Accidental Swap

Once upon a time there was a tall girl who bought an amazing vintage dress for $10. In her excitement to wear it the very next day, she went scissor happy and hemmed it a wee bit too short. She said a few bad words, recovered and decided to share the dress with her shorter friend.

The day after once upon a time, the shorter friend discovered a pair of 7fam jeans in her cupboard that she had not worn in a long time. They were way too long and didn't fit quite right. So, she gave the jeans to her tall friend who fit them perfectly (like Cinderella and her glass slipper but these pants thankfully didn't come with a prince... that would have become an awkward situation) and threw some bleach on them. There might be more bleach in the future because the tall friend likes her jeans bleached and damaged, much to her mother's disgruntle.

And then the short friend with her cute dress and the tall friend with her new favourite bleached jeans lived happily ever after*.

* except for the moments of regret that the tall friend had over her stupidity at cutting the dress too short. One day she hopes she will be much wiser...

Tweed Tips

  Tweed jacket? Thrifted (very similar in blue on sale here) Pants? Gap (these are the best boyfriend jeans, just the perfect slouch but still fit in the right spots) Boots? Ash (similar here) 

Shirt? Thrifted Belt? Michael Kors (similar here)

Last week, as I was walking into Talize for the 50% off sale, the cutest little old lady stopped me outside to tell me she had left lots of good stuff for me. How funny is that? I have no idea why she told me that, though if I had to guess, I would imagine it would be that I probably had some dorky, thrift-high look on my face...

Inside Talize, I went to the blazer section first because a friend had asked me to keep an eye out for a pink tweed jacket. I figured I might as well take care of my to-do list before I started looking for more dresses and sequins to add to their friends at home. My friend had found a tweed jacket at J. Crew (kinda like this one, can't find the exact one anymore) and was hoping the thrift store could deliver something similar for her. I found a light pink one in a  classic blazer cut and this darker pink one that was more in a boxy, cropped shape. They were under $5, so I bought both and she can take what she wants. I took the darker pink tweed jacket out for a test drive last weekend because I am considerate like that...

And since we're talking tweed, and since J. Crew has declared it to be back in style, I just want to say that tweed is in abundance at the thrift store. Though it is quite common (Chanel anyone?) and almost a fashion staple, it went through two pretty major trend cycles in the last 20 years. These two 'recent' trend cycles left us with plenty of tweed in the world. In the early to mid 90's, tweed had a moment and I also distinctly remember tweed being the most popular thing of life when I was in university about 8 years ago. I feel like in 2013, a good quality, well-fit blazer looks current no matter what the fabric is. So, if you find a nice quality tweed jacket at the thrift store, it is worth spending some money to get it tailored if necessary.

And there you go, an outfit and a thrift tip in one post.

Suggestions

Dress? Vintage, Netty's Vintage Bag? Vintage, Modify Your Closet Boots? Aldo Earrings? Bebe

When I wear these earrings with a big coat (which I did over this dress because winter is still making itself at home), they jam on my shoulders and I can't move my head from side to side very easily. So I keep my face turned forwards and act like nothing in the periphery is worth my attention. I want to complain about it but I think when you choose to wear giant earrings, you need to accept the consequences... and miss any life details happening to the right or left of you.

And about the dress... It was actually my sister-in-law who suggested in, telling me that olive would be a nice colour for me. I rarely wear olive but thanks to her, I am quite liking it. Olive her for suggesting it. 

I am on a really bad streak for awful puns. I'm going to take March off of puns to gain some of my self respect back... 

Thrift Find

I hit a rich vein of thrifting these past few weeks. I did the Value Village/Talize thrift crawl twice. Once for the 50% off days and once when I needed a vintage frame to hang a cat poster from my grandmother. Of course, I needed to start my hunt for a good picture frame by walking through the dress section. It's all part of the journey, right?
Of all my finds, including a pretty good 50% off day haul which I documented on Instagram (bucking my mediocre record on 50% days...), my best find was most definitely a made-in-France, Sonia Rykiel dress. There was a tag that labelled it as a special release for Milli's in Hamilton. Yay for local love.
But when I went to take pictures of the dress on the judy, it just didn't highlight how perfect it is. At first glance it looks like a classic 3/4 length black dress but it has these amazing details that just elevate it. It needs a body, not a judy to do it justice. No offence Judy. I've included a picture of the top, with its popping shoulder detail, but for its full reveal, ye shall have to wait for the first nice summer night where I make up a fancy occasion just to wear it out. I am hoping that will sucker you into reading my blog for a few more months...?

Seriously, I would never have a chance at a mint condition Sonia Rykiel piece (an indication of their regular prices here), if it were not for the thrift store. This is why I thrift.

Up until I found the Sonia Rykiel, I was pretty happy with the $13 silk beaded dress I found earlier at Talize that day. I really do like it a lot but in my excitement for the other dress, it dropped to second place. It's good though, like I said; silk, great condition, fits perfectly and it's a Petite, so it's a little shorter... I'm open minded about my hem lengths (how progressive of me... I know), but I can be partial to a shorter number.

What sold me on it? That scalloped hem.