Locked In

Faux fur coat? Vintage (similar here) Top? Vanilia Jeans? MiH Jeans  (here, I paid a lot less...)

 Necklaces? Thrifted (a great showy piece on etsy here) Hand knit turban? Available at the shop

Organization is not something that comes naturally to me. We can debate whether it is nature or nurture but either way, it's something I have to fight for. I put up a good front, I Instagram the good stuff, I shut the door to the mess when company comes over and I keep the store constantly re-merchandised and in its place but really, deep down, I am a hot mess waiting to burst forth. I leave a trail of dirty dishes, receipts, clothes and apologies in my wake.
That said, I know that being organized will make me feel a lot better and will make many aspects of life run a lot smoother.
When I started the store, I actually stumbled upon a lot of 48 bins of vintage online and I took a chance and bought them. Those bins plus the vintage I have since accumulated means that there is a lot of stuff in my life right now... So much vintage that needs to be sorted, cleaned, mended... I just want to get to a place where my product is ready to hit the floor in an organized manner. I'm not kidding myself, I know that running a shop is a giant learning curve and I'm probably always going to feel like I'm playing catch up... but I just want to feel more in control.
So... right now I take a day a week, where my track pants and I are locked in the house and we set to work putting things in their place. I don't even allow myself to run to a corner store to get beef jerky. Come spring I will be busy, busy, busy so I want to have things ready to go once this deep freeze releases us. I will say this, metaphorically locking yourself in the house with good food and a good playlist leads to getting things done. I want to, one day, be an organizational machine (hahahahaha, ok then...) but for now, I am happy to be on the road towards that goal.

Oh yes, and this outfit? Clearly not worn on a day of self imposed house arrest. I was out of the house and wearing a ton of lipstick like a free bird...

****Freezing and fabulous pictures by Shelly Spithoff Photography

Winter Whine

Coat and collar? Vintage, thrifted (similar here or vintage here) Dress? Maggy London, thrifted (very similar here) Boots? Holt Renfrew Last Call Clutch? Gucci, thrifted

Camel coats are the perfect blend of fashion and function. They look rather fabulous (Pinterest says so...) and they are so warm and cosy... Which is perfect for this winter because the bare ankle shenanigans of even the last post are the by-product of rare little blips of reasonable temps in the middle of a stretch of curse word inducing cold. 

That was a run-on sentence. What I'm basically trying to say, is that this winter has made me so glad for my collection of big and warm vintage coats. It has also made me thankful for my crockpot and for twitter, so I can direct weather whines mostly in one direction... Though, let's be honest, weather complaints are the best conversation starters. 

Spots on Dots

Coat? Vintage (rain coat version on etsy here or fluffier one on Asos here) Silk blouse? Joe Fresh (here) 

Pants? Joe Fresh  (size down, here) Shoes? Guess, thrifted Clutch? Hilary Radley

So many Cruella de Vil jokes, so little time...

This coat was a bit of an internal struggle for me... It's a mint 1960's coat and well, it's awesome. I put it in the shop and secretly (not so secretly really...) hoped that it wouldn't sell because I wanted it so bad. I'm a bizness woman now and I need to be strong, that's what I told myself...

Of course this would happen, I love vintage and now I am selling vintage. 

On the one hand I am impressed with myself at how easy it is to let things go, how I can set the boundaries between my own stuff and what goes into the shop. Not trying things on helps...  But on the other hand it is really tough to let some really special pieces go. It helps that they go to good homes because when people try on a more rare piece and get a little happy dance-y in the shop, I am thrilled to send it off with someone who loves it like I do. It's just that when I sell something special, I always get this panic that I will never find anything as special again. And of course I do but in that moment I just want to hoard all the good vintage in my closet. So, so selfish Yen...

One would think kindergarten is where you learn to share but I'm learning that tough lesson from owning a shop. Except for this coat, that was a little step back in the lesson plan... uh, whoops?

