Winner

Normally I do the random generator thing to pluck a winner of any giveaway. This time the Make Do box of goodies was a giveaway based on your tips for saving money or rather making do. I read this comment by Camilla which struck a perfect blend of living within your means and making do and felt she deserved to win! I loved all your comments and am so glad we have a growing colony of peeps prepared to make do!

I've reproduced in full as I suspect your number one read in life is not the comment boxes of blogs!

"Wow! amazing box of very gorgeous goodies!! A lot of incredible tips have already been written out here - I will be using them in time! For me, I have had something of a revelation in the last 4 months. At the end of August I had a baby, Luca. Like many others, I used to travel to work, not thinking about my street or area, and basically buy whatever I wanted, when I wanted without much thought or concern. I would always make promises to budget, but something would catch my eye and, well, you can guess the rest! I used to think I deserved x, y, z. Now I am on a budget as I try to eek out my maternity leave and spend more time with the Lovely Luca Valentine. Here are my top tips:
* Think first. I use the traffic light system in my head. STOP. Do I really need it? want it? every penny helps...
*be aware. I used to spend rather willy nilly - I really really must have those leather shorts from Zara and I don't care whether they are £20 or £50 or £75. they will be mine. Now I look at what I'm spending and really think about. I try to envisage the amount.
*use the community around you. I used to have a good old community spirit in the office, but did not know anyone round here. Now I know the whole street and also lots of local people. This has been amazing and money saving; for example Gary the Gardener cleared my guttering for me with his long ladder (it's not a euphemism) while I gave him a lesson in excel - he has never been shown. We both probably saved about £65 on that one. We share magazines and newspapers up and down the street now and even bought 4 Christmas trees together to make savings. I have made friends with all the local shops who give me discounts for fruit, veg, coffee, all sorts of things that I would never have even thought about before!
*following on from the last point - things that are free are fun!!! We go to our local library for a wriggle and rhythm session once a week (previously I had considered very expensive music classes for Luca), I spend my days at the Southbank, the Science museumn, the V&A, the natural history museum - these things are all free and amazing!!!!
*think creatively with what you wear. I don't have much time, money or inclination for clothes shopping right now. Also breastfeeding is somewhat restrictive on the old wardrobe. I have actually ENJOYED re-thinking my current wardrobe this autumn rather than buying lots new. I go to charity shops and pick up weird and wonderful items to add to my existing wardrobe. items i have purchased so far have been a bow tie, a pearl necklace, a frank usher sequin top!, an old cure t-shirt, scarves etc - all to add to my current clothes.
*enjoy the here and now. It's so easy to always be wishing; wishing you had this or that, a bigger house, a second home, a fancy car and then when you get that you're still not happy and still wishing for things. Instead I feel free from all this cash transaction mentality and instead revel in the moment and the best and free things in life such as family, friends, laughing and interesting ideas and people! sounds a bit hippy? well I feel a bit evangelical about it"

Thank you Camilla and I've emailed you for your address.

Giveaway

The Make Do Style giveaway is not of course the stuff of conspicuous consumption but rather the cobblering together of freebies saved from magazines and sent or given to me, or my no longer required 'stylist's own' items that I used in shoots. Sometimes I try to make myself miss photography or commercial shoots but I don't. I,d happily do one but I will never look to do them any more. Next year I will mainly be teaching styling but more of that another time.

Back to the booty - all this week I am looking for your top tips on saving money in these hard times. How do you motivate yourselves? What does it for you? At the end of the week I will draw a winner and get the box in the post pronto...

Christmas presents repeat

It is no secret that every year I try very hard not to spend some money with Shot Dead in the Head but invariably fail. They are my go to place for the men in my life's Chrimbo presents. This year the respective brother-in-laws are the unwitting recipients of a t-shirt and a mug. The mug for brother-in-law 2 is very naughty but right up his street. Luckily he'll be able to keep it at his mates flat where he abodes a few nights a week due to work, I'm not sure it will be welcome at home! (this is the link but I have warned you!)

Brother-in-law one is the only person I have ever met who arrived at a cottage prior to a wedding wearing a laptop on either side. He has never lived this down despite it being many years ago so plenty of geek fodder to find. I was torn between two t-shirt this one and this one but felt the latter was a bit cruel but not as cruel/funny as this one - I was crying it is so wrong but ....

And this year I succumbed to a present to myself. I love The Killing and seeing as I can't afford a Gudrun & Gudrun sweater I have consoled myself with this t-shirt!

The Killing 2 t-shirt £15 shotdeadinthehead

Don't forget my Christmas bumper Make Do Style box of goodies, posted on Friday just leave your top tips for saving money to be in with a chance to win!!

