What I bought in the sales 2016...

I didn't just buy half a dress....

Between seeing family over the festive period, a few personal shops between Christmas and New Year and lucky wardrobe angel clients using their Christmas Gift Cards, I didn't have the luxury of a full day to go and browse the sales in January like I usually do. Wouldn't change it for the world, however, The Wardrobe Angel business is booming!

Here's what I did pick up in January....

First up -

Midi dress - I have been after a midi dress for ages. I had seen one on the Atterley Road website but with no sizes 6 or 8 left I was left despondent so the search continued. Since getting married last year I have opened myself up to the possibilities of 'big'dresses and the one I found lurking on a sale rack in Banana Republic in Trafford Centre certainly fitted the bill. The store was closing down (boo! They had a great petite section! You will be missed, BR!) but they had 40% off sale prices to sweeten the deal. So the Heritage Dress (below) was picked up for £17.99 down from £110 originally. It is awesome - two deep pockets in the skirt, beautifully cheeky cut away front and constructed in a wonderfully dense cotton.  I need to get it taken in at the sides, and up on the straps, as I have a slightly short torso, but that'll be a £10 outlay at most. I'm going to layer a black cashmere jumper and a leather jacket over it so I don't freeze to death.

It's a massive, full skirted thing of beauty.

Zara Jumpsuit - £14.99 down from £29.99.  All you need are shoes and jewellery to complete a jumpsuit. Wardrobe Win. I find they are great for work - I can be cleaning out a wardrobe on my hands and knees and in that situation a pencil skirt just won't work (believe me, I have made that mistake once or twice...) so I need clothes where there is loads of room for manoeuvre but still look super cool.

Joseph Trousers - I've been upping my wardrobe label game in the past year: MIH jeans, Baum und Pfungarden dress to name 2 pricey but "worth it" items. However, I still bought a fair amount from Zara BUT this love affair was not destined to last. The Zara trousers I bought last year in the sales gave up the ghost in November - bobbled, dye fading at a rate of knots and the stitching coming undone on the hem. I read an article in the Telegraph about what fashion editors wear - mostly navy and mostly Joseph it turns out. So I bit the bullet and headed to Harvey Nicks in Leeds to try on some Joseph goodies and yes, there is a reason why I can see the trousers especially are a favourite with fashion's top women - the FIT. Superbly flattering, fantastic weight of fabric and considered detailing - inset pockets, neat zips and fastenings, basically nothing too bulky. Being my frugal self I went home and ordered some from eBay for a wallet friendly £14.99.

And finally..

Vintage t-shirt - I spend a lot of time advising women and men what to buy and wear. Occasionally I lose sight of what I like to buy and wear so last month I sat down and wrote a list of all the things I feel awesome in: vintage, logo t-shirts and sweatshirts, big necklaces, structured jackets, black, 80's inspired stuff, jumpsuits, fur. Then I hit up eBay to find some gorgeous logo beauties. I found an amazing MTV sweater for the princely sum of £0.99 and bought this super cool t-shirt (above) for £15 from Cow Vintage in Manchester. The t-shirt got an added seal of approval when my 3 year old nephew, Ben, said "that's a cool t-shirt Auntie Stephy." Rock on, Ben!

So mostly basics really! What did you buy in the sales?

Stay wardrobe happy....til next time x

The Wardrobe Angel

What I bought in the sales

Time to see what kind of things I buy to make my wardrobe work a little better....

Manchester was my shopping destination on Friday 2nd January. Rich was rolled up on the sofa watching TV with a nasty cold so I made my shopping list of items to buy and escaped from the germs.  I'll leave it until as near New Year as I can to shop the sales. I LOVE sale shopping a few days after the sales have gone live; it's quieter, there are more staff to help you and you can get even bigger discounts. On the train to Manchester I plotted my route: Selfridges (I had vouchers to spend), Zara (ditto) and H&M (I just love H&M).

My shopping list: 

1. Basic tops in grey, white and black.

2. Black 7/8 trousers.

3. Leather pencil skirt.

4. Gold chain necklace.

5. Jacket.

First up Selfridges. Heading to the top floor I made my way over to Sandro. I've been obsessed with buying a Sandro jacket for a while and with Selfridges vouchers in my pocket I was all "yeeeeaaahhh! Today is the day! Sandro get in my wardrobe!" Sandro did not want to get in my wardrobe - nothing left in my size. After a quick whizz around COS to look for basics (nada) I went downstairs to the designer floor and LO! A Helmut Lang Jacket! In my size! (Note - not many descriptive notes next to number 5 on the list - so Helmut fitted the bill! But seriously - I wanted a fitted jacket which would go with jeans, pencil skirts, you know the drill.) Price? £565. Just kidding. Reduced to £250. Reduced to £195. With vouchers £145. Winner.

My jacket for the next 100 years

Then off to Zara. With Zara comes patience. It was RAMMED. Kids, pushchairs, clothes on the floor and a queue at the fitting room. Nevermind. I did a couple of laps picking up trousers and the odd top then headed upstairs and walked into the fitting room straight away. Zara sizing has puzzled me in the past year or so; I've got dresses in M and jackets in XS so I always take 2 different sizes of the same item into the fitting room with me. On the 3rd attempt I found the perfect trousers: high waisted, pocketed, slouchy and slim fitting all rolled up in a buttery £15.99 reduced from £29.99. Grabbing a chunky gold chain necklace from the accessory stand £19.99 reduced to £12.99 I made it out of there alive.

Ooof H&M - you've done thy self proud

Then I headed to H&M. Loads of clients have told me they don't like H&M - too busy, clothes are always on the floor, don't understand the layout - and before I worked there I felt exactly the same. But after working for H&M for over 3 years I am eternally loyal to them. Now even more so since I found the perfect grey marl basic t-shirt. Again, I had to do a couple of laps and try about 15 tops on but BY JOVE! (who is jove anyway?) it was worth it. I'll go back for more next month when I've seen how it wears and washes.

So - I'm giving myself 3 and a bit out of 5 from the shopping list- not all basics purchased and not a whiff of a leather skirt since Helmut ate up most of, nay ALL, of my budget. Greedy Bugger. But since I'll be wearing it until the Year Dot, I forgive him.

What did you buy in the sales?