P.S. If you are interested, last Friday I was on the local morning show chatting it up about vintage. Tons of fun and minimal stress sweats (on my part, phew...) with my beloved motley crew of models, including Julie and my Mamabear... Click here to see us act like we knew exactly what we were doing;)

That Thrift Store Find... Louboutin Pumps

So... I thrifted a pair of Christian Louboutins. The Decollete to be exact, in patent leather, size 37.5 and in excellent condition.
Of all the treasures I dig for in a thrift store, I never, ever expected to run across an authentic pair of CL. When I found them (at a Value Village in Brantford... there, you have my secrets...), I actually laughed at first. I have seen my fair share of designer fakes in the thrift store; ripped faux Louis Vuitton bags marked up to ridiculous prices, a pair of the most plastic Tod's in the showcase of my local haunt and best of all, a fake Chanel bag for $250 proudly posted on a thrift store's Instagram. So I laughed when I grabbed the shoes because there was no way they could be real...
And then I stopped laughing because they looked really, really well made.
I am not an expert a spotting counterfeit, I learn details from the Google machine but I do know that these kinds of designer items better be impeccably constructed. That while counterfeits can have red soles and stamped labels, they have a hard time getting the technical details of construction just right. So being that they were well-made, I did a quick Google search and found that authenticLouboutins have leather soles, while many fakes have vinyl soles. From the wear on the soles, I could see that they were indeed leather. I took a chance and nestled (gently, with care...) them in my buggy. At this point, I was about 53% sure they were real but with 50% off day for Club Card members, I figured they were worth the $12.50 chance.
That night I fell into the Internet hole of researching Louboutins. The more I scrolled through pictures of reals vs. fakes and read up on how each shoe is individually hand crafted, the more certain I got that they were real.
Sidenote: this collecting Louboutin shoes world is this whole sub-culture I had no idea about. Hundreds of pages of forums dedicated to these shoes and discussing every detail about them. Whoa. Mind-blown. 

I went to bed about 97% sure they were the real deal. The next day, I posted clear pictures of them on a reputable authentication forum and they were confirmed to be authentic. Mostly I just wanted to yell 'I knew it!' because gloating is my finest skill...

I don't think these are my most interesting thrift find or even my most valuable but they are probably my best thrift story to date. I expect vintage treasures or less-known designer pieces to slip by the sorting process at the thrift store, I just never expected flashy red soles to actually get donated and then priced very reasonably as well. I understand how some designer pieces get donated because they might just be too random to be worth the effort for an individual to resell them but used, very worn CL still get good money on Ebay.

Who donated these? Can I peek in your closet?

As much as I want to keep them as the ultimate thrift trophy, they don't even come close to fitting me, so I will be selling them.

SOLD _That was quick, thanks for your responses!!! Now to find more;)

Ha! Still can't believe I found these beauties at a thrift store...

More pictures when you click through.

Gotta Keep 'em Seperated

I'm pretty sure this thrift store find started out its life as a mother-of-the-bride ensemble... I hope the lady who wore it first enjoyed it thoroughly and danced her butt off to the YMCA. I shall attempt to do it justice, though I always screw up and do the C backwards on the dancefloor...

Honestly, when I first saw this two-piece at the thrift store, I skipped over it because it's not my usual thing... It's good quality and made in Canada but it's not something extraordinary and it is a few sizes too big. But that fringe drew me back and before I knew it, it had made its way into my cart. I'm having a fringe moment darhhhling...

Pants? Joe Fresh Shoes? Guess, thrifted (great pair here) Necklace? Vintage

What brought this thrift find away from being too mother-of-the-bride was separating the two pieces. Because matchy-matchy is ok... but usually it's really not. 

I know black skinny jeans are the lazy option to put with this top, it's just that when it works, it works. In this case, they are the perfect backdrop to show off that fringe. I scrunched the sleeves of the shirt up because it's an easy way to make a too big top look more proportionate. I'll probably throw a new hem in there someday to shorten the sleeves officially but no one should hold their breath for that business.

After I took these pictures, I immediately wore this all day. I love how the fringe looked streaming out underneath my leather bomber. 

Sweater? Zara, very similar here Boots? Max Mara (hand-me down/gift)

I mostly bought the outfit because I knew I would get a lot of wear out of the shirt. But once I tried the skirt on and saw how cool the hem was, I knew the skirt would also get day passes out of my closet. Not a giant fan of an elasticized waist but I can handle it in this case...

