Nifty Thrift Picks of the Week (4.30.09)

Sharing my weekly faves from the Nifty Thrift flickr group where people post pics of their nifty thrifty finds. In other words a weekly spot for me to publicly covet the finds of others :)

Postcard Album
Originally uploaded by hellomrfox

Old guides
Originally uploaded by Green Wellies

roosevelt h.s. yearbook 1929
Originally uploaded by m.bibelot

1. Seahorses are pretty much the most magical little creatures ever to exist, and how perfect would this album be for storing a vintage postcard collection?

2. Fifty cents for two lovely vintage pocket guide books is a super sweet deal. Check out examples of the illustrations here and here.

3. Ooh, vintage fashion inspiration abounds! You can view the awesome outfit m.bibelot put together inspired by the girl in the bottom left corner here :)

100% Thrifted Pick of the Week (4.29.09)

Think of your woman who's gone to the West,
originally uploaded by sunshineupton.

Enchanting is the word that keeps popping into my head when I look at this outfit. Appearing as if a fairy tale character come to life is one of Milla’s sartorial specialties and it’s one of the qualities that I adore most about her unique and amazing style.

What I love about this particular vintage 70's Gunne Sax patterned dress is its simple lines and the subtlety of its details. Even with the maxi-length and empire-waist, the lack of much of the usual fanfare that comes along with a gunne makes it seem totally wearable and not costumey. The contrasting elements in her finishing touches (another Milla specialty), delicate lace and a rugged leather satchel, complete the look perfectly :)

For an awesome chronicle of the origin and evolution of Gunne Sax dresses and some gorgeous Gunne eye candy, check out Milla's latest blog post here, I highly recommend it!

As always, check out more fabulous fully thrifted outfits over at the 100% Thrifted flickr group :)

Gingerbread Girl

Gingham and chambray have been two of the fabric trends to have caught my eye this season, so I was delighted to find them both together in one dress :)

Actually, when Amber of Violet Folklore contacted me awhile back about any gingham outfit photos I might have to contribute to the post she was putting together, was when it first occurred to me that my wardrobe was sadly gingham-free. I've been on a mission to change that ever since and this dress is my first step toward remedying the situation.


I picked it up for $5 at the Salvation Army on my trip to Santa Cruz (have I still not posted pics? sorry, another situation to remedy asap). I added a couple of this week's finds from my local Hospice Thrift, the first being this pair of woven leather oxfords I snagged for $2. They are totally the old lady comfort shoe version of these and about 10 times more cushiony and comfy to wear :)


The other find was this multi-colored leather belt for $1.50. With all its different colors it can be worn with just about anything and has become my current go-to belt.

Based on my wardrobe_remix comments, it seems this lil' dress has the ability to conjure images of both picnics in daisy-filled meadows AND 70's gingerbread houses... both of which sound pretty good to me :)

Nifty Thrift Picks of the Week (4.22.09)

Sharing my weekly faves from the Nifty Thrift flickr group where people post pics of their nifty thrifty finds. In other words a weekly spot for me to publicly covet the finds of others :)

Earth Day
Originally uploaded by BlackStar5

Originally uploaded by acht

seahoney_butterfly2
Originally uploaded by seahoney

Hope you all had a lovely Earth Day :)

100% Thrifted Pick of the Week (4.21.09)

, originally uploaded by Erin Liz.

What a ray of sunshine this outfit is. The last couple days here have been super hot and I can just imagine lounging under a giant shade tree in this outfit sipping a tall glass of ice cold lemonade and listening to the birds sing :)

That vintage cream blouse is a dream with its wonderfully subtle details and so perfectly combined with the yellow skirt. Enter the adorable straw hat (still looking for the perfect one of those, btw), her amazing shoes, and the delicate little pendant necklace as a finishing touch, and it’s all just as lovely as lovely can be.

Check out more fabulous fully thrifted outfits over at the 100% Thrifted flickr group :)

Hope Springs Eternal: Portrait of a 90's Style Icon

With her dark ethereal beauty and angelic voice, Hope Sandoval, frontwoman of the dreamily psychedelic 90’s band Mazzy Star, could have probably gotten by wearing nothing but the proverbial burlap sack and still be considered one of, if not the, coolest chick ever to have held a tambourine on stage or anywhere else for that matter.



Thankfully, she forewent the sack route to instead cultivate a style that I happen to find nothing short of glorious and it amazes me how well her style translates through the years. I have yet to find an image of her that looks dated… no small stylistic feat for someone in the 90’s spotlight.

Seriously, this woman leaves me awestruck...

All images via here.

One Hand in My Pocket...

With my plaid babydoll dress as a starting block, how could I not turn this outfit into an ode to the nineties? A decade that I will always have a huge soft spot for. Having graduated from high school in 1990, the 90’s were essentially my 20’s.

