my edit.

Something Different

2012-01-26T13:34:00.000-05:00

If I had a store (because let's face it, the thought has niggled in my brain for years), I suspect I would spend an unreasonable amount of time merchandising it to look just right. But if I am shopping at a flea market or an antique store myself, I prefer to see dust, disorganization and piles and piles of stuff ready to tip over and maim me. It's because I love the hunt (which would explain the excessive thrifting in my life as well) and the feeling that at any moment the next treasure will be uncovered.

A friend took me to a little antique store in Utrecht and it was 2 floors packed full of crazy stuff. And out of all the amazing things that covered every inch of both floors, I bought this antique headband. It's not really my style, at all. Headbands are usually reserved for mommy bloggers and music festival goers (not a dig, just a truth) but it caught my eye immediately and came home with me. I love that the leaves are made of gold thread and that each flower is a slightly varied shade... I would renew my vows just to wear this headband... or just go to a music festival...

Reveal

2012-01-23T15:32:00.000-05:00

Jacket? G Star (bought on sale in Holland, available here) Dress? Consigned, no label Boots? Joe Fresh

Cuffs? Auction find

I've been staying in Utrecht, a beautiful city filled with cobblestone streets, canals and old historic buildings everywhere you look. Basically, the down town is one big outfit picture location..... filled with people. And if I could, it would be lovely to laugh at nothing, let the wind tousle my hair artfully and throw armfuls of beautiful tulips into the canal for the most perfect post ever. But I can't work up the courage and push down the embarrassment long enough to accomplish that, so I try to sneak off to quiet places to document my clothing and wistful side glances. Turns out my quiet little spray painted garage door nook was not so private at all... Someone walked up, pressed a button and a store-front was revealed as the garage door I was standing (posing, really...) in front of, rolled up...

Those little French fry shops just sneak up on you...

This Week I Thrifted...

2012-01-21T18:47:00.001-05:00

What? Vintage (though maybe not, it's hard to see...) beaded collar
Who? I asked a childhood friend (technically my first friend EVER... we were bbf's... baby best friends), who I got to see again this last week to help me out and wear the collar for me... How's that for special?
Where? A thrift store in Zwolle (here)
How much? 1.20 euro
Why? I think I found the thrift store of my dreams. I mean, thrift stores are in my dreams a lot but this one was pretty fantastic. While we were visiting some family in Zwolle, my aunt offered to babysit my nephew, then she lent my sister-in-law and I some bikes and gave us directions to the nearest 'kring-loop' in her town. This thrift store had charming display cases everywhere made of old milk crates, a big play house in the corner full of all the kid's toys, and a restaurant attached where you could buy any of the furniture they used for seating. With so much effort being put into display, you would think it was an expensive vintage boutique but it was really just a big thrift store with regular thrift store prices. I bought a red suede jacket (coming soon to a post near you), a vintage cigar box for Matt, little goat slippers for my nephew, a rug for my cousin and this beaded collar. I call that successful.
Too bad an ocean separates my house and my new favourite thrift store...

What did you thrift this week?

Sometimes Practical

2012-01-19T08:09:00.002-05:00

Jeans? Calvin Klein Outlet (can only find them in petite here) Sweater? Joe Fresh Boots? Gap

Bomber? Costa Blanca Vest? Talie, Winners (similar but expensive here) Snood? American Eagle (similar here)

I did a pretty good job packing this time for my trip to Holland. I am telling you this so you can shower me with praise.

For once I was realistic that I wouldn't be wearing crazy high heels and pretty vintage dresses while on vacation because I am walking and biking everywhere... So instead of packing these items and leaving them unworn and cursing myself as I lug around my heavy suitcase of uselessness, I left almost all frivolous items at home. A life changing concept really... And while I miss my more fanciful clothes (Matt, please tell them I say hi and also, give the cats a little chin scratch for me...) I am enjoying the fact that I am warm and comfortable enough to enjoy Holland thoroughly... Though I admit, my family, my friends, the warm weather and wine on weekdays helps me enjoy Holland thoroughly as well....

She Thrifted

2012-01-17T19:07:00.000-05:00

Meet Jony from Shout-Out to You. She thrifted that skirt, turtleneck and scarf... on the same thrift trip.
I reckoned it would be fitting to feature a Dutch girl while I am here in Holland. I have been wearing sunglasses all week because by some miracle the weather here has been gloriously sunny (as opposed to their regular forecast of rain with a chance of rain) but also because, my sunglasses serve to hide my staring eyes. Aside from the over abundance of leggings, I love the way Dutch girls dress and I am always peaking through my sunglasses to check out their boots and bags. That is why I was thrilled to find Jony, who is not only a stylish Dutch blogger, but who also likes thrifting as much as I like free WiFi...

Speaking of WiFi... I am trying to update my instagram as regularly as free internet connections will allow while I am adventuring here... Find me at myeditblog to see some pretty pictures brought to you primarily by clear skies and happy moods.

Natural Born Biker

2012-01-16T13:30:00.000-05:00

Sweater? Zara (final sales) Plaid shirt? Winners Jeans? Joe Fresh Boots? Joe Fresh (leather and now $39 in store!) Coat? Thrifted Necklace? Thrifted

This bike is like the porridge that Goldilocks ate from little Bear's bowl; just right. I mean, if we are going to get technical, the bike is actually too short and the seat has a wobble but in terms of borrowed bikes, it works wonderfully.
I miss Matt and all, but the best part of travelling to Holland alone is that everyone has a spare bike to lend me. In the half week that I have been here, I have borrowed 4 bikes. You just take what is lying around when you need to get somewhere... And out of all the bikes so far, this one gets my heart. Partially because it was easy to ride, and partially because this bike wasn't to blame when I caused some other bikes to fall like Dominos near the bike rack...
Did I mention the neighbour was watching while this happened?
I hope I made his night...

This Week I Thrifted...

2012-01-14T16:20:00.002-05:00

Dress? I.B. Diffusion, thrifted Necklaces? Antique market

What? Wool/Acrylic blend dress
Where? Value Village (yeah... I keep going back...)
How much? $4
Why? I thrifted this dress recently on a quick trip to Value Village. I had done a fast scan of my favourite areas and I was about to try on a dress, when I saw a really stylish girl coming out of the change room. I saw her put stuff back on the return rack and I knew I had to check her rejects. The minute she was out of sight, I totally bee-lined it to her section of returns and found a veritable thrift gold mine. I bought this dress, a leather skirt and cape/vest thingy just from what she left behind. How's that for a thrift tip? Follow people whose style you admire (at a respectable distance, you creep...) and wait for their left-overs...

What did you thrift this week?

Jet-Set

2012-01-13T05:23:00.001-05:00

Jacket? Banana Republic, thrifted Pants? h&m Shirt? French Connection Boots? Winners Bag? Gift from my Mama, she found it at a garage sale... Necklace? The Last Hurrah

I'm in Holland again. I'm just such a little jet-setter... or, I found a flight that was dirt cheap and I finally got to meet my new nephew (yup, he's cute).
I took my huge leather travel bag, even though every time I use it I curse it for being slightly unwieldy and ever so heavy. Part of me feels bad for using it, because I don't want to wreck it but on the other hand, it's such a fun bag to tote around...well, except for the shoulder pain. Turns out that having too much pride and insisting on carrying a cool old vintage bag was the best decision on the plane. Many people were testing the limits on hand luggage to the maximum (and by testing, I mean they were blatantly above the limit) and by the time my seat was called for boarding, the overhead compartments were full. People were scrambling to fit everything in safely because there was talk of off-loading the whole plane... Between all the hand-luggage suitcases, I found a little open corner and I was able to carefully squish my bag and make it all fit. 45 minutes after departure time we finally got all the hand luggage secure and we were able to leave... I was just thrilled that my bag was squish-able and useful for once, instead of being just a pretty pain in my shoulder...

Organization

2012-01-11T13:49:00.000-05:00

Skirt? Allen Schwartz, Winners Top? Gap (here) Tights? Hue (these are so comfy)

Necklaces? Antique market (got them both for $8) Boots? Charles David, thrifted

I wish I could tell you that I am looking towards the right in every picture because there was something awesome to see out of the frame. Maybe there was a cat parade or a Bath and Body Works truck that crashed into a pole (no one sustained injuries) and spilled lip-gloss all over the road... Sadly, there was just an empty alley. I think I turned to the side every time because I was inwardly rather proud of the hair style which I worked out of my unwashed-for-days hair. I was probably inspired by something I saw on Pinterest and thought 'I can do that'. Usually my problem with Pinterest is that, I see things and think 'I can do that', and then I don't do...that. Because I am lazy and because an awesome mirrored back splash is apparently not practical and hard to clean. So now, Pinterest has basically become an organizational tool for everything I don't accomplish. But at least my unaccomplishments are organized and that is more than I can say for my front hall closet.

She Thrifted

2012-01-10T20:41:00.001-05:00

Meet Kyla from Bluecollar Catwalk. She thrifted that skirt.
I feel like I have been following Kyla's blog for forever... It's been over three years already, which is practically forever, especially if you are The Bachelor. Her ability to blog with integrity and positivity has always impressed me. More impressive however, is that fact that she is wearing yellow tights and I actually like them. If you, in turn, have followed my blog for a long time, you will know I am usually averse to the whole coloured tights thing. Occasionally someone does it right, but most of the time, coloured tights scare me... But this little peek of yellow tights in an otherwise neutral outfit works quite nicely. Look at me, widening my horizons. And look at Kyla, thrifting and generally being awesome...

Got Your Back

2012-01-09T11:40:00.000-05:00

Skirt? Donna Karan Collection, thrifted (yes, my best find of 2011) Turtleneck? h&m Collar necklace? Thrifted Clutch? Thrifted Shoes? I.D. Browns (similar here) Coat? Rebecca Taylor, Off Saks (vest version here)

And just like that, I am wearing my big fuzzy jacket again. This time I wore it, not out of bravado, but in solidarity.
There was a young girl at church that has a big faux fur jacket and while she likes the jacket, she was little afraid to wear it out. So, I told her I would wear my fluffy coat too and I would have her back. In the blog-perfect version of this story, this little girl would realize that it is OK to be different and we would hug it out as some Celine Dion song plays in the background and doves, dyed in rainbow colours, fly off into the sunset. In the real-life version of this story, I didn't even really see the little girl again when I wore my jacket to church this week. But I was very warm. And I kept my word. It was important to keep your word because if you start lying to little kids, you are either a bad person... or a parent.

Wash and Dry

2012-01-07T15:47:00.000-05:00

There is a chance this may be the most useless post ever posted here. But there is also a chance that you have been living under a rock just like me and this post will change your life. I might be being dramatic here...
One of the biggest downers of thrifting is dry cleaning. It's great that you got a nice dress for under $10 but if you pay $17 to clean it, your celebratory feelings will be short-lived. Also short-lived will be your celebratory dance, and those are entertaining, let's not do anything to ruin those... When Wag-Jag had a deal on dry cleaning a while back, we snapped up a few vouchers but even with the discount, it adds up quickly. Of course, not reading the small print and realizing that we could only use one voucher at a time and only at a specific location, made the deal not quite as awesome as we anticipated. Lately, I have become rather rebellious and I often ignore the 'dry clean only' tag and only use dry cleaning as a last resort. What changed is that my friend taught me a tiny hand washing trick that made things much easier...
I find I have done the most accidental damage to clothing during the drying part of handwashing. The item is often heavy with water and wringing out excess water it can be difficult and unwieldy. If the item is too wet when you hang it up, it can stretch out in awkward places and alternately, a quick spin cycle can easily damage anything delicate. I ruined a great wool dress with a quick 3 minute spin cycle and the memory still stings... So now I hand wash and rinse an item as usual (cold water with a touch of detergent and vinegar (except with linen)) but I dry it in a much smarter way...

