hippy hippy hop

Thought this looked very 70's hippy print. Now all I need is a big floppy hat.... peace out!

Cardigan: Otto sample sale
Dress: Otto sample sale
Tights: Accessorize
Boots: Hugo Boss

Time for tea?

Necklace: My cousin made with ribbon, wire and beads
Dress: Otto sample sale (Oli)
Shoes: Carvela

Lady of leisure...

Not been doing much at home since I've been made redundant... mostly trying on my sample sale items and seeing what I'm keeping and selling!

Headband: Oasis
Dress: Otto Sample sale
Tights: Tabio
Shoes: Kate Kanzier

Ahoy sailor

Wanted to wear this to go watch the Oxford-Cambridge boat race on Sunday. Thought it was quite nautical with the dark blue playsuit and golden buttons! However, despite the glimmers of sunshine outside, it was quite cold and I wore something else!

Playsuit: Otto Sample sale
Necklace: A small jewellery shop in Neal St. Brand is 'Candy'
Belt: Accessorize
Shoes: Dorothy Perkins

What I actually wore on Sunday!

Top: Chilli Pepper
Leggings: Tabio
Boots: ASOS.com

Work Sample sales

Working in a retail head office is great! I've worked there for just under 3 years now and one of the great perks of the job are sample sales. I know that different companies manage their sample sales differently- some open out to the public (like Ted Baker last week) and some have exclusive sales just for staff (like where I work- ASOS, Topshop and Laura Ashley too)

Seeing as we were all being made redundant, we had our final last EVER sample sale last week. It was crazy but I'm glad that I worked with people who were courteous and polite- no pushing was going on, it was all 'excuse me' and 'sorry, am I in your way?'. But I got some great stuff, which is probably why in future outfit posts, I'm going to refer to many of the clothes as 'Otto Sample Sale'. Where possible, I'll try and reference any brands.

BTW, if you really want to look for the clothes I've bought from the Otto sample sale, please check out: freemans, grattan, oli, kaleidoscope or look again. These are the brands I worked with and therefore all the samples have directly come from them. Also, seeing as a lot won't fit me, I'll be posting some things on e-bay, so watch this space!

At the moment, everything is piled up in the corner of my bedroom, just waiting to be sorted out! (as seen above). However, I have a few interesting prints and items:

Sequins










Spots

Floral Patterns

Random Patterns


Finally I have a 'curtain' of black fringing, which is just waiting for me to attach it to something!!

Rainbow Bright

Wore this to work.

Necklace: Accessorize (present from my last work place)
Jumper: Mango
Dress: Arrogant Cat sample sale (don't actually know if they brought it out in shops)
Tights: Uniqlo
Boots: Office

Weather was grey so I thought I'd brightenn up the office!

Party Season

Sorry for the serious lack of blogging... but the lead up the Christmas etc. has made me very busy! I promise next year, there will be more constant updates... in fact, I'll make it one of my new year's resolutions!

I like organising things, but whenever I do organise an event, something is bound to go wrong and I am the one to blame. For example, the office Secret Santa didn't go as well as planned, with some people being ill on the day and some people not knowing who they were meant to buy for! This meant that some people got their presents late and some just got a 'unisex' present such as a box of chocolates or a bottle of wine! But oh well... I think everyone got something eventually....

So now it comes down to my birthday which is in Mid January. I want a themed birthday... just beacuse I enjoy dressing up and making a special effort! A lot of people I know however don't like dressing up, so I thought of a compromise and thought of a 'James Bond' theme. Its not very original but I like the glamourous aspect to it and I may finally get a chance to wear my amazing Bodyamr dress that I got in their sample sale a while back.

Talking about sample sales.... there have been a lot on this month, especially before Christmas! I went to the Vivienne Westwood sale which was held in Battersea. It was probably the worst sale I've been to, very poorly organised and they seriously underestimated the amount of people that would turn up! Firstly we had to queue for around 1 1/2 hours before we could go inside in the freezing cold, secondly, as we got inside, there was barely any clothing left and a few shoes, but the only really nice ones were sooo tiny size 2(35 EU) or size 3 (36 EU)!! Near the back of the room, there was a huge crowd of people, from the other end of the room, I could see rolls of fabric, so I thought that they were selling rolls of fabric or fabric samples, but it was jewellery! People were queuing up to choose and buy jewellery at the desk. Everything was bundled into small clear plastic bags so you had to ask the assistants to take it out for you so that you can have a look. Which I thought was very badly organised, it meant that you took ages looking through a lot of items cos you didn't want to leave without spotting a bargain! My star buy was these earrings- I grabbed the last pair. I saw them in the assistant's hands and asked her if I coudl have them. The girl next to me also wanted a pair, but I managed to grab them before her!!

Sample Sales

Just my luck... Its New York fashion week now, when I'm in London and London fashion week when I'll be in New York!! Obviously I didn't plan all this very well, but never mind....

Just to let you guys know of a few sample sales that are coming up soon!

