Black is good all year round. It continues unabated in my wardrobe.  And will continue to do so! So here are some of the best budget buys I have seen recently…

AS Colour is my go-to place for sweatshirts for my Boys (all of them young and old) but they also have a couple of great layering basics as well.  The Emily Singlet Dress is the perfect basic – an extra layer during the winter (I love layers) with a loose layer over the top and it just extends a top into a dress in the summer.  I wear mine all year round.  The colour stays black and it is just $30.  ASCOLOUR have a deal where if you buy any variation of three sweatshirts, and tees are just $110 – I think you can just add one of the Dresses into the mix of sweatshirts and tees…

OK technically this isn’t black – there is a bit of white in there, but this looks like such a great piece that I have to include it. Due inshore at Glassons soon, it retails for $49.  I love assemetrical hemlines – they cover a multitude of sins…

Boots are most definitely my go-to footwear. I even have trouble with summer as I have to stop wearing boots or sneakers and I find that just about impossible! These two pairs of boots are my picks from Number One Shoes with Daisy now being $39 – and they are leather, and Jenny which is $49

Daisy

Jenny

The Warehouse has a couple of fabulous basics at the moment. I have questioned them recently on their manufacturing and most of it is done in China and they are tightening their practices (in terms of working conditions and wages) to make sure all the companies they deal with work to the standards they set. These are my picks that are currently in-store at the moment.  Being the “High Priestess of Layers” (according to James Dobson of Jimmy D), I am always on the hunt for the right leggings, tights, pants to ground an outfit. It isn’t that I dislike skin, my skin, it is just that I prefer to be covered. All year ground.  This is of course a problem in the summer, but that is another post entirely… These wet-look tights just seems to still do the rounds popping up every now and then, and I just buy them whenever I see them – I love the texture they bring. They are on sale for just $15. Bargain. The two tops I picked are Godae Plain Tee with its interesting v shaped and pleated back detail for just $19 and the Drop Hem Tee ($15) which comes in black, white and plum has a great assemetrical hemline. I cannot see how this can’t be a fabulous basic – what can be worn with a merino underneath right now, and with bare arms in the summer. The jacket is made of sweat shirting and has been my favourite to wear since I bought it (intact I wore it to The Warehouse Spring launch today).  It has a great neck detail, a zip front and deep pockets with a stud detail. And it was just $35. Love it.

Wet Look Tights and Godae Top

Sweater Coat and Drop Hem Tee

These sandals may technically a little outside of the ‘budget’ field but they are my favourite sale purchase lately. I hate uncomfortable shoes, especially sandals and these Nike Gladiator Sandals were $190 and are currently on sale at the converse/nike factory store at Dressmart in Onehunga for $90.  I am going to wear them the entire summer, I can just tell…

The post finishes with a quick pick-me-up for your nail polish. Every colour looks different with a matte top coat and the OPI Matte Topcoat is fabulous.  It is so in demand that you can hardly find it anywhere!  I got mine from Farmers in St Lukes Auckland and only because a kindly sales girl saved me a bottle.  I think she got sick of me coming in and asking if they had any!  Nice to get great service though, and it was only $26.  And it instantly changes every finish of every bottle of polish you own…