A little sunshine

I've had mixed fortunes in blogworld this weekend.  Saturday was a great day, helped in part by 6 hours doing nothing in the park, but then I accidentally deleted a photo of a lovely girl wearing the sweetest floral playsuit I ever did see and then had to contend with the crowds on Brick Lane on Sunday and angry stallholders yelling at me not to take pictures near their stalls.

But, luckily, this girl brought a little sunshine yellow into my day.  In a month of blogging, I've mentioned American Apparel about 4 times and people may start to suspect they're sponsoring me (oh how I wish that were true), but no...however, these glorious lemon jeans are indeed from AA and look perfect paired with breton stripes, ankle boots and that amazing mane of red hair...

A familiar face

Meet Kate.  You might recognise her from a few posts below ('Picnic perfect and nice as pie').  And I bumped into her again today!  Outside the pub, as you'd expect on a glorious day like this.  Rocking another great laid-back outfit of course; i'm loving the dress which is the perfect compromise between the hard-to-wear maxi length and not showing too much knee this early in the summer.

And it got me thinking about what people who are street-spotted on one particular day wear every other day, chances are they're always going to look effortlessly stylish and probably have wardrobes to die for.  So I'm thinking of a new feature for StyleEast - regular "what I wore" slots, featuring my favourite street style spots.  I guess that makes Kate the first 'regular', so here she is (again!)...

3 friends, 3 ways with denim

These three friends all live together so just imagine the potential wardrobe-sharing opportunities. I loved how they were all wearing staple vintage denim but had their own individual thing going on.  It's hard to pick a favourite so perhaps I could have the first one's shoes with the second one's dress and top it all off with the third one's hat...

Power to the People

I wish I could claim this as one of my own street style spots but, sadly, it's not.  One of my favourite blogs, Pics by Polka Dot at http://www.streetstylelondon.blogspot.com/ is doing somewhat of a fashion experiment, to demonstrate the people power in the fashion blogging community (and prove to none other than American Apparel that this is a new and fresh way of advertising ).  She took this shot of a previous street-spot model wearing the AMAZING new jodpurs from AA (which, now I've seen this, I'm going to buy tomorrow) and has asked her followers to re-post.  Sort of like a re-tweet, but with photos and, er, better!  So here it is, check out Pics by Polka Dot and, if you have a blog of your own, get involved and re-blog...

Hat-tastic

This girl was manning a stall on Brick Lane (by Vibe bar) selling, as I recall, some lovely head gear.  But I liked her own hat even more, especially the tie under the chin, and the incongruity of it with the slightly military shirt worn as a dress and shiny gold buttons.  Proof indeed that the best outfits are those where you just wear whatever you fancy and if it doesn't 'go' in the traditional sense then so much the better...

I don't do weddings

I'm going to a wedding in June and, given that I don't do 'formal', the expectation of hat-wearing was starting to trouble me.  I had in my mind a jaunty little mini-boater, not too deep on the top, and with a ribbon to match my vintage polka dot jumpsuit.  And lo and behold, look what I found!  A little stall in the Brick Lane upmarket, with a fine selection of handmade hats by Orizu, all unique and definitely not wedding-y.  And, perched at the front, my dream mini boater (as held by the very nice stall-holder).  I'm getting one custom-made with a navy ribbon and picking it up next week...it's all about treats for yourself!  This photo really doesn't do justice to the selection so pop along and check it out for yourselves...

Picnic perfect and nice as pie

Putting aside for one moment the fact that I need to learn how to take photos in which the sun doesn't cut off people's feet, these two ladies were my favourite shot of the day.  I worried when I started blogging that the people with covetable style might be unapproachable and make me feel a tad silly for asking for their photo.  But these two, as well as looking amazing for a Sunday wander round the market, were absolutely lovely and keen blog fans, naming Style Crusader and Pics by Polka Dot among them, 2 of my own favourites.  I particularly loved the picnic basket as handbag (or they may have been on the way to the park!) and the fact that neither of them are 'dressed up' yet their natural style is shining through.  Thanks girls, I hope you like it...

Coral and mauve

I am not glamorous, I don't tan and I haven't got long hair, which is why I was drawn to this lovely lady rocking a coral jacket and mauve lipstick combo!  Not to mention totally pulling off a leather mini in the day time.  How is that some people look so summer-perfect the minute the sun puts his hat on, while the rest of us have another two months of building up the Johnson's Holiday Skin before we can get our legs out?!

On my way home

I'd finished snapping for the day and, heading home to a "24" dvd marathon, a bottle of pink wine and some After Eights, I stumbled upon this girl right on my doorstep! If you've been wondering how to wear those high-waisted patterned trousers all the magazines keep telling us are in for summer, then this is all you need to know.  Nice to see someone bringing a bit of style to the neighbourhood!

Street Style debut

I thought it was about time this street style blog actually took to the streets and lucky for me I picked a gorgeous sunny day.  Within just a few minutes of wandering I came across these girls nonchalantly enjoying the sunshine on Brick Lane.  I loved the way they're dressed completely different but their looks complemented each other; definitely a kind of modern grunge vibe going on - perfect for spring.

An absolute gem

I have no shame in admitting I exhibited stalker-like behaviour to hang around and snap this shot.  Checked trousers and a crop top apparently equates to pure fashion genius, who'd have thought it.  Despite being herded through the crowds to get the picture, when it was shot her pose was perfect and natural.  Not bad for day 1, but how are we going to top this...?

Vintage heaven at The East End Thrift Store

If you've never been to the East End Thrift Store (Assembly Passage, Stepney, E1), you need to stop reading this and go there now!  Want wall-to-wall vintage bargains? It has it all.  It's a mecca for floral dresses, summer skirts, patterned playsuits and all manner of denim in the form of cut-offs, levi's jeans and dungarees, including a rather fetching pair with a Scotty Dog embroidered on them (they're not just for 5 year olds you know).  Also new in store are the offical 'trend of the summer' leather shorts, a pair of which came home with me.  And plenty of t-shirts, army jackets and checked shirts for the boys too. 

The lovely people at the EETS kindly agreed to let me take over one Saturday morning and snap some of my favourite finds.  Every item featured cost less than £25 and most items in store are £10-15. 

It really is a gem of a shop, off the beaten track and absolutely worth walking that extra 15 minutes from the tiresome bustle of Brick Lane, to browse at leisure and undoubtedly leave with purchases that will make your day and still leave you with pennies for a G+T in the Blind Beggar on the way back to the tube.  So what are you waiting for, venture to Stepney now and see what I've left for you...

With thanks to the very nice and - naturally - incredibly stylish staff at the Thrift Store:

Catwalk

Rummage Riots

I had the pleasure of being on and around Brick Lane on the day of the now-infamous American Apparel Riots.  I arrived for my usual weekend wander to see all the hipsters with their carrier bags emerging on Hanbury Street and, not knowing what was going on (so not down with the kids), thought I might go for a browse.  Only to discover it was, in fact, not going to be that simple.  About 7 million bargain-hunters, almost as many press photographers and police and all sorts of fights breaking out.  I gave it a miss!  American Apparel...is it that good?  Though it did get me thinking that many of my fashion 'fail-safes' are AA - the disco pants, the pocket skirt, the track t-shirt, the sailor top.  But I'm happy to say I ordered each of those from the safety of my sofa, no scrapping with the constabulary necessary.  Next time, kids, save up and buy online!