Fashion-Mommy takes a trip (part 3)

Well,I had now been in Wales for 3 days and was frankly enjoying every minute of it. The fresh air had put pink colour in my cheeks, Baba was enjoying all the open space and freedom, and hubby was just using the excuse to relax and eat lots of Welsh Oggies!

Day three was a trip to Dolgellau. The weather was dull and drizzly, so jeans were still the order of the day. Worn with flat Evans patent pumps (fabulous triple eee fittings) and my Next floral tunic top I was comfortable enough for a trip around the small town at the foot of the majestic Cadair Idris.

The Next top was the one I had purchased just before my holiday, and frankly it was a £22 miracle buy. Pretty floral pattern with a front that will cover a belly, longer at the back to cover a larger bottom, a tie belt to create a waistband, a scoop neck to accentuate a good bust, and 3/4 ruched sleeves to hide bingo wings. In short, a perfect top for a plus size lady.

Dolgellau doesn’t have that many shops, but it does have a few that are worth mentioning. It has a branch of Riva, the great little boutique that I mentioned in Barmouth. It has a store called Lighthouse which sells a great range of leather bags that are very similar in style to Hermes Birkin’s. They have them in a whole range of colours and sizes, and these are frankly the best copies outside those sold at Vanilla, on the Kings Road. They have also just recently had a great collection of soft suede bags that will be perfect for late Autumn.

Dolgellau has two charity shops. The ‘Hospice at Home’ shop is a great old style charity shop, complete with League Of Gentleman volunteers. I got two great 1980’s clutch bags for £2. One was a great navy blue clutch from Lotus. Charity shops are a great place to get really cheap 1980’s bags from. I have found lots from the Jane Shilton Japelle range in all different colours and fabrics.  The second charity shop is a British Red cross store. In here I found a complete set of Bob the Builder toys which Baba instantly wanted, and for just £10, these were the bargains of the day.

One other shop worth mentioning is called Images. This sells chain store end of lines at rock bottom prices. I got a great camel boyfriend cardigan from here, this will be perfect for Autumn, worn over jeans or to prolong the life of cotton summer dresses.

That was the end of my shopping in Dolgellau, but I must mention two stylish fashionista’s that I noticed and admired. The first was a french girl writing postcards in the local post office. She had the most amazingly cute short trench coat. This was black with a tiny floral ditsy print all over it. She had worn it with the belt tied rather than buckled, and with the collars turned up nonchalantly. She wore this with skinny jeans and simple plain black flats.(a bit ‘golf club’ on so skinny a girl, but after the trench I would forgive her anything.) The vibe gave off a Lou Doillon/Jane Birkin attitude, seriously simple but definitely cool. The second fashionista was getting money from a Barclay’s cash machine. She was a size 16ish girl in the Christine Hendricks vibe. She was wearing a black and white 40’s style form-fitting jersey dress, with black Mary Jane’s and a thin draped cardigan. It was all monochrome and fabulous,  except for a shock of red bobbed hair. Think Dita Von Teese styling with Dallas Bryce Howard’s Hitchcockian auburn hair.

Next comes a trip to Harlech, land of the castle and the famous ‘Men of Harlech’. But that’s another day and another post!

Related Articles

• Trips to the Charity shop. (thishomesweethome.blogspot.com)
• Who’s that girl with her ostrich Hermes Birkin? (purseblog.com)
• For Mountain, Sand and Sea, Barmouth, Wales, review (telegraph.co.uk)
• Road trip to Wales (matjazz.wordpress.com)
• Hermes Birkin Bag Hits eBay For $77,999 (huffingtonpost.com)

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