Lou Lou's Vintage Fair in Cardiff

Morning!

If you hadn't heard, Lou Lou's Vintage Fair are one of the biggest vintage fairs in the UK and they regularly visit Cardiff's City Hall. I was meant to go a few months ago but last minute plans changed things, so this weekend i was determined to go.

I had no idea what to expect, how much things would be, if I could haggle etc. It was a whole new experience and I loved every second. I picked up some lovely things so here they are:

Both of these bags were from the same stall, they were from the 1980s and cost £25 each. They have a few marks on them from small wear and tear but are in really good condition, especially the black one. I'm hoping with a bit of leather treatment they will come up good as new.

I'm hoping the black bag will be my new work bag, it's perfect for keeping A4 paper in and has compartments in.

I absolutely love emerald green and have been looking for a coat this colour for a while. It seems to be a rare colour though as I've only seen them for £160. This one is from C&A all those years ago and is actually a size or 2 too big for me. However it's a gorgeous warm coat and seems to look better oversized. It has a button missing but I think I'll take off the top button and move it to the bottom to replace the missing one and it will be good as new. It cost me £35 which is a bargain!

Another stall had leather jackets on sale for £10......TEN POUND! They were all genuine leather too, and this one was in really good condition. Its in the style of a blazer and has pockets which are always handy. The tie at the waist also make it more flattering on me, I always need to be cinched in at the waist and can even swap this out for a waist belt.

This beautiful ring was so pretty I couldn't leave it behind. It fitted my finger perfectly and it's real silver. i don't wear many rings but I've recently been wearing ones that look similar to this, I think they make a really nice statement piece.

The earrings below were also a bargain find. I rarely wear earrings as all of my small ones have been cheap and have therefore broken and I just haven't replaced them. Normally I wear diamond looking ones but pearl ones are also just as classic and for £6 i couldn't resist.

What do you think? 

I think they're my new favourites!

I have to wait for some of these as my mum got me them for Christmas presents, though I am allowed to fix them up with the treatments and new buttons.

What do you think of vintage fairs? Do you love hunting out a bargain?

The next fair is in January and I will definitely be saving some Christmas money for it!

L xxx

Forever 21: My First Purchases

Gooood morning!

Only 2 days left until the weekend so I will be cranking up the music to get me through the day ;)

A few weeks ago I went to Birmingham for the first time and absolutely loved it.

I'd never been to the Bullring Shopping Centre and was absolutely blown away by how big it was and how many shops there were.

Including Selfridges (which was a lush surprise for me!) it has pretty much every shop you could ever hope to go in and I have already bribed M that we need to go for a serious shopping day ASAP!!

Whilst I was there a small (!) wander in Forever 21 meant that I picked up a few new items for my wardrobe and jewellery collection, as you do.

I must have tried on about 35 items and genuinely couldnt carry them all by the end!

They have such a wide variety of clothes in multiple colours and it left me wishing that it was sunny outside instead of pouring with rain. The bright pastels and neons that basically took over the store definitely lifted my mood a few notches and that was before I'd even found the accessories!

So here's what I picked up, starting off with the beeeeautiful jewellery hence the hearts!

(I took these on my phone....sorry if they come out a bit awful!)





First up the bangles....I love gold and black and cream so these were winners for me.
There were loads available in different patterns and I would have picked them all up if I could have!
They were all so wearable and pretty but would go with anything....bracelets SOLD.



I am neither a big fan of earrings or rings. I'm probably the kind of person who will when engaged/married (when?/if?) will freak out at the thought of wearing the same rings all the time.
I find them uncomfortable and they get in the way, also I couldn't decide on gold or white gold either!

However this ring has 'me' written all over it and I liked the thought of literally having 'studded' ears so snapped them at the perfect price of £3 each....earrings and ring SOLD.



Lastly were my primary finds in the accessory department and the whole reason for me buying an entire new set of jewellery.
The necklace is bold, statement like and pretty all at the same time. It's enough bling to catch your eye but not enough to blind you, I've seen a few similar at varying lengths but this was the best so far. It was also only £7 so a lot cheaper than others I'd seen.
The bangle was also another I couldn't leave alone and at this point was in a frenzy, of course it went straight into my basket! Necklace and bangle....SOLD.

I also picked up some tops as I couldn't resist the prices.

These were all under £12, with the black and cream top only £7.25 not even in the sale!

They're so wearable and the orange cardigan just seems to go with everything. It's so soft and washes really well so I'm half tempted to order off their website.
We don't have a Forever 21 in Cardiff or anywhere near (that I know of?) so it was great to finally go in and have a browse and I'd be a lot more likely to buy off their website now too!

I fell in love with so many items I can't wait to make another trip there. They have the perfect summer clothes and even if we don't get the weather there are still some luscious clothes to brighten up a rainy day.

What do you think of Forever 21?? Have you picked up some bargains there too?

I thought I'd died and gone to heaven in the accessories department!

L xxx

Earrings for Sensitive Ears

Ever since I got my ears pierced I had nothing but trouble with them and wearing earring for any length of time just made them itchy and irritated. As I got older they got worse. Where silver and gold used to be ok I now couldn't wear these for any length of time either. In the end I stopped wearing earrings all together. For half an hours wear on a night out my ears would hurt and it wasn't worth it.

As I got new body piercings as soon as the six weeks was up I'd go and get plastic body jewellery as they seemed to help the healing. I don't know why but until I was in Matalan on Sunday I hadn't thought to look for normal earrings made of plastic.

So when me and mum were browsing the jewellery I think she was just as excited as me to see these.

9 pairs of studs in a range of colours for only £6 bargain.

And even better, they are completely plastic. I snapped them straight up. Or I should say my mum did for me! I was so excited at the prospect of being able to wear normal earrings all the time I almost when straight to the piercing shop to get more done.

As soon as we got in the car I put a pair of these bad boys in. Honestly they hurt first off (my ears haven't had earrings in for probably a year and when they have it's been for very short periods of time) they are quite thick and my ears weren't used to it. After 10 minutes they felt fine. I have slept in them and worn them for 48 hours now and know problem.

Such a simple thing but I really hope Matalan bring out more earrings like this or more companies embrace the plastic for the bit that goes in the ear so I can wear more earrings! 

I can't find them online but in my local store they had quite a few pairs.

Do you wear earrings regularly? Do you have problems with discomfort from them? Would you consider plastic ones?

Love M

xxx