1. Wring item out very gently (just so you are not sloshing a tidal wave over your floors) and lay it out flat across a dry towel.
2. Roll up the towel with the washed article inside.
3. Press down all along the rolled up towel so the dry towel soaks up much of the moisture from the item inside.

With the towel absorbing most of the moisture and its weight, it can be hung up or laid out to dry without difficulty. I usually hang up anything made of woven fabric, while I always lay out any knits because they stretch...
I still dry clean some items; structured jackets, pleated items made of natural fabrics, anything that is crazy delicate or precious vintage are not worth risking. But my fairly decent collection of silk shirts all get hand washed despite their dry clean only tag... maybe if I paid $200 for an Equipment blouse, I would be hesitant to risk it but my $4 thrift store finds have survived splendidly.
Washing and drying this heavy alpaca sweater used to be like noodling a catfish; way too much wrestling... It would become so heavy and out of control that I could not even attempt to wring it and drying it would take days. The towel trick has changed my life.
Ha. I sound like an infomercial... except I am not selling you a pair of pajama jeans. I am just sharing a really simple trick that a lot of people might already know...

Extra Mark Downs

2012-01-06T13:03:00.000-05:00

Jacket? Rebecca Taylor, Off Saks (whoa, expensive vest version here) Booties? Ash, Winners (here) Jeans? Primark Turtleneck? h&m Plaid shirt? Simon's Necklace? Thrifted Bag? Roots

I love a good sale. A mangled price tag with red pen or red stickers all over it? It is like art to me. Even better, when that marked down price tag can be taken up to the cash for additional discounts. Then it is like art and mathematics together. Magic. It makes me a little dizzy. And when I come to, I have a monstrously furry jacket in my shopping bag. So I take the jacket home and it sits in my closet for a while as I work up the courage to wear it. I visit the jacket often and tell it stories of the Canadian winter which hasn't really arrived yet. When the mercury drops drastically for a few days, I finally wear the beast... Turns out I would rather be courageous than cold.

Warmth and Word

2012-01-04T12:05:00.000-05:00

Snood? American Eagle (similar) Jeans? J Brand Lovestory (here) Sweater? Handknit alpaca, thrifted

Purse? Thrifted

Everyone needs a snood in their life. Not only because of their neck warming abilities and general adorableness, but because they are called snoods. And snood is a fun word. That said, I get over words very quickly. Once social media gets a hold of a good word, they like to throw a # in front of it and over use it so much that you want to shut off the internet and enjoy the real world. So, get yourself a snood now because if you get it in 2 months, I will be thoroughly un-enchanted with the word, and you can only call it a faux fur neck warmer. Definitely not as cool sounding as snood. Also, in two months, I am optimistically hoping that winter will be on its way out and the snood won't be a part of my everyday wardrobe...

#snood#snood#snood

Great, I just ruined a nice word in one stupid post.

P.S. Yeah. It just happened, I made a Facebook page for the blog. I am so connected, it scares me... If you wanna 'like' me, I will try to be a positive addition to your Facebook feed...

She Thrifted

2012-01-03T21:37:00.004-05:00

Meet Jennifer from Belle de Couture. She thrifted that dress.
My initial urge when I saw this picture was to bite down my seething jealousy over her bare legs and arms in December. Then my jealousy was replaced with pure admiration for this vintage dress that she wore out for her birthday. We may think that we invented bright colours in 2011 but vintage clothing proves us wrong. Everything old is new again. Hence, we search the thrift store for treasure...

New Year, Old Mistakes

2012-01-02T11:57:00.002-05:00

Dress? Thrifted and re-worked Shoes? Ash, Winners (here in grey) Earrings? Garage sale Tights? Zara

And just like that, it is a new year. Happy 2012!!! We spent New Year's Eve at home with a small and extremely elite group of family and friends. It was a low key night, except for that moment when my brother-in-law came out of nowhere to beat me in Settlers of Catan and those few minutes after midnight where I kept spraying champagne on our front porch... Other than that, just a relaxed fun. But even though the night was laidback, I didn't want my dress to be... The dress started like this, with a the potential of the well draped bow and beautiful colour hidden by too much fabric...

Just like with my Christmas dress, I thought it would be a simple fix but once I got started, the scissors were flying. The hem came up (yes, way up...), the side seam got taken in, the sleeves were shortened, the overly heavy lining got trimmed down and then the back of the dress got a scoop. I didn't have a game plan as I did alterations (not recommended) and so I should have scooped the back and then taken out the access lining. That didn't happen in the right order and so I wasn't satisfied with how the scoop looked. Here's the full disclosure, instead of taking the time to redo it (ewwww....) I used a trick that any fashion design student knows well... I put some glitter on it. Sequins cover (and distract, unless you point them out like I am doing...) construction flaws. And here you thought sequins were just shiny discs that attracted your eye and opened your wallet. The more you know...

This Year I Thrifted...

2011-12-31T11:57:00.000-05:00

I thought it would be hard to pick my favourite thrift find of 2011 but it was ridiculously easy. This Donna Karan skirt blasts my mind everytime I look at it and I can't believe I thrifted it. This skirt is wool and silk goodness, with razor sharp darting and super flattering seam placement. This skirt isn't from a diffusion line, it is straight up Donna Karan... yes, I like to brag but I did another little search and this skirt is the closest thing I could find available for sale on the world wide web. Keep in mind, the price is in pounds and my skirt is prettier... I'm might be biased though.
I need to wear this skirt more. I think I might like it so much that I am afraid to wear it out, though mostly I am afraid for anyone I make eye contact with while wearing it. Because if I have your attention, I am going to point out every detail of superior craftsmenship and that would take a long time... Avoid me if you see me wearing this skirt.

I'm so glad I started doing the 'This Week I Thrifted...' posts this year. I love hearing about what you thrifted! There was one story left for me in the comments that involved going to the thrift store for a potato masher and resulted in leaving said thrift store with some silk DvF. That tale is bound to become a classic thrift fairy tale, wherein the heroine and the DvF dress live happily ever after...

Now tell me, what was your best thrift find of 2011?

Everyday Denim

2011-12-30T11:52:00.001-05:00

Jeans? Joe Fresh (not available online...) Sweater? Outlander, thrifted Boots? Aldo (similar) Jacket? Thrifted Bag? Roots Snood? American Eagle (similar)

I am debating on getting myself made into a paper doll with two pant options (I would ask this lady because she makes amazing paper dolls...), in order to save the effort of fiercely pouting for outfit photos in the cold this winter. I want to wear my gold pants or my red jeans every single day, so I might as well just give in. It's funny, I bought these jeans because I made my friend go on a major Joe Fresh hunt with me to find these, so I felt obligated to buy them after all that effort. I figured they would be my special occasion jeans, though the phrase 'special occasion jeans' doesn't actually make much sense... I guess they are the jeans one would wear to Starbucks, instead of the regular jeans one would wear to Tim Hortons? Fancy jeans for fancy people... Turns out my gold jeans are just very comfortable pants with a lot of shine; the best of both worlds. Dare I say, they make any occasion, a special occasion?

She Thrifted

2011-12-28T13:27:00.001-05:00

Meet Anh from 9to5Chic. She thrifted that vintage YSL skirt.
Anh's blog is full of simple and chic looks. She wears a mix of high-end labels and fast fashion pieces. To be honest, there aren't a lot of thrifted pieces on her blog but that is fine, as this skirt is the epitome of thrift perfection. A good quality pencil skirt in an interesting colour can be worn for years... And the way that Anh paired the mustard skirt with the eggplant sweater makes me want to say 'swoon'. Sadly, I have a self imposed restriction on the word 'swoon' but that weak in the knees feeling is definitely there...

Santa and I

2011-12-27T13:35:00.000-05:00

Coat? Vintage, thrifted Dress? Victor Costa, thrifted (yes, I have a very similar one that is vintage... ) Shoes? I.D. Browns Clutch? Thrifted Bracelets? The Ex

'Twas the night before Christmas,

And all through the house,

Jentine was running,

With pins in her mouth.

Meh. That was not my best poetic effort, and the fact that I referred to myself in the third person makes me lose respect for Jentine but, you get the point. At 8 o'clock on Christmas Eve, I decided that I really needed to wear this dress on Christmas Day. Nothing else would do. The dress needed some minor tweaks and then, what started out as a pinch taken in under the bust, turned into some full-fledged alterations. And that is the story of how Santa and I were both working hard on Christmas Eve. Except he got milk and cookies and this reindeer with a red nose to take him around...

A for Effort

2011-12-24T11:48:00.000-05:00

For once we tried to get a nice holiday family photo... turns out, we should have skipped the effort and kept watching TMZ instead. Getting our 3 cats in one picture is hard work. They can sleep on the same bed all day but if you pick them up at once, they suddenly decide they hate each other... and us. But on Thursday night, my hair was teased, Matt's cheeks were dimpled and the cats were fluffy, so I thought we might as well give it a shot. I had invited a bunch of friends over that night and as bad luck would have it, the first friend who arrived (and therefore designated photographer) showed up with 4 month old baby. And Kyle? Hates babies... even quiet, sweet babies in their car seats. So, I herd Bec and Stella into the living room and Matt peels Kyle out from under the bed and we have 21 seconds to have our pictures taken before Stella kills me and Kyle's heart fails him... I thought that because we were taking the pictures indoors at night, I would set it on film grain mode to make it easy for my friend and keep the pictures interesting. Then the flash didn't go off, the cats freaked out and we ended up with 5 dark, grainy pictures with blobs for cats... I sent the worst picture to my left-wing, ginger-tressed, soul sister Merl and she added some tacky Christmas lights for me. All that effort just to wish you and your loved ones, a very Merry Christmas!

Best Laid Plans

2011-12-21T12:43:00.003-05:00

Wool coat? No label, thrifted Jeans? Calvin Klein Outlet Boots? Joe Fresh Shirt? French Connection, Winners Faux fur neck warmer? American Eagle

This weekend Matt and I decided to go up to Simcoe to see the Christmas lights display. We haven't been there in a while and unless they changed it up, I remember the display not being particularly overwhelming, but it just seemed like a festive thing to do. I figured we could sip hot chocolate as we meandered around hand-in-hand and I could live-tweet our adorableness. I'm kidding. I don't live my life in order to have an interesting twitter stream... I live my life in order to have an interesting Instagram feed (are you following me yet? myeditblog... I'm fascinating).
On the way to Simcoe we stopped at one of Matt's work sites to explore the area because it was beautiful (see photos) and we got sidetracked by a plethora of good antique markets. Then we found a local pub and had dinner, after which I randomly decided that we should actually go to the theatre and watch a movie. I told Matt he wasn't allowed to fall asleep during the movie. I only woke him up once. We never quite made it to see the lights that night. But we made an honest effort at festivity and it was a really great night... I'll try set up a romantic stroll with hot chocolate soon, if only so I can Instagram it...

