thrift founds

took a foray into the salvation army in brunswick, maine. and, boy howdy, what a great trip! i spent the evening taking up hems and sewing in side seams.

i do find it difficult to find clothes in thrift stores that are in my sizes (generally 2-6, depending on vintage or not/particular manufacturer), but many clothes in the size 10 and up range. so, either my fellow petite ladies of chicago, montreal and maine are buying up these sizes before i do so, or larger women donate more clothes to thrift stores, or the populations of these cities are skewed towards those specific sizes. i believe the average woman is a size 8, so perhaps that is a factor. it seems as if there is some belief that the surrounding area heavily influences the selection found; i have certainly heard the advice "go to thrift stores in wealthy areas" often, but i am curious to whether those stores offer a better selection. i do not shop at particularly "affluent" thrift stores, and i come across designer brands fairly often. can you predict demographics through donations made to thrift stores? CURIOUS.


tshirts for mr. adam. wolves, a la flight of the concords. tacky gold fish (jury is out whether or not he will wear this). adam is building a collection of old portland sports-themed tshirts, and the purple one is courtesy of "hamlin", number 11. thanks.



deadstock birthday cards.

bike license plates! never mind neither adam nor i have bicycles at the moment . . . all in good time.

they were (apparently) dead-stock, which accounts for the lack of names that were not "ron", "craig", "debbie", "christy". same names as those fantastic birthday cards above. and since i do not have any friends who were born during the 70s, we have taken on alter egos. good for quick bike get-aways.

what a great thrift trip, about $16 in all. i found a couple of neat mugs and books at the goodwill, but that can be photographed in a bit.

tomorrow = chicago!

i am looking forward to seeing adam . . . i miss him very much.

26.12.08

what i wore today.

headband: tortoise-shell, mystery
turtleneck : banana republic, outlet
necklace : h+m
skirt: thrifted, hemmed
underskirt: thrifted, vintage french school uniform
leggings: llbean silkweight long underwear
shoes: black patent-leather t-bars, target

llbean long underwear = saving grace in winter. looks like shiny tights, insulates like a muvfabitch.

angry-face is due to a "check-engine" light that will. not. disappear. blergh.

went a thrifting

and was sadly disappointed. if the clybourn and western salvation army is anything to go by, chicago's thrift stores are dirty, crowded and kind of skanky . . . and not in the good way.

i found a pair of black patent pumps, a lavender short cap-sleeved angora sweater and a certifiably bad-ass black and gold tunic. oh man. but it was not a good experience.

i've been in a bit of a sartorial tizzy lately, because i have a job! an office job! and i have no idea what to wear. oh dear.

pictures to come!

9.17.08, wednesday

scarf: h+m
shirt : h+m
belt : thrifted
skirt : thrifted
tights : h+m
shoes : primark
bracelets : primark

plus black cardigan, target, not in picture. all re-mixed, save shoes and bracelets.

this picture is funny to me because i generally think i am way way taller than the actuality. like, if you asked me to show you someone with an equivalent height, i'd eyeball like a 5'6"/7" woman. i think i'm as tall as adam sometimes.

BUT as reality shows, i am a head above the ironing board. awesome. i'm a secret tall girl trapped in a 5'2" frame! ahhh!


anyway, other than having existential height crises, i realize i haven't been posting a lot, or any, really, wardrobe pictures - there are a few reasons for such.

1. i live out of a backpack, ergo
2. i wear the same five outfits repeatedly, which is
3. vaguely boring to me, so i'm not inclined to share with the interwebs.

anyway. here is today. it is cloudy and brisk outside here [surprise], so the wool skirt is in order.

p.s. primark is the poor [british] man's clothes section of target. it smells like what i imagine a sweatshop does, but it's cheap by american standards. hot damn.

p.p.s. this post also features a corner of the lovely emma's lovely spare room - where we are camping out hobo-style.

