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!

The Sketchbook Interview

A few weeks ago Sketchbook Magazine interviewed me for their blog. Sketchbook and I share a devotion to slow fashion, the idea you have pieces that you acquire, keep and work without being a fashion consumption junkie. They have started the Fashion Cupboard-this is a collection of designers garments that will be used and reused on fashion shoots.

My interviewer was Natalie an intern at Sketchbook who is an undergraduate on the journalism degree at UCA. You can read the interview here and it is very long partly because I don't shut up! Also it isn't exactly edited, this is a lesson to me. In future I would check in what style it will be processed. Therefore my interview could be read as the ramblings of bag lady off street/a crystal meths session/heady intellectual/creative genius - who knows...

I would like to clear up two points, my style influence is Grace Kelly not Grace Jones and I did say I didn't like Marc Jacobs S/S10 collection for Louis Vuitton but of course I do still love Marc Jacobs!