Saturday, September 13, 2008

Thrifts and Gifts

Today's outfit was a combination of recently thrifted items and gifts. I found this sheer cream blouse at the Hospice Thrift this week for $2. The drape is nice and I love how tiny the collar is. Just one of those great basic pieces.

The gray pants (they're jean-like but much thinner and softer) are another great basic, given to me by my friend Julianne. Someone she knew was trying to find them a home and she took them thinking they might fit me. Turns out they fit PERFECTLY and are now the nicest pair of pants I own, brand new and very high quality from a boutique in Spain. I've been wearing them a lot lately, thanks Julianne!

For some reason I find this shot incredibly amusing. Maybe it's how I appear to be in complete denial of the fact that I have a child. Meanwhile she sits there plain as day in all her pink-striped glory pondering the quickened beeping of the strange blinking red light. Really, there's no denying such cuteness and cuteness of this magnitude can not be cropped, besides, she kinda matches bits of my patchwork leather bag ($1 from the romper rummage sale awhile back).

The GORGEOUS pinkish nude suede shoes and this really cool bracelet were swap gifts from the lovely and stylish Meg of the fashion maven. I saw the bracelet on this post along with some other pieces of jewelery that she made and commented about how much I liked it.

I was thrilled when she offered to do a swap with me for the bracelet, and even more thrilled when it showed up with these amazing shoes that she thrifted for just 3.99. They look barely worn and the suede is sooo soft!

I love the beautiful Gandhi quote and the simplicity of the bracelet which is what I was originally drawn to. I can wear it with everything and lately I have been, thanks Meg! :)

It seems I'm not the only one who is drawn to the bracelet though. Clover has taken quite the liking to it. She absolutely LOVES playing with this bracelet. I don't know what it is, but it's amazing! When she starts getting fussy now, I just take it off and hand it to her and she is instantly appeased. Meg, for that I thank you most, as it is a truly priceless gift (one that came in very handy today at the supermarket ;).

The hair was an experiment inspired by this lovely post by Milla at The Girl Who Married a Bear. I started off following the tutorial for creating the Gibson Girl hairstyle that she refers to at the end of her post, but then kinda started doing my own thing and one large hairclip, one small hair clip, one hairband, and about 8 bobbypins later this was what I ended up with.

Two more items from the Hospice Thrift this week. The bag was $2.50 and is the perfect size for carrying books and magazines. I was actually planning to go to the bookstore and buy this exact book to read on our camping trip this week. I was so excited to come across the hardback copy for $4, quite the savings! I keep wanting to start reading it, but I'm saving it for the trip.

Here's an outfit I wore earlier this week. The pleated turquoise skirt with pockets was another find from Hospice thrift for $1. I also got a like-new blue paisley sling for lugging around little Miss Clover for $3. The cool part is that I got the blouse, bag, book, skirt, and sling all for less than what the book would have cost me at the bookstore :D

These two lovelies were both gifts from family that coincidentally showed up on my doorstep on exactly the same day a few weekends ago. I came home to find the adorable vintage cardi waiting for me on my front porch, it wasn't until days later that I found out my sister-in-law scored it at a clothing swap for me.

After discovering the cardigan, seemingly left by a mysterious cardigan fairy, my mother-in-law showed up later that day with this lovely skirt that she thrifted for me. The skirt fit perfectly and twirls like a dream! I couldn't get over how perfectly the two items went together :)


And now I'll leave you with some cute overload. Clover has a skill she would like to demonstrate:



Look mom, no hands!... Could I be any prouder? :)

25 comments:

Milla said...

Okay, first off, I love your hair and wish mine had turned out like that. And second of all, the Thrift Gods (whom Andrea imagines to be old ladies floating on a cloud, a very accurate seeming idea;) must really be on your side, like you were saying. It's all amazing! Flower Children, that cardi...
And kudos to clover on standing up with no hands, that's the route to pulling items down from the shelves in thrifstores, girlie! You're on your way!

Eyeliah said...

Lovely neutral outfit.

loveology said...

Woooooow Missa!
I don't think i have the right words for this post!!
First, your little one is soo amazingly cute and she looks so adorable! I think i can imagine only a little how proud you must be!

Then, your outfits....both of them! GORGEOUS!
The first is so simple, yet chic and not simple as in boring at all.
I love the blouse so very much, the little collar is indeed so cute.
The shoes are also amazing, the colour is just perfect!

The second outfit is totally different but looks absolutely as good on you! Love the colours and that bag!!!

Ok, i'll stop now, before i go on and on about how pretty you look (and are!)

Bye dear,

speak to you soon!

Mila.

Jen said...