23.8.08

i get a lot of comments on how i am usually in a skirt or a dress; how "dressed-up" i always look. i hate to look slovenly or overly casual but i am fundamentally lazy; the cost-benefit of looking pulled together vs. spending hours doing so results in non-pants. i feel people do not understand the pure easiness of throwing on a dress in the morning; there's nothing to match to each other, no worries about body-images [i find dresses/skirts are generally miles more flattering than pants, on me at least], and you instantly look nice! BAM.

in addition, i believe very strongly in the enduring power of oldey-timey things, such as, but not limited to, watch fobs, gloves, heels, pencil skirts and veiled hats; one feels and acts better when one looks more put-together. in particular, i LOVE vintage hats as no one wears hats anymore . . .



i found this one at the flea market this morning - originally 18$, marked down to 10$, and then i only had 9$, so it became mine for 1/2 off. JACKPOT. the guy said "you never know, maybe those willl come back into style" and i said i was doing my best.
hat : vintage, flea market
shirt : h+m, boston
skirt : aa, montreal
shoes : uo, montreal

i originally had balked at buying this skirt - it was what? like $40? i don't remember now - but i love it. i prefer to wear it with tights over bare legs - it is a bit short - but i love the fabric, the cut, the silhouette and the elastic waist. LOVE ME SOME ELASTIC WAIST.


twoooooo more days until adam and i leave for the old country . . . . blergh. packing.

things i love ii

a week has gone by! yowza.

i. thrift stores! honestly, i prefer them to "real" clothes store. i love that weird funk of old lady and dust, i love spotting fellow ladies searching for gems [or rather it makes me anxious because OH MY GOD what if they take something neat?!? because the good lord knows that EVERYTHING is a competition for me], i love paying 10$ and getting a skirt, belt, shoes, and two books. i love spotting interesting fabrics or neat clothes shapes on a rack from miles away now.

ii. miniature toiletries! i am getting packed to leave [on tuesday! ack!] and all the mini scaled-down bottles are uber adorable

iii. tattoos! despite some negative backlash from the dentist today ["why you have tattoos! that's why you're not married!"], i can't wait to finish my chest-piece and to start brainstorming and stewing about a possible half sleeve. bme is a real inspiration, although i believe the piercing part of my life is over.

iv. sasquatch! um, apparently some people "found" him in appalachia! but, sadly, it was all a hoax. someday. someday he'll pop up. i wrote an academic term paper on the possible existence of the 'quatch - short answer? oh yes my friend. it's possible.

v. adam! he is my boyfriend and i love him very much.

the original tilt over here

20+19.8.08

a little out of order, natch, but no worries. i just finished making alternations to this dress this morning - i bought it being a medium, so took in the side and shoulder seams. they're a bit sloppy, but oh well. i am not known for my skills as a seamstress. also hemmed it up by 5". inside are neat oldey-timey labels - "proudly made by a woman's union in the usa!".

cardigan : remixed beyond belief
belt : thrifted, goodwill. similar braided belts were at h+m for 20$! thrift shops in maine are overrun with them.
dress : thrifted, goodwill. altered.
shoes : target


i just bought these shoes at target for $5 - very pleased. they're a bit summery, but i feel confident about being able to pair the yellow with black tights in a month or so! super comfortable too.

the true glory of our boston trip - the elusive shirt-dress! i've been coveting one for a while, in the back of my mind, and i love this dress! the length, the puffed sleeves, gentle blue and white stripes, glorious.

necklace : h+m
dress : h+m
belt : thrifted, goodwill
sandals : old navy

another shot of this fantastic dress with my new thrift belt. i am in serious love.

i trimmed up my bangs this morning - a friend informed me i looked like a beatle, so i took off a little of the fringe in front.

this is long-coming on the w_r front, but i've been wearing the same three loose dresses for. weeks.
and the nature of this new scar is such that wearing pants is uncomfortable . . . but that don't matter, never really liked them anyway.

homesteading

the array - lights, darks and red for the middle squares.



for $5 at an antique shop. love it.




i really dig traditional quilt designs. log cabin dates from the 1800s, where the red square in the middle symbolizes the hearth and the light and dark sides remind us of the duality of life. neat! the light/dark combination allows the final blocks to be arranged in all sorts of neat designs. i'm going for a kind of scrappy look to it, since this allows for lots and lots of fabric purchasing and non-boredom-inducing repetitive work - just the kind that makes me abandon projects recklessly.

and, you know what? it's fun to shop for fabric. a whole new section of thrift stores just got more interesting!

benevolence of thrift gods

COMPLETELY struck out at the flea market yesterday . . .

but all was turned around when the bath, me goodwill came through with (2) complete outfits. yee-haw! i was so pumped.

shorts : thrifted, bright! orange linen
belt :thrifted, brown braided leather
shirt : thrifted, ralph lauren
scarf : thrifted

[invisible] shoes : thrifted, topsiders

this is my first 100% thrifted outfit and it feels so good . . . it's taken me quite a while to get to that point, where i own enough thrifted clothes to pull together entire outfits. thrift shopping is so different from regular stores, where you don't go in looking for a particular piece, but trust in the serendipitous and fickle nature of thrift deities . . .