She Thrifted

2011-12-20T13:06:00.003-05:00

Meet Tina from T Minus, T Plus. She thrifted that dress.
Tina is a good inspiration for office-appropriate attire. Even better, she thrifts a lot of said attire. But the best thing about Tina and her blog are the titles she uses for her OOTD posts (yeah... I just figured out that OOTD stands for Outfit of the Day, I'm even behind on blogging lingo...). Her titles like 'What I Wore While Pimping my Purses for Food', 'What I Wore While Being Jealous of Someone Else's Outfit' and 'What I Wore While Silently Cursing My Work Friends', make me feel like we could get along just fine. Even though I usually pimp my dresses, not my purses, for baked goods...

A Winning Jacket

2011-12-19T11:38:00.002-05:00

Jacket? Vintage Pendleton, from Jessie Silk shirt? Thrifted Pants? Primark Shoes? Ralph Lauren, DSW Bracelet? Crazy lady at The Ex Clutch? Thrifted

Matt pointed out that this jacket is almost an exact replica of the winner's jacket of The Masters. Indeed it is. However, is their jacket vintage Pendelton? Didn't think so...
It is cruel irony that my new favourite green jacket is so reminiscent of a sport that I am so horrible at; golf. Well, in general, I am pretty horrible at a lot of sports but golf is my worst. And it's frustrating because I should like it, someone drives me around in a cart and as a bonus, adult beverages are driven around in a cart to me... What is not to like? It is my pride that gets hurt the most. I feel like my summer landscape muscles should be able to hit that ball with considerable force but... I just can't seem to connect with the ball. On the outside, I cover up my frustration with an airy giggle and another drink (which doesn't help the game, does it?) while on the inside I am cursing my brothers for getting the larger genetic share of hand-eye co-ordination. But I got the green jacket and in the end, that is all that matters, right?

Thrift That Blazer

2011-12-18T12:57:00.003-05:00

A few years ago I wasn't on twitter, The Hills was my reality show guilty pleasure and I was on the hunt for the perfect boyfriend blazer at Winners. Now that I am older and wiser, I know twitter is the best way to talk smack about the people on your facebook, I care not a wit about those people on that one show and I know that perfect boyfriend blazers are actually found at the thrift store...

(all blazers thrifted... though the red blazer was a thrifted gift from Ms. Jessie)

I now have, what some would classify, as a bone fide collection of thrifted blazers.

Why thrift blazers? Mostly because, as they say, 'they just don't make them like they used to...'. The blazers available at mid-range stores nowadays are often cheaply constructed. On the flip side, well-made blazers from high end labels are really expensive. It's nice that thrift stores have your back and offer good quality for just a few dollars each...

What are you looking for?

Good Fabric- Look for natural fabrics like cotton, linen and especially wool, when you are thrift shopping for blazers. Nowadays, you can only find wool blazers from higher end labels, while a few decades ago almost every jacket was constructed out of wool. Besides being an attractive fibre, wool is naturally quite stain resistant and holds up well to wear and tear. I'm not knocking on Gap but this blazer made of a poly-blend selling for $108, looks remarkably like my wool blazer in the second picture... one that I got for, maybe, $5? Once again... thrifting is the chance to upgrade.

Nice Drape-I don't think that a nice drape is the right terminology in this case but telling you to look for something that is well-hung, sounds... inappropriate. Basically, you should be able to hold the blazer on a hanger and see a flawless jacket. Puckers at the shoulder are a sign of a novice sewing job (seriously, it's hard to sew in a sleeve... many tears have been shed on that) and the hem should be smooth... no wobbles or waves. A curvy hem can result if a lining is improperly sewn in, if the fabric wasn't cut on the right grade or if there was a top stitch used to finish the hem inside of a nice clean lining.

Lining and Shoulder Pads-I know that there is this idea that shoulder pads belong on your Aunt Patty, who was Prom Queen in 1982, but most well-constructed jackets have shoulder pads. You may not initially notice them because they can be so thin but they are there! Shoulder pads lift the appearance of slopping shoulders and help distribute the weight of the fabric. Of course, there can be nice jackets that have no shoulder pads, but they are generally a good thing to have. They cost the manufacturer to have them put in and anytime the manufacturer pays more for something, especially a hidden but essential detail (this includes lining), it is a good indicator of quality.

Finally, when going to the thrift store, it is always important to be open minded to the sizes marked on the label but when you are looking for blazers, it is not just a good idea but necessary. The cut of blazers can vary wildly depending on the decade... When I find a small blazer from the 1980's, I can fit a my high school hoodie underneath but when I find a small blazer from the 1970's, the effort of trying to button it gives me a hernia.

So, in conclusion, may I suggest that you thrift your blazers and use the money you saved to buy your Aunt Patty a nice gift this Christmas?

Holiday Musings

2011-12-16T12:59:00.003-05:00

Jeans? Calvin Klein Outlet Turtleneck? h&m Sequin shirt? Thrifted Cuffs? Auction
Boots? Ash, Winners

I wore this last weekend to a holiday party with some of my oldest friends. And by oldest friends, I mean, friends I have had a long time, not friends advanced in years... Though I have those too! True fact, old ladies love me... these cheeks get pinched a lot. Not that I am bragging...
I've been friends with the one girl at the party since Grade 1. I might have mentioned it before but, I moved to Canada that year, knowing 6 English words, so it was natural I befriended the only other girl in my class who understood dutch. And then, when I learned 57 more English words, I stole her best friend. And we've been friends since...
I know holiday parties are simply a chance to wear shiny things, drink eggnog (sidenote: I used to think it was delicious but now I can't handle it... you?) and eat a whole lot of unhealthy but I can't help but turn a little sentimental. I don't see these girls as much as I used to, they are all extremely busy mothers and I am busy teaching my cats synchronized swimming routines and it's so nice to see everyone again. I wore a lot of bridesmaids dresses back in my day for these ladies and now some of them have 3 kids already! My mind blasts but my heart is full. We've been blessed.

Fuzz

2011-12-14T18:13:00.003-05:00

Vest? F21 Jacket? Banana Republic, thrifted Sweater? Franco Valeri, thrifted Jeans? Gap Boots? Charles David, thrifted Purse? Tignanello, thrifted

I don't shop at Forever 21 a lot. I wish I could claim that it is my moral opposition to fast fashion and consumerism but I am guilty on both of those counts. I find F21 terrifying because of the sheer volume of teenagers in one place. So many teenagers... texting, talking about boys and going crazy over trends that have manifested themselves in polyester. Trends that often involve tiny shirts and even tinier shorts... it all makes me so nervous! Annnndddd.... now I sound like a prudish grandmother. When all I really wanted to say, was that I braved the teenage crowd at F21 in order to buy a vest that looks like a bath mat. And then I combed the vest in order to make it fuzzier... Just like my hair as a teenager...

She Thrifted

2011-12-13T20:19:00.002-05:00

Meet Jessie from Style and Pepper. She thrifted this pretty dress.
I met Jessie in Texas last spring and I just love that girl. I've already gushed about her on the blog before but she is just so sweet, funny, smart, pretty and hardworking. Basically she is the embodiment of every positive adjective but I am just too lazy to write them all out. Recently she moved from Kansas City, Missouri to Hoboken, New Jersey. That means she now lives twice as close to me she did before. I checked. One more move may bring her across the border and into my loving (possessive?) arms. Here's hoping...
I'm curious to see if her style changes in her new location... but I am especially curious to hear how the thrifting compares...

Staying Put

2011-12-12T11:43:00.003-05:00

Leather skirt? Thrifted Sweater? Thrifted Shirt? Gap Boots? Joe Fresh Tights? Hue Scarf? A gift Purse? Liz Claiborne, thrifted

Autumn this year has been so long lasting and pleasant that I think I have been in denial about the imminent arrival of winter. But it was cold last week and I was cruelly reminded that I do, indeed, live in Ontario, Canada. For a fleeting moment I daydreamed about moving somewhere where winter means 'teehee, let me put on my little silk scarf to keep out the breeze' and then I remembered how bad Kyle (one of our cat children) is at moving. Last year we moved to a new house 7 minutes away and Kyle spent an entire week either under the bed or under the duvet recovering from shock. That week Kyle slept with us beneath the covers every night, pressed up to our bodies as close as he could (quite cute actually...). I would pull him out from the covers a couple times at night because I was worried he would overheat. That week Matt would also patiently sit with Kyle twice a day, convincing him to eat a few kibbles at a time(really cute actually...). So for the sake of Kyle's rather delicate nature, we will stay put and endure another winter. If only Kyle could express his gratefulness... but he is too busy sleeping.

This Week I Thrifted...

2011-12-10T18:14:00.003-05:00

Dress? Thrifted Necklace? Gift from my Mama

What? Porridge dress with a jersey top and a contrasting silk skirt.
Where? Talize
How much? Shhhh... secret, I gave it as a gift
Why? I am trying to be more conscientious about giving thrifted gifts... as long as the recipient is cool with the idea. The problem with gifting thrift is that it takes planning and I tend to be the last minute type when it comes to gifts. I am getting better at planning ahead because friends can only feign gratefulness at tabloid magazines and Mars bars as birthday gifts for so many years. That said, I am a fan of trashy magazines and chocolate bars so I would appreciate either...
I gave this dress to a friend as part of her birthday gift last week. It was a good find because it was brand new, it had a pretty, pocketed silk skirt and a big, sassy sash. I knew my friend would love the pattern mix and style of the dress. I did a little internet sleuthing (2 minutes, hardly sleuthing...) and I found that the dress was originally $150 at Anthropologie. $150 would buy a lot of magazines and chocolate bars, just saying...

What did you thrift this week?

Thrift Mystery

2011-12-09T12:52:00.002-05:00

I can't seem to thrift any decent purses lately. And I can't bear to admit that something might be wrong with me, so I blame all the thrift stores I have visited in the last 6 months. A few years back, thrifting a good quality purse at a really low price was like getting dressed in the morning; it doesn't always happen but more often than not, there was success. Then thrift stores started to get smarter and the good vintage clutches and leather handbags became more expensive, though not unreasonable. But recently... I can't even find any good purses, expensive or not. I find an occasional $20 pleather bag that Walmart sells new for $23 (wheeee!) but the times where I had to make tough choices between several tooled leather bags during one thrift trip have disappeared.
Truthfully, I don't need any more purses, as the photos in this post are but a small selection from my handbag sheep fold but I am always welcome to new additions. I'm just so loving like that. It's more that I am mystified that I haven't seen a great purse at a thrift store in a long time. Is there a handbag drought in the greater Hamilton area or are you not having any luck either?

Sequin Courage

2011-12-07T09:03:00.002-05:00

Skirt? No label, from Milli's Top? Winners Shoes? DvF, StyleSense Wristlet? Coach, bridesmaid's gift Necklace? Vintage, The Last Hurrah

It's not a competition but if it were, this skirt would win. Win everything but Miss Congeniality, seriously...
It was Matt's company party this past weekend and last year, when it was his first year at that company, I went conservatively festive in a black frock ('conservatively festive in a black frock?', thanks goodness I am not a copywriter...). But this year... I brought out the big guns. I know more people and one of my very good friends works for the company now and that gave me a whole lot of sequin courage. Of course, the fact that, despite my best efforts to become a socialite, there has been a dearth of event invites also spurred me into wearing my favourite skirt. It is rare that I get the chance to really dress up, so if something comes along, I embrace the opportunity fully. Last time I wore this skirt it was my brother's wedding. I wore it very similarly and we took pictures with cows. I can't top cows... I tried and all we got before the sun set was a garage door...

