As you know I’ve started learning to swing dancing, including lindy hop, charleston and now balboa, all of which are intrinsically linked to the 1940s era. I’ve been going to hangar dances and I’m attending another 40s dance this coming weekend. I’ve been delighted to find that there is quite a
The Cosmopolitan Blog Awards ceremony is one week away! Yes, this time next week I will be on my way to London to attend the biggest event in the blog world’s calendar and I’ve been worrying myself silly about what to wear. This is a super-fashionable magazine, and hundreds of
Autumn term. It’s finally here. I wait and wait for September to arrive for two reasons; firstly, as a perpetual student I’ve always loved starting a new course each September and relishing the potential new learning experiences it can bring, and secondly, because I see it as the start of the run-up
Today seems to be the ideal time to start talking about autumn. There’s a bit of a chill in the air and over the weekend I spotted that the trees have started shedding their leaves. Have you noticed that the nights are already drawing in? I’m so easily affected by
This week I went to the opening of a fabulous new exhibition at the Ipswich town hall art gallery, featuring the work of artist Mandy Christmas. The exhibition featured a stunning display of photographic works featuring countryside and coastal views along with some simply astonishing up-close shots of wildlife. Even
I have some very long-awaited news for Autumn/Winter 2014 that I’ve been keeping under my hat for a number of months and now I can finally share it with you all – the new footwear range by Orla Kiely has launched! Clarks unveiled the new range at a press event
Designer clothes are not cheap but many women are willing to pay a high price for them in the name of fashion. Designer prices for ladies clothing vary with the different brands though there are factors that influence the cost of these clothes; if the garment is handmade or has
The school summer holidays are here and it’s the most popular time of year to take a vacation, which often means swimming pools and the dreaded swimwear! Even if you’re just taking the children for a swim or going for a workout swim, you’ll want to look as good as
It’s taken a little longer than I’d hoped, but my vintage dress is finally fixed! My retro tortoiseshell cat’s eye sunglasses are from Sunglass Junkie and shoes from New Look It was mostly down to my laziness over the summer holidays that delayed the repairs but I spent an evening at
A couple of weeks ago my husband and I were out at an event with some friends when one of our pals drew attention to our footwear. There was pointing and a cry of ‘His & Hers!’ as they spotted that we had chosen, completely independently, to each wear a
Being self-employed, it’s sometimes difficult for me to know what to wear for business events – should I go corporate and professional or should I try to stand out from the crowd? Similarly if you’re working in an office and going to a sales call, making a pitch or meeting with a
I’m one of those people who wear only a few items in their wardrobe over and over again. The statistic that’s always quoted is that most of us only wear 20% of their wardrobe 80% of the time and I am certainly guilty of this. However I want to get
I mentioned last week that I’ve been working on a project for the past few months to create my own collection of Cassiefairy t-shirt designs. I was so excited when I was approached by Got-The-T-Shirt.co.uk and they invited me to design a range of t-shirts. I had completely free rein
Just in case you didn’t know and have stayed away from the high street shops for as long as I have, it’s Valentine’s Day this Saturday! So today I wanted to share a blog post about thrifty ways to celebrate the big day with a DIY date night, which is especially
I’ve been massively inspired by watching Dawn O’Porter’s This Old Thing show on channel 4 for the past few weeks. I know thrifting is nothing new to this blog and I’m sure you all know that I was huge fan of vintage long before this programme was launched, but it’s
I’m one of those people who wear only a few items in their wardrobe over and over again. The statistic that’s always quoted is that most of us only wear 20% of their wardrobe 80% of the time and I am certainly guilty of this. I often seem to choose
So after many requests to see a photo of my finished sewing project I’ve finally pinned my husband down long enough for him to take a snap of me wearing it. So here is the finished item and me posing in front of my retro caravan (don’t go thinking I’ve
Take one plain pullover and make it into a Christmas jumper for less than £5. What a challenge! I was inspired to create a snowy scene on this knitted blue jumper so I popped out to pick up some supplies for my sewing project and now I’ve created a thrifty
