Spend £100 instore at Monsoon and get a free scarf worth £35!

So if you have spotted the party dress or new coat you want in Monsoon, buy instore to receive a free scarf worth £35! If you don't want to keep the scarf yourself, it would make a great gift for an Aunt, Sister, Mum etc.. but remember this offer is valid instore only, not online.

Monsoon do have a selection of goods online which are on special offer. I saw a great padded jacket with £20 off, so that is worth a look. www.monsoon.co.uk

Trade in old Monsoon clothes for New!

I totally love the fact that you can take your old Marks and Spencer clothes in to any branch of Oxfam and recieve a £5 M&S voucher, so you can imagine how thrilled I was to find out that Monsoon are now offering £5 off any purchases over £30 when you take in any old Monsoon garments! Great for us Mums who buy their clothes in there but also the kids stuff too! get all the details here.

Don't forget that both of these offers will come in handy for Christmas. You can give your M&S voucher as a present or use it towards a purchase and your £5 off in Monsoon can go towards a wicked party dress or a Christmas Day outfit for the kiddies!

£20 off a £50 spend at very.co.uk

very.co.uk is the new name for Littlewoods Direct and they are currently offering £20 off a £50 spend on a fantastic range of Fashion including designs by Fearne Cotton and well known brands such as Yumi and Elise Ryan (see pic). Enter promo code ZQ427 at the basket page. With winter fast approaching there is no better time to take advantage of one of the best savings around and grab yourself a key piece for your winter wardrobe (chunky knit, jeans, coat, boots) or a bit of forward thinking could have you buying that Christmas Party dress now, before the financial strain of present buying and nights out take their toll!

Alex Gerrards Wedge Sandals by Steve Madden for £24 and Designer wedges from Matches for £38!

I was totally gobsmacked when I saw Alex Gerrards column in todays edition of New magazine, showing her wearing a pair of Steve Madden studded wedges and looking as great, as always, I had to buy it! Even more surprising was the fact that these funky shoes are currently on sale at Amazon for only £24 if you get them in black! I just couldn't resist such a bargain and you can get them here.
I didn't buy a thing all last winter and was no better off for it, just ended up feeling totally depressed about my drab and boring winter wardrobe, so if you are feeling down in the dumps a bit of £24 retail therapy didn't hurt anyone right? especially if you actually have an item owned and worn by a WAG!

PLEASE NOTE, BLACK AT £24 HAVE SOLD OUT AND APPEAR TO BE NO LONGER AVAILABLE. THE OTHER COLOURS ARE REDUCED BUT NOT BY AS MUCH, SO KEEP CHECKING BACK FOR FURTHER REDUCTIONS.







Looking for something more understated and still have a holiday to look forward to? even if you don't, these fab Castaner raffia wedges will serve as a great wardrobe staple for many summers to come, so are well worth the £38 investment (down from £108!). Wear them with white summer dresses, capri pants, flared jeans and a red vest for a nautical appeal, the list is endless as they are such a versatile sandal. Get them at Matches.com here.

Cut off point

I was quite surprised to see that some of the London free hand out papers are still covering Summer clothing on their Fashion pages, especially this article on Cut off Denim Shorts.





Cut offs hit most of the Fashion pages months ago, but are a wardrobe summer staple which don't really go in and out of fashion each year as you will always see girls slipping on a pair of denim shorts over their bikini's when you are on holiday or sporting them in this country with a vest top and gladiators on hot days. The thing that really got me about this article was the cost of the garments. The cheapest items being from Topshop or Asos at £25, Current Elliott at £155 and True Religion at an astonishing £199! £200 seems an awful lot of money for a pair of what is basically "jeans without legs"! Then I remembered 2 things. 1. The pair of True Religion jeans I have upstairs which have "gone" at the top of the legs and got me thinking that if I cut off the legs in the same way as in the pic i.e. from the holes in an upward slant going under the pockets, that these wonderful jeans which I loved so, will still be completely useable and thus saved from the Charity Bag and
2. How many times have I shared the asos.com outlet section with you guys, when I have told you about the premium denim brands such as True Religion, Superfine and Earnest Sewn, where the jeans can start as low as £35 and go up to approx £70 for what normally would be anywhere between £150 and £200. If you are looking for a cheaper option, I saw in New Look yesterday, rails of reduced jeans are starting at £7 and the great thing about doing your own version of cut - offs is they can be done from any style whether skinny, straight, bootcut or flared, plus you can cut them as high or as long as you like.



