Double velvet delight?

I made it back from Manchester in one piece after a girlie weekend visiting friends in what is probably my favourite English city. I lived in London for four years many moons ago, and while I do enjoy the occasional visit back there, I do find its pace a bit too frantic.

In my opinion, London is to Dublin as Manchester is to Cork. It's a city with a cool mix of old and new architecture, great places to eat and cool boutiques and vintage shops makes making it a must-see place for anyone who hasn’t been there.

If you’re heading over there on a shopping trip, there are plenty of shopping centres with the usual high street shops, as well as a lot of very interesting boutiques and vintage stores.

There's also have a great Uniqlo which, to the best of my knowledge, we don’t have here in Ireland but I could stand corrected and it’s a great place to pick up really good quality basics. I’ve picked up a few cashmere jumpers and some ribbed body con wool skirts there in the past and they still look good as new.

I tried to pack even lighter than usual, to allow for a few small purchases if I came across anything that I liked and I was quite reserved and only picked up two items. Both items I got in a small little boutique that has a mixture of vintage and reclaimed items using vintage fabrics while also stocking some really interesting new pieces.

I picked up a dress which, admittedly, I probably don’t need but the colour and fabric were so unusual that I couldn’t leave it behind. It’s like a chartreuse coloured ribbed velvet and being a colour magpie, I knew it had to come home with me. I mean, how often do you come across an item of clothing in such a colour? It’s probably not a colour everyone likes but it’s so striking.

I also picked up a velvet bomber jacket and again its colour caught my eye and it was such an actual bargain that I had to get it. It’s like a mixture of pink and orange and was just so snug and warm when I put in on.

While I’ll more than likely wear it a lot over jeans or simple dresses, I’m also very tempted to pair it with the dress and just add some gold ankle boots.

Not sure if that would be an extreme overload of velvet in one outfit! I’ll let you know if I ever take the plunge and go double velvet.

From velvet to jewellery and I have to say there’s something about winter that makes me want to wear luxe fabrics and fine jewellery. I like a bit of costume jewellery as much as the next person, but I also like to invest in nice pieces to mark special occasions or just as a treat.

I think it’s a great investment if you like to save and spend your money on one or two nice things as opposed to lots of cheaper bits. I think my obsession started when I got some Maria Tash gold piercings and I also got another two in the Maria Black pop up in Samui as an alternative Black Friday event.

I also have become a little bit obsessed with an Irish fine jewellers which is a new independent jewellery company from Dublin called Oscar Graves. The pieces are contemporary, stylish and a little bit different from the norm.

If you’re someone who likes distinctive pieces that make a statement, then this will be your new go-to when it comes to jewellery. If one of their Cuban rings from the Oscar7 collection found it’s way into my Christmas stocking, I would not be mad!