I've mentioned it many times but when I first really got into thrifting again (I've always thrifted, I just increased my commitment to the relationship when I started the blog), I saw potential in everything on the racks. I think that is a good way to start thrifting perhaps; to open your mind and to imagine how something could look with a belt, a hem, a tweak or a good pair of high heels. But I have a lot (a lot) of clothes now, so I need to be much pickier about what I take home for myself. I am glad however, that this little pair came home with me. My closet needed that fringe...

Snow Shine

Skirt? Milli in Hamilton, super clearance (another sweet sequin maxi here) Sweater? Thrifted 

Boots? Canadian Tire

This is what I wore for New Years when we were still up north. I figured I would start the new year with people I love, in a skirt I love. To be honest, the skirt never quite made it to midnight because after these pictures were taken, I was on dinner duty and with sweet potato poutine on the menu, I didn't want to have a gravy accident. 

Post dinner I dutifully put on my party skirt again, only to change into my snow pants to go tobogganing. And after that exertion, I was done/stick a fork in me, so the fact that I (barely) stayed awake to midnight was the accomplishment. I'm not even upset about this skirt getting trumped by snow pants either... I've worn this skirt more than I ever would have thought when I bought it; first to my brother's wedding, then to a holiday party and now that I've worn it in the Canadian wilderness (ok, the Canadian wilderness gets far more wilderness-y than what we experienced...), the next logical step is wearing it to get my oil changed. Nah... scratch that, I actually just got that done. The next logical step is clearly wearing it to the dentist, I'm overdue for a visit, I think I have a cavity and I'm a little scared... Sequins may just take the edge off.

Support

Skirt? Thrifted (similar on Etsy  here or here) Jacket? Zara, thrifted 

Fluffy vest? Vintage re-make from Modify Your Closet Clutch? Thrifted Earrings? Vintage, Once Again Antiques

Matt came to help me with something at the shop this weekend and I left him to shop-sit so I could do some shopping and get a last minute birthday gift. And while I was birthday gift shopping at an antique shop on the street, I saw these big ol' sparkly earrings* and I ended up sneaking them in with my other purchases. I figure if I make purchases on the street that I have a shop on, it's not really shopping, it's supporting.

The vintage digging I do at Revolving Closet is relationship building, not buying more dresses than my closet can contain. The candles I buy from my neighbour are a business expense, not an attempt to make my house smell like I've been baking cinnamon buns while, in fact, I was probably passed out on the couch. And the copious amount of fajitas from the two Mexican restaurants on Ottawa St. that I survived off of when we were setting up shop? I don't have to explain that because that was just ridiculous...
...ly awesome.


*There was one more pair similar to these at Once Again. They are blue and white, $35, for pierced ears and quite comfortable. Just thought I would share that, in case you were the kinda person who enjoys a little sparkle;) 

Due North

Coat? Vintage Holt Renfrew Hat? F21 (old) Sweater? Zara (similar here) Plaid shirt? Joe Fresh 

Necklace? Thrifted Boots? c/o La Canadienne

Happy 2014!!!!
Last year we went up north for a few days around NYE as a last minute kind of thing... This year, with a bunch of our friends, we figured we had so much fun last time that we actually planned in advance and booked a place at least three weeks beforehand.
It's so pretty and serene in Northern Ontario... We got to enjoy the natural beauty and just relax. By relax, I mean we hung out and watched Discovery Channel and Criminal Minds for hours... And ate a lot of food. Bliss.
I feel like I had my 'up north' training wheels on last year, I had to borrow layers and clothes because the cold and the snow is a different beast from what we deal with here in Hamilton*. This year it was even snowier and colder than last year but I was so prepared that I wanted to high five myself. I brought a lot of plaid (obviously because it is so rugged and stuff), all my toques, my newly thrifted snow pants and thermal sweater and the snow boots that Matt searched a few Canadian Tires for. With my own legitimate snow pants and snow boots, I could frolic in the snow and when I fell on my tailbone down an icy hill, the layers cushioned the fall.
When I wasn't snow frolicking or watching tv marathons, I even managed to be warm and kinda fancy for a trip into town thanks to this vintage coat. The coat was supposed to go in the shop but it had a mark on the suede that I couldn't get out. That little bit of damage was just enough to ease my conscience about keeping the coat for myself...


*except right now because we are in a major cold snap... I'm wearing a sleeping bag to work for now.