She Thrifted

2011-12-06T08:51:00.000-05:00

Meet Monkeyface from Hello, Monkeyface! She thrifted this wool skirt and silk blouse.
I like Monkey face because she thrifts. I like Monkeyface because she's funny as shit. I like Monkeyface because she is an international woman of mystery. I like Monkeyface because she has a cute monkeyface. And I like Monkeyface because her pictures always look saturated and dreamy... and she takes all her own pictures! A few posts ago she showed a step by step of how she gets her pictures to look so cool and I wish I never read it... In my mind, Monkeyface is actually Cat Deeley in a world of consistently perfect lighting and I am not ready for that illusion to end.

Positivity

2011-12-04T17:59:00.002-05:00

Dress? Ann Taylor, thrifted Belt? Michael Kors, Winners Bomber? Costa Blanca Boots? Ash, Winners Eelskin clutch? Thrifted

I've been trying this new thing called Positive Thinking. I hate it.
I mostly enjoy the warmer months of the year, but I am trying to focus on the good things that come with cold weather. Like the fact that we can take quick outfit pictures at Whitehern without being interrupted by wedding parties and lovers having whimsical picnics. Whitehern is a historical house and walled garden in downtown Hamilton. It's like a secret garden in the middle of high-rise office buildings and understandably it is often used for professional photography. So, when it was chilly and rainy, we took advantage of the quiet and used it for some unprofessional photography. And while we are doing that thing called Positive Thinking, I am glad that Matt is no where near a professional photographer because when I googled Whitehern, I just saw that a photography permit is $165... Oops?

Light Bright

2011-12-01T21:54:00.002-05:00

Wool dress? Thrifted Shoes? Ash, Winners Necklaces? Banana Republic and The Last Hurrah Sequin clutch? Vintage, gift from my parents

It's tricky to take indoor pictures. I try to avoid it but if the outfit is exponentially better than the weather, I do what I can... Our downstairs does not have a lot of natural light but our upstairs has a lot of mess (for shame...), so I turn on the lights and open every curtain in the living room and welcome each light particle with love. Even then, it is still not enough light to get a decent picture. I found a construction light in the attic and I used that to augment. Then it was too bright and my shadow looked like a lurking monster across the mantle (even worse than the fourth picture) but I remedied that with a sheet of tracing paper across the bright bulb. As that construction light is serious business and burns hot, I hustled back and forth with the self timer and took some pictures really quick, only getting cat distracted twice. When the tracing paper started to smell like it was burning, it was time to quit. That's how Matt knows it's dinnertime as well; when it starts to smell like it is burning.
I'm kidding, it's dinnertime when Matt walks through the door with Subway.

Research

2011-11-30T11:02:00.004-05:00

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

2011-11-29T12:55:00.004-05:00

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

2011-11-28T10:59:00.002-05:00

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...

2011-11-25T09:54:00.003-05:00

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

2011-11-23T11:21:00.004-05:00

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

2011-11-22T10:12:00.002-05:00

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!

2011-11-20T20:42:00.003-05:00

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

2011-11-19T14:13:00.001-05:00

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!

2011-11-16T19:15:00.002-05:00

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

2011-11-15T10:36:00.003-05:00

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

2011-11-13T23:24:00.002-05:00

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

2011-11-10T23:13:00.002-05:00

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

2011-11-08T20:24:00.003-05:00

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

2011-11-07T17:35:00.002-05:00

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...

This Week I Thrifted...

2011-11-05T10:47:00.002-04:00

Leather skirt? Thrifted Silk blouse? Thrifted and then swapped Cowl? Old school project

What? A patterned leather skirt
Where? Bibles for Mission (here)
How much? $1
Why? I have this annoying habit where I can't leave good things behind at a thrift store... Which is fine, except I end up buying clothes that don't fit me... I'll either convince myself I am going to give up wine and get up at 4 a.m. to do zumbalicious pilates yoga before work to make myself fit into them or I buy them for a friend. Buying clothing for friends is a sweet sentiment, but sometimes I need to be reminded that, just because I would think that a skirt with sequined cats and mohair camels would be the stuff dreams are made of, doesn't mean that my friends agree.
But it was $1 day at Bibles for Mission and even though the racks of clothes were completely picked over, I found this great tan leather skirt. It won't fit me but I had to take it along because... it's awesome and a dollar. So, I'll send it along to a friend and she better love it or I'll take her off my blog roll... I'm kidding, I would never threaten Internet consequences... if she doesn't love it, I'll just tackle her.

What did you thrift this week?

Desperation

2011-11-03T21:39:00.002-04:00

Cardigan? Thrifted Sweater vest? Thrifted Pants? Zara Shoes? Aldo Cuff? Auction

It seemed like this outfit would never get photographed. Matt worked late and didn't get home until a few hours past sundown. I would have taken my own pictures like a big girl, but I left the attachment thingy (technical term, of course) for the tripod in Matt's truck. So, in desperation, I called my little brother to help out. He was hesitant. I upped the ante by offering to buy him dinner. Yes, I paid for outfit pictures with a Subway sandwich... it was a 12" and it wasn't the Sub of the Day either. That kid knows how to swing a deal.
When he took my pictures he told me that he had just returned from the gym and until I haggled for his time, he had been looking forward to 'just going home, chilling out and shooting the shit out of some zombies'.

Sadly, the sun was pretty low already and the pictures weren't as sharp as I had hoped. Looking through the slightly blurry photos, I got a real moment of sadness as I realized just how pathetically desperate I was to get some pictures. I'm glad my little brother plays zombie computer games... it makes me feel a bit better about myself.

She Thrifted

2011-11-01T22:35:00.002-04:00

Meet Linda of Little Tin Soldier. She has a great pared down and well-edited style. I admit I fall into the trap of wanting to add another layer, another texture or another 14 bracelets but Linda keeps it super simple and super stylish. Best of all, she super thrifted this skirt (I threw that extra super in for flavour). I'm trying to barter with her right now to get that skirt for myself. Currently there is an offer on the table for one of my cats and a grilled cheese sandwich... deal, Linda?

Hunting Season

2011-10-30T21:48:00.003-04:00

Jacket? Ralph Lauren, thrifted Plaid shirt? Ali & Kris, Winners Jeans? J Brand, Lovestory, Winners (here for lots more money but they are great jeans!) Bracelets? Thrifted and from the crazy lady at The Ex Hat? Maria Paola Culugi, Style Sense Purse? Filene's Basement

I'm a big fan of my new hat. It's a hat made for the city. The faux fur pom is so ridiculously over sized that I could get mistaken for wildlife in the country and one hike during the hunting season would be the end of me. These pictures may look like they were taken in a forest (one with wooden fences, of course) but rest assured that I was safely in an inner city park.

I hope you had an nice Halloween weekend. I didn't do too much but I watched my instagram feed (yes, I caved and joined instagram... find me at myeditblog if you want to see a lot of cat pictures) clog with Halloween costumes all weekend and I felt a little left out. Until I realised that I was wearing the best costume of all. With this hat I'm clearly Dick Cheney's hunting partner on that fateful day in 2006...

*thanks to my little friend Elisha for taking my pics. I liked so many I broke my own rule of having 6 pics absolute maximum...

Thrift That Trend

2011-10-29T17:04:00.002-04:00

These collared necklaces are all the rage with the cool kids nowadays. I know this because I've read it in A Magazine and everyone knows, if it's in print, it's true. Also, Krystal wore one and she's a stylish cat...
If you want to join in on the trend, you can buy this really pretty one... or you can thrift one for $3. I did. If you want to be even smarter, check your mom and grandmother's jewelry box first... Borrowing something for life is even better than thrifting and it's rare that I think something is better than thrifting.
But trust me, if you can't borrow one permanently, thrifting has your back.

A Good Week

2011-10-26T19:48:00.005-04:00

Pants? Mark and James, Badgley Mischka, Winners Cape? Joe Fresh Bag? Roots Boots? Modern Vintage, Winners Sweater? Joe Fresh

I need to rewind for a minute. I briefly mentioned it on the blog and on my twitters but last week was a pretty big deal for our family. My one brother and his wife welcomed a baby boy; my parents' first grandchild, another brother passed his dissertation defense and I wore wool, silver lace pants. Big things happened, I tell you...
The dissertation defense was scheduled months ago and went ahead as planned. It was my new nephew who decided to skip past his due date and cause havoc. My parents have been in Holland since the wedding waiting for their first grandchild to make his appearance and he. just. stayed. put. At the last minute my parents pushed their flight back home up a few days, my sister-in-law got induced and now my mom has become that person who shows you 53 pictures of a baby in one sitting. With their flights changed, my parents flew back to Canada last Tuesday and then went straight from Toronto airport to Grand Rapids, Michigan. They arrived in Grand Rapids at 3 a.m., just in time for the dissertation that same morning. It's a busy life when you have 5 kids, right Mom and Dad?

It was really cool to see my brother do his dissertation. I didn't understand a lot about his thesis topic but he looked sharp in his wedding suit and that got my approval. He also got his professors' approval and that got him a PhD to put behind of his name.
I hope to see my new nephew in the new year, I suspect he's probably as excited to meet me and my lace pants as I am to meet him. I'm wondering if holding him will turn me into that person who show you 53 pictures of a baby in one sitting too...?

She Thrifted

2011-10-25T19:49:00.002-04:00

Meet Amanda from Off of Broadway. This time of year, about 46% of her twitter feed is a foreign language (ie. football talk) but I forgive her because she cuts her own hair and thrifts like a champion. When I thrift, it is mostly out of gluttony but Amanda gets to thrift to keep her little bricks and mortar store full of good things. She might be living the dream...
And she's looking great in her thrifted pants and shirt while doing it...

Stripes and Dots

2011-10-23T20:03:00.002-04:00

Sweater? Gap (online here, but way more than I paid) Shirt? Brinn and Em, Winners Skirt? Loft, thrifted Shoes? I.D. Browns Cowhide clutch? Thrifted Necklaces? Thrifted

This sweater seems to photograph more as a yellow than neon. But it's more 90's than bumble bee, I promise.
I'm glad neon is back... The last time I wanted neon clothes, I was 6 years old and we had just immigrated to Canada. I had a bowl cut, I wore my brothers' sturdy leather, hand-me-down sandals and I would have been OK with all of that... if only my mom had let me wear some awesome neon bicycle shorts too. But she didn't. And I survived and I even made friends, friends that stuck around even when I added giant pink glasses to the bowl cut and sturdy footwear in Grade 2.
I think it was a bit of latent rebellion that drew me to the neon striped sweater at Gap this weekend. Or it was the fact that all clearance items were an extra 50% off...making this sweater $16. I make my life decisions based on teenage rebellion and sale racks.

This Week I Thrifted...

2011-10-22T13:45:00.002-04:00

What? A lot of vintage jewelry...:)
Where? Salvation Army, 28th Street, Grand Rapids
How Much? Various prices but the most expensive was the sterling mini perfume necklace for $7. Not too shabby...
Why? I went down to Grand Rapids this week to watch one of my brothers do his dissertation defense and while I was there, I made sure my priorities were in order and I did some thrifting as well. I didn't thrift alone; after 2.5 years of online love, I finally met Brianne in person (she's real and very pretty... I stared at her a lot... I like to keep it creepy) and we made thrift magic. I always check Brianne's blog because she must have the best vintage jewelry collection, so it was extremely fitting that the Salvation Army near my hotel was having their annual jewelry sale on the day we went thrifting. Call that great timing or just, freaking amazing. There were tables and tables of jewelry and it was so overwhelming that we went twice just to make sure we caught all the good stuff. I bought 6 necklaces and 2 pairs of earrings... I could have bought so much more but I was trying to exercise self control in front of my new friend.