Like a bat out of hell ...to the make do box of goodies

Where did that wind come from?! Yesterday morning at 9:07am I boarded a train on the Durham/ North Yorkshire border and boy was it blowing a gale. The train felt like it was being blown south to London by the wind. I got back to London and thought phew a bit calmer but by the evening the wind, albeit a bit gentler than up north, was blowing a gale around me again. All I can say I was glad of my Moncler duvet coat. I was as warm as toast and felt protected from the elements.

Now I'm safely back home it is on to matters of a giveaway. Not any old giveaway but a Make Do Style giveaway - a box of treats filled with collected samples, gift bag nail varnishes and old costume jewellery used on shoots - you know the bit where it says 'stylist's own'. The Mango plastic link necklace in the box appeared in an Iceland ad!!

Anyway the competition rules are easy all I want from you is to give me your top tips for saving money or tightening your belt or how you live within your means. Simples! Get on your soap box and hold forth....

Style Budget Special Week - Day 5 Winners & Losers

After a long week of number crunching and economic retention, I feel like I've got my house in order. In the midst of it all a bit of a pickle erupted. Some silly men got all hot about the collar and full of testosterone in a real Apprentice manner. These men (and one woman) are CEO's who wrote to The Telegraph in their personal capacity but then added their company name and title.



I don't want to get into the whys and wherefores of the cuts nor the degree of necessity but it does gall me when well off people have the audacity to interfere in political matters. Can you imagine a letter like this being published by shop assistants? I'm sure they are hob nobbing behind the scenes and quaffing champers not cava but please do not publicly rub it in our faces. You can read the list by clicking through on the link above but suffice it to say I'm joining a growing ground swell of people who are boycotting the businesses.

It is not easy to do and probably will not be successful but I have to have a clear conscience. I have strong moral views when it comes to riches and the distribution of wealth. As I child I never paid any attention nor read the New Testament even when I was supposed to but one story captured my imagination and that was the parable of Lazarus and the Rich man. You can tell how rubbish I am as I relied on Wikepedia. And that folks is why I rather stay away from Percy Pigs than choke on one. Why did M&S do such a plonkerish thing just when they were getting good again. And ASOS - what were they thinking of! Now you know why I plummed for the designer category - they are openly mad and bad!

In my book all the above are losers. But the good new is their loss is my gain (purse wise) and even better news is there are four winners of the my987wardrobe giveaway are:-

I have too many shoes

A handful of dust

Delicious Industries

Papermice

Please email me with your size and address so the lovely Laura can send you your dresses!



And next week it is back to fun and frivolity and what Balenciaga sent me and why....

That will be £9.87 please

'Oh why is Burberry cool?' said Laura of my987wardrobe. 'Maybe I'm being mean because they didn't give me a job once, but really Kate why did they suddenly become the it brand.'

'Don't set me off on Burberry please.' I plead, quick sip of wine. 'However, now you've asked let me tell I've been bearing a grudge ever since they shut down their factory in Treorchy, South Wales in 2007. They made 300 people redundant all in the name of profit and margins. Since when has money been more important than community and people. They must have spent more on advertising than 300 peoples wages for a year. Makes me mad.'

Why am I so passionate about this topic, well my great uncles worked in the mines of the Rhondda Valley and these areas have been decimated by the downturn in heavy industry and in the subsequent decades the communities have faced high levels of unemployment due lack of investment and interest in the area. This is not Burberry's fault but the decision to shut a factory based on 'commercial viability' did smack of corporate greed. The manufacturing moved to China. How different is this story to the recent rescue of miners in Chile from the San Jose mine. The triumph of hope, community and putting 33 lives above money - because the rescue cost millions - captured the imagination of many. In conclusion Chile is cool but Burberry is an empty hollow façade.

Which is why Laura Richenberg is committed to selling clothes at a price that reflects the garment cost and makes enough profit to earn a living. There is no fluff, my987wardrobe is realistically the Primark of the internet. It has all the beauty of a bargain without the rammed shop and the stress of the changing rooms.

Laura Richenberg captured on camera by Fashionistable last April in Knightsbridge

Laura, I'm sure Make Do Style readers will want to know why £9.87 for an item?

Well I worked as a buyer for Topshop for many years and I found myself questioning the unit price compared to the retail price. I know that Topshop is a huge organisation and the overheads of running the business are considerable but fashion changes at such a pace I wanted people to get more of a bargain. I thought that I change my looks quite a lot probably because I live in London but I still love a bargain. And £9.87 is a bargain, it is under a tenner!

Isn't there a cost or rather compromise to it being a bargain?

There is a cost to mass production where ever you buy from. As a buyer I've seen first hand many places particularly in China and to me it is slave labour. The living conditions can be appalling but interestingly the same is true of the working conditions of many factories in the UK. I'm not backing away from the question but it is fact that manufacturing is an intense, competitive and harsh industry. And everyone is chasing profit.

