Fashion mommy takes a trip part 5- market day.

Day five in beautiful Wales and the weather was still decidedly sunny. A trip was planned to Machynlleth, a lovely Welsh town that had once, briefly been the ancient capital of Wales and is still immensely proud of the fact.  Fashion mommy was really excited about a genuine shopping trip, and decided that today I would turn my Welsh holiday into a ‘Roman Holiday’ by channelling the one and only Audrey Hepburn.

I had a fabulous artscape New York scene full skirt in cotton. It features the Manhattan landscape and is really kitsch and cute. Teamed with a Next, white short-sleeved blouse and cinched in at the waist with a Yours black elasticated belt, I was almost ready to join the cast of Happy Days. The black, flat, Kate Moss style ballet shoes firmly pushed the outfit into the 1950’s era. Very fashion forward and cool and pretty. Sandra Dee, eat your heart out.

I love Mach(as everyone seems to call it). It has a real sense of history about it, with statues and tributes to Owain Glendower just about everywhere. Owain Glendower is a real Welsh hero, he defeated the English in the 15th century, taking Harlech castle in the process. I can imagine Russell Crowe playing him as a sort of Welsh Braveheart.

But the real attraction of Mach for me is the shopping. The market is a real bargain hunters delight. There are stalls selling Per Una and Next seconds at reasonable prices. Other stalls sell hand-made jewellery, leather handbags and belts, and, best of all, a fabulous new book stall. I was able to get a fab book that was my perfect holiday read – ‘Spend,spend,spend – A history of shopping.’ You could also get a biography of the last empress of France – Eugenie, a real fashionista from the 19th century. There are also some cool shops in Mach. Ian Snow sells Arran Aromatics toiletries, pretty bedroom trinkets, French Connection clothing and a great range of beads and jewellery. Trade Secrets is a hidden gem. It stocks a wide range of high street names from seconds and end of lines, including M&S, Wallis, Monsoon, Autograph, Per Una at amazingly cheap prices. I got a cute Be Beau cardigan in teal green for just £6.

My favourite shop is a charity/junk shop raising money for an animal charity. This is a maze of small rooms, the one lying at the back of the shop is full of rails of clothing. Now, make no mistake, the shop does have a smell to it, and with its damp feel and concrete floors it would be easy to walk straight back out. But persevere, and you can find great bargains. My favourite today was a lurex knit style gold tunic from Uniqlo for just 50p/ It would look fab over a black polo neck when the weather turns cooler.

My favourite fashion look  of the day was a grey linen style maxi dress that was worn with glads and an amazing ethnic style cross body large bag, that was identical to those designed by Simone Camille and loved by Lindsey Lohan et al. the dress and bag were accessorised by lots of Bali style jewellery, jangling bangles and earrings. This was boho chic, Talitha Getty style, but with a throughly 21st century chic.

After exhausting the shops, we decided to take Baba for a play on the park based by Y Plas. The park was full of yummy mummy’s with cute kids, and Baba was playing happily in no time. Hubby and I took it in turns to follow Baba around the park. I noticed a group of yummy mummy’s looking at me, and the one of tem approached me. ‘We love your skirt…’ she said, in her best Gavin and Stacey accent ‘..and we can’t decide if it is London or Manhattan…’. Manhattan I said. ‘its lovely, did you get it in Manhattan?.’ ‘No’ I said, ‘QVC!’ Somehow I can’t imagine Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday saying that, can you?

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