MY VINTAGE FINDS FOR LFW

Hi everyone!

I'm so sorry I've not been blogging as much as I usually do - I normally blog daily, but my boyfriend and I decided to stay an extra night in Glasgow AND he received a phone call whilst we were there from his work telling him that he no longer had to go offshore on Monday so we have until Friday together until he's sent away.

It usually takes me 30 minutes to an hour to write a blog post, so I've been resisting blogging whilst my boyfriend has been here. Last night we spent ages photographing my outfits for London Fashion Week with my Nikon so I could show you all what I've managed to find.

Some photographs I took of my entire entourage of Fashion Week garments

So, for those of you who don't know, my University has told me that it is compulsory that we attend London Fashion Week as we have to take photographs of the Street Style surrounding the LFW venues whilst attempting to "blag" our way in to some shows.

 I suddenly began to panic as I had nothing to wear so I took it as a personal challenge to attempt to find some vintage pieces I could wear in London. I have collected pieces from The Closet Shop in Aberdeen, and the rest are from London or Glasgow.

I'm sure that many other Fashion bloggers can relate to me in regards to my situation. I read all of your feedback when I initially announced my anxiety surrounding the fact that I felt I had nothing suitable to wear for Fashion Week and I agree that the atmosphere outside of the shows/venues will be rather intense. Being a woman and a Fashion student feels like a lethal cocktail at times. Women always want to look their best and Fashion students want to make sure they are wearing the best. Sadly, women and Fashion students always seem to be competitive with one another by nature and there is nothing wrong with that when its in good jeste, but my gut instinct tells me there will be some degree of competitiveness when it comes to who is wearing what. This is why I want to make sure I've tried my very best to look super fierce for Fashion Week! I see it as one less thing to worry about whilst I'm there - to me, there is nothing more exilerating  than wearing clothes you feel beautiful in.

Last weekend I went to Glasgow with my boyfriend to finish off my vintage LFW hunt. My boyfriend and I stayed with his aunty and grandpa for two nights and the vintage raid was a major success. 

Before I get into the outfits, here's a few photographs I took in Glasgow.

We went to a coffee shop called "3 Steps To Heaven" - you pick two flavours of ice cream (I picked apple pie and DIME bar flavour) two toppings (honeycomb and brownie) and a sauce (warm chocolate sauce) and they scoop the ice cream and toppings onto an ice cold slab and mash it all together. Amazing doesn't even come close.

One of my favourite vintage shops - Mr Bens.

We went to George Square where "World War Z" was being filmed. No Brad or Angelina, but we did watch some extra's being filmed screaming and running away from the zombies...

Philadelphia cabs scattered in George Square

They've changed the street signs too - it was totally bizarre 

James and I with our gladrags on 

The Vivienne Westwood Store in Princes Square. I died and went to heaven

Me giddy with my Westwood glory

Looking smug with my new goods! I picked up some Vivienne Westwood shoes. Keep reading for images.

And on our last night we went to a tapas restaurant and ate lots of scallops and squid. It was so yummy! 

In Glasgow, my boyfriend and I managed to visit Circa Vintage, Starry Starry Night, Watermelon, Tatty Bon, The City, The Glasgow Vintage, Retro, Vintage Guru and Mr Bens.

Vintage Guru and Mr Bens were the only two that I found particularly impressive. In Vintage Guru, I tried on some BIBA pieces and a Thierry Mugler dress. Sadly, neither fit me so I visited Mr Bens last in hopes that I'd find something special. I entered the shop feeling sceptical as my brother had taken me to Mr Bens three years ago and I was less than impressed with the garments. Most of the clothing was not well looked after and therefore looked tatty and dishevelled. Disappointing as Mr Bens certainly did not lack in quantity - the shop is at the brink of overflowing with vintage, but the quality did not match the asking prices.

A look inside Mr Bens

Mr Bens used to be terribly expensive (only last year a retro mens Adidas jacket that was covered in mud and had a broken zip was £65) but recently the prices of the clothing have dramatically dropped. I found some AMAZING pieces that I just HAD to buy. The only negative however was that the gondolas were quite cramped  so it was difficult to maneuver through the rails - especially when it was busy, so it took me two days of sifting through Mr Bens head to toe to finally purchase a vintage Versace dress, a MissSoni dress, a Zandra Rhodes coat and a Jacques Vert skirt. 

The prices seemed simply ludicrous for the pieces I collected.

Versace dress - £10

MissSoni dress - £15

Chained leather belt (to be worn with MissSoni dress) - £5

Zandra Rhodes coat - £25

Jacques Vert skirt - £10 

All pieces are of impeccable quality with no visible wear/tear. Although the Versace dress smells like it has never been cleaned and been locked in a cupboard for a very, VERY long time (this is describing the pungent smell of the dress very politely by the way). I almost couldn't believe my luck. 

Prior to shopping in Glasgow to tie up my vintage hunt, I also purchased some amazing pieces from The Closet - another amazing vintage shop located in my home town of Aberdeen.

A real hidden gem - I only discovered this shop recently through a friend and not only was I stunned by the gorgeous stock that they carried, but the quality of the garments. 

Some sneak peeks of my finds from The Closet

I love shopping in The Closet as the manager Elane is so passionate about vintage and has really helped me find some gorgeous pieces to sport at LFW. I feel really looked after whilst shopping there and I'm so grateful that I had someone like Elane to oversee my purchases and recommend different garments. Had I not spoken to her and asked for her assistance with my Fashion Week dilemma, the garments I'd have chosen would have been very different. I've never met someone who could understand my personal style and shape so well - she picked out such beautiful outfits me and I'd have taken all of her suggestions had I enough money! 

So, without further ado, here are my chosen vintage outfits for LFW (8 in total - just in case!)

Sheer 'Gala Mondi' body - The Closet

Vintage Jaeger printed shorts - The Closet

Jacques Vert peep toe heels - The Closet

Vivienne Westwood bag - Triads.com

Vivienne Westwood necklace - Westwood online store

Sheer body - as before

Jacques Vert pleated skirt - Mr Bens

Jacques Vert peep toe heels - as before

Snakeskin and leather handbag - The Closet

Necklace - as before

Bracelet - Pandora

Oversized ring - Unknown

Ethnic print MissSoni dress - Mr Bens

Leather belt - Mr Bens

Necklace - as before

Bag - as before

Brown BHS heels - The Closet

1960's belted gingham dress - The Closet

Bag - as before

Shoes - as before

Vintage Versace dress - Mr Bens

180 denier tights - Topshop

Bag - as before

Shoes - as before

Zandra Rhodes coat - Mr Bens

Black matte leggings - American Apparel 

Vivienne Westwood Mellisa caramel jelly boots - Vivienne Westwood Store Glasgow (Princes Square)

Bag - as before

Necklace - as before

Velour leopard printed Philip Treacy beret (A/W 11) - Gift from internship

Cowl neck diamond print jumpsuit - St Cyr Vintage (Camden Market)

Skinny leather belt - Topshop Oxford St

Shoes - as before

Bag - as before

Jaeger mohair oversized multicolour cardigan - The Closet

Emerald green jumpsuit with lace finish - St Cyr Vintage (Camden Market)

Black leather boots - ROKIT (Covent Garden)

Bag - as before

Necklace - as before

Please let me know what outfits you like the best! I'm really interested to hear what you all have to say.

xoxo