I can have it all (sometimes)!

Inspired by the super stylish blogs I've been following recently, I was lured to Primark today.  Now, I had on occasion wandered inside a Primark store before today to see what all the fuss was about, so it was not entirely a new experience for me, but I had always wandered out again fairly sharply upon seeing what seemed to be a sea of mismatched polyester - (polyester tartan as I seem to recall last time - on Oxford Street? - but I digress).

Integrating my new Primark buys

In the picture above I am wearing:

• Primark jeggings in dark indigo (£7)
• Primark sheer cream henley style top (£5)
• Zara beige linen cardigan (on their website here)
• Russell and Bromley 'Tod's' style loafers 
• Navy Longchamp tote bag

So - in short, previous forays into Primark had not been fruitful. This time however, I had a more specific idea of what I was looking for. Maybe they just have good stuff in there at the moment, maybe I was more focussed and better informed, but there were some very nice basics.  And the prices - well, normally I wander around a shop thinking ooh that's nice, wander wander, ooh so's that - and so's that! etc - until I have about 9 items when I get to the fitting room or till and (a) credit card then takes a bashing and so does husband's blood pressure; (b) I weed out certain items, invariably choosing the wrong ones and usually having to return and perform complex exchanges; or (c) dissolve into a fit of indecision and end up with nothing. (Disclaimer: I am an indecisive person!)

Today, I did a quick mental tally while in the humungous post office style till queue (cashier no 33 please..) and worked out that each item was averaging about £6, incredible - especially for the trousers.

I bought the skinny leopard jeans (£11); some black capri pants (in middle of pic below - £9); some soft skinny jeans in navy (£11); some indigo 'jeggings' (worn above - £7); a handful of basic vests in navy, grey, white and nude (£2 each);  a pale cream sheer short sleeved 'henley' style tee shirt (worn above - £5), and a tan / navy striped very lightweight knit sheer-ish t-shirt / top (on the right in pic below - £5).

Some of today's buys: Zara star print top (15.99), black Primark capris (£9), navy / beige lightweight Primark top (£5)

I then went to Zara and got a lovely star print linen t-shirt (in pic above - £15.99 on website here) and a pale pink / blush coloured sleeveless top with a shirred waistline (pic below - £25 - on website here) which is very elegant on (I hope) and flattering on a mum tum.

Zara top

Oh, and I also bought a gold tone necklace in Primark for good measure (£4) which I think is very pretty. So all in all a good day and I'm very happy with my new purchases :-)

Primark necklace - £4

PS....... End of day reflective mental ramblings:
There was a pleather studded tote in Primark - (£12 I think) - which I am already thinking I need - er I mean want. I can hardly need another bag as my husband would point out - and I would have to accept his reasoning on this point - but still, maybe something cheaper would be good for our hols... something which I needn't be precious about, which I could get sand in and so on...? And studs - hmm - would they not add a soupçon of 'currentness' and 'edginess' (whatever that might mean, I fear I could just look ridiculous!) - but I don't know. I'll sleep on it.
(I told you I was indecisive.)