Vintage Inspired Bargains: Peacock's

I'm back with more vintage inspired bargains from British shops - this time it's Peacocks' turn!

Poor Peacocks, I really loved the direction they were heading in, with lots of vintage style inspiration since they took Pearl Lowe on board as a designer, but then the company went bust and after a tricky period they were bought out by the Edinburgh Woollen Mill.

I wasn't sure if the EWM would try and take Peacocks in a new direction completely, but I popped to a local store recently and was pleasantly surprised - absolutely oodles of vintage style clothes, all at a snip.

I was also super impressed to see many of their garments now proudly showing a 'Made in Britain' tag.  Good for them.

Here again is my experience in the fitting rooms - some of it turned out surprisingly well, others were a poor fit.  Read on to find out which were the winners!

First up was a peachy pink broderie anglaise top, £12, that tied at the front, very cute and quite '50s.  I tried it on with a spot midi pencil skirt, £14, which surprisingly wasn't too bad a fit, but quite a thin fabric so it accentuated my bumps a bit and made it blatant I had the wrong knickers on!  I might have to go back and buy that broderie top, they had it in other colours.

The pale blue capri pants, £12, looked marvellous on the hanger, less so on me.  Again it's that old issue of me being tall, and having a higher hip to waist ratio that the modern figure, which means that trousers don't come up high enough on me, giving me a lovely bit of muffin top, and often I can't zip them up.  I actually think it's my derriere, not my hips, but that's a whole other story.

This fluted hem pencil skirt was awful (not on their website yet, sorry no link) - again the issue of it being a thin fabric, not lined, means all the wrong bits were accentuated and again you can see my VPL.

This was more like it -  Peacocks have a fab range of 1940's inspired tea dresses, £16, in at the moment, in various colours and patterns.  All delightful, but this colour was my fave.  I didn't buy it as I thought the butterflies were slightly juvenile, but if it goes into the sale later on I may swoop.  My last tea dress from Peacocks has lasted years and has taken me from work, to afternoon tea, or to parties.

Peacocks has loads of monochrome, 1960s style garments on offer, so I tried on this little shift (also not yet on their website, check in store).  I think it looks a bit 'maternity' on me, so that one didn't make it home with me either.

Ah ha!  A midi skirt, a proper, below my knees, flowing fabric midi skirt!  I had to have this, it was only £18, which is half the price of the H&M one I'd been eyeing up.  And the top, with its flower embellishment, was just too sweet to leave behind, so I bought that too (£16, check in store as not on website yet).  The sizing is a bit variable between garments - I ended up buying the blouse in a size 12 and the skirt in a size 8.  Odd.

A lace white pencil skirt, £18, that if I didn't have the wrong knickers on, might have been a possibility.  But me, in a white skirt, probably a disaster waiting to happen.  I found this skirt a far superior fit to the New Look lace pencil skirts I tried on recently, that gaped at the waist and were too snug on the hips and rear.

When I got home I tried on the midi skirt and that cute flower top again, and feel that I made a good purchase decision here.  It's still below my knees even when I'm in heels, hurrah!  I can wear the skirt to work, so that guarantees it will get worn.  Excuse the mess, I spent all my time shopping that day, not cleaning the house!

So, does any of this tempt you?  Do you like Peacocks?  What have you bought from there already?

Linkups:

Rachel The Hat and Lena B, #PassionforFashion