Seriously, how cute (a word usually reserved for puppies, kitties and an occasional baby) is this vintage perfume pendant? And yes, the patterned dress? It's a brand new, silk, Banana Republic dress that I found at a thrift store in Grand Rapids too...

What did you thrift this week?

Evolution

2011-10-19T15:23:00.004-04:00

Trench? Mackage, Winners Shoes? Ash, Style Sense (thanks for the tips on making them fit better!) Jeans? Gap Silk shirt? Thrifted Clutch? Thrifted Necklace? Banana Republic

I think trench coats are stressful. Especially this one. They just get filthy far too quickly. Thanks to the end of season sales (cue choir music singing angelic melodies) a few years ago, I got this trench with fancy leather accents for a great price. Now I have this beautiful trench coat and I'm afraid to wear it because if I do get it dirty, it's going to cost a scary amount to dry cleaning because of said fancy leather details.
Worst of all, when I do wear the trench, I get a sore neck because I don't want my face spackle to rub all over the wide collar. So I keep my neck as high as I can... like a giraffe. As I intend to keep wearing both the trench and the face spackle, I expect my kids will be born with long necks. Survival of the fittest or something like that... They'll thank me when they are looking to get the leaves on the top of the trees.

New Shoes

2011-10-17T11:25:00.002-04:00

Dress? Thrifted Clutch and bangles? Thrifted Shoes? Ash, Style Sense Bomber? Costa Blanca

As I explained in the last post, my feet are a little big. So, it is very rare that I actually buy shoes that are too big, usually I do the 'grin and bear it' until the leather of the shoe stretches perfectly to my feet. And by 'grin and bear it', I mean, complain and ask Matt to stop at a variety store for some Corn Nuts (sooo off topic but I just discovered Ranch Corn Nuts and my life is changed...).

But these shoes are a smidgen to big, especially the left one. Please tell me your feet are different sizes too, so we can hold hands and feel special together... I put insoles in the shoes but it wasn't enough and the left shoe kept flipping off leaving me to walk like a new kid. We were at a restaurant with a bunch of friends for my birthday and in order to stay mobile, I shoved some napkins into the toe... That's when I ruined the pedicure I just got an hour earlier. Seriously, being a lady is hard... high heels, pedicures and Corn nuts... it's a lot to handle at once.

Thrift Debate: Shoes

2011-10-15T21:05:00.003-04:00

Brown boots (l to r): some Dutch brand?, Charles David and Cole Haan, all thrifted

I find it hard to thrift shoes. I mean, I have had some luck over the years, especially in the brown boot category, but it's a day worth celebrating when I find a good pair of shoes second hand. I blame the lack of thrifted shoes on my genetic superiority, which requires the weight of my huge brain (and ego?) to be evenly distributed across the expanse of my size 10 feet. I always do seem to find the best shoes and boots in tiny size 7's though... And while the discrepancy between my foot and a size 7 is great, I'm still tempted to buy them because it's hard to leave good stuff behind at a thrift store. I imagine I'll go around to all my friends and try to Cinderella a perfect match between them and the thrifted shoes.
I know some people have an aversion to thrifting shoes... and I can understand that... especially as I am not a huge fan of other people's bare feet myself. I get over it pretty fast when I see a pair of Cole Haan boots though. Besides, most of the shoes I have thrifted have had very little wear...

Do you have good luck thrifting shoes? Or do you think thrifted footwear is the equivalent of stealing the last seat from both the old lady AND the pregnant lady on the bus?... it's just so wrong?... Also, most importantly, are you one of those special people with size 7 feet?

Birthday Pants and Big Dreams

2011-10-13T08:13:00.000-04:00

Pink velvet pants? French Connection Denim shirt? Gap Boots? Winners Necklace? h&m (6 years old but still a favourite)

I woke up this morning and it was my birthday. Another year gone by. Last year on my birthday we got a new house, so I had high expectations for this year. Admittedly, it's hard to top a new home but I just looked around in case Matt's heart thawed out and he decided to bring a fourth cat into our lives as the ultimate birthday present. I didn't find any more cats hiding under the couch or tucked in the corner of my closet; just plenty of cat hair tumbleweeds and a few stray bobby pins. I'll keep those bobby pins, their value increases dramatically in the event of hair spray. And there will be hairspray, it is afterall, my birthday weekend.

I feel like I need to make some profound statement upon turning 28... but all I can think to say is that pink velvet pants are a great addition to one's wardrobe and a leather maple leaf belt makes any outfit 47% more autumnal. The truth is, I'm probably afraid to make a profound statement, afraid to admit that I need to make a few big changes this year and take some chances. If you know me in real life, you'll know that I hate change; I prefer to keep things slow and steady. But 28 is the year I kick my own butt into gear... with my favourite pair of brown boots, of course.

Snark Control

2011-10-11T22:03:00.003-04:00

Skirt? Thrifted Wool vest? Thrifted Sweatshirt? Joe Fresh Boots? Winners

This last weekend was fabulous. Yes, fabulous and I do not use that word lightly (maybe I do but in this case I am not). It was Thanksgiving Weekend here in Canada and we booked a cottage up in Blue Mountain area with Matt's side of the family for a few days. I took my little brother along as well because my parents are still in Holland eagerly awaiting the birth of their first grandchild, and I felt sorry for him. It was a pity invite. Nah, I'm kidding, I love my little brother and I knew he would fit in just fine. The love of beer and a hot tub on a long weekend is common ground for everyone.

The company was great, the weather was perfect and the autumn colour show was at its peak. I told you... fabulous.

On the 3 hour drive home, Matt and I took the meandering, scenic route along the back roads. I think we were silent for much of the drive as we took in the sun-soaked autumn splendour. I mentioned last year that the fall has a way of knocking the sarcasm out of me and it stands true this year again. I look at the kaleidiscope of autumn colour and not a snarky thing crosses my mind. And that's a good thing because sometimes (full, though not shocking, disclosure), I think pretty bitchy things.

Classic

2011-10-09T20:11:00.003-04:00

Pants? Joe Fresh Jacket? Thrifted Tee? h&m Shoes? Zara

Sometimes I'll have a fantastic outfit idea in my head and then, when I try it on, it's all kinds of wrong. I then give myself a little pat on the head and a cluck under the chin and tell myself 'better luck next time sweetie'. But I just knew that this one was going to be good. After all, a vintage wool red jacket and gold jeans are pretty much classic.
That said, the word classic can refer to a crazy wide range of options. Some call macaroni and cheese, classic and others call cranberry focaccia with turkey, pear, brie and a fine Dijon mustard, classic. Classic is in the eye of the beholder. And I beholden this to be classic. And I am also making up words...
I should take a moment to thank my little brother for taking these pictures. I found this location a few weeks ago and I've already used it 3 times. This time I spotted the security camera (behind me in picture 2), so I was rushing him. Between me hurrying him along and him losing interest and taking pictures of his car instead, I still think we got a few good pictures. I'll keep him on the family tree for now...

This Week I Thrifted...

2011-10-07T13:33:00.003-04:00

Cape? Ann Taylor, thrifted Belt? Thrifted Blouse? I.D., Winners

What? Ann Taylor cape
Where? Bibles for Misson Thrift Store
How much? $5
Why? In the last two weeks I have spent 8 minutes thrifting. It was not time wasted, as evidenced by this great little cape I found.
With Halloween around the corner, I have been avoiding the bigger thrift stores. I get that a thrift store may be a good place to find a cheap and original costume but I don't get why thrift stores get all sexy, cheap and polyester in October. I mean,I understand it, it's all about the bottom line but I can't handle the crowds and sparkly angle wings so I take my thrift elsewhere.
I love the Bibles For Mission store because it's always clean and I usually see a couple ladies from my church who volunteer there. I think they get a kick out of seeing me buy a bright pink skirt and wear it to church with a sweatshirt. However, because the store is run by volunteers, they don't stay open late. I got to the store at 4:43p.m. and the store closed at 5p.m.. By 4:51p.m. I was at the cash with this cape (brand new, heck yes!) and a charming but horribly hand-knit mustard sweater. I'd say it was a little skill and a little luck...

What did you thrift this week?

Making Memories

2011-10-04T20:51:00.003-04:00

Jacket? Vintage, thrifted Jeans? super old Citizens of Humanity Shirt? Winners Boots? Charles David, thrifted Beret? Joe Fresh The cat Stella? The streets

This vintage coat is pretty perfect. It has a great little swing shape and it is the best leopard print... ever. Yeah, that's a challenge, find me a prettier cat print and I shall... do something really exciting, like paint my foyer white instead of mocha. I am crazy like that.

The saddest thing about this jacket is that it's slowly falling apart. I tried to put my phone in my pocket and it dropped to the ground because there isn't lot of pocket left. It seems that lately I am on a mission to break my phone... I also dropped it off my parents' roof 1.5 times last weekend as I was trying to help re-shingle the roof. It's really not fair, I think I want to break my phone so I can justify an upgrade (spoiled?) and it just isn't happening. And my beautiful jacket? I want to keep it forever but it's breaking down. I'm just going to have to appreciate every beautiful memory I have a chance to make with my leopard swing jacket. I should make a scrapbook...

Winter Prep

2011-10-02T22:06:00.002-04:00

Jacket? Zara Jeans, shirt and sparkly cardi? Gap Boots? Winners Belt and Purse? Thrifted

I am giving away all the wardrobe tricks I intend to employ this winter to keep things interesting in this one post.
Lots of layers.
Comfy brown boots.
Whoa, is your purse fuzzy?
Interesting coloured denim.
And then, of course, some sparkle.

This weekend the temperature dipped and we got a tiny taste of what we have to look forward to this winter. It was so chilly Matt even let me turn on the heat... how kind. I think we (as a collective blogging community?) should award every blogger that endures a cold winter and continues fashion blogging with an extra 2 points. Or should we get minus 2 points? For wasting time taking outfit pictures in the cold, when we could be cuddling by fire and reading trashy novels? It's a debate worth having, on the one hand, fireplaces and trashy novels are great but, pretty layers and sequins are worth taking the time to document too...

Thrift Day. Details.

2011-09-30T11:05:00.005-04:00

I wouldn't say my blog is super useful. I talk about my cats and about nothing a lot and that seems to suit just fine. But if you were coming here to learn anything, I would want you to know that the best reason you have to get to the thrift store, is for a chance to upgrade your wardrobe. I've said it before but I'll probably keep repeating it. Because repetition is the mother of learning and the father of tedium but regardless... Thrifting is an awesome way to shop the trends and all that fun jazz, but it is the best way to build a quality wardrobe on a budget.
When I found the unlabelled red skirt last week, I knew it was a good one because it was lambswool/cashmere but also because of the multiple hanger loops. That got me thinking that I should do another post about how to spot quality... but this time strictly by high end construction techniques... So, these are little clues to help you spot the good stuff even if the item doesn't have a label or if you don't have a supa fancy phone (like me, let's hug...) to google an unfamiliar name brand...

