I was mulling over the task in hand, essentially styling for those who are, well, skint, when out of the blue came a call from my desperately bored, convalescing daughter in Hull.

Rushing up to Hull, I was certainly filled with a little trepidation. As a London girl I had heard that there were some cool designers and charity shops in Hull, but I was going to have to be led by my hapless charge (slightly worrying but rather exciting thought).

We hit Princes avenue on a gorgeous sunny day with a budget of less then 40 pounds for a whole outfit. Hmmm.

First stop Bogoh (bogoh.co.uk) who have a fabulous selection of vintage and hand crafted pieces made by local designers. My favourite was a range by APHRODITE but with prices starting at £50, it was well over budget.

Our next stop at number 25,  a vintage shop called Bowes (myspace.com/bowesvintage) selling male and female fashion and run by sister duo Katie and Sarah Bowes. This was more like it. Bowes was  brimming over with great shirt dresses starting at £15.  One of the sisters is a designer, so occassionally she sells her own wonderous collection and also means that items can be tailored to fit.

We nearly blew half the budget with a bum bag for £12 circa 1980 but I managed to drag ourselves away and headed for another little gem of an area, Newlands avenue.

First stop Bohemia (bohemiafashions.com). Suzie Marquito, the owner and designer of the label bearing her name, buys vintage fabrics and reworks them into her own design which are quite pricy but very individual. (It was at this point that a rather heated conversation between myself and my model on the ridiculousness of our paltry budget started as she had her eye on a particular pink ball gown).

Moving quickly on, Bed 14 sells altered vintage dresses. These amazing quirky creations included a little puff ball sleeved mini dress with Hollandish fru fru neckline, and a little red minidress caught our eye but alas the vintage accessories are priced between £30 – £60 and quite worth it as they are so unique. (News flash;  Bed14 have just expanded to an outlet in Ledbury, London so rush to Hull to snag the amazing finds).

How many charity shops did we go ? I lost count as Newland avenue is splattered with them.  Still  no luck. Just as I was about to give up and park myself as a vintage statue,  we entered Rockafella’s, a warehouse which holds loads of clothes, and is the place where we finally agreed on the outfit pictured. Rockerfella showcase local designers and seem to be a hotbed of talent (myspace.com/rockerfellaboutique)

The dress came in at £10.00 which would be great worn with large belt, leggings and a little cardigan, jacket also £10.00, very cool with the drain pipe purple monkee jeans or silver leggings, trainers £10.00, head band chocolate wrappers totally free and the surgical socks came from the hospital which could be dyed and customized for the winter.

Mission accomplished.