The Sales Have Started!

I've said it before and I'll say it again, bricks really do strange things to a woman.....I'm moving house in the new year (fingers all crossed it goes through) and what with Christmas and too many birthdays in December and January to mention, we are watching our pennies.  I popped to Bicester Village as I had a spare 2.5 child free hours and thought as I was so close, after the school run and some work I may as well for party dress purposes.  Never one to disappoint and true to form, I homed in on some amazing bargains - none of the party dress variety - update on that in the next post.  It appears the sales have come early as there really were some great deals to be had.   These little leather bags from Coccinelle were starting at £49 when they were well over £100 originally.  

I loved the snake effect style more than the suede!

Next up this Anya Hindmarch bag really tested me.  It was £594 down to £145 and a great size - bigger than the Coccinelle above.  I fell for this one and went back later on just to see it again.  I nearly parted with my cash and probably my birthday spends but was swiftly reminded by my husband that my sister, Mum and I are heading to London over night after Christmas - wouldn't it be wise to save my pennies for that.  Well, um, no because now I blatantly won't find anything. So dear family, if you are reading this, there was a new one ready and waiting for me back right of the shop......chop chop!

I've been after a new cosmetic case for my handbag for over a year now.  I have an old Gucci one which has seen better days.  It just holds random things like plasters, nurofen, lozenges, hair grips, ointment - general Mummy emergency bits, nothing glam.   I do however like to house them in something special.  I saw a gold Anya Hindmarch one in the sales last Christmas but Santa must have missed the boat on that one as it didn't arrive in my stocking.  This Fendi was over £100 down to £45. I must admit, leather accessories in handbags don't seem to look good after a short amount of time. My Miu Miu purse looks tatty yet my canvas Gucci cosmetic case (has some leather trims like the below) has lasted years and years before it looked worn.  I'm therefore swaying to the below. This is blatantly a post for my husband and families benefit.  As my birthday is only 10 days after Christmas I am helping them out really. 

Oh and this lovely leather bracelet from Mulberry - £50!  Yes, honestly, all leather with a bow and the Mulberry tree on it, I really didn't think this was a bad price at all.  They had other colours in but I loved the red.

Ugg had also joined in on the sale act.  I liked these fringed boots initially but they came up small and wasn't so keen once they were on.  They were £50.

These gorgeous kids skirts from The White Company were £28 down to £11.20 however when I went back later they had gone up to £16?!?  They had some beautiful children's clothing in, so well made and reasonable prices.

I did manage to grab some lovey Christmas presents but absolutely nothing for myself.  I have a happy husband and better bank balance for it but I'm already feeling like I've missed the boat ever so slightly.  Now, what would you go back for if you had a spare 3 hours Friday and a mate just so happening to be popping there that I could meet up with?!?!?!  I wore the below ensemble to window shop that day!

Coat; Mulberry
Jeans; Topshop
Boots; Ash
Bag; Prada

Jumper; & Other Stories 

The Little Zara Order

So after my last post, I caved and checked out on my Zara order.  Shopping from a list is dull dull dull.  But it has made me question my sporadic purchases so it does have its benefits.  I ordered 3 items and they are all going back.  I so very nearly kept this dress.  I loved the star print and at £7.99 I thought it was a bargain.  I wasn't sold on the loose, cut out sleeves but when my friend told me it looked like something her Mum would wear, my mind was made up.  Even at that price it wasn't worth keeping.  It's now gone from their sale items, luckily for the customer some may say!  

(That's my hair that looks like a shooting star.  I decided to keep the shot for good luck!)

I failed to put this on my shopping list as it's not really a 'need' but I've been on the look out for some housey/loungewear trousers to replace my faded Nike joggers which are starting to get thread bare.  As I wear them a lot more than planned (I am honest that I love my joggers at the end of a hard day, there is absolutely nothing glamours about them) I was thinking about upgrading them to something a little more flattering.  I also feel for the poor people who see me outside watering my baskets or I open the door to in my current ones.  I saw these and thought they were worth a go.  I don't have her figure so needless to say they looked terrible, not even photo worthy for here.  Also a little static, so back they go.  They are £17.99 here in case anyone else fancies them. 

I was thinking about keeping this t-shirt then as I decided to return the others and saw a top in All Saints (it's coming up below) I thought I'd rather put the £10 towards that instead.  Nothing majorly wrong with it, comes up fairly large, I was just being good - yes, I'm probably coming down with something.  They do it in a few different colour ways and I would say for £9.99 it's worth it.  See it here.

So I managed to get to Bicester Village and found nothing in the way of sandals for my beach wedding outfit so tonight I will be ordering a selection from my previous post and update you on them soon. All Saints is back at the village (yay!) and I fell in love with this top.  It was £178 down to  £71 which I still felt was a bit steep as well as it's not on my shopping list - so I walked away.  However, they have a VIP date coming up soon with 20% off items so I'm hoping it may still be there then!

And finally, one for the Christmas list!  My very old Gucci make up bag has seen better days and I loved this leather one from Anya Hindmarch.  I like light coloured items for my handbag so I can easily see them.  This was down to £65.  Please Santa, I have been a good girl this year, honest.

The Ones That Got Away This Week

Well I'm back to my 'do I really need it stage' with shopping.  I think this is my husbands favourite stage for obvious reasons.  Maybe it's that Christmas is looming however I think not.  I do tend to go in phases of finding loads then nothing.  So today I am sharing with you what's got away!  Starting with this dress from FCUK in Bicester Village.  I was drawn mainly due to the price tag I will admit, £97 down to £15 then a further 20% off that day so £13.  However there was also a Brucey bonus in that it was silk, one of my favourite materials.  However it just hung.  High neckline; check, fibre composition; check, price; check, does it actually do anything for me; um, big fat no.  Could I make a cushion cover from this amazing fabric purely because the price for that piece of material is sooo cheap?  Oh come on Natalie, put it back.  So I did.  

I'd started getting dressed when I realised I should share it, so trousers were back on, sorry!

It did need a good iron but for £13 I could have lived with that

Next up also at Bicester Village were these Gucci sunglasses, £220 down to £100.  Now I struggle with sunnies, I have a slight paranoia that they must cover my eyebrows.  I had a little disaster in the week with some contact lens solution (resulting in A&E, I am slightly embarrassed to confess, but all's well) so it was a glasses day.  I am blind as a bat so there I was trying these on with my face literally pressed up against the mirror, it steamed up, I moved back and decided to ask about their returns policy.  Trying them on and seeing them on was not an option in store that day.  No refunds so no buying for me.  Can I afford £100 on sunglasses, absolutely not, maybe my eyes were trying to tell me something.  But I think they did cover my eyebrows.....

I didn't manage to snap a piccy but I was in TK Maxx for something and saw my absolute favourite Nike joggers I have, in grey for £16.99.  I decided I didn't need two pairs, despite their comfort, I own a washing machine so why waste money on two of the same?  Goodness, what is going on with my logic?!?  So what did I actually purchase last week, wait for it......

A bloody teapot (I can swear on my own blog right?).  It matches the rest of my Le Creuset set which was bought to match my tiles.  Obsessed?  Me?  Much?  £28 down to £9.99.  My logic behind this purchase (other than the most obvious that it matches)?  Well it's going to save me pennies on tea bags, 1 bag will do 2 cups of tea instead of a bag in each cup.

Someone save me.

Ending with some colour, my favourite shop window at Bicester Village goes to Anya Hindmarch with her clutches that were all wired up to open and close with sweeties all around.  It had lots of people stopping to look!