I felt the cost of a reputable company buying an item at £3.50 for example and selling at £25.00 began to bug me. You are compromising who ever you buy from so why not buy from someone who charges you less.

Ah yes less cost music to Make Do's ears but equally I'm a brand or a designer magpie. What can you offer me to satisfy my 'snobbery'?

It is about choosing to buy clothes that satisfy a short term need but some of those will be keepers. We sold out of maxi dresses that had a Pucci vibe to them and I couldn't get get any more to satisfy demand. [Mrs MDS nods her head thinking of her cheapo Bay Trading maxi dress which still turns heads summer after summer] I do manage to source great items and how can you really tell where something is from if you put an outfit together well. [Good point Laura's wax leather jacket was from Topshop and I assumed Barbour] Having said that I love good shoes. I have to walk in them. I'll spend money on a decent pair of shoes but I don't see the point with clothes. Fashion is so transient and did I tell you I love a bargain!

Doesn't that place you in the disposable Primark category?

Primark does have a lot of good quality items as well. Often it is the product material which determines whether a garment lasts. A good cotton/viscose mix is easy to wash but will last. When I select the items to go onto the my987wardrobe I do try select simple but stylish items for now. We are aiming at the 15 to 25 age group who have less disposable income but a higher need for a variety of clothes. Fashion is fun and part of belonging to a crowd enjoying life. but fashion transcends age now and so I suppose the audience is really ageless. I do tend to select more understated trend items and I'd like to think I was buying for Olivia Palmero! Perhaps on that basis my987wardrobe clothes will be less disposable.

What does the future hold for my978wardrobe?

My first aim is to make it a viable business. It takes a lot to set up an internet business and I have ideas on how to develop the site, what customer experience people will get, as part of my running it on a day to day basis. Of course I want to increase sales but that is organic growth and can only happen if my customers get some joy from buying nice things for a bargain. I do envisage expanding the range. I need more stock for the 9.87 range but I would like to have a higher end ranges of 19.87 and 29.87. It will take time but as long as there are people out there who like a bargain then I'll keep going.

Any accessories to add to the range?

I'm looking at handbags.

Oh, can I select a Make Do Style one for my987wardrobe?

Of course that's how we met admiring your clutch.

At this I clap my hands! And both Laura and I then had to go our separate ways into the London night but not before I secured the giveaways for Make Do Style readers and one for myself. I love a bargain too!

Giveaway don't forget!

Lazy post I know - believe me I'm working my 'butt' off at the moment and still trying to finish 3,300 words for someone who is going to kill me if I don't do it soon!

Black dress giveaway link here ...plus response to person who asked about 'cheaper' quality goods. I think the issue is not the quality of the cloth, but less time and money has been spent on three critical area: prior to production - research, development and design. The buyer selects on only what is available, so no amends. Then, finally the finish is less rigorous and by this I mean the button details will not be secured in a way a higher end garment is made. Once upon a time the finish on Prada clothes was appalling, this was addressed. Cheap doesn't mean bad - it just means less of other areas. Then you are relying on the buyers eye to select items you would like.

Please feel free to ask any more questions and I hope to get Laura's interview up tomorrow.

Chanel Paradoxal winner

I did the random generator thingy and it choose number 3! Number 3 in the comment box was Vintage Vixen - so email me at kate.battrick@gmail.com so I can post to you xx

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 3

Chanel 509 giveaway

Of course Chanel 509 is Paradoxal. Due to the cunning and tenacity that is Make Do Style not only did I have the ability to purchase Paradoxal and Rose Satin for family, friends and moi, but I've got one left over. Now of course I could be super selfish and sell the blighter on ebay but were is the fun in that. I'm in the mood for dispensing good cheer.


This little pot of happiness and perfect polish can be yours! The usual applies for a chance to win - be a follower of the blog and leave a comment on the subject of your best make do tip on anything from fashion, beauty, food, culture or adventure. The giveaway is open until Friday Sept 3rd (which is next week!)

Just to clarify the rules (thank you Pearl for being the organised one!)

1. Leave a comment containing 'WIN' so I know who wants to be entered and I will put all the names in a hat to draw the winner.

2. You must be a follower of this blog, new followers are welcome (Google )

3. For an extra entry tweet or retweet about the giveaway and /or mention it on your blog (and leave in the comment that you have done so).

UPDATE: forgot to say this is open to the world. Whether you are in Melbourne, Mumbai, Massachusetts or Malawi or Mexico. I know I've mixed up countries and towns.

Scarf and voucher winner

I entered 19 into the random number generator and it choose 10 which is Retro Chick!
Here is the cut and paste proof!

10
Random numbers generated Apr 7 2010 at 10:38:15 by www.psychicscience.org

Congrats Retro Chick on your scarf and £20 Planet voucher