Multiple hanger loops- This skirt I found last week has 4 little hanger loops, one on the front and back of each side. I reckon that has to do with the fact that the weight of the garment is more evenly distributed and you don't get the slouch in the garment like you do sometimes when there are only two hanger loops. Because you are paying more for high end garments you are also expecting them to last longer and this is just one little trick to keep a garment looking better in the mad house we call our closets.

Interior belts in strapless dresses- I got this dress over 5 years ago. It's layers of silk with a corseted waist. It's a bit tight on my hips, so some seasons it fits and other seasons I can't walk but I've worn it plenty in the last years and so have a few on my friends... like a Sisterhood of the Travelling Dress but without a crappy movie to go with it. It's easy to see that it's good quality based on the silk fabrication and the design but the interior belt is a good sign too. Strapless dresses get their support to stay up from the fit around the waist. A good strapless dress shouldn't pinch tightly and create an armpit roll but you shouldn't spend all night hauling the goods back into the dress either. This is where an interior belt comes in. It supports some of the weight of the dress and keeps the dress in place. A good designer knows this and will take the effort to put one in.
Also, this dress also has an extra hanger loop as well...

Enclosed seams- I've shown the close-up of the seaming on this Marchesa dress before but it's worth noting again that a very high end garment will have beautifully finished seams. A well serged seam works fine in most clothing but in high end clothing the inside of a garment should be beautiful like the outside. Hence, fully enclosed seams... This technique takes waaaayyyy more time than a simple serge finish and... time=money...

Hidden fastenings- This Victor Costa dress has a hidden placket that snaps up to conceal the zipper in the skirt. The zipper is hardly noticeable without it because there is so much volume from the crinoline but the placket was still put in just to be 100% sure that the fastening is enclosed. The idea is that a well made garment should fit perfectly, and the attention should be on the garment and its design, not on the construction that made the design possible.

The common element between these high end construction details in my thrift finds, is the extra effort they require in the technical design and construction process. They are the little things that can easily be slashed to make a budget but a luxury designer would never dream of skimping on these details. These are some of the details you pay for when you purchase high end merchandise at Saks or Holt Renfrew but these are the same details you get for free if you are on the look-out for luxury at your local thrift store. There are many more little details that are indicators of quality and as I find more, I shall report back to you. Because repitition is the mother of learning... oh wait, I already said that today...

Gold Member (?)

2011-09-28T18:03:00.002-04:00

Jeans? Joe Fresh Sweater? Thrifted Bag? Roots Shoes? Ralph Lauren, DSW Bracelets? Thrifted

And then it happened. I wore gold jeans. And I felt a little rockstar and a little ridiculous at the same time.
Yet, oddly enough, I think these gold jeans are going to become somewhat of a staple for me. When you live in Canada and you have to endure that thing that sticks around for way too long, you know, that thing called winter, you do what you can to keep some variety in your wardrobe. I've had sparkle goodness jeans before, a copper pair from an h&m sale rack (worn here... a long time ago) but I had to do the elastic through the button hole to make them not pinch. At some point I realized that pregnancy wardrobe tricks should be reserved for pregnancies and those copper jeans went in the donation pile. Thankfully, the gold jeans not only button up, they are even comfortable.
Oh yes... and a note about why I've been wearing my glasses lately. You see, I woke up one morning to find my last pair of contacts dried out in the sink... It must have been quite a party the night before. Once again, I felt a little rockstar and a little ridiculous.

Iconic

2011-09-26T22:26:00.004-04:00

Skirt? Ralph Lauren, thrifted Dress as shirt? French Connection Shoes? Derek Lam, Holt's Last Call Belt and clutch? Thrifted Bracelets? Crazy Lady at The Ex Hair? Tutorial here

I feel like this outfit is a bonnet and a sleeve away from being Little House on The Prairie. And if I ditch the skirt to reveal the rather short dress that I am wearing as shirt, my outfit could potentially be a pack of hair extensions and a contour spray tan away from being Gossip Girl. Basically, my outfit is somewhere between two iconic Americans; Laura Ingalls Wilder and Serena Van Der Woodsen.

And now we shall mourn that I flippantly dared to call Serena Van Der Woodsen iconic... Though let's be real, I mean no flippancy when I say that Laura Ingalls Wilder is iconic. She was pretty much my childhood hero...

This Week I Thrifted...

2011-09-24T16:14:00.003-04:00

Skirt? Thrifted Sweater? Gap, thrifted Belt? Thrifted Necklace? F21

What? A Cashmere/wool skirt. It has no brand label attached but the finishings and the hand of the fabric speak of luxury. And you know I'm fancy...
Where? Talize
How much? $7.99 minus 10% and a donation coupon.
Why? I'm horrible at making big life decisions. I just stew ideas, grind my teeth and turn the same things over and over in my head. So this weekend I went to Talize to think. Maybe that's weird but there is something peaceful to me about searching through racks of potential. Not only did the little thrift trip clear my mind, it was also the most successful thrift trip I've had in over a month. I cleaned up.
This skirt is perfectly on trend with its longer hem and vibrant colour and the quality is top notch. I wish you could feel how soft the material is. It's as soft as Kyle, our softest cat... I now wish you could feel how soft Kyle is. But you'll just have to believe me...

Oh thrifting, thanks for being my therapy... again.

What did you thrift this week?

Upgraded Track Pants

2011-09-23T16:27:00.003-04:00

Pants? h&m Sweatshirt? Joe Fresh Necklace? Joe Fresh Shoes? Kate Spade, thrifted Clutch? Thrifted

Once the weather gets colder, I settle into a week day, after-work routine. I get home from work, kiss my cats, check my inbox to see if I'm cool yet, take a hot shower to regain circulation and then settle in for the night with my yellow track pants and fuzzy blanket. Yes, the same yellow track pants and fuzzy blanket I have been rocking for years. I'm such a little remixer.

This week I replaced my old after-work favourites with my comfy apricot pants and new sweatshirt. Only because it's not too cold yet... once the temperature drops even more and Matt starts guarding the thermostat again, the blanket and trackies are back. But for now, I can be appropriately dressed when the guy canvassing the neighbourhood for the NDP knocks on the door. And if Matt asks me if I want to go out for dinner, I can add a little sparkle and I'm ready to go... in 5 minutes. That's a record.

I really like my apricot pants... almost as much as I love those yellow trackpants.

Changing Tastes

2011-09-20T20:16:00.003-04:00

Poncho? Thrifted Jeans? Gap Boots? Winners Belt and Purse? Thrifted

I feel a bit like I am disappointing my brother by wearing a poncho... He probably doesn't remember but we used to bond over our mutual hate of the poncho. A few years ago it just seemed like every woman decided that it was the clothing item of choice and for a time, our church was a sea of ponchos.

I just did a Google image search for ponchos (you bored? waste time here) and as it turns out, there is such a thing as a good poncho and a bad poncho. The ponchos of my youth can definitely be classified as bad ponchos but this one is all good. I just hope my brother likes it too... Though I worry that without our mutual and all consuming hate of ponchos, my brother and I have nothing in common. Maybe I can introduce him to the Litas and we will have something new to dislike together...?

Reunion

2011-09-19T08:58:00.004-04:00

Sequin jacket? Thrifted Button-up? Brina and Em, Winners Shorts? Joe Fresh Shoes? Latitude femme, Style Sense

This weekend it was finally my high school reunion. I wore this the day after. The reunion was held at a workshop and I knew it would get cold at night, so I dressed warm, keeping my cold bloodedness in mind. I would have liked to wear this though; it's my favourite mix of casual and ridiculously sequined.

Reunions are a funny thing. If I don't see a really close friend for 3 days, I can't wait to talk to her and catch her up on how the cats have been sleeping, the size of the pile of dishes in the sink and what way I've been parting my hair... But when an old classmate asks me after 10 years 'Anything exciting happen to you?', I can't think of the right words and I end up saying 'Not much... and you?'. Which is bull$hit, right? Because in 10 years so many things have happened; exciting things, crazy things, sad things... It's just hard to sum it up in one tiny conversation without sounding like you are a)bragging b)insane or c)using them as therapist...

Even though high school reunions have very high potential to be awkward and uncomfortable, I do think that our reunion went quite well. Which is nice, because me and two other classmates planned it all and it was a lot hard work... I am quite glad it is done now. If I could give any advice to people concerning upcoming reunions, I would recommend not volunteering to organize the whole thing, instead put your efforts into thinking of the perfect answer to 'Anything exciting happen to you?'...

Inspiration

2011-09-15T23:17:00.002-04:00

Seeing all the stylish girls in Utrecht, Holland last week made me feel inspired me for the autumn season at hand. Bring on the layers, colours and knits...! The Dutch girls always look breezy yet chic as they deal with the bike commute through the city and the temperamental weather. While I was there, I tried to keep up. And I ate droppies (picture #3).

Matt also felt inspired by Dutch fashion.

He now wears these klompen working around the yard. I think they must hurt, at least until he wears them in, but he's too stubborn to admit it. After all... his klompen bring all the girls to the yard...
Ha... is this song stuck in your head now?

Scene Stealer

2011-09-13T20:05:00.003-04:00

Pants? JoeFresh Cape? Zara Boots? Charles David, thrifted Purse? Thrifted Bracelets? Winners, Market in Holland and Crazy Lady at The Ex.

Lots of things were happening this weekend in Hamilton... Locke Street Festival, Supercrawl, Country Music FanFest...
On Saturday night my friend and I walked to Supercrawl and along the way we happened upon a crowd gathering for a Fanfest after-party event. It was easy to see exactly who was going to what event. The Supercrawl drew the artists and hipsters and Fanfest was all about cowboy boots and hairspray. And while the love of plaid unites the hipsters and the country crowd for a brief moment, it all falls apart at the sight of a fancy moustache or a cardigan.
I don't know exactly where I fit in with my outfit that night. But it didn't really matter because no one pays attention to red pants and a big old cape... when there is a baby around. My friend had her two month old daughter in a sling and she completely stole the show... someone needs to teach the young ones respect...

Sweet Emails and Great Dresses

2011-09-11T20:52:00.003-04:00

Dress? Marchesa by notte, thrifted Wool blazer? Thrifted Shoes? DvF, StyleSense Necklace? Joe Fresh Wristlet? Coach, bridesmaid's gift

One time I recieved an email that referred to me as a 'top name blogger'. I printed out a copy, showed my boss and asked for a raise. He didn't care. At all.
Another time I got an email addressed to Dear Sarah. I know my name is kind of complicated and I am fine with spelling mistakes and butchered pronunciation but not name substitution. My name is Jentine, not Sarah.
This last weekend I got an email from an wonderful reader who found my thrifted Marchesa dress at a consignment store for $300. She even sent proof. See?

This was officially one of my favourite emails. Further proof of how awesome thrifting is. Thrifting is how I have a chance to upgrade my wardrobe. For $8 you can get you 3 kitkat bars, 2 packs of stickers and 3 packs of gum at the dollar store. Or you can get a Marchesa dress at a thrift store...

This Week I Thrifted...

