My flatmates and I like to call ourselves ‘budget mums’. This year I’ve discovered that value spaghetti isn’t that terrible, that value conditioner is that terrible, and that value kidney beans should never ever ever be touched. I still get flashbacks…
Extending my budget mum status meant cheaper clothes. So I could afford to get nicer kidney beans. eBay made my heart flutter- there are pages and pages of jumpers and tops that trump my usual go-tos like Topshop or Zara price-wise. You know how it is- the photos always look really good, then it arrives. The last thing I got was so see-through you could have turned it into a window. A really tiny one. They’re always too small. Looks like the people who make clothes for eBay want their nice kidney beans too.
I’m sure there are plenty of eBay shops of amazing quality and value for money, I’m just too much of a cheapskate to find them.
I thought I’d share a couple of things I bought on eBay recently and show how I managed to overcome the terrible quality that I can’t really complain about because they cost me around £12 for both of them.
This top turned out to be a bit thinner and smaller than I expected. BUT with a little top underneath it turned out quite nicely! I added jeans by The Ragged Priest and ankle boots from New Look. It’s a bit more of an autumnal look but in Scotland dark things don’t really go out of season! I was worried that it might look like it cost exactly what I paid for it, so I added little details to make it look more luxurious, like the necklace (made by me) and the patches on the jeans. I always like to add a jacket to any look I put together, so here we go!
This jacket is from Zara, and while it covers up the pattern of the top, for outside weather it goes with the jeans perfectly.
My next look features a jumper I got for £6 on eBay. I got it when ombre designs were really in, and although it doesn’t fade, I thought it was quite snazzy. And cheap. That was a big factor. It’s a very thin jumper so it’s great for warmer weather.
It was a bit overcast so I put a lilac shirt from GAP on underneath. Rolling the cuffs up made the look quite casual and relaxed which I liked (I don’t like to be dressed smartly when I eat my kidney beans). Carrying on with the casual vibes, I added pastel blue shoes from Topshop (because nothing goes better with pastel than pastel) and Zara trousers printed with little bulldogs. See, I promised I’d release all my patterned trousers to you. Here’s a close-up of the trouser pattern:
My jacket for this look is waterproof, just in case! You never know…
It’s from Topshop, and I thought the yellow was a great match for the lilac.
Overall, the first look is my favourite, but both tops will stay in my wardrobe for now…. Will they last the year? Stay tuned to find out! So eBay can be fabulously good for your bank account, but remember you will probably get what you paid for, and that may not be a good thing!
Jumper Weather 