Research

Sweater? Thrifted Fur collar? Gift, it belonged to a friend's grandmother Jeans? J Brand, Lovestory, Winners Purse? Vintage Roots, thrifted Earrings? Gift from my parents Sunglasses? Vintage, found by my parents too

I know. This look is a whole lot of 1970's... If you saw me on the street, would you ask me where I parked my Chrysler Barracuda?
And yes, I just googled 'popular cars in the 1970's' to come up with that car name... Thank goodness for google. I don't ever have to leave my house anymore with all the knowledge available at my finger tips. When I was younger and I needed information for a project, I would take the city bus downtown to the big library with a quarter in each pocket in case I needed to call home... To think I could have saved my mother the bus fare (and emergency quarters) and used google as my academic crutch instead. Because if the information is on the internet, it has to be true, right?

He Thrifted

Meet Jeff from The Midwestyle. He thrifted this jacket, shirt and sweater.
Um... Jeff's sweater has ducks on it (here if you want more pictures). That's pretty cool. I just yelled at Matt because he doesn't have any duck sweaters. He just yelled at me to go get him some meatloaf. I'm joking. I would never divulge the dynamics of our relationship on the blog. But back to Jeff and his thrift style... I like how he took some risks and had some fun. And while I thought that Kendall and I had the monoploy on posing in a field, it is clear that Jeff is boss...

Mystery Advice

Jeans? Rue 21 Shirt? Winners Sweater? J. Crew, thrifted Necklace? Banana Republic Boots? Joe Fresh Travel bag? Bought at a garage sale and given to me by my Mama Pictures? Thanks Ginny...xoxo

This weekend my friend and I went on a last minute, spontaneous road trip across the border to a cool, little resort town in New York. We slept in a trailer. We over dressed to go out to the local watering hole. We took a 45 minute cab ride on the only cab available on a Friday night through three counties to get home. And we were given the advice by a plaid be-shirted young lady that we had to watch out for local boys. Apparently it is hunting season and the good guys are the ones that have only bagged 1 deer, not 4 deer...? We thought this advice had some sort of metaphorical meaning but I think it was just straight up advice to go for less successful hunter. And while I am quite happy with Matt and I'm not on the hunt for a hunter to call my own, I am still so stuck on what the advice meant... I hate mysteries.

This Week I Thrifted...

Dress and Necklaces? All thrifted

What? A vintage ployester maxi dress.
Where? Talize
How much? $3.50
Why? Two Mondays ago it was the 50% off sale at Talize and last Monday it was the 50% off sale at Value Village. I got up super early to make it to both by 7 am (I know, I'm still grouchy at Value Village but the 50% off lured me...) and I did OK. Sadly, I always have more success when I have to pay full price. I did get this dress though... It's a little different for me; it is a lot of polyester and it has a rather ridiculous print (blue ladybugs and tulips...? ) but the fit is really flattering. There are elastics hidden under the arms that give the dress a nice shape in the right spots and let the rest of the dress drape nicely. Because I am awesome, I tried on the dress at home and I got myself completely tangled in these elastics and I snapped the one right off... Go ahead, take a moment and laugh as you picture me tangled in this dress...
Now the dress sits in the fix-it pile. It will take me 10 minutes to throw in new elastics but I will probably procrastinate on doing that until the spring... I can't just stop being a procrastinator, Matt would worry...

What did you thrift this week?

Making it Work

Skirt? Winners Sweater? Thrifted Tights? Zara Boots? Ash, Winners Clutch? Thrifted

The idea of a chunky knit paired with a floaty chiffon is very interesting in theory. But it's a combination that is frustrating in practice. If I leave the sweater untucked I lose my waist completely (that sounds pretty dramatic, it's really not...) and if I tuck in the sweater... Well, that's impossible, I can't tuck a sweater into a chiffon skirt. Does not work. So I got smart and I safety pinned the waist band of the sweater to the waist band of the skirt and created a faux tuck. My hair is not naturally this blonde, my teeth are not really this white and my sweater is not actually tucked in. All my secrets are exposed...

To all my American friends... Happy Thanksgiving! To all my Canadian friends... have fun at work?

She Thrifted

Meet Prissy from Rush Our Fashion. She thrifted this jumpsuit and the clutch.

I had a hard time picking what outfit of hers I wanted to feature. There is a lot of thrifted and bright, super-tall shoe goodness happening on her blog. I had another outfit picked out first but in the end, the jumpsuit won. That's because it takes special skill to wear a jumpsuit and look good. Not just good, pretty amazing actually. And so, for her thrifting skills and jumpsuit wearing skills, I give Prissy two thumbs up... Do people still do thumbs up? Or is that so 1995?

Holla-days!

Pants? Joe Fresh (here but not available online) Shoes? Ash, Winners Shirt? Winners Sweater? Gap, thrifted Clutch and necklaces? Thrifted

It's the holiday season. Matt says it begins in Canada on December 1st but he's wrong. We already had a friends' holiday party this weekend and while he was away at work, I also hung up a sparkly wreath on the front door. Wreath Logic states that once the wreath is hung, the festive season is here...
The only downfall of this time of year is that people assume that my gold pants are holiday pants, when really, they are just awesome and I wear them all. the. time. Besides, holiday pants are actually your Juicy track pants from 1999, the ones with the stretched out elastic... with lots of room for turkey, mashed potatoes and candy cane ice cream on top of pumpkin pie (stop judging...). All the holiday lookbooks showing up in your inbox are a big lie... unless they feature trackpants...

