Car boot sale booty

Midi-length, cranberry and pleats - three of this season's key styles in one light-weight skirt, a Cath Kidston-esque pin-board for displaying inspirations and reminders and a pair of designer Melissa for Herchcovitch rubber brogues. Today I bought all of these covetable items, and some, for less than 20 of your English pounds.

Oh BHASVIC, how I've missed the Sunday car boot sale - it's been a long and lonesome winter without you. Let's make this year's spring and summer fling the most fruitful yet!



Travel case - 50p
Pleated midi-skirt - 50p
Cow cream jug - £3
Sixties' coffee jar - £1
Melissa for Herchcovitch rubber brogues - £10
Checked fabric pin board - £4
Total - £19

Mirror mirror, on the sofa...

I've been looking for a vintage mirror compact for a while now, and I found this beauty in a charity shop in York for £3. It's by Stratton of Mayfair, and no doubt belonged to a lovely old lady.


‎On the subject of compacts, I was visited by a workman this week who seemed more interested in watching me apply mascara than dealing with the guttering problem in the yard. He was perplexed:

"Why, when women have these amazing old dressing tables with huge mirrors, do you always see them sat on the sofa putting on their makeup in tiny compacts?"

A good question, Mr Workman, a good question indeed...

X Factor Live @ The Brighton Centre

This week I was lucky enough to live my X Factor dream, seeing the stars of the show live at the Brighton Centre with one of my best friends. It. Was. Brills...

Click on the image to share the joy. THE JOY!

Bidding for a bargain - Guardian piece

I recently wrote a piece for the Guardian.co.uk on the highest ticket vintage accessory items sold through eBay last year. Read the full article here.

Stay cool cat

I know that John Lennon circle glasses are the new big thing in eyewear - the perfect accessory for that Seventies revival look - but it's the cat eye craze that's still exciting me.

Image by Flickr user Uh ... Bob

1950s-style glasses hit the fashion headlines when Prada models strutted down the a/w '10/'11 catwalks in exaggerated winged eyewear, complimenting the beehives and full skirts that fuelled last season's Mad Men fever [check out Kris Atomic's brilliant illustrated interpretation below].

My Grandma rocked her spiky specs back in the post-war years. But as my face is a little too round to pull off the Prada and Tom Ford glasses favoured by the celebs, I opted for some subtler Miu Miu frames as my last eyewear upgrade. It's important to choose a style you're comfortable with if you need to wear your glasses every day like I do - damn you computer-based work...

Illustration by Kris Atomic

With sunglasses, however, you can have a little more fun creating different looks. And while tortoiseshell cat eye sunnies can set you back upto three figure sums, Accessorize have a lovely pair for just £14. The catwalk style has hit the high-street just in time to compliment summer's vintage-inspired looks. Purfect.

Accessorize sunglasses - £14