2011-09-10T16:46:00.003-04:00

Dress? Thrifted Necklace? Flea market

What? Vintage, wool,, long sleeved, pretty friggen awesome dress
Where? Value Village
How Much? $12.99
Why? Don't know where to start on how much I love this dress. I love the long sleeves, the pattern mix, the length of the skirt and it's quality. It's in near perfect condition (I need to put one stitch on the neckline) and I can't wait to wear this with a super high pair of heels and some mulled wine this autumn. Note: I'll be drinking that mulled wine, not wearing it... unless I drink too much then I may wear some.
Sadly, as thrilled as I am with this dress, this will be my last thrifting trip to my Hamilton Value Village for a while. I have extensively bitched about Value Village's prices before and even threatened a break-up but this last trip cemented my decision. The stained Mexx shirt dress for $17.99 got my blood pressure up high but it was the Urban Behaviour polyester dress (if you are unfamiliar with UB, click here for a price sampling... I think it's kind of like a Charlotte Russe?) for $24.99 that broke a bit of my thrift heart. I don't mind paying $13 for a high quality, wool dress; I would prefer to pay $3 but $13 is still value for my dollar. But when a thrift store puts items at higher price points than consignment stores or even a good sales rack, the point of thrifting is lost for me. It's a pity because some of my favourite thrift finds (here and here) have come from this very Value Village. I thrift because I love the thrill of the treasure hunt and seeing crazy prices on mediocre items steals all the joy out of the experience. And so, I'm breaking up. Maybe it's over like Robyn and Ted or maybe time will heal all wounds, like Ross and Rachel. I'm not going to start a boycott campaign complete with a Facebook page and some bad spelling; I may write a letter (be afraid, very afraid...) but for the most part, I'll just be taking my thrift elsewhere. Peace out Value Village, I'll be back when you stop stealing my thrift joy.

A Perfect Day

2011-09-08T21:56:00.002-04:00

Dress? Bruuns Bazaar (found in Holland) Shoes? DvF, StyleSense Clutch? Thrifted Brooch? Permanently borrowed from my parents

The biggest reason we went to Holland was for my brother Albert's wedding. I had big plans to wear this to the wedding. Until I actually took a good look at the invitation and saw that while the ceremony and standing reception were in an old church and the surrounding grounds (above), the dinner was on a beach. And a dramatic, vintage Victor Costa dress doesn't mix well with sand and salt water.

The wedding was a fantastic party! It's always special to be somewhere with my whole family (it's been two years now) and to savour those moments. Beyond that, the weather was absolutely perfect as well. Considering that the whole summer in Holland has been cold, rainy and miserable, this day of complete sunshine was almost a miracle. It's funny, throughout all the stresses of wedding planning, my sister-in-law never seemed to spend much time worrying about the weather. Huddled under an umbrella and bundled in sweaters, she would confidently tell me that the Saturday of the wedding was going to be 'so beautiful and warm'. There was stress over music choices. There was stress over tie knot options. I even remember stress over how my brother should stand at the front of the church (arms behind or at the side... yeah, that happened...) but there was hardly any stress over the weather.

And my sister-in-law was right. The day was beautiful. We witnessed them exchanging vows, enjoyed champagne and cupcakes on the grounds of the old church and then headed through the dunes for an casual BBQ in a beach pavilion. When the sun set, we danced and danced and danced. Well, except for that brief interruption when my little brother decided to do push-ups on the dance floor and everyone rallied to support his... efforts. Yeah. It was that good of a party.

Colour My World

2011-09-07T14:09:00.002-04:00

Top to Bottom: Shake-up Pink by Rimmel, Watermelon by Joe, Red Hot by Rimmel

Two years ago I thought nothing could come between me and my lipgloss. I thought lipstick belonged to old ladies and the 90's and that lipgloss and time travel was the future.Turns out I was wrong. I'm still addicted to lipgloss but I can't seem to stop buying fun lipsticks either. Which is good because I need stupid things, like a lipstick collection, to spend my money on.

Some of you have asked what my lip colours are from previous outfit posts... here are my current favourites.

A Blue Wall, a Pink Couch and a Red Blazer

2011-09-06T16:50:00.002-04:00

Jacket? Gift from Jessie Shorts? Joe Fresh Tee? h&m Bracelets? Crazy lady at The Ex and a dutch market

We just got back on Canadian soil after our two week stay in Holland. It was a crazy, busy and awesome time and I think I wore this red jacket for about 43% of said crazy, busy and awesome time. If I had known that I would wear this jacket so often, I could have packed a little lighter and saved myself the effort of lugging my 24.8 kg. suitcase everywhere. Every bus, train or plane I boarded with my suitcase and giant carry-on bag, I would curse my frivolousness and vow that next time I travel, I will wear a pair of sweatpants and a Champion t-shirt the entire time.

If you are lucky, 43% of my future outfit posts won't involve this jacket. But that is going to be hard. Because I love my red jacket. Almost as much as I love my sister-in-law's pink couch.

Well Red

2011-09-02T07:25:00.002-04:00

Jacket? A gift from my friend, Jessie Pants? Zara Shoes? Thrifted Necklace? Banana Republic Sunglasses? h&m

Matt and I spent our actual anniversary extremely jetlagged from flying into Holland. It was kind of a relief to me that both of us were grumpy, usually I carry the burden of grump alone but this time Matt was grumpy too and everyone could see that Matt is human. It was about time Matt got off his pedestal, he's afraid of heights anyways...
Speaking of heights... these pictures were taken on the balcony of our hotel room in the pretty town of Haarlem. We went there for a few days to celebrate our anniversary belatedly. I noticed we had a balcony outside of our window and I was impressed that there were chairs up there; as if a balcony 3 stories high, with a tiny railing and a even tinier spiralled fire escape is a place to enjoy a fine merlot and a croquette. Later, I realized that the chairs were there more as a typical Dutch storage solution than as a patio area...
And yet, despite the fact that we both don't like heights, we took pictures on that scary balcony. We kept it simple... no crazy posing, no high heels, no re-shoots... just my new red blazer and smackload of lipstick. I'm so romantic... 'Happy Anniversary sweet muffin husby lover! Wanna take pictures on an unsecure balcony before we go out for a nice dinner? Great!'

Another Weather Report

2011-08-31T06:56:00.002-04:00

Skirt? Thrifted Shirt? h&m Vest? Thrifted Belt? Roots, thrifted Shoes? Frye, Winners Bracelets? Thrifted and the Crazy lady at The Ex Purse? Thrifted

We've been in the Netherlands for a week now, and so far it's almost my dream country. The streets are cobbled. Picturesque canals run through most towns. There is rush hour... for bike traffic. I can buy droppies everywhere! Dutch girls wear colours, prints and layers even when they don't have a fashion blog. Yogourt comes in easy pour cartons.

I told you... Holland is magical. A sweet dutch man even took in my camera when I left it after setting it down on the street as I unlocked my bike and returned it to me, when I came back to the location half an hour later, practically in tears. That's a lie, I don't do anything 'practically in tears', I just skip right to the full-on tears part...

If there is anything that stops Holland from being perfect, it is the weather and the tiny bathrooms. It's been cold and rainy with 5 minute increments of sunshine for the time that we have been here and legend has it, that it has been so this whole summer. I get to practice my autumn wardrobe in this chilly weather and I feel all inspired with the seasonal change; that's the good news. There is no good news concerning the small bathrooms though... I just need to get used to my knees touching the door. Weird.

Dorothy Blogs

2011-08-28T07:48:00.003-04:00

Remember when I wore yellow shorts and my friend asked me if I felt like I was humping sunshine? Yeahhh... that special friend is Dorothy and she's putting on her blog girl panties and posting for me today.

Skirt? Thrifted Belt? Thrifted Tee? Joe Fresh Sandals? Joe Fresh Bag? Winners Bangles? Thrifted

Six years ago I needed a dress for a New Years Eve party/wedding reception, all rolled in one. I had a few meters of terrible turquoise satin and heard through a friend of someone who could make me a dress. The rest is a bit fuzzy, but I ended up on Jentine's doorstep, with a blot of satin and a boyfriend in tow. Jentine took my measurements and the next thing you know, my boyfriend was telling her a story about his childhood cat they named Pussy. Apparently it was embarrassing to call for this kitty when he escaped outside…

A few weeks later, I came for a fitting and was ambushed with, “Can I make it a bit shorter? It would look really cute if it was shorter! Just a few more inches off?”

I tried that dress on again a while ago ago and laughed out loud in my closet. At the time I had thought it was short enough, and I had worn it well (WELL) below my knees. After six years of friendship with Jentine; her influence, inspiration and off-colour conversations, I realize, yeah, it could lose a few inches.

I’ll give her this: she was honest enough to tell me my dress needed to be shorter, nice enough to keep to herself that the material was ugly (at the time, I might have cried) and inappropriate enough to realize that a cat named Pussy, is really funny. And that’s why I love her.

5 Years

2011-08-25T10:59:00.004-04:00

Today is Matt and my (edit: thanks for the heads up on the grammar mistake) five year anniversary!!! I'm pretty sure the first thing I said to him that day at the end of the aisle, 5 years ago, was 'you friggen cut your hair!'. Indeed, his sister-in-law had got a hold of him that morning and whipped his cute scruffy style into business shape. And I hate business hair; cut so short at the sides that you can see scalp.

5 years later, despite the fcat that he still sometimes gets the business cut, despite the fact that we butt heads over politics and despite the fact that he always lets me know that he is the only skilled driver on the road, I'm glad I ended up with the sweetest guy I know. Sometimes he drops by my job site with a drink and a kiss and I can't think of a better sight in the world, than his truck coming up the driveway. This is love.

My Mother's Daughter

2011-08-23T21:05:00.002-04:00

Dress? Winners Shoes? Mea Shadow, Winners

If they had try-outs for a blonde sister to be added to the Kardashian gaggle, this is what I would wear.
It's funny that I almost feel a bit of guilt for not wearing much of anything that was thrifted in my last two posts. It is not only a huge part of my identity as a blogger but it's a big part of my history as well. Picture this. Little Jentine, 6 years old with a white blonde bowl cut, wearing a pair of high waisted jeans with big exposed black elastics at the side, proudly telling a friend's mom (in my Dutch accent, I just moved to Canada a year earlier) that I got those awesome jeans at Goodwill. It seems not much has changed since then; well, besides my bowl cut and accent. If my mom had played it right, she could have started me as a fashion blogger from a very young age but my mom is not Kris Jenner and instead of perfume deals, I got her thrift skills. But I also got her smile, the penchant to cry over any sad animal story and her love for horticulture. If I end up having even half as much patience and resilience as my mother, I would eternally regret even thinking of going to a fictional audition for the Kardashian family.

I never meant for this post to turn into a mini gush fest over my Mama, it was originally about thrifting and elastic denim but I got carried away... it's kind of ironic actually because I'm pretty sure of all my posts, she would dislike this dress the most. That's ok, we don't have to agree on clothes... we can just agree on cats and thrifting.

Cloudy with a Chance of Rain

2011-08-21T18:37:00.004-04:00

Shirt? Joe Fresh Pants? Zara Shoes? Coach, Winners Clutch? Winners Cuffs? Auction

The dark skies and impending rain this weekend made me nervous for both selfish and unselfish reasons.
On the selfish side, the overcast sky made it hard to get clear photos with our mediocre camera. And that would have been sad because I really loved this outfit and without photographic proof, did this outfit happen at all? You know what they say, 'pictures or it didn't happen.' But it did happen and we have the evidence as I used the only photography trick I know. If the light is low, pose by a white wall. It's a good thing I don't write a blog on photography or I would be out of material really fast...
For unselfish reasons I didn't want it to rain because my friend and I saw a backyard wedding as I was taking pictures of her in an alleyway (and... that sounds awkward) earlier in the day. We tried to act casual as our creeper nature took over and we snuck peeks into the backyard. If I could re-do our wedding, it would definitely be just family, close friends and adopted cats in our backyard with some good food, fancy drinks and sparkly lights. Not like we'll re-do our wedding though, so maybe we'll just include all those elements and call it a party.
The good news for the nearby backyard wedding was that it only ended up raining for 3 minutes that evening. 3 minutes of rain can ruin a hair style but it would take a lot more than that to ruin a good party.