I’ve recently been thinking about making my own personal ‘look book’. Imagine Cher from Clueless flicking through her e-wardrobe to choose her outfits each morning, but even more old-school in a ‘what-works-with-what’ outfit book. I plan to photograph each item in my wardrobe then I’d take some snaps of me wearing
GUEST POST Blogger Janelle and I have worked on a few projects together in the past; I’ve tried out her La Mere Layering Technique in one of my frosty morning outfit posts and she has already sent me photos of her favourite shoes for an upcoming Tuesday Shoesday blog post
Last weekend I had one of the best days out ever: I visited the Mid-Suffolk Vintage Festival on Sunday so I thought I’d share my photos of the event this Sunday. Hubby, mum and I headed to the Mid-Suffolk Showground unsure of what we’d find at this brand new event
Today I’ve found out some great news that I simply must share with you all – the Oxfam Online Shop Spring Sale starts today! More specifically it starts at 12 noon and you really have to ‘be there’ at midday to get the bargains because each item is unique – they
This week I watched a video on You Tube about the Aloha Summer collection from Dorothy Perkins and have been inspired to write a Tuesday Shoesday blog post all about this tropical trend. It’s a very ‘holiday’ look with bright colours – lots of summery yellow and blues – and
With Glastonbury kicking off this week, what else can I talk about on Tuesday Shoesday other than festival footwear?? I still haven’t managed to get any festival tickets this year, so I’ll be enjoying ‘Gardenbury’ again – the cheapest way to enjoy Glastonbury this weekend (see my blog post about
No, I’m not suggesting some dodgy take-your-dress-back-to-the-shop-after-wearing-it scheme! I’m taking about dress hire. Remember in the Sex and The City Movie when Carrie’s PA Louise has the best designer handbags on her arm and an assistant’s wage in her purse, baffling Carrie into asking how she has got hold of
Summer, summer, summer. That’s the only thing on my mind these days, especially as we’ve enjoyed hot sunny weather for more than a week now and it’s led to lots of wardrobe reorganisation at this end:
I’ve come across a new product and I can’t any longer wait to share it with you. As a thrifty blogger who is very keen to renew, reuse and recycle rather than subscribing to the idea of ‘throw-away’ fashion, this is the ideal product for me. It’s a makeover for
So Saturday was a pretty amazing day in the life of Cassiefairy. First of all, I got to spend a day with my husband in the capital; secondly, I had the chance to meet my bestie for a coffee for the last time before she gets married; and last but definitely
I have amazing news and I’ve already been yelling it all over Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr and Google+ so if you haven’t already heard my screeches from where you are here it is again: I’VE BEEN SHORTLISTED IN THE NATIONAL UK BLOG AWARDS 2014! When I saw all the other
Excuse the bad pun in the title but I wanted to find a way of telling you that today I’m taking about summer shoes and, in particular, a pair of Hotter shoes that are perfect for this season! It’s also a bit of an excuse to share some feedback that
Scary, butterflies, lost, nervous, smiles, cocktails, friendly, giggles, girls, cupcakes, funny, happiness, joy, pride, fun, delight, awe, thrilled. These are the words that sum up my experiences at the Cosmopolitan Blog Awards last night and I’m sure that my fellow bloggers were going through a range of similar emotions too. As
This Tuesday Shoesday I am attempting to solve an everyday boot storage problem – the need for boot stretchers. I recently got a pair of knee-high boots from Clarks and the leather is particularly soft so unless I store them flat in their box, they will be ruined. How? Well,
At this time of year the weather is cold, wet and sometimes snowy, and watching the Winter Olympics has got me thinking about wrapping up warm. So this week my thoughts have turned to making a nice cosy knitted hat to keep my head warm without having to spend a
Quite a bold promise I know, but honestly you really won’t need any more pairs of tights that these two! I spend my life in one or the other of these tights (depending on the weather!) so I know how useful they are for all weathers and all seasons. If
I know you should be getting a recipe post from me this lovely sunny Friday, but it’s a big day in the Cassiefairy calendar today – it’s the National Blog Awards! And you’ll never guess what I’m going to talk about instead of cakes and pies 😉 Today I wanted
There are some days that I really feel like I’m a professional blogger. Okay, these days are few and far between, and most of the time I imagine that it’s just me sat here typing away for my own fun without really thinking that anyone else is reading it (although luckily