Next Steps

Whoa. Sometimes I'm a little shocked that I've consistently kept up with this blog for over 2.5 years. If my blog were a baby, I would be taking over your Facebook feed with status updates regarding Junior's toilet training... And just as metaphorical Junior is growing up, I can't help but think that it is time I let my blog grow up too.

You may have noticed that I have never really entered into the advertising and sponsorship side of blogging. This was a conscious decision on my part. It started out that I had 13 readers (not including my Mama, she didn't really start reading it until 6 months in...) and even thinking about advertising at that point was a little like putting the cart in front of the horse. Of course, that analogy falls apart now that we drive cars but regardless, advertising didn't even cross my mind when I first started out. Over time, the blog grew and I decided to keep my blog as purely a hobby. I distinctly remember having a conversation with Kyla and telling her I would never do advertising. You would think I would learn at some point to never say never... My decision not to monetize wasn't some reaction against advertising or consumerism, it was a decision to keep out distractions so I could find my own voice and style. Blog advertising and sponsorship is a complicated issue but mostly, I think I was afraid of waking up one day and not recognizing myself or my blog. It's a bit of an ego trip when a company wants to work with you and it can be easy to sit up and shake a paw at their demand. In hindsight, I could have had more faith in my own identity, I wouldn't have suddenly started to describe everything as 'lovely' or looked down and discovered that I was wearing ripped tights and Litas. I am glad though that I took the time to be sponsor free and to figure out where I wanted the blog to go.

For a long time I was pretty content with the way things were going and then, I wrote this post. And I realised that between organizing the content, setting up the pictures and writing the information in such a way that you didn't fall asleep after the first paragraph, I had spent a lot of time on one small post. Oprah would call this my 'aha' moment, I call it my 'wtf' moment. The next few weeks I went through some major blog burnout (doctor diagnosed obviously) and I thought deeply about the role blogging played in my life and about the massive amounts of time I spent on my 'hobby'. If I had used my time wisely, I would have watching all seasons of Mad Men and True Blood and every Twilight and Harry Potter movie just so I could be culturally relevant but to this day, I have watched none of those because I'm just too busy over analyzing my role in the world of fashion blogging. And at the end of all that thinking, I realised that if I wanted to keep my sanity, I needed to either quit my blog or get serious. I thought about quitting my blog and finding a new way to waste some time. I thought about cleaning my house, collecting beanie babies or knitting cat hair mittens but at the end of the day, I started a fashion blog because fashion is what I am most passionate about. Some people love cars, some people love music, some people love cheese and I love clothes (fine, and cheese too).

The truth is that the blog is no longer just a hobby, it has become an unpaid part time job. If I am going to continue doing this, I need to start allowing some opportunities to happen. It's a weird concept to grasp that as a fashion blogger, you are 'the product'. Merl blogs to support the jewels she creates and Megan blogs as a side project to her clothing line (and very well designed paper patterns...) but when I blog, it is essentially myself that I am promoting. You know what is humbling? Explaining the concept of fashion blogging to someone who has never even seen one before... 'I, um, put pictures of myself wearing clothes on the Internet...'. I just need to get over it... I'm a landscaper. I'm a fashion blogger. Crazier things have happened...

What does this mean for me now? It means I left my job last Friday. I poured mixed gasoline across the yard to write the words 'It's over!', lit it with my unfinished cigarette and posted the pictures on Instagram. I wish. If I were that dramatic, I would have a reality show not some fledgling blog. But I am easing up on my landscape contracts... a decision I actually made this spring, completely separate from the blog. I love landscaping but after almost a decade of outdoor work, my body is tired... especially the right side. Perhaps one day I will have to give up landscaping completely but I am not ready for that just yet. I would miss the dirt under my nails too much... But cutting down my landscape work load will give my body a break and give me time to work on other ventures. Yes, when I write ventures, it makes me feel very professional...

What does this mean for you? It means, that when I write 'I had a great weekend' I actually mean 'buy this sweater'... But mostly it just means that I hope to post more. I've been working hard these last few weeks on posting very consistently and I hope, that once time frees up, I can post a few more times a month. I'm most excited to talk more about thrifting... those are some of my favourite posts but they take so much time that it has always been hard to get them organized. I want to continue talking about other great girls who thrift, sharing thrift finds and giving tips on how to find the good stuff. And of course, I want to continue to post outfits and to talk about a whole lot of nothing.

Perhaps this is a self indulgent post. Really, a fashion blogger making the choice to monetize is about as newsworthy as an Olsen twin sighting in a Starbucks. But because I have always stayed away from that side of blogging, I felt an explanation was a good idea. I don't know exactly what the future holds for My Edit, but there is already a redesign in the works. Happy dance! I'm excited about this...
Finally, I would like to thank you for reading this post, on a weekend no less and for reading my blog in general. Thanks for reading and thanks for the thoughtful and often funny comments you leave. You guys make my day and keep me un-humble... I can't wait to keep sharing my fashion, thrifting and cat herding experiences with you!