This Week I Thrifted...

2011-08-20T16:01:00.002-04:00

Shirt? J. Crew, thrifted Sweater? Gap Necklaces? Banana Republic and The Last Hurrah

What? J. Crew cotton button-up
Where? Talize (again... of course)
How much? $8 minus 10% with discount card. I think this is a little expensive but I was feeling sorry for myself.
Why? I love the royal blue/purple colour. It's an unusual colour that really contrasts nicely. It's also an easy-going button up, which I seem to wear a lot lately; roll up the sleeves, undo a few buttons at the neck, hopefully remember to put on a pair of pants and I'm ready!
The truth is, this shirt was my consolation prize. I've been in a bit of a thrift rut; life has been overwhelming and uninspiring lately and it's been messing with my thrift luck. I found a tie front Miu Miu blouse last time and I thought that it would be my comeback kid. It was the same great purpley colour and because I felt like I was back in the game, I grabbed the J. Crew blouse beside it that was the exact colour. Because two is better than one? Sadly, the Miu Miu blouse gaped at the buttonholes over my chest. What's even sadder is that for one brief second I considered wearing two sports bras to bind my chest down and make the shirt fit. Sometimes I think stupid things. Actually, often I think stupid things but I cover it up by spouting knowledge about plants. I distract with botany; it's a true story.
Anyways, I left the tie front blouse and I took home the J. Crew blouse. And styled like it is with the apple green v-neck and a glob of necklaces, I'm OK with the fact that I paid $7 for it. No new cat toys this week, I guess.

What did you thrift this week?

Cats and Threads

2011-08-16T21:51:00.003-04:00

Vest? Thrifted Shirt? Gap Cords? Joe Fresh Shoes? Derek Lam, Holt's Last Call Necklaces? Cuba and garage sales Purse? Thrifted

Here's a slightly gross story for you. I was holding (possibly physically restraining?) Kyle, the cat and he startled from a noise and put little holes in my cords as he jumped off my lap with his claws extended. I'm just going to keep wearing the cords until the holes shred open because I paid an extra $8 to get the legs fitted. What's gross isn't that Kyle almost wasted the cost of tailoring, but that I pulled an inch long red thread from these cords out of my knee a few weeks later.

Kyle's lucky I believe in commitment to pets and I allowed him to stay in the house. My co-worker is not so lucky I believe in such commitment. A simple conversation this morning at work turned into me ranting wildly at her across the job site about responsible pet ownership. It had nothing to do with her; I just get so passionate about the subject that my voice raises an octave and my arms flail wildly. She stayed out of arm range and kept her ear plugs nearby. They give us ear plugs at work to protect against the roar of machinery but it turns out, they muffle my rants pretty well too...

Rebellion

2011-08-14T22:16:00.002-04:00

Skirt? Thrifted Silk Shirt? Thrifted Shoes? Frye, Winners I think this might be a fanny pack? Winners Bangles? Thrifted and gift from Mexico

This is the skirt from my last post. I just put my years of being a Catholic school girl into practice and raised the hem by rolling the waistband a few times. I'm kidding, I was never a Catholic school girl. Some of my childhood friends were though and I remember them getting their new school kilts hemmed every August under the watchful eye of their mothers. And then, on the first day of school, they would round the corner away from home and roll their skirt waistband 3 times. I never, ever wore skirts in high school and my mother never had to put up with secret hem battles. I do, however, remember having particularly strict rules about make-up. I rebelled in Grade 9 when I would sneakily apply my favourite sassy green eyeshadow on the way to school in the back of the bumpy school bus... with no mirror.

In a month I'm having my 10 year high school reunion. Some classmates have travelled the world, some classmates (most, actually) have kids and some classmates are working their dream job. I, on the other hand, have learned to apply eyeshadow properly. Using a mirror is recommended.

This Week I Thrifted...

2011-08-12T23:26:00.004-04:00

Skirt? Thrifted Shirt? F21 Necklaces? Thrifted and stolen from my Mama

This week I thrifted a handmade, chevron printed, pleated skirt. Say that 10 times fast! Never mind... don't waste your breathe, I can't hear you over the sound of the Spice Girls singing in the background.

Where? Talize, Hamilton
How much? $6 minus student discount and coupon so about $4.
Why? The skirt is cute and can be styled a lot of ways. Blah, blah, blah... Mostly, I just like the fact that it is homemade. Sewing in a chiffon fabric and putting in pleats is no walk in the park, unless you are walking through the park in high heels and trying to eat a shwarma at the same time; basically, it takes focus. And even though the skirt is well made and the pockets lie nice and flat, I am charmed by the fact that the sewer screwed up on the button holes and put in two button holes with no corresponding buttons... and then gave up and just added a hook and eye. I am betting that this skirt waistband has heard a lot of bad words and seen some tears. Whoever you are Mystery Sewer, I shall thoroughly enjoy this skirt... double button holes and all.

What did you thrift this week?

Drape

2011-08-11T20:39:00.003-04:00

Skirt? MaxMara, Holt's Last Call Shirt? Noa, Winners Clutch? Thrifted Shoes? French Connection warehouse sale Bracelets? Crazy lady at The Ex Ring? gift from my parents

I couldn't believe my luck when I found this skirt years ago at Holt Renfrew Last Call. It had survived about 13 markdowns to make it down from several hundred dollars to $30. How had so many people let such a genius skirt go? Pockets, draping, a clever khaki waistband and a tiny touch of neon yellow...
Turns out the skirt is freaking hard to wear. Gathers on the hips are a battle in and of themselves. Then there is that fact that the button placement on the closure of the skirt just doesn't fit right on my body, so I just make do with a pretty pin and some good old safety pins. Standing in front of the mirror trying to manhandle the skirt into place reminds me of draping class in second year university, except for I am fitting a skirt on a real body, not some dress form with no butt and impossibly high breasts. I'm glad my education was useful for something because when I can wrangle this skirt on properly, I quite like it.

Design Life

2011-08-09T12:21:00.004-04:00

Yesterday I was searching through my archives (thousands of pictures of myself... sickening really) for a particular family picture and I came across this shot. It's one of the bridesmaids dresses I made last year. It's funny that I can look at it now and think 'that's pretty freaking cute'. Ok, maybe it's not funny, maybe it's conceited or maybe it's just interesting. Last year I remember just being so frustrated with the dress that by the time it was done, I didn't think there was anything cute about it. I spent hours hand sewing (and cutting) those flowers... I got about 1/3 of the way and I decided I didn't like the size of the flowers, took them all out and did it all over again.
That's why last October I took a year long leave from sewing. It had gotten to the point where sewing wasn't fun anymore because I was losing sleep and stressing myself out over every detail. And even if it looked good (even great), I would still think of ways that it could have been better. It didn't help that last year was crazy busy; I was working fulltime, I made 2 wedding dresses and 6 bridesmaids dresses, we bought a house and put our old house on the market...twice (the first time it all fell apart), I was in night school and I was trying to be a decent wife, daughter, friend and cat mother. I remember feeling like I was going to shatter into pieces. Something had to give and that something was sewing.
Matt loves the sewing sabbatical and has put forward a recommendation to extend it indefinitely. The non-sewing Jentine is... much nicer.
It was kind of nice to see this picture again and to have some joy in my handiwork. Even if it takes me a year to enjoy what I've made... I'm confident when I landscape, when I get dressed, when I write a post about nothing but when I make a dress, I turn into a pile of insecurities. But a year after that fact, I can confidently say this dress is cute... and that its cousin is pretty sweet too. Seeing these pictures almost makes me want to go through the whole creative process of designing dresses again... but not quite yet. I'm rather enjoying this break. Matt is probably enjoying it even more.

Movie Date?

2011-08-07T21:34:00.002-04:00

Silk kimono-ish top? Thrifted Tank? Splendid, Winners Jeans? Primark Necklace? Last Hurrah Vintage Shoes? Jeffrey Campbell Purse? Thrifted Hat? Banana Republic

Matt and I tried to go watch a movie at the theatre this Saturday. We hardly go to the theatre because Matt always falls asleep and then it's like we end up paying $13 for Matt to take a nap. Whether the theatre is an expensive nap or a good source of mindless entertainment (our movie choice was low brow), it didn't matter because the movie was sold out. So instead we did some groceries and rented a movie. My little brother ended up coming over too and we watched Just Go With It. Matt fell asleep in his old man chair and Gerard and I giggled way too hard over a sheep resuscitating joke. They called it Sheep PR.
This weekend is proof that I am getting old. We stayed home on a Saturday night and laughed over puns. I also like prunes and sparkly visors.

This Week I Thrifted...

2011-08-06T17:54:00.003-04:00

This week I thrifted a leopard print (yes, I am a nerd and I just googled to make sure that this is, indeed, a leopard print), cowhide belt.

Where? Talize, Hamilton
How much? $5 minus student discount and a donation coupon... so, about $3.50
Why? Because I wear belts a lot. Because I wear my other leopard print belt a lot (here and here). Because a leopard print belt is the easiest way to be a fashion super starrrrr! and mix prints. And because no matter what happens, there will be a magazine out there that'll tell you that this fall's hottest trends are tweed, lace and leopard print... just like last year. So, you might as well join the trend for $3.50 instead of $80...

What did you thrift this week?

I Tried

2011-08-03T18:07:00.002-04:00

Jacket? Armani, antique store Pants? Zara Shoes? Ralph Lauren, DSW Clutch? Thrifted

The conclusion to my post from yesterday is as follows. I bought the Armani sheer jacket even though my honest attempts at raising the money for said jacket by selling stuff to Plato's Closet was a big waste of time. Instead I waited for a few days and when I was still dreaming about the delightful striped chiffon, I went back to the antique store and asked what we could work out price wise. Without dickering (your assignment this week is to use the word dicker in a sentence), the owner immediately dropped the price from $90 to $60. We had ourselves a deal and the jacket came home with me.
And now I must rationalize the purchase.

I deserve the jacket because if I put my regular wage on the amount of time it took me to get the clothes organized and on the drive time to Plato's Closet, then I could buy myself the jacket and some fancy boxed wine.

I deserve the jacket because if I put a resale value on all those clothes that I was going to sell but I am now swapping/donating, I would have been able to afford the jacket at full price.

I deserve the jacket because Matt spends a lot of money on Tim Horton's coffee.

I need a nap... guilt mathematics is tiring work.

Thrift Day. The Good Stuff.

2011-08-02T17:10:00.003-04:00

Sometimes people ask me why Hamilton has such great thrift finds... I've never found a thrift store anywhere that I didn't like (unless it's a price thing...) but Hamilton does seem to have a lot of high end merchandise. Marchesa. Cole Haan. Marc Jacobs... we're all pretty much best friends now, thanks to the local thrift store. I speculate that a lot of the good finds can be attributed to the fact that the many people who donate, drop off good stuff and the many people who shop, might not recognize these brands. That's where I swoop in and plunder...

Last week however, I found out the real reason that the Hamilton thrift stores are stacked. It all started with a silk Armani bed jacket that I found at an antique store. I must have been feeling extrodinarily mature and responsible that day because I decided that if I wanted the jacket, I would have to commit and sell some of my own