The Style Critic

The downside of recession is that my internet auction bargains are no longer, well, bargains. My fashion competitors have deserted the sales in favour of the Big Sale In The Sky, or eBay as I like to call it. The auctions are oversubscribed with women just like me, stumbling over their mouses for a bit of on-line action. And this is a literal booty call, I might add, because yesterday I lost out on a pair of vintage lace up boots which went for £100! OK so there might be a general consensus that masculine footwear is a good, solid Spring look – especially paired with daintier garments. But to the untrained eye these are fairly ordinary scuffed-up old kickabouts, are they not?

Not. To the fashionista they’re like B-I-N-G-O that’s exactly what I’m looking for. The right side of old (ie. saving you the bother of breaking them in) and the right side of the door as temperatures fall to below freezing (I used to find vintage missions fun – who knows what you’ll find – but it’s too cold to traipse around on the wing of desire, I need pictoral evidence to seduce me these days.)

Then again, so it seems does everybody else.

Other superhero pickings include this Batman skirt by Luella. Currently at £82 with 3hrs to go…

Another one of my sorry losses – how cute is this Warehouse leopard print silk dress? VERY by all accounts. It went for £62 + £4.50 p&p. Surely not far off retail price?

Or how about this image of perfection, a biker jacket by Balenciaga that retails for over a £1000. Dream on as it’s gone – for a comparatively reasonable £430 + £15 p&p

Or a well-preserved 1920s silk robe for £46.

Or a rare sighting of Guerlain’s Spiriteuse Double Vanille.