collar - All My Finds
Dress - Zara
Coat - vintage Aquascutum via charity shop
Boots - Urban Outfitters

Simple tee, statement accessories

In the colder months, my vast collection of floral print dresses goes into hibernation to be replaced by black skinny jeans, simple tops and statement accessories. Now this is what I'm talking about:


Clockwise from left: Cos purse - 20 Euros, Topshop Boutique cat tee - £28, Monki leather-look purse - 8 Euros, Whistles triangle ring - £12, Topshop metallic brogues - £32, Tatty Devine fine cat ring - £120