A really rather fabulous fashion trend for Summer shoes is iridescent uppers. Trend forecasters WGSN have highlighted (excuse the pun) this look as one of the key trends in footwear and accessories for summer. I think that one of the main reasons for this is that the reflective surface looks great
That retro-knitwear staple, the snood, is very fashionable again this year, with all kinds of patterns and colours available in high street shops. But you don’t need to splash out on a new accessory to keep you warm this winter. You can simply upcycle an old festive jumper or cardigan that’s past
Next month I am going to the National Blog Awards as a finalist! I am so excited to be attending the ‘Oscars of the blogging world’ and I can’t wait to catch up with my bestie Jenna who has also been shortlisted for her wedding blog Glitter Daze. Luckily, we
It’s a special occasion dilemma. We want to wear nice shoes with our special outfit. We’d prefer to wear heels because it makes us taller and our legs longer. But we know we’re going to be on our feet all day and don’t want to suffer blisters and aching feet by lunchtime. Whether
I’ve just got home from one of the best festivals I’ve ever been to. It wasn’t a big festival, it wasn’t rowdy and – most importantly – it wasn’t muddy! But it was just right for a happy bunch of bloggers who traipsed out to Elstree this weekend where Aldenham
If you’ve not heard me shouting about it already, I’m a FINALIST in the National Blog Awards 2014! I’m going to the awards ceremony on Friday night and it’s been described as the ‘Oscars of the blogging world’ so I’m expecting a fabulous night out in London and looking forward to
I went to an Americana day at Horham airfield recently and had a wonderful time. You may have heard me mention the event last week in my vintage dress blog post: I picked up a lovely dress from one of the vintage stalls and although it needs a lot of
One of the lovely things about being a blogger is all the opportunities and invitations we receive to have sneaky peeks at the next season’s collections before everyone else. It’s great being in the loop and it means I can shop frugally all year, already knowing what will work with
Oh dear. Here we go again… In case you didn’t already know, and have stayed away from my blog, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram profiles all week, I went to London Fashion Weekend 7 days ago. I may have mentioned it once or twice, I’m not sure. But this will be
Today I am sharing an exclusive look at womenswear fashion trends for Spring/Summer 2014 because last weekend I was lucky enough to be invited to attend London Fashion Weekend at the world famous Somerset House in London. I took hundreds of photographs during the day in order to document the
As you know, I regularly blog about thrifty fashion and DIY fashion hacks on the Oxfam fashion blog. Oxfam has asked me to share my favourite party dress with all their wonderful readers and I thought I’d show you it too: My party dress was bought for me by thrifty mother
Over the past couple of years Christmas jumpers have really taken off. This is not new information to those of us who love rummaging through charity shops, hunting out genuine vintage festive knits that your granddad would have worn. They were great for making your friends wince and declare you
You’d be forgiven for thinking that we have gone back in time to our grandmother’s era, when shops didn’t sell off-the-peg clothes, and make-do-and-mend was a way of life rather than a quaint Pinterest board. But no, this trend is happening right now in the 21st century and tons of people are choosing to
With reports of an approaching heat wave, the UK is already gearing up for summer. The supermarkets are stocking up on BBQ goodies and I’ve seen plenty of garden products being pushed in stores. It’s as if we’ve all forgotten that we usually get frosty mornings, sub-zero temperatures and sometimes
We all know that emerald is Pantone’s colour of the year for 2013 (here’s my blog post about it from January) and although we are 3/4 of the way through the year, this doesn’t mean that the colour is any less on trend. In fact, it’s really coming into its
I’ve just returned from a weekend break at a cheesy seaside resort here in the UK and it has inspired me to write today’s Tuesday Shoesday blog post. It’s not beach hut pastels or sandy-beach flip-flops that have inspired me; instead it’s the tacky footwear from my childhood – the jelly shoe.
colour-matching pioneers Pantone have come up with a selection of colours that they think are right for this coming season, and we’ve got the details here, along with some of this season’s other interior trends.