Ghost Summer Sample Sale

Up to 90% off! 8-10th September
8th Sept 11am-7pm
9th Sept 11am- 7pm
10th Sept 11am-7pm

20th Century Theatre
Westbourne Grove
London
W11 2QA


Designer Sale UK

• 13th September 12pm - 10pm - Preview Day
• 14th September 11am - 9pm - Open to public
• 15th September 11am - 8pm
• 16th September 11am - 5pm

The Bridge, Atlantis 1st Floor, 146 Brick Lane, London E1

E-bay sales...

After getting a message from a lady who really wanted a dress for a wedding she is going to attend, I ended one of the auctions early with a 'buy it now' price. However, I have put up more items for sale as I am having a bit of a clear out and also raising some money to spend in New York!

Its almost 1 month until I go and I am so excited! I have been doing some research, but if anyone out there know of any interesting places to visit, eat or shop, then I will welcome any suggestions!

I have also vowed to myself that I'm not going shopping until New York... where I'll get my winter wardrobe... so, all the more reason to start making space for it and sell a few things on e-bay!

Here are the latest items that I've posted:

A cute 3 button, black waistcoat. I actually have 2 of these to sell...

This skirt is so pretty but much too short for me! Its a silk bubble skirt that has a bow at the front and a lace ribbon trim.

Again, another skirt that's too short for me. It actually reminds me of lemons and limes... very 'citrusy' type colours!

BUY NOW!

Summer is here!!!

I've just posted a few NEW items on eBay that are BRAND NEW!

Black and White Print rose prom dress from Warehouse which looks amazing! The photo doesn't really do it any justice! Size UK16 (too large for me!) Gotten from a mad rush sample sale and I misread the label (I thought it was a size 10, but it was a 16!) Serves me right!
98% cotton, 2% elastane.

Another Black and white print dress. Again gotten from a sample sale but never worn.
Decided to have a bit of a clear out of my cupboard over the weekend... I thought I had sold most of the things that I wanted to give away at the Topshop Charity Sale

BUY NOW!

Sample sale DIY

I dunno if anyone has ever had this problem when getting items from sample sales, but sometimes the clothes are damaged is some way. Like this dress that I got- it had a piece of fabric cut out of the back, but due to the nature of the fabric and the pattern, I cut it to make a zig-zag pattern:













I must have cut around 7 inches (18cm) of fabric off the bottom, which turned the dress into a tunic but I made some funky mittens out of the rest of the fabric:














And a matching headband... although I think wearing it altogether is a bit of a turquoise and brown harlequin overload!

SAMPLE SALE ALERT

I heard that there is going to be a MULBERRY Sample sale this Thursday!!! Unfortunately I'm not going as the last time my colleagues and I took a lunchtime trip to New Bond St for the Sample Sale, we were waiting in the queue for over 1 hour and we didn't even get in! So, we had to go back to the office- empty handed! Some of our colleagues tried going after work, only to be told at 6pm that they weren't allowing anyone else in- despite the fact that it was advertised as closing at 7pm!

So I would recommend either taking the day off work or going very early! GOOD LUCK!!























I want the 'Annie' bag!!!

Alexander McQueen Sample Sale

I managed to catch the last day of the Alexander McQueen sample sale... to be honest, there wasn't that much left as I was really looking for another Novak Bag!!

But there weren't any there unfortunately! There were a lot of trousers left over, but nothing that I really fancied... until I saw this gorgeous pale blue jacket which I had to have! At £50 for a jacket, I thought it was a steal! I also saw this dress... which did have a hole and looked like it had been cut up a bit but at £20 it gave me ideas as to how I could adjust it to make it look different and unique! Will update when I finish the dress...

Oddly enough, I have been buying a lot of blue items from sample sales I've been to... maybe its my new colour fetish... at one point last winter, it was purple and teal.

Sample Sale

oh well.. seems like my computer has fixed itself! Wahey!!

After work, I went shopping in and around Carnaby Street. I had an e-mail about a
Bodyamr sample sale which was on at number 7 Coptic Street. I had to walk up and down the street a couple of times before I found the black door with a small sign on the side about the Bodyamr sample sale. The clothes are beautiful:

Following are taken from Spring Summer 2007:




































These images are taken from the AW 2007 collection:


























I got there just as soon as someone was walking out and apparently it was 6:00 and hey were closing, but the e-mail had said 6:30!!! But the guy let me in anyway as long as I was quick! I had a quick scan... and there were some GORGEOUS dresses, unfortunately still a little too expensive for me! I picked out a gorgeous jewel coloured dress for £20 but the zip had broken and it was a size too small for me anyways, even if I did manage to fix the zip. I also saw a dark denim jacket with puffy sleeves and soft pink trims, I tried it on, but it just didn't seem like me. Then I laid my eyes on this little number, a slinky, midnight blue dress with a gold crescent disc neckline. I tried it on and although it was a little too revealing, I thought that I could always get some toupee tape! Or I could buy a boob tube to put underneath it.

Here's what it looks like without anything underneath... also the disc is able to change sides- so its gold on one side and black on the other.... tres cool!













Here's the dress on with a white boob tube I have and also a dark blue bikini tube top...