In the newspaper, the article shows Lynsey Lohan, Rihanna, Agy Deyn and VB all sporting the trend and they seem to have turn-ups on the cut offs with the pockets hanging down below at the front. So an easy look to achieve. In a Recession, fashion is often about making do, and there is no easier trend to achieve than this! The Times did an article a while back, saying that women over 40 could buy into this trend - Recessionista Advice - Yes if on holiday or the Beach - only in the Supermarket if you have the body of Demi Moore!
The summer may soon be over, but lots of you will still be going on holiday and this trend will be wearable year after year, so what are you waiting for - grab those sissors!

25% of Yumi Clothing as loved by Celebs!

A massive 25% off at Yumi Direct until Sunday! A fab and funky brand often seen on celebs such as Fearne Cotton and as pictured, Alesha Dixon. You can find this brand in Topshop Oxford Circus but why go shopping when you can avoid the Tube strike and buy from home here. Enter promotion code "CELEB" at checkout.

20% off a gorgeous range of underwear at Figleaves

Get 20% off Passionata underwear at Figleaves. See the full, really pretty range here.

London Clothes Swap event

Tired of seeing the same clothes in your closet? Fancy some new outfits without breaking the bank? Bring along the clothes and accessories you love but no longer want to the London Frock Exchange and swap them with like-minded ladies for a lovely new wardrobe!

When: Tuesday 9 June 2009
Browsing begins at 5.30pm and swishing starts at 7.00pm
Where: Borough Bar, 10-19 London Bridge Street, SE1 9SG
Tickets: £10 (in aid of Alzheimer's Society) includes a glass of champagne on arrival

Tickets are selling fast and can be bought here.

Marks and Spencer to launch 1p sale

Marks and Spencer will be selling some products for just 1p each to kick off its 125th birthday celebrations.

Marks and Spencer said the Original Penny Bazaar sale at all its chain stores from Wednesday, 20 May, goes back to when it opened in 1884.

Customers can choose up to five products at a price of 1p each from a commemorative Marks and Spencer range including jewellery sets, scarves, cufflinks, ties, socks, leather passport holders and luggage tags.

If you don't ask, you don't get! - Learn how to Haggle

There has been lots of talk about Haggling and I am a firm believer in asking for money off/a discount but you usually need to choose your retailer/supplier carefully.
My first experience of asking for money off was 10 years ago when my husband was buying my Engagement ring. There we were, in a posh City Jewellers with the chosen ring being wrapped up, when my future husband said "how much for cash!". To say that I was horrified was an understatement, I thought it was only Gypsies that did this sort of thing! I was even more surprised when the shop assistant walked off to talk to the Manager and came back and said "we can take £250 off, Sir". Bloody hell - unbelievable! I walked back to work and one of my colleagues said "you look pale and shaky" to which I replied "I think I am engaged and we just got £250 off the ring".
After the ring episode, I began to get my head around asking for a discount and began to choose carefully where I bought items from, especially expensive things such as furniture and white goods.
If you buy a sofa from House of Fraser you are unlikely to get a discount, but for our suite, we went to our local furniture shop and asked for the exact suite we had seen in House of Fraser, got them to come back to us with a price and then said "how much for cash". We ended up getting the suite for £1,500 less than the HOF price.

I have also bought a T.V., Washing Machine and Tumble Dryer from a small local independent retailer rather than using Currys or Comet and each time, have got a discount for cash.

Remember that for card transactions, retailers do have to pay charges just to take your money, so will always prefer to take cash as a form of payment, so it is always worth withdrawing the money in cash, from the Bank, than just to hand over your debit card.

