I vow, for one month from 1st Feb, to avoid shopping for anything other than essentials.

This is the mantra of Frugal February, as created by the very lovely and rather darned clever Gemma Cartwright of Big Girls Browse.

The aim is to kick start the annual savings, something which, after the excesses of Christmas and the skintness of January, proves no mean feat for most of us. And, as it happens, something I need to do, which is why I’ve signed up for it!

So my plan is this:

• No clothing purchases in February. This includes charity shop buys, ebay and all those end of sale bargains I just can’t miss out on. This excludes items bought with vouchers, as they don’t actually cost me any pennies!
• No books or DVDs in February. Dapper and I have got into a habit of buying one another little gifts from our Amazon wishlists to brighten up the average workday. None of that for the next four weeks!
• No buying a cup of tea on the train to work. As tempting as it is to believe I can’t get through the hour’s commute without caffeine, I know, deep down, that I can make it. Besides, which, the lovely Nat bought me a fabulous Ladybird books Little Red Riding Hood flask for Christmas, which is yet to be put to use.
• No killing time at the station by browsing and ultimately purchasing reduced goods in M&S Simply Food. I don’t need them!

I am also planning on augmenting my income this month, by making a few ebay sales, and both Dapper and I have agreed that we need to start meal-planning more carefully, shaving a few pennies off the weekly shop.

Those of you who recall the heady days of my being made redundant back in October 2009 will remember the blog posts which began with incomings and outgoings every day. Throughout February I’ll be running something similar, detailing my expenditure and any additional pennies I make. Let’s see how much I can save!

Poncho: my Gran’s; leggings & long-sleeved t-shirt: Primark;
tunic: Dotty P’s; vintage snowmaid boots: via ebay

It may look sunny in this picture, but trust me, it’s cold! Hence the poncho again, fast becoming a staple when the cooler days hit!

A couple of years ago, whilst shopping for some brown boots, I found a pair of sheepskin “snowmaids” in the charity shop for £10. They were SO warm, SO comfortable – I raved about them, and wore them non-stop. They saw me through snow and ice, through early morning treks to the bus-stop, and later the Oxford commute, as well as a full Christmas season on my feet at Waterstones. I had them resoled last year, but about 2 weeks ago discovered that they have now been worn beyond repair.

After much sulking and denial, I hit ebay looking for an alternative. Imagine my joy when I found… a pair of snowmaids! In dark red, this time, still sheepskin-lined, and unworn, for £4.99 (+ p&p)!! I was a VERY happy bunny!

Lots of crochet…

Ham & mushroom pie

Leftover pastry mince pies and chocolate orange cake
with orange curd filling…

A bit of pampering – I saw this design on The Styling Dutchman and was inspired to manicure…

A slurp of sloe gin!

On Sunday afternoon/evening we had a family birthday party to attend, which meant getting dressed! It feels like we haven’t been out of a weekend in ages (although that’s not at all true – just how it feels!) and it seemed momentous enough for us to be dressed in something other than scrubs, that we took a couple of pictures! I did take an outfit shot too but you’ll have to wait for that one…

So, how was your weekend – do anything fun?

I think, were I a slimmer shape and more prone to denim, I’d probably style it with skinny jeans and boots. But that’s really not my style, and I can’t see it being so any time soon! Although I do own skinny jeans…

Either way, as a poncho it certainly proves its worth on the days when the pond is frozen over!

Dress: vintage Laura Ashley via ebay; underskirt: RSC costume sale; long-sleeved t-shirt: Primark.

Lady Mary looking very Pre-Raphaelite in an Edwardian design

Then, I received the Downton Abbey book for Christmas. And watched too much Downton Abbey OVER Christmas. And finished The Children’s Book, which covers a time period from the latter part of the Pre-Raphaelites to the end of WW1, including the Edwardian era. And generally fell in love, again, with Edwardian fashion.

I cursed myself for leaving that dress behind. That dress which would have looked so wonderful paired with evening gloves to the upper arm, and carefully styled hair. I hit ebay with a vengeance, watching dress after dress surpass my budget, some of which were velvet, granted, but not a one, purple. I was bereft.

And then, on Saturday morning, I nipped into the same charity shop, for the first time since Christmas. Rifling through the dress rail I found… the dress. Reduced, now to £10.

Now all I need is an Edwardian (or 30s – after the knee-jerk fashion rebellion of the flappers had subsided, the world fell straight back into pre-war-era style) themed evening to attend. And, granted to lose a few holiday pounds for a sleeker silhouette…

Dress: Dotty P’s; shrug: George; skirt: Tesco; tights and shoes: as yesterday!

