Alice Catherine

I feel as though I’ve been mega lucky on the vintage front lately – thrifting/second hand shopping is something that I’ve loved doing for years, but you don’t always find true gems that you’re excited about. Last weekend I went on the hunt for a vintage chest for the spare bedroom, and ended up stumbling across a jazzy new wardrobe addition…

I didn’t manage to find the dream chest that I was hoping for (I need some sort of beauty product storage), but I did end up finding this olive green leather jacket. It’s safe to say I wasn’t sure when I first laid eyes on it – sometimes you don’t have the right outfit on to style it out with in front of a dusty mirror. Something in me just told me to ‘buy it anyway’ and make it work back home. I actually put a poll on Instagram stories asking you guys what you thought and it was a pretty clear divide!

I’m a big believer of having a couple of pieces in your wardrobe that challenge you in some way. It keeps things interesting when you’re feeling a bit flat, and personally, really has the power to help pull me out of a mental rut. Also, this jacket really is just the leather cousin of the military style khaki jackets I’ve been wearing for years, so I was quietly confident that I’d get my wear out of it… 

I mentioned in my last couple of posts that I’d been feeling a bit uninspired to create at the moment – I think maybe it’s because I’ve had a lot going on behind the scenes. The jewellery collection is launching in around a month, the podcast should be launching in a matter of days, and I’ve started therapy which I also previously mentioned. It’s a lot of new plates to spin, but I’m really starting to feel as though I have a hold on things again…

I’ve been trying to mix up my routine a bit to shake off the dullness I’ve been experiencing, and I think this notion has also transferred itself into my wardrobe. I’ve had an itch to wear more colour and to just push my content more than ever before. That’s not to say my style is going to drastically change – I’ve always known what I’ve liked and what suits me to an extent. I think It will just mean shopping from my own wardrobe more – basically just spending more time playing around with what my wardrobe has to offer rather than relying on Pinterest and Instagram for inspiration…

Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in what other people are doing and wearing and it starts to make you question yourself. Are my outfits too boring? Am I showing too much vintage? These are the sorts of ridiculous things that go through my head when I spend too much time scrolling and not enough time championing myself. All of us question ourselves from time to time – sometimes it can a very constructive exercise, other times it’s just punishing ourselves unnecessarily… 

So, I left the vintage shop with my new green leather jacket in hand and immediately went home to start experimenting with pieces it might match with in my wardrobe. The colour makes me so happy on those miserable grey days, and it’s really reinforced why I love fashion so much, and why I feel compelled to document my thoughts and outfits on here…

It’s fun to look back and see what I was into at a specific time – how I was into wearing my hair, accessorising, and generally just expressing myself…

This jacket was forty english pounds and I know for something this beautiful on the high street I would have easily paid triple that. I love routing through rails of vintage and digging out pieces that I can incorporate into my wardrobe. I find it so much more fulfilling, and you really never know what you’ll find next…

Photographs taken by Catherine Booty 

Leather jacket – The Vintage Emporium, Blouse – Imparfaite, Jeans – Beyond Retro, Sandals – vintage via Etsy, Necklace – Buckle Bow Pearl, Sunglasses – Rouje (last season) 

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