When looking for discounts on Clothes Shopping, seek out small independent Boutiques. You can always find these by checking out the websites of your favourite clothes brands and looking up their list of stockists. To get a good discount, make yourself seen in the shop often, become a familiar face even if you don't always buy. If you see something you like, ask if they will take a deposit and see if they will allow you to pay off items which means you will go in often. Enquire about a mailing list and ask to be put on it, if they have one. This will give you information regarding new season previews and discount shopping evenings. Small independents are more likely to struggle during a recession, so are more likely to offer a discount, than lose a sale. Always remember the mark up for adult clothing is usually 2.5 across the board, so you can work out how much profit someone is making on each garment. If you are buying a couple of things that come to £120, I really can't see the harm in saying "Will you take a £100" they may say "No I will accept £110" but you will still have saved £10.

Always bear in mind that if an Independent Boutique stocks Lipsy for example and so does House of Fraser and they have a sale on, never be afraid to ask if they can match the Department store sale price and if they can't, then buy it from the Department store. Build a good relationship with the shop owner or manager and avoid shopping when Saturday girls are working as they won't usually have the authority to give money off. If you find a lovely shop that doesn't stock your favourite brand, it may be worth asking if they would consider getting it in for next season. If they think you are going to spend good money on it, they may well look at it when they next go buying.

20% off at Karen Millen

When looking for a fab dress for a summer wedding, there is no better place than Karen Millen.
My dear friend M, will be gutted, she paid £199 for this dress a few weeks back and now you can get 20% off with Cosmopolitan by entering the code COSMO9 at checkout, valid until 11t June.

Buy one, get one half price on O Beach swimwear

Don't leave it till the last minute to stock up on your holiday swimwear, checkout the great offer on O Beach swimwear here.

Easter Shopping Frenzy that all went wrong!

My little Easter clothes shopping frenzy turned into a bit of a nightmare. The grey dress that I thought would be so figure flattering and an ideal wardrobe staple, in fact looked bloody awful on. I was so disappointed but hey ho, that will be returned to HOF pronto today.

The Hobbs delivery filled me with angst, as, upon opening the lovely box which was supposed to hold 2 basic summer t-shirts, it in fact only contained one! Yes guys, can you seriously believe it, only the white top was enclosed. I scrutinised the enclosed invoice, looking for a message saying that the yellow T, was on its way, but it had the yellow one written on it, as if it was in the parcel! The package arrived late on Friday (Couriers at 6.20pm?) and I didn’t actually open it until Saturday evening. I have never bought from Hobbs before, either online or instore and as you can well imagine, this experience has put me off for life! OK so the top was only £9 but that really is not the point, it could have been a £199 dress. Will they believe me when I ring them today? Only time will tell and I will let you know later, how I get on. I am seriously worried that in a few weeks when summer really has arrived and I wear my yellow patent Lanvin pumps that have hardly seen the light of day as they don‘t go with anything in my wardrobe, that my husband will say “where is the yellow top you bought to go with those shoes?” you see I can’t bring myself to tell him yet! Oh and the good news on the pumps is that Lanvin have done yellow again and they are currently on the Matches website for £278! Thank God I never sold them on Ebay which is where loads of my stuff went in an effort to raise money and declutter. So many things I got rid of last year, now sit in the "regret" portion of my brain but I guess Bills and School fees were more important than Missoni cardigans and Jimmy Choos, weren’t they?


Anyway back to dresses for the wedding, I was trying to think of websites that I hadn’t yet checked out and realised that even though I have a link on this blog and that they currently have 11% off, plus free delivery and free returns, that I hadn’t yet looked at Boden. I saw this gorgeous dress which is only £57.85 with discount deducted and I am totally loving the rose clutch bag. The dress is not the right style for my figure (unless I don’t eat anything for the next 6 weeks) but thought I should share it with you incase anyone else is looking for something special for a wedding, the races etc.
Happy Shopping!