…Wednesday. Because I knew I’d be staying over Tuesday night, in the office TWO days last week, not one, I needed a second outfit that put to good use at least some elements of the first. I chose to show off the shoes and tights for a second day running, highlighting, this time, with my berry-toned mini-dress, made office-friendly through the careful application of layers! I love finding new ways to wear old favourites…

As is becoming a habit, I had a thoroughly enjoyable night staying over with Charlie and Holly, joined for a delicious dinner by Alice and Bev. After we had consumed some wonderful spinach and watercress soup, a fabulous winter salad and a whole wedge of stilton, Charlie taught Bev and I how to knit, whilst Alice and Holly carried on with existing knitting projects, and we munched most of the way through Holly’s amazing chocolate cake. We were in bed by eleven, feeling full and satisfied, safe in the knowledge we had put the world to rights. It’s good for me to get in a night with the girls from work occasionally, particularly now that I only see them one day a week. And it gives Dapper a night to himself, of course – the poor man deserves a break once in a while!

Tuesday. I’m finding it far easier to share each week’s outfit with you exactly 1 week behind schedule. This outfit was actually worn for a visit to my Dad’s a couple of Saturdays ago, but proved successful and so was resurrected for work last week! I love it when a plan comes together…

It also offered another opportunity to show off the shoes Dapper bought me for Yule, worn with matching tights. Y’all know I’m a fan of the matchy-matchy!

Feeding the ducks

Dress: sent over by Kelsey as part of our swap (details below…); cardi: Dotty P’s; black long-sleeved t-shirt, navy microfleece-lined tights & black knee-high socks: all Primark; pink wellies: can’t remember!

Sunday sewing: pouf tutorial via Design*Sponge

Shooter’s Sandwich (modified with beetroot relish)

You may or may not be aware of the marvelous blogger that is Kelsey of Charming Pumpkin. She began to comment on my blog last summer, and hers quickly became one of my daily hits. I love her quirky style, her cutesy poses and her gorgeous smile!

When she mentioned how much she loves Dotty P’s clothes but hates the price of P&P to America, I had to leave a comment to the effect that I felt the same about Modcloth, and their P&P charges to the UK. I offered to buy a few pieces from Dotty P’s and send over more cheaply, if she’d like to do the same for Modcloth. We started emailing one another, and a beautiful friendship was born!

Before Christmas we decided to do our first over-the-pond swap. Rather than request particular items, we agreed to set a spend limit and buy things we thought the other would like up to that value. We also agreed to include at least one handmade item. We exchange measurements and got to shopping!

My box arrived on Friday morning and it was like Christmas had come all over again! I should have taken some snaps for you of the beautifully wrapped parcels, but to be honest, I couldn’t wait to rip off that packaging and see what was inside! I scored three DIVINE dresses and a whole host of gorgeous jewellery:

Beautiful vintage rose brooch, two pairs of Kelsey-made sweater clips and a delightfully steampunk Kelsey-made necklace.

I’m keeping the remaining two dresses under wraps until I wear them, but I have some great outfits lined up to show them off!

To dress up! Our friends Yvonne & Nick invited us to join them for Yvonne’s birthday on the 14th. Despite being quite a dressed-down venue, I naturally took the opportunity to wear one of my winter velvet dresses – this one with an empire line to accommodate the all-you-can-eat buffet! I had tested the outfit at the all-you-can-eat Thai restaurant we visited to celebrate Nat & Steve’s engagement a week previously, so knew how effective a solution it would be!

Also, another opportunity to wear the beautiful shoes Dapper bought me for Yule. I’m aware you STILL haven’t had a really good look at these beauties, but fret not: there are two posts already scheduled for this week whose outfits are pretty much designed around the shoes! Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post…

Lamont boots by LK Bennett: £315 £189 from Sarenza

I rarely think to look at LK Bennett for shoes or boots. Largely, I confess, because I simply don’t have the funds to purchase them – in fact, the one pair of LK Bennett shoes I did splash out on for a wedding nearly crippled me, both physically and financially (very high heels for a ceilidh is simply stoopid!). Still, a quick browse of Sarenza last week set these beauties firmly in my mind, and now they’re squatting there. I just can’t get shift the blighters!

If you love them, and have the finances and ankle muscles to support them, you can pick them up at the reduced price of £189 from the Sarenza website. If you love me, and have a couple of hundred pounds lying around spare, you can pick me up a pair while you’re at it!