Aww, Clover is cute overload!! I love that blouse at the top, and am trying with no luck to find something similar - fingers crossed :)

Skye said...

Go Clover - check out those moves! The little dude was captivated by all the Clover pics today (as was I). Look at all those lovely things, including you looking EXCEEDINGLY pretty!

Unknown said...

OMG I loooooove it all! Especially the floral cardi, Mexican embroidered blouse and the bag! I've been wanting one of those Mexican embroidered blouse forever, but just can't find one anywhere, around here.

Hey, I just did a post on thrift shopping in the Sacramento area on my blog (Udarata Kella), and in it I wrote about your blog too! :)

Unknown said...

Whoops ... forgot to add: your little girl is too adorable for words! I hope I can have a daughter one day too. :)

ashley said...

that post was fabulous. i love both those outfits- especially the amazing bright yellow top in the second one...is there anything that doesn't look perfect on you?!
and clover looks so darling {the pic of her on the couch with you is absolutly frame-able!}
i envy your thriftiness and aim to be as talented at it.
Happy Monday;0
xo ashley

Anonymous said...

I a) love your hair, it looks so feminine and pretty b) love your bright ensemble and c) am extremely jealous of the shoes and your white blouse, they are ridiculously good!

Tanya said...

sooo cute!!

and im loving the long post, so much to entertain me with!!! yay

and you have the perfect old fashioned sort of face (is it possible to have and old fashioned face?:)) anyway i just meant to say that that hair style suits you magnificently!

home girl said...

clever clover - sooo cute! the hair looks fab - very now i rekkon cause that's pritty much how i do my hair everyday (plus fringe). its super paractical too - kids cant pull it - it looks sort of neat despite the windy/rainy etc weather. has somekind of ironic/vintage/feminist mix of a vibe. i defo think it should be a regular style for you xx

Alexa said...

I love the photo of the two of you. And I love that Frida Kahlo look!

Couture Carrie said...

The bambino? Adorable!
The pink shoes are cute too . . .

xoxox,
CC

Anonymous said...

Okay there is far too much thrift candy in this post. How can I comment on all of it without sounding somewhat stalker like. I'll pick out my two favorites. Actually the first is the photo of you and your lovely hairdo. You look absolutely stunning. And of course the last photo (although all photos of Clover) is too precious for words. What a gem of a daughter you have.

Swirlyarts said...

The yellow top is gorgeous, that cardigan is fantastic and your hair looks beautiful :)

Diane said...

Way to go, Clover! She's so precious. So many great thrifty gifts/finds. Gotta go with those suede shoes. Perfect. Isn't it the best when you find the EXACT thing (your book) you're looking for? Our blow dryer broke once and I wanted a new quieter one. Ran to the thrift and the ONLY blow dryer they had was a "whisper" model. Savings: $20!

loveology said...

Hi sweety!
Yes, i know exactly whay you mean with the text, it should be more in the middle of the second picture.
As you know by now, i am a PC dummy, so i tried to get it right, but i don't know how to do it.
I am a horrible perfectionist myself, so it was already kind of hard to accept this little imperfection. ;)
However, i am trying to learn myself to love imperfections more in stead of moving them immediately.

Thanks so much for your amazing comment on my blog, as you already know: it means the world to me, especially when my favourite sweet bloggers like you comment! <3

Thanks for everything dear!

Looking forward to your next post.

Hugs for you and little Clover! X

Mila.

Andrea Eames said...

Yay for Clover! :) And your hair looks lovely in the Gibson-esque style.

meg said...

this post has made me super duper happy! what amazing stuff! and all of the photos are just great! and your wee one is the icing on top of a thrift candy cake!!!!
so so glad the bracelet has been a soothing tool :)
you look amazing!

Cadmium said...

omg, don't you look lovely! love the pants and shoes, hair up, oh, the whole outfit in the first photos, very classic. adore the yellow blouse with the turquoise - so well combined! clover is the cutest little elf in her navy and white! have fun on your camping trip!

Dennise said...

I was so touched by that first image of you and your baby, I just had to post about it! Such beautiful ladies!xo

www.tenacious-dee.blogspot.com

Joanna Goddard said...

you two are so sweet!!

porter hovey said...

she's just too cute!

sarathira sukiman said...

oh my gosh, you both are the cutest little things! that gorgeous cardigan, that pink fantasy-like shoes, that cute skirt, ahh i love it! you have such an easy aura about you pretty lady, i wish you such a wonderful day :)

N said...

That is one of my absolute favorite books! I read it a long time ago on a camping trip too when I went to Mendocino.

You did a really great job with the Gibson Girl updo. It is really hard if you don't have the materials they did. I think that it looks beautiful! I tried it too, but it didn't come out too well. I'm not giving up though! haha