HOF is new supplier of the new England Kit - get £10 off and free delivery with voucher code

Exclusive England Football Kit Offer

As an official supplier of the new England kit House of Fraser are proud to announce they now have an active voucher code where customers can receive £10 off and receive FREE delivery – this will make House of Fraser’s price the most competitive for the new England Kit especially with the delivery offer. This includes the new official England Kit, the limited edition white embossed logo jersey and also the official Umbro anthem jacket.

Voucher code info:

Voucher code: ENGLAND09
Start date: 15/04/2009
End date: 15/05/2009 (inclusive)
Don't forget to enter the site via cashbacking and receive 2.5% back on whatever you spend at House of Fraser.

The Outnet has finally launched!

Now pass me a stiff drink and £1,000 spending money, because, yes you've guessed it folks, THE OUTNET is finally live. Remember the hype a few months back about the new venture from net-a-porter, well it just had to launch on the day I decided not to switch my computer on first thing. Then to add insult to injury, the bloody email telling me it was live was in my spam! So thats why I thought I had better inform you all, incase the same thing happened.

Then to top it all, by the time I entered the site, these Christian Louboutin shoes which were selling at only a £155 were sold out, GRRRR...

20% off at French Connection with Marie Claire and Click and Print voucher for 30% off at Gap

Grab a copy of this month's Marie Claire magazine (the May issue with Charlize Theron on the front) for £3.30 and on page 87 you'll find a 20% voucher code to use online at FrenchConnection.com. Use your code between Friday 24 and Sunday 26 April on full price merchandise only.

Standard delivery for French Connection is £3.95.


Gap 30% off - but wait till Thurs 23 April!
Click 'n' print voucher

Here's a heads up so you can plan your shopping and get a whopping 30% off at clothing store Gap. Use it between Thursday 23 April - Monday 4 May.

It's valid in all Gap stores including concessions in the UK and Ireland on full price items only.

Click and print your Gap voucher here.

An Easter spend up on wardrobe staples for a Recessionista!

I was reading over at Frugal Trenches about how the author of that Blog hasn't bought herself anything for a whole year, since she started the Blog and the thought of being in a similar situation made me feel utterly depressed. I haven't had anything new all winter apart from some Uggs which were a birthday present and to be honest it is really getting me down. I had a trip to Bluewater last July where I bought a pair of seven for all mankind jeans in the Joseph sale but that is a distant memory now. I have still been searching online for a dress for the wedding I have coming up at the end of May, I never made a definite decision on the M&S one I showed you previously, then the Wallis one I had seen in a mag, did appear online, but still I couldn't make a decision. I must have trawled every website known to man (or woman) this weekend and eventually found a lovely one on the Hobbs website and it was in the Sale, but alas not in my size.

Hobbs is not usually a shop I go into to, I feel it is all a bit officey and old and expensive! but hey I am over 40 so perhaps I should be shopping in places like this and John Lewis instead of dribbling over "See by Chloe" dresses on Net-a-porter which would be far too short for me and I wouldn't wear anyway! You see I am a bit funny about length on ladies over a certain age. I saw an aquaintance in town last week, she is about 40, but quite weather beaten of face, although she was attractive when younger, anyway, she was pushing a buggy as she has a toddler as well as older children, and she had a mini skirt on which was about the length my girls would wear! Although she was also sporting "opaques", I was horrified to say the least! Just on the knee is the limit for me, over forties in Minis's brings the words "mutton" and "lamb" to mind, no matter how slim you are - avoid like the plague otherwise everyone will just think you are trying to look younger, but every face will tell a story!

So back to the dress search. As the Hobbs dress was a no no, I checked out some other bits on the site and just couldn't resist a couple of items in the Sale, just plain summer tops, but much needed summer essentials to fill gaps in my capsule wardrobe (a capsule wardrobe so small at present, it should read "cup"sule - as that is what it would probably all fit into!) No seriously, luckily I do seem to have more summer clothes than winter, but do like to replace t-shirts each season if possible, as nothing looks worse than a white t-shirt that is off colour or a black one with wash fade! Gap and M&S are usually best for these basic items and they see you through summer and winter as they can be used for layering in colder weather.

So this was the first top, a bit more than a plain t-shirt with a draping Grecian feature which will disguise a tummy nicely. I am planning on wearing this with jeans of course, sandals and a nice long necklace and sunnies. Was £39.00 now £25.