It’s Tuesday Shoesday I-wish-I-could-snooze-day. For some reason I am super-tired today, which is why your weekly hit of footwear is coming to you a little later than expected after a very slow start this morning. There’s no reason that I should be so sleepy this morning, in fact I’ve had a
I’m quite picky about the brands that I feature on this blog – I only ever talk about my favourites – and as a thrifty retail kinda gal, the products I share need to be the best bargains around. So when the lovely team at MyOptique got in touch with
Is it a big thumbs up or something you’d never ever wear? When colour trend experts Pantone announced the colour of the year I was in two minds as to whether it’s the colour for me…
You won’t believe it but I’ve already been out and about in the ‘fresh air’ this morning for a walk in a frosty winter wonderland. Although it was freezing cold, I love chilly mornings when you open the curtains and see a white-out of sparkling frost on the ground. At
Sewing. It’s been a while. The dust cover has been protecting my sewing machine for a few weeks now. Okay, who am I kidding? A few months. I don’t know where the time has gone, but I’ve simply not gotten round to doing any sewing for a long time. Considering
I can’t believe it but my little lifestyle blog has been featured in the local newspaper! They’ve shared news of my National Blog Award and the celebration of my 1000th blog post alongside a massive photo of my face – eek scary! I’m suddenly famous in my local area, with neighbours
Have you noticed that the days are already feeling shorter just by the evenings being slightly darker than usual? I’ve actually felt more rushed than usual in my work, and I feel like it’s taking up all of my day and I just don’t have the time to relax in
I know I don’t usually blog twice a day but I’ve just had some amazing news and I have to tell someone or else I’ll just pop! I just received an email from Hannah from John Greed Jewellery with the fantastic news that this blog has been shortlisted for a
Have you ever spent years dreaming about an event, months working towards it, weeks planning your movements, days deliberating your outfits, hours getting ready, only to find yourself minutes before the big moment with your heart pounding, palms sweating, wishing that you’d stayed at home hidden under the duvet? This
Ok, I think I’m getting a little bit addicted. To blog awards. Yes, that’s right, I’m trying to get nominated for another blog award and this time is the elusive, fabulous and starriest of all blog awards – Cosmopolitan, yikes! Why am I addicted? Well, I LOVE the feeling of knowing that you’ve been
Cabuchons are everywhere this year. I’d never even heard of the word until the start of the summer and now these little resin flowers, animals and bows are attached to every piece of jewellery, every accessory and even on mobile phone cases on the high street. I think they are cute and
In the news last week was a discussion about the cost of keeping a monarchy in the UK and it was revealed that taxpayers pay 56p each to keep the royal family running every year. I know that not everyone will agree with me, but I think that’s fairly good
If someone asked you to show them your favourite shoes, which pair would you pick and why? That’s exactly what I’ve asked my lovely readers to do and I’m pleased to report that lots of bloggers were able to answer that difficult question! I’ve compiled the images that all you
Do me a favour? Have a look in your wardrobe and tell me which pair of shoes are your favourite and why? That’s exactly what I’ve asked my lovely readers to do over the past few months and I’m pleased to report that lots of you were able to tell
I’ve got a pair of jeans that I’ve never worn. They are straight legged, deep teal denim with a bit of stretch and I coveted them for ages before finally opening my purse and buying them in the sale earlier this year. But since then, I’ve never even put them
This week’s Tuesday Shoesday blog post is all about you. Today I’m featuring all the photos and stories about the lovely shoes that my fabulous readers have sent in after seeing my last article on YOUR favourite shoes. Do you have some favourite footwear that you’d like to share on
Summer is coming! With its long days and beautiful weather nobody wants to be short of money so that they are unable go out into the world and enjoy each and every day that the sunshine offers. There are many ways to earn some extra cash all year round, but
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