How to look good skint...

OVERSIZE is my fashion word of the week.

It's been banded about quite frequently of late, but for the frugal fashionista this can only be a good thing. My charity shop adventurings this week have paid dividends, resulting in two lovely new wardrobe additions; a boxy black and white pinstriped blazer, made in England, and a fabulous, electric blue, Gerry Weber collarless jacket. All the shops had a massive range of men's and women's jackets, and the rectangular shoulder pads that are massively 'in' for the Autumn, graced the rails in abundance. The heritage fabrics hailed as this season's style staples were also to be found snuggled amongst the teal green polyester, and a quick rummage revealed some real heritage pieces, original Northern tweed and good solid stitching. The oversize trend gives us a great opportunity to just go with the flow of whatever we discover. A big open jacket with the sleeves rolled up, teamed with a minidress or skinny fit jeans looks awesome.

I am enjoying the mini-trend that seems to be appearing for neatly buttoned up shirts with no tie; a look which has been widespread through men's fashion over the last year, but which is increasingly being rocked by girls with small skirts. This nod to the 80s punk generation seems startlingly relevant in today's economic situation, as I'm sure we share the same uneasiness about what is to come.

Over the next few weeks I'm going to start trying out a 'Fruits' type project, documenting fashion trends around my local area. If you've never seen "Fruits", photographed by Shoichi Aoki, do keep an eye out for it. The book documents the diversity of the Harajuku street fashion movement in Japan, and is full of the most wonderfully outlandish clothing creations, influenced by anything from samurais to "Sailor Moon waitresses", and I'm hoping to create something similar for the North. Look out for uploads!