Now you may think yellow is a funny colour, but I have my eye on some yellow shoes and if that doesn't come off, I love yellow with blue anyway and at only £9 down from £19, it won't be too much of a dissapointment if it ends up going under a jumper!

Now my next purchase is a dress from House of Fraser, not to wear to the wedding but purely as a wardrobe staple. Most women have or should have, a little black dress lurking in their closet, but I don't (well I do really, it is from Karen Millen, is 8 years old and no longer fits!), so opted for a grey one instead! This can be worn for the Hen Night evening when we have dinner. The problem for me is because I don't go out much I never have anything to wear when I do! Sometimes us Mums from school go out for a meal, or I go with the girls from work, so this would be ideal for those occassions and at £29.50 down from £59, it is a steal! It has all the elements I am looking for in a dress, short sleeves to cover "Bingo Wings" and gathers over tummy area to disguise lumps and bumps. It also covers this seasons draping trend which can be found everywhere at the moment. Not everyone goes for draping jersey type fabrics but I find them flattering.


And just for the hell of it I am going to show you the dress I really want which is in the sale at £69, so if anyone sees this at their local Hobbs, can you email me please?


Although I wanted to steer away from monochrome and get a dress that was brightly coloured, I couldn't help but fall in love with this one, again from Hobbs, but not in the sale, so the princely sum of £199 would be required to purchase this little beauty. I am loving the shape and don't forget it would be much longer on me than the model, but I would need a little black cardi or shrug to accomodate the "Russian Shot Putters" arms, oh well I can dream.... but if you want to check out the sale at www.hobbs.co.uk, there is up to 50% off certain lines.


So I have had a bit of an Easter spend up and yes I do feel guilty, which was why I did the dirty deed of online shopping, whilst my husband was still in bed, but I am consoling myself that in my spending diary where I am totalling up what I have saved this year by taking advantage of sales, discount codes, cashback sites etc, I can write for todays entry that I have saved a total of £54! So whether we are fat or thin, rich or poor, on a budget or just have a husband who is as tight as a@@@holes, we are girls and we need clothes - FACT.

Designer Sunglasses at £59 & Premium denim from £62 DVB Victoria Beckham range

Another great find has been secretsales.com. It is free to sign up which gives you exclusive access to online designer sales.

Two of my current favourites are Victoria Beckhams DVB range of denim, with jeans from as little as £62, followed closely by her sunglasses range with loads of styles, everything from aviators to large black "Jackie O" styles, with all pairs at a set price of £59! an absolute steal for the summer, you can just add another pair to your collection at that price, as there are loads of different coloured frames and lenses. Don't forget, last year her sunnies were seen on all her A List Hollywood friends including, Katie Holmes, Eva Longoria and J Lo, so if they are good enough for them, they are good enough for me!

I am also loving the Pilgrim Jewellery sale, where pretty Rings, which would make fab gifts, are only £6! and there are bangles and necklaces to match.

You can sign up for reminders to make sure you don't miss anything here.

£10 off at M&S over Easter

Enjoy this bank holiday with a special offer from M&S.

Get £10 off clothing, lingerie and accessories, when you spend £70 or more, at M&S online. Perfect for the warmer weather and your Summer wardrobe. I really like the top pictured, lovely bright colour for spring and lets face it guys, you can't beat M&S quality or price, if you picked up a similar top in Topshop it would probably be about £10 more, so if you only usually use M&S for underwear or kids clothes, do check out their Womens clothing range as you can pick up some fashionable bits, especially in the Limited Collection.

Simply place your order on fashion before midnight on Tuesday the 14th of April and enter this promotion code at the checkout: AX7APRBH

This code can only be used once per customer.

JD Sports launches Get the Label website with up to 65% off RRP

http://www.drapersonline.com/news/young-fashion/jd-sports-fashion-launches-get-the-label-discount-site/5001674.article

Brands include Timberland, Nike, Adidas, Lacoste and Fred Perry and is aimed at busy young families.