2 Yorkshire lasses, a Camel Coat and a Big Fat Scarf

Winter is here and I love getting my big coats and winter boots out. So first up, my camel coat. Purchased 4 years ago for the princely sum of £14.99 from the Oxfam charity shop in Manchester town centre. I had it re-lined prior to the winter season kicking in which cost £80 but considering my initial outlay for the coat, and the fact the re-lining came with a dry clean, I was more than happy to pay for it. The jeans are my trusty Jamie Topshop beauties which I have washed and washed until they turned this glorious shade of black/grey. The Bardot boots from Topshop were bought for my mini-moon in Norfolk as they were leather, waterproof and I could walk a fair distance in them. I assure you this post isn't sponsored by Topshop, but the Tartan scarf I have thrown so nonchalantly around my neck is also from Topshop. Click here to get your Topshop £22 grid check beauty.

Peeking out beneath my coat is an off white  silk Miu Miu top which cost me a couple of quid from a charity shop in Brighouse. It had a huge stain down the back so I tackled it with stain remover and hey-presto! Stain gone, wicked awesome top in my wardrobe. I'm also wearing a 1980's double breasted blazer made from wool - super warm and since I love a jacket, this keeps me feeling smart even on a non-client facing day. 

I love it when a plan comes together and in this case the plan was 2 Yorkshire businesses collaborating over a shared love of vintage clothes. I met Laura from Grandma Eileen's Vintage on Twitter and last Friday we did a mini photo shoot on a viaduct in Greetland  for a feature on her blog. I'll direct you to Grandma Eileen's Vintage Blog so you can read what we chatted about and if you want any more info about my clothes and the charity shops I frequent then please drop me a line. 

Shopping for my Wedding Dress (Part Three)

So I went online this week to try and cure my wedding dress blindness and put together a coherent wedding Pinterest board to send to my wedding florist, Cate Wood who owns Flowers at 180. I had had a tweet from Oxfam who directed me to their second-hand wedding dress site after hearing about my wedding dress dilemmas. Initially, when we got engaged, I adamantly told people I would find my wedding dress in a charity shop and buy some designer shoes to go with it which I would wear again...and again...and again. Sustainable shopping is one of the pillars of The Wardrobe Angel and half my wardrobe is from charity shops so it just felt right to go down this route.

Then something happened:

My Mum very, very kindly offered to buy my wedding dress. 

She remembered shopping for her wedding dress with my Nana as a pivotal moment in their relationship. I'm only going to do this (get married) once: so this kind of enduring, wonderfully special memory, this mother/daughter experience of wedding dress shopping was something I realised I wanted too. As Rich and I planned the guest list and the congratulation cards rolled in late last year, I realised that I had just been going through wedding planning motions, I forgot (or didn't quite realise) how many other people were supporting us and loving us during this frankly awesome time. (And I wasn't about to start dragging my Mum round every Oxfam in the area - she would not have been into that at all!) So I put down my ideas of a thrifted dress and dove head first (albeit terrified) into the wedding dress experience.

Even though I'm committed to trying dresses on in person, feeling the garments, seeing how they looked on me rather than on a picture on a model online, I did find an immensely awesome, minimal stylish label called Houghton based in New York. I spent a good hour browsing the bridal collection wistfully imagining the slim fitting dresses pulling like an elastic band on my 28F chest, dragging miles of fabric behind me as I'm at least a whole person shorter than the models. This was my wake-up call - yes the Houghton dresses are awesome and wonderfully aspirational but they aren't me. Not on my wedding day. They look perfect for weddings in castles, sleek registry offices, cool swanky London bars and on boat trips down the Thames. But a church wedding in Halifax followed by Fish and Chips? Pull the other one.

This is another big realisation I've had in wedding land - I've got to be realistic. I'm 5'3" and my weight is 7 1/2 stone. Too much fabric and I'll be like Alice slipping down the rabbit hole; blink and you'll miss me. Our wedding location isn't high profile, it isn't fantastically glam, but it's our home. And I want a dress which fits our bill, not the bill certain dresses give license for.

So onwards.... I've had so many positive messages from people...

"Just keep an open mind."

"Focus on hair and make-up so all the focus isn't on the dress."

And a lovely message on my blog from a lady who works in a wedding dress shop:

"Everyone is uncomfortable the first time they try bridal dresses on and why wouldn't you be?! You probably have never done it before and hopefully never will again!"

Thanks for all your messages and for reading... it's fun writing these blogs! 

PS - here's s bridal horror story if ever I saw one - click the link ... Brides ordering online receive dresses which can barely be called dresses, and certainly aren't a patch on what they thought they were ordering. 

Zoe Greenwood: Organic Alchemist

So we are into the last few sleeps before Christmas! Stuck for gift ideas? Forget the Sanctuary gift set from Boots and read on...

An avid red lipstick wearer, this time of year always poses a problem as no matter how much water I consume, my lips get really chapped. So when I received a small pot of Greenwood Organics Rosehip and Calendula Balm in my goodie bag at an Xmas do recently, I absent-mindedly popped some of the balm on and lo and behold! The dry skin disappeared, zapped by the healing organics. So one snowy December day (it was only last week but I’m trying to create a story here, people) I drove out of Halifax and up into the hills of Cragg Vale to meet Zoe Greenwood, founder of Greenwood Organics.

Local products whipped up by a local girl (turns out Zoe is from The Fax too), Zoe has over 10 years’ experience working with oils and natural, organic ingredients. Just reading the testimonials on her website pin point why her brand has become an instant hit: the products are not over complicated. Some skin products make it seem impossible to get out of the house in the morning: exfoliate, pre-cleanse, cleanse, tone, serum, moisturise, but Greenwood Organics products are simple, effective and do exactly what they say they will. Rich beyond belief in anti-oxidants and all natural, organic ingredients they smell divine and will look great on your dressing table: dark violet glass bottles which take their cue from the brown apothecary bottles of yore. Not only does the glass act to protect the product inside from ultra violet light in sunshine, Zoe explains,

“The glass feels good in your hand, it has a great weight to it and it keeps the product feeling great on your face and body.”

Aside from products for your face, she does a mean line in bath salts and body oils with ingredients designed to relax (Neroli and Rosehip) and energise (Rosemary and Sunflower). As her organic Ylang Ylang and Cocoa Butter hand cream soothed an eczema patch on my right hand (I literally sound like I am falling apart – damn you winter weather!) she told me about being asked to make and supply a bespoke après Ski balm for a skiing company: just a year old and Greenwood Organics is already taking off.

Prices start from £9 for a stocking filler gift and there are numerous expertly designed gift sets available to order through the Greenwood Organics website