Yes… another red jumper! Hope you are not sick of seeing red jumpers…

This particular one is an old one of my Dad’s that I have been wearing around the house. My Mum gave it to me after it shrank in the wash – it’s 100% lambswool so it’s pretty well felted. I caught sight of myself in the mirror and realised how shapeless it is on me. So, I decided to give it a new shape!

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Today, I’m starting with this rather plain pale blue gingham shirt, which I picked up in Age UK in Orpington for £3.49.

I thought it was something of a bargain, given its excellent condition, complete lack of wear and stains, and decent fit.

It’s 100% cotton and feels lovely.

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Confession time… it’s been more than 6 months since my last blog post. Hopefully y’all haven’t missed me too much during my unplanned break! I have one more refashion from my US trip that I want to share before I show you some new stuff, though quite frankly I cannot believe it’s been 9 months since I was there. Looking back through these photos made it seem like yesterday. Anyway, here goes…

After the success of my Epic Yale blazer, I wanted to have a go at applying the tie-as-bias-binding technique to another type of garment. This one isn’t a patch on the blazer (no pun intended), but I’m showing you it anyway as it was quite interesting and the photos we took on location were just fabulous.

This one was intended for our trip out to the beaches of Cape Cod, so I wanted a preppy/sporty vibe. I picked up this cream cardigan in the PDSA shop in Orpington (if memory serves…) for £4.99, thinking it looked a bit like a cricket jumper. It’s actually a rather unfortunate polyester item which has clearly been treasured by an elderly lady in its former life. It’s ugly, but the fit of it isn’t too bad, if you like oversized (I do).

I got this tie at the same time as I got the one I used for the blazer, at the Save the Children shop in Orpington. An amazing find, as it was exactly the right colour, and ties were half price (I think, £1). Unlike the other one though, this is completely synthetic, which made it a good match for the cardigan.

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Yes, another red jumper! This size 22-24 sweatshirt had a rather ugly motif embroidered on the front.

Again, this was £4.99 from Age UK in Orpington. It clearly had not been worn; the tags were still on it, claiming its original price was £17.

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Hi folks! OK, I just got back from a well-deserved holiday, so I hope you are ready for a trillion posts with a gazillion pictures telling you all about it. Sorry, not sorry.

My trip to New England this autumn started with a visit to New Haven, home of Yale University. I was extremely excited to visit this great ivy league institution. But what does one wear around campus, bearing in mind one’s wish to remain stylish while including a nod to one’s academic surroundings?

Of course, I studied all the available cultural references.

Yes, I know Elle Woods went to Harvard, but it’s realising the reason behind a newly engaged Vanderbilt is ‘first year, Yale law’ that made me think to include her here.

Both Blair and Elle have picked up on the wearing a tie thing, but I’m more enamoured with Serena’s incredible blazer. I believe this is the ‘Goodman’ crested blazer from Ralph Lauren, which I found out courtesy of the lovely Devra over at Puu’s Door of Time. Devra made a beautiful blazer based on this a while back, which I’d encourage you to check out here and here.

Anyway, I’m going to follow Ms Van Der Woodsen’s lead with a blazer, but combine it with a tie as a twist on the Blair/Elle look.

Here are the blazer and tie I picked up on a trip to Orpington. The blazer was £7.99 from Oxfam while the tie was around £1 from Save the Children, if I remember correctly (ties were half price). The tie is 100% silk and not covered in food stains, which I counted as a win. The blazer was in reasonable condition although it didn’t fit at all.

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