The Oxfam Curiosity Pop-Up Shop

Last Thursday, feeling quite fed up with a week of hospital tests and a day job and a house move in between, I decided to haul myself off my proverbial sick bed and make a pilgrimage to Selfridges (surely the Mecca of shopping in London) to join the always fabulous Liberty London Girl for a spot of vintage dress-ups. The lovely people at Oxfam had asked us to come and play stylist in their equally lovely Curiosity Pop-Up Shop in the Selfridges Ultra Lounge – along with London’s best fashion editors, stylists and alpha bloggers.

The shop was a veritable emporium of genuine vintage, second hand treasures, and serious designer clothes donated by various celebrities (if I only I was able to fit into Kate Moss’s teeny sample size, I could have had her iconic midnight blue sequined gown for £300 for example – madness, I tell you!). Our job for the evening was essentially to prance around the shop, pulling vintage looks and styling complete outfits for customers, shop girls or the store mannequins. While Sasha (who has spent a good chunk of her professional career as a stylist extraordinaire) managed to put together a complete outfit that cost less than £70 (that’s her look on the right, above and below, that is just begging to be taken to a festival in a big grassy field), typically of me, I somehow managed to hone in – completely by accident – on the most adorable peach skirt suit (which just happened to be Mulberry. And donated by Alexa Chung…). I swapped the matching jacket for a double-breasted navy blazer from the men’s section (£30), teamed it with a cute printed tee (£20), ah-mazing Charlotte Olympia t-bar heels, a collegiate boy’s tie as a belt and a vintage map of London souvenir scarf (£30) worn as a pocketchief and which came home with me later, thank you very much. I’m sure I could have found cheaper items, but I wanted to put together a look that was fun and quirky and wearable.

On top of the super-fun Curiosity Shop, I can’t overstate how excellent I think Oxfam is. All of their fashion projects – aside from being rather wonderful in their own right (their second-hand boutiques and online vintage store are like real-life treasure hunts) – open up charitable involvement to an entire group of people who might otherwise not be involved, and all the proceeds go directly to their very worthy international aid projects around the globe. And what could be better karma than wearing clothes that are doing a bit of good in the world?

Special thanks to Oxfam volunteer (and fashion student) Erin for being a complete doll and modelling my looks – I think she looks like a gorgeous preppy princess in this look!

Do you have a favourite vintage/charity shop?

Love, Miss B xx

Get thee to a sale

While we’re on the subject, sales month is still in full swing in London. My recommendations of the best:

Selfridges (400 Oxford Street)

Liberty (Corner Regent/Great Malborough Street)

Harvey Nichols (109-125 Knightsbridge)

Topshop (Oxford Circus)

Online:

Net-a-Porter

Matches Fashion

My Wardrobe

Happy shopping!

Have you scored any amazing treasures in the sales yet?

Love, Miss B xx

Luxury is a DVF fluffy silk jacket

So here’s a quick snap of the treasure that got away in the Selfridges sale – isn’t there always one (the one you can’t stop thinking about but know it will be gone if you return to reclaim it)? And why are you looking at me strangely – you don’t pose in sunglasses for the fitting-room paparazzi too?

Diane von Furstenberg*, cream ruffly raw silk jacket – it sort of looks like fur until you get up close and realise every piece is hand stitched. I did manage to get more of Tracey Emin’s print (of a naked woman rather happily playing with a rabbit, in true Emin style…) in the picture than the actual jacket, but you get the idea.* Ie. pure, unadulterated divine luxury, that’s what!

If it weren’t for the current Chanel saving fund, she would be hanging in my wardrobe as we speak. But sadly, even at half price it was still a normal person’s rent for an entire month. I’m consolling myself in the fact that a) it made me look ever so slightly like the Abominable Snowman (albeit a very glamorous snowman); b) I would be leaving a trail of silk fibres all over London as they malted (not a deal-breaker, admittedly) and; c) I did get a few other lovely buys for the price of the jacket.

One last goodbye and then I promise to stop fantasising and move on:

L-R: Diane von Furstenberg jacket, Mimco pearls, vintage sunglasses, Chloe paddington bag

Did I make the right call with my purchases? Do you have something that got away that you always think about in those I have nothing to wear! moments (“if only I had X, my wardrobe would be complete…”)

Love, Miss B xx

* Who I think is just about the coolest woman in New York

** I do, by the way, love that Selfridges have hand drawn illustrations and Tracey Emin prints in their fitting rooms. I am absolutely of the opinion that one can judge the calibre of a store by the attention to details like this (nice clothes and sales assistants don’t hurt either, I suppose…)