Hi Fashion!

Pants? Gucci, Holt Renfrew Last Call Sweater? Winners Boots? Joe Fresh Purse and bracelets? Thrifted

I really liked this outfit and in my mind I described it as high fashion meets pajamas. And then I berated myself because using the words 'high fashion' to refer to oneself is kind of a d-bag move . It's almost as bad as 'liking' one of your own pictures on Instagram... Which I have done as well, but only because my clumsy fingers are too much for the iPhone to handle. So, I can blame my Instagram self promotion (speaking of which... find me at myeditblog) on clumsy fingers but how can I explain away the fact that I called myself 'high fashion'? I can't. I should have never let you in on my internal conversations...

Now you know... when my cats aren't around, I talk to myself about my clothes.

She Thrifted

Meet Beth from B. Jones Style. Her entire outfit is either vintage or thrifted. You may commence with your golf claps now...
Here's the deal. I think I'm a little too cool and a lot too tall to fangirl over anyone but if I were to ever meet Robyn, Maya Rudolph or B. Jones in real life, I would be a tongue-tied fool... I've said it before but what I love about Beth is that you can tell she has fun with fashion every. single. day. Every time you look at her blog she is wearing something completely different... and making it work. She makes thrifting look good and that, deserves fangirling 100%...

Industry

Dress? Thrifted Booties? Aldo Clutch? Thrifted Bangles? Thrifted

Hamilton has a big industrial area. The blue collar industry (especially the steel industry) has been a very complicated part of Hamilton's history and identity. It is also provides many interesting places to take outfit pictures...
We'll drive through the area... I'm on the lookout for somewhere to take pictures and Matt is telling me stories about every place we pass. Through his work, he's had interactions with many businesses in the East End industrial area. He'll tell me what places he had access to, who was caught stealing tires from a local mechanic, whose shop is like an episode of Hoarders and then he talks details on some steel production lines and I just nod.
This is us in our element. Matt is a gossip. And I'm too busy looking for a garage door that matches my dress to really listen...

Fruit Cake

Dress? Couldn't figure out the label..., consigned Tights? Winners Shoes? I.D. Browns Clutch? Thrifted Cuff? Goodwill auction

I think if you are a serious bargain shopper, you get used to shopping for the off season. To get the best deals, I buy sandals in September, parkas at the end of February and fruit cake in January. That's why I was recently surprised to find this sweater dress at a Grand Rapids consignment store in amongst some summery dresses on the 50% off rack. You don't question those moments. You just take your soft, pretty, warm dress and run. Well, you do a secret happy dance and pay first...

The best part is that I didn't realize until I got home that the zippers on the shoulders weren't just design details but rather clever design. There are little straps hidden within that change the look from a snug little sweater dress so a slouchy dress with bare shoulders.

Let's review... I got this dress for 50% off and the zipper detail lets me wear the dress in two unique ways. So... really, I paid 25% per look... Happily, this leaves me plenty of money to buy discounted fruit cake in January as your Christmas gifts next year. Don't ever say I don't love you...

She Thrifted

Meet Kendall from Kendall Donaldson. She thrifted that tassle-y (?) delicious sweater.
I'm ashamed that I just discovered her blog a few weeks ago because she's a fellow Canadian girl... and she actually lives reasonable close to me! Toronto to Hamilton without traffic? Reasonably close... Seeing as she likes thrift stores and I like thrift stores, I am thinking it's only a matter of time until we turn around and find ourselves in the same store. Even better, seeing as she likes to pose in fields and I like to pose in fields, I am thinking it is also only a matter of time until we turn around and find ourselves in the same field. And because we're sweet Canadian girls, I am sure one of us will run off and grab Tim Hortons coffee and maple syrup for everyone, while the other finishes getting their pose on. That's how we roll...

Sleep and Other Good Things

Blazer? Thrifted Silk blouse? Thrifted Cords? Joe Fresh Shoes? L'attitude, StyleSense Scarves? Swapped and gifted Purse? Roots Cuffs? Auction

I know the weekend is supposed to rejuvenate you before a new work week, but we were busy all weekend and by Sunday night I was even more exhausted than by Friday night. I realized this because I tried to write a blog post last night and not a single word got typed up. Which is crazy because it's been an interesting week and there was a lot to write about... a certain Beiber could possibly be procreating, a Kardashian could possibly be getting a divorce, my toes could possibly be seeing the sunlight for the last time this year... Plenty of blog post fodder I would think...
Because I couldn't write a post (also because I started to bawl over this story), I figured I would go to bed on time for once. Today, after a good sleep, I feel much better. Imagine that, it's almost like getting enough sleep would be an effective way to treat exhaustion. But that makes too much sense... and it would mean my mother's nagging over 8 hours of sleep a night is right. And if she no longer needs to nag about me getting enough sleep, she may start to nag that I have bare toes in November, and we can't let that happen...