Yay for swap dresses... especially ones this cute!

A fun perk of having started this blog is that I get to meet other thrift-minded girls out there, and from time to time I even get the opportunity to be part of some really great thrift swapping :D

My latest swap was with with the lovely and talented, Lauren of Strike.Match, and when I say talented, I'm not kidding. She uses vintage and thrifted fabrics to make the most gorgeous dresses from scratch and I always love the wonderful little details she gives them.

Her package was filled with awesome pieces and even a few items that I had been on the lookout for, but this little dress was the item that definitely made my heart skip a beat when I saw it!

Can you believe this cute lil' thing was once a large vintage house dress?! It's pleating reminded her of my beloved green dress and she thought I would like the fabric (she was SO right). She took it in and up and reworked the bodice to transform it into this amazing dress. I'm so excited to now own a vintage dress custom altered just for me!

I recommend looking at the above photo full-size to truly appreciate the print and the construction details (oh, how I love that row of covered buttons!)

This is definitely going to be the perfect dress for those warm spring days that are just around the corner, but I couldn't wait to wear it, so I added my trusty little denim jacket that has lately become a much loved wardrobe staple :)

Except for the over-the-knee socks over tights (Target), the whole outfit is thrifted. Remember the shoes from a few posts ago? I'm loving them, they're so comfortable!

The gold "M" initial pin was from Lauren as well and I really like it combined with the butterfly pin from Milla. I think the two of them have taken up permanent residence on my little jacket for a while :)

Also, I discovered that the beautiful vintage buckles Lucas' mom gave me for my birthday make excellent scarf fasteners... now I just need to search for more little neck scarves, I thrifted this one years ago, it's got kind of an atomic 50's pattern on it.

Don't let the way my camera catches (and strangely seems to amplify) the sun through that window fool you, it was showering off and on throughout the day, giving me the perfect excuse to break out my new trenchcoat! Yup, can you believe it? Only two days after this post, I came across this chocolate brown double-breasted trench at the Salvation Army on half-off day :)

I like the color and fit of it and the double buttons, but it does have some annoying qualities, like the fact that it doesn't have real pockets, just some decorative flaps that make it look like it has pockets (???), it doesn't have a tie, and at 16 bucks even after the 50% discount, it was still a little more than I usually spend on things that aren't perfect... but hey, I was all hopped up on pictures of cute girls in trench coats, what was I gonna do, leave it there? ;)

Here's a little peak at the other lovely goodies that arrived in the swap package, I'm excited about putting together outfits with all of them! No doubt you'll be seeing more of these items in future outfit posts. Thanks so much again Lauren, I really had a great time with this swap! :D