Topshop Old, Topshop New, Topman Borrowed, Topshop Blue

Top - Topshop

Blazer - Topshop

Shorts - Zara (DIY)

Boots - Bianco

Belt - Topman

Necklace - Vintage

As you may be able to tell from the title, this post just a little Topshop heavy.  Ahem.  It wasn't until I began to attempt to conjure a title though (and, personally, I think that might be the hardest part of blogging) that I realised just how appropriate that old marital adage would be.  And, well, if the shoe fits...

So here we are.  Let's start with something old.  I picked this top up back in the dusky days of 2010 on a pre-university shopping trip in Birmingham.  I found this piece reduced from £38 to just £8 (I remember because I was so darn impressed with my bargain hunting) and I believe there was a 20% student discount event on at the time, taking it down to just £6.40.  Quite the steal, I'm sure you'll agree.  However, when I plucked this item from the rail, it didn't look quite as it does today.  No, at the time it was entirely adorned with silk feathers.  On somebody with a different body shape to me I'm sure this would have been quite the statement piece, but unfortunately as somebody with a chest, I ended up just looking like a large, peach coloured bush.  It wasn't the most flattering.  Never to be deterred though, I took my craft scissors to the foliage and was left with this rather useful, mostly sheer but subtly striped vest.  Not bad for £6.40.

The new, borrowed and blue have rather a less to the story of them.  In fact, the new and blue are actually rolled up in one in the jacket.  No doubt that's bad luck in a wedding, but luckily nobody's put a ring on it yet (yes, let's just take a moment to appreciate Queen Bey shall we?) so I'm safe on that front.  Having hunted for a navy blazer for at least a year now, I was pretty happy to find this one for £20 in the Christmas sales just gone.  It's just what I was looking for shape-wise and it's been a very useful addition to the wardrobe.  I've also taken to layering it with my beige mac to create a little extra warmth and an effect I quite enjoy.  As for the something borrowed, I am of course referring to this belt, also picked up in a sale (£2 for a real leather belt I do recall, yes siree!) but from Topman, so stolen from the boys this time.

Along with my cut up Zara jeans, this outfit is a perfect example of how well worn items can be combined together in a different way to create a new look.  As I'm now two months into my spending ban, I've taken to pulling old favourites out of hiding like this quite regularly, in order to breathe a well needed bit of fresh air into my wardrobe as we head into Spring.  Long may the penny saving continue.

Style Spring Clean

Cardigan -  Topshop

Shirt - River Island

Jeans - Miss Selfridge

Brogues - Unknown Swedish

Despite the fact that we're still in the first half of February and that I woke up to snow falling on Gothenburg this morning, my apparently very out of sync brain has decided to declare summer, or spring at least.  Long gone are my winter dreams of burgundy and fur, replaced by lusting over warmer days and frantically checking the 'new in' pages of Topshop for trickles of the summer collection.  Unfortunately, as I said, the snow is still falling here in Sweden, and when I checked the weather online this morning, I saw that a miserable -5º was waiting outside for me.  But still, I couldn't shed my whimsical thoughts of seasons to come.

I ended up having to compromise with myself, pulling on what seems to be my favourite winter uniform of shirt-knit-jeans but allowing myself to bring out some more summery shades.  I'm usually pretty strict on myself with regards to dressing for the season because, after years of trial-and-error experimenting, I've found I'm just not very good at making my wardrobe work all year round in the way that some people can pull off so well.  These items both slipped through my organisational net though, so today I paired them together to create a more Spring-ready look.  The only downside was that this outfit really just didn't work with my burnt red winter coat, meaning that my only option was to brave this chilly February Sunday in a very thin mac.  The things we do for fashion, eh?

I've been a bit rubbish at both blogging and, well, life lately.  If anybody has noticed my absence from the internet, I apologise, and I really, truly, 100% promise that things are looking up on the productivity front from now on.  I've recently started writing for The Editeur's blog which has inspired me to work a bit harder on my own from now on, because the world is our oyster, and all.  If you are at all interested, you can read my pieces for them here.

Lastly, over the past few weeks, I've been nominated for the Liebster Award by Felicity, Rosy and Bekki.  I have actually already done the award post, just before Christmas, and I don't want to bore you with yet more ridiculous facts about myself and my life, but I really do appreciate you nominating me so a  huge, ginormous thank you to all three of you.

Until next time (which will be a short time!),

Elise.