A time of figuring out who I was and who I wanted to be… dressing up and going out, weekends filled with live music at house parties, in dive bars, and at festivals, falling in love (the weak in the knees kind) with a flannel clad boy in ripped jeans with saltwater hair… who knew fourteen years later I’d still be relishing the thought of spending the rest of my life with him? :)

Ok, back to the outfit at hand, remember that huge bird scarf I thrifted awhile back? I liked the way the colors in the feather print worked with this dress which I’m pretty sure was meant to be worn with faded denim. Along with those dreamy ankle boots, I also added a couple of other new thrifted goodies from Milla, my fellow 90’s lover extraordinaire!

How precious is this lil’ girl on a swing necklace? Clover loves to sit on my lap and swing her back and forth while exclaiming “weee!” and the floral tapestry fold-up bag is not only 90’s revival stylin but extremely handy and functionally brilliant with all its special pockets… I’ve never had such an organized purse. Thanks Milla!

I wore the outfit to check out a new thrift store in town called Love Your Neighbor and I’m convinced it was the outfit that brought on the thrifting luck which led me to this awesome 90’s southwest-print canvas messenger bag. I love its colorful geometric pattern.

Complete with the original tags, check it out… “FIBRES OF THE NINETIES”… it’s like new, AND only cost $2.50… “BARGANZA” indeed!

This is the front of the bag. I’m thinking I’ll probably remove the fringe. It seems a bit much and I’m not crazy about how it competes with the pattern.

So, in the interest of the 90’s themed post and all, I dug up (perhaps against my better judgment in some cases, um… hello there midriff ;) some actual me in the nineties photos! As this was all before the digital age, I put together a little makeshift collage and took a picture that can be enlarged by clicking, should anyone want to get a better view of my “Angela Chase” dress/oversize flannel combo or my “Jordan Catalano” jacket ;)

Not to mention that floral number I apparently liked to wear while lounging in trees. That was actually a wide-legged jumpsuit! I practically lived in my overalls and footwear was all about boots, Chucks, and china flats.

While I’m a lot less likely to bare my belly button these days and I prefer my flannels shrunken... overall, yes I do love me a bad pun, my tastes haven’t changed too drastically from what they were then. In fact, I wish I still had that paisley peasant blouse.

By the way, did anyone spot the red and white Salvation Army bag on the floor? These days I’m trying to be better about bringing an eco-friendly bag with me to avoid the plastic ;)

P.S. While I’m on the subject, tune in tomorrow for a special style inspiration post featuring a personal favorite 90’s style icon. Who could it be? Oh, the suspense!

Nifty Thrift Picks of the Week (4.15.09)

Sharing my weekly faves from the Nifty Thrift flickr group where people post pics of their nifty thrifty finds. In other words a weekly spot for me to publicly covet the finds of others :)

Easter egg necklace
Originally uploaded by Quietland

Patent Rainbow Belt
Originally uploaded by moxie-girl

P1010848
Originally uploaded by hellomrfox

ballet
Originally uploaded by veronikavsyou

Actually, this is me playing virtual Easter-inspired dress-up over in the Nifty Thrift pool ;)

100% Thrifted Pick of the Week (4.14.09)

blue dress, originally uploaded by zombielace.

, originally uploaded by nemrešpobjećodnedjelje.

It was this 100% thrifted look that I originally wanted to post simply because of it's outstanding loveliness, unfortunately kittytown's settings don't allow for her photos to be blogged. Then today when zombielace posted the top outfit here, the combination of the navy dress with the brown leather belt stood out to me in a really great way and made me realize that this was the element that I was finding so compelling in kittytown's outfit as well.

Then while browsing through the rest of the week's posts, I came across the second outfit here by nemrespobjecodnedjelje (love that heart print!) and noticed that she too had added (and with interesting placement to boot) the skinniest of brown leather belts to her navy dress.

I think it's a really cute combo and definitely something I'd like to try replicating in an outfit, now all I need to do is thrift me a navy dress! As usual, you can check out more fabulous fully thrifted outfits over at the 100% Thrifted flickr group :)

Backyard Buddies

A few weeks back I thrifted another polaroid camera. I got it at Salvation Army for $6 on half-off day but the really awesome part was that the camera already had film in it with 5 pictures left AND a full package of 600 film taped to the top! I would have gladly paid the six bucks for the box of film alone!

Not wanting to waste the precious film, the camera had been sitting unused, but Sunday afternoon while lounging barefoot in the backyard and watching Clover play with her new pals Max and Ruby, I knew it was time to try it out.

Still in her Easter dress from the day's earlier festivities (egg hunting, delicious brunch eating, live baby chick petting, a day on a farm with family and friends...), I followed her around the yard using up the camera's remaining film while experimenting with different lighting conditions and such.

With two shots left, I plopped her and her two little Easter buddies down in the patch of wild onion flowering beneath our plum tree where I took the above photo. It's my favorite of the bunch.

Since I don't have a scanner, I had to resort to taking a digital photo of it and cropping it in Photoshop. I edited the picture just by clicking the Auto Levels adjustment (the original is more washed out) and just loved the colorized effect that it gave. It kind of reminds me of one of those wonderful old autochrome photos.

