Thrifty Thursday is BACK!

I'm not normally in the habit of starting things and then quickly giving up, but owing to the fact that I now blog professionally for another website, this blog has sadly been rather neglected of late. One of the reasons I started blogging was because I really enjoyed finding great fashion buys online since real life shopping is now a luxury I no longer have in my life. With that in mind, Thrifty Thursday was born! So today I've resurrected it, and hopefully I will get back into it.

First off today I heard the familiar knock on the day of our local delivery driver, and these goodies from H&M arrived, fresh from their sale. Cheap, cheerful and perfect for one summer's wear.

H&M Blue dress £12

It looks hideous doesn't it? It's actually lovely on, who would have thought it! Really summery, flattering and not "showy". Perfect for the school run and beyond.

The other items I ordered are sadly now out of stock! However I love this asymmetric black dress that would be great for day wear or beach holiday wear too. Something that's a real throw on and a snip at £17.

Assymetric black dress £17

I'm still in love with Joules and think their stuff is far higher quality than their arch rival Crew. However, in this summer's sale it's the mens wear that has really made the grade, I love this checked shirt, even if it isn't that great for summer, great investment piece (even though it's really reasonable).Great with jeans and under a blazer (how old do I sound?!)

Joules checked shirt £29.95

While I was on the site, I went over to take a sneaky peak at Joules swimwear for women as I'd heard their stuff is pretty lovely. We went to Center Parcs earlier this year and I was wearing a hastily bought bikini from Asda, which was quite pretty but needed constantly hitching up and looked a bit, well, wrong. They've a few nice bikinis in the sale including this Blue Mera Bikini which is now £31.95. That might sound like a lot but I spent £28 on one from Next a few years ago (post baby body, no longer fits) and that seemed to be the going rate. The Joules ones are far nicer than that, so I think it's not bad really.

Blue Mera Bikini from Joules £31.95

My husband has just approached me with the iPad pointing out that Crew do have some good deals in their sale, mainly for men. But as I know my next door neighbour Paul will be reading this and he loves Crew, this is included just for him!

Hampton Shirt from Crew £16

I know a lot of men shun short sleeved shirts but I don't really know why, especially since you can sort of turn up the sleeves anyway which I think looks quite appealing. This one's a good deal at £16 and would last for ages, great with combat shorts. Hubby has actually just ordered this Marwell Checked shirt (£20) as he thinks it will look good with jeans, though I'm not sure he will ever wear this in the hot summer months.

Marwell checked shirt £20

I'm trying to get him away from polo shirts as sometimes it's just time for a change, so I recently introduced him to striped breton style tops. I bought him some nice ones from TK Maxx a few months ago which he's worn loads, so he's ordered this nice stripey Newquay tee which I personally think he'll wear loads.

Crew Newquay Tee £18

While he was ordering, I may have accidentally ordered myself a dress and top - whoops!

What do you think?

Crew Jersey Dress £35

The reviews weren't great for this one, but I think that's because people don't realise Crew's sizes are ridiculously large, anyway, I've ordered it in a size 8 so hopefully it wll be ok. I also ordered this top.

Crew Kayse top £18

I think I'll either find it shapeless and send it back, or love it and wear it with everything. I see myself wearing this with the structured shorts I bought in M&S a few years ago and have never, ever worn.

Phew! That's it for now, please let us know about any thrifty buys you've seen online!