CCC - Days 26, 27, 28 and 29!

Good eve, y'all! It's been a dandy few days, not least because I finally braved wearing my super-tight adapted skinny trousers out for the first time...




Cardi-top - Camden Market
Cigarette pants (altered by moi, saved from the fate of remaining as a pair of hideous flares) - free at STC
Shoesies - donated by Auntie Mandy

This ensemble is one of my two 'I'm a serious grown-up person thing, trust me' outfits, and I have fallen head over heels in love with these trews. They don't look particularly tight, but I assure you they bloody are. Definitely a pair that need a very specific type of underwear to be worn with. I liked the simplicity of this outfit, it didn't have much of that 'bad taste' vibe I'm usually a huge advocate of and therefore meant I didn't get anywhere near the amount of confused looks I usually receive when walking to the shops.

I kinda missed it.

Friday was a big pile of fun! Mel's old housemate Holly was celebrating her (2)5th birthday party in customary art-school fancy dress style, and the theme was 'KIDS!'. Mel and I decided we were not going to be beaten as far as our costumes were concerned, so spent a good couple of hours trawling every single bloody charity shop in Roath to find the ideal gear. Our only stipulations? Hideously puffy sleeves. Thankfully, our last stop was run by a very helpful lady who assured us she had just the thing hidden in the upstairs storeroom. £8, a bit of altering and a laughing fit later, we attended the shindig in these bad boys.




Dresses - £8 at Scope
Glittery tights - Dollydagger
Bows - my ridiculously childish hair accessory selection

Saturday was yet another day of doing very little, albeit in a pretty dress and my smashing new tux jacket! This My Little Pony unicorn dress has long been a staple in my wardrobe, and seemed fitting considering the little-girly vibe of the night before!






Tux jacket - £7 at RSPCA
Unicorn dress - honestly can't remember. Bah.
Shoes - Penny Lane

Todays offering was chock-full of recent bargains. On a recent trip to the Red and Black Umbrella (it was an open day so we popped in for a cuppa) I browsed the Free Shop whilst Oli practiced his drums, and found this beautiful coat! I've been looking for a new jacket for quite some time as it was getting somewhat difficult to jazz up my outfits with the only two cold weather coats available to me, and the fact that it's got such a gorgeous collar is a godsend! Efa said I could have it for free as I had previously donated a whole bunch of clothes, but I popped a pound in the donation box all the same. That way I didn't feel so bad about rinsing all their 'Fuck Off Facebook' fanzines...








Coat - Red and Black Umbrella free shop
Blouse - £2.99 at Interaid
Skirt - £2.99 at Interaid
Shoes - Penny Lane
Fuck Off Facebook - brilliant zine.

As my charity shop challenge draws to a end, it's with a heavy heart that I anticipated going back to the way I shopped before. It's flown by so fast, and through a combination of DIY tomfoolery, borderline obsession with thrifting and swapping with very generous friends I've managed to completely revitalise (not to mention fill) my wardrobe. Hell knows how I'm going to fit all my pre-chazza clothes back in my drawers. But then I thought about it - why does the end of the challenge mean automatically reverting back to wandering around New Look, glassy-eyed, picking up armfuls of clothes that hold no meaning to me other than that I liked the look of them in Glamour magazine? Surely I've learnt more than that? Now more than ever I appreciate the smug satisfaction that comes from picking out an amazing bargain after searching for hours through dusty rails. I now know how to sew - properly, not just wonky hand-stitching - and have fallen in love with my dinky little machine (despite almost having sewn my fingers to fabric on more than one occasion). My bank balance is healthy - which is an absolute miracle. And I am safe in the knowledge that this month I have donated almost £100 to charity, and no longer need to feel bad for cancelling my £5 a month direct debit to Dogs Trust. I'd have to be stupid to go back to mindlessly spending my student loan away on things that everyone else already has. So I won't.

I realise that's a bit of a rash statement, and I will no doubt slip up from time to time and grab a bargain or two from H&M. But I now find the thought of spending £30 on a dress obscene, so I'm afraid it looks like my thrifty attitude is here to stay. Here's hoping, anyway.

Rant of the month over, here's a couple of snaps of the black and white brigade. Marvie really likes the camera. In fact, he liked it so much he tried to eat it. Bloody rabbits. And look at Dave...she's in a sink! And looks so confused! Sian told me she went to the loo the other day, lifted the lid and found the cat staring up at her from inside the toilet bowl. Cats are great, aren't they? Adios! x