Clover's Easter dress was a gift thrifted by my sister-in-law (the same one responsible for the awesome tiger suit, thanks Isolde!) It's the sweetest little vintage thing. Crisp 100% cotton with a peter pan collar, smocking with tiny embroidered flowers, and lil' puffed sleeves. Viewed full-size, you can see that it's actually white covered in the tiniest of red polka dots. Once she outgrows it, I'll probably hang it on her wall or something :)


Just a couple more shots taken over the weekend in our backyard. Learning how to pull weeds with Papa (hopefully she will inherit his amazing green thumb) and teaching our cat the art of flower sniffing (poor guy puts up with so much).

I can't help it, she's been so darn cute lately all I want to do is follow her around snapping pictures ;)

Raarrrr!!!

My sister-in-law stopped by yesterday with the latest bagful of hand-me-downs from Clover's twin cousins... the old thrifted tiger costume was an instant hit ;)

April Showers

Our beautiful warm weather did indeed turn cold and rainy this week as predicted, but alas, all is not lost. This shift in temperatures gave me the perfect opportunity to wear the wool H&M dress I thrifted from the Salvation Army in Santa Cruz ($14). I really love how simple yet packed with sweet details it is: peter pan collar… check, covered buttons… check, wonderful pleating…

… AND hidden side pockets… check and check!!! It’s also in perfect condition. I’m at a loss as to why anyone would have wanted to get rid of it.

Loving my vintage woven leather booties from Milla! Not only are they cute, but they are SO comfortable :) Hehe, my toes got a little wet tromping around in the rained on plants.

The umbrella I just picked up for five bucks at a local Asian market and I think its tiny floral print is going to get me through these April showers quite happily :)

When I wore this on Wednesday it showered off and on and while I was taking photos, the toasty sun kept peeking out from behind the clouds only to then disappear again into the chilly gray. With the seasons still in transition, it was one of those days that several fashion bloggers seem to be sartorially frustrated by lately.

Speaking of which, I loved this post over at Sally Jane Vintage on how to utilize a short-sleeve sweater for just such transitional weather. Luckily, my new-to-me dress turned out to be a great transitional piece with the warmth of wool and it’s short length and ¾ sleeves keeping me from burning up when the sun did make sporadic appearances.

I’m also pretty pleased with this recent find, a creamy little vintage cloche for $3.50 from Hospice Thrift. I love vintage hats but often they can be hard to pull off without feeling too costumey. The simplicity and lovely shape of this one made it seem just right though and I felt totally comfortable wearing it :)

Nifty Thrift Picks of the Week (4.8.09)

Sharing my weekly faves from the Nifty Thrift flickr group where people post pics of their nifty thrifty finds. In other words a weekly spot for me to publicly covet the finds of others :)

Globe Lamp
Originally uploaded by moxie-girl

1920's Paper Dolls
Originally uploaded by moxie-girl

40's Plaid Summer Blouses
Originally uploaded by anja louise verdugo

Moomin!!
Originally uploaded by Bumbling B

1. World's (hehe) coolest lamp. That shade looks like it would make a fun DIY project :)

2. The dolls were hand made! She got the whole box for a dollar!!! Check out the detailed view here.

3. Really, do vintage summer blouses get any more perfect than this?!

4. Aw, Moomin plate! I added this bonus pick just for you Milla ;)

100% Thrifted Pick of the Week (4.7.09)

new favourite dress, originally uploaded by fieldguided.

rumpled, originally uploaded by fieldguided.

Fieldguided was looking ten kinds of adorable in her two shades of peach this week and in doing so brought to my attention that my wardrobe could definitely use a peach infusion. It's one of those Easter egg hues that I'm feeling increasingly drawn to lately. It just looks so fresh and springy! Also, I love the way it can give one's complexion that soft dewy glow, so beautifully evidenced in exhibits A and B above :)

Visit the 100% Thrifted flickr group for more fabulous fully thrifted outfits.

Iris

It seems my sartorial choices of late are turning out to be oddly in tune with the current spring growth happenings. At least this holds true for my choices in wrap skirts. I picked up this vintage iris print one at the Salvation Army on my trip to Santa Cruz (for which a picture heavy post is currently in the works) and wore it yesterday.

We walked downtown to enjoy some outdoor pub seating and a happy hour pint, during which Clover added the word "Guinness," in reference to the beer, to her vocabulary (is that bad?) She already knew it in reference to our cat whose name happens to be Guinness, I wonder if this confuses her.

Anyway, as we walked through the neighborhoods, I began noticing all the newly blooming iris (irises?) in people's yards. This made me think about last weekend's wrap skirt coinciding with the beginning of strawberry season at the farmer's market and made me smile.


Yesterday's outfit also included a tank top recently thrifted from the sleepwear section at the Goodwill (I like it's lacy applique along the neckline) as well as two thrifted gifts.

The wooden necklace was from my thrift swap with Lauren. The colors and shapes of the beads remind me of those candy necklaces that you can eat :P and these awesome woven leather flats were included in last week's amazing package from Milla. I love both of them and I think they're especially wonderful together :)

I've been enjoying this summer-like weather we've been having so much I'm finding it hard to believe the forecast predicting cold rainy weather starting tomorrow and lasting for the next four days :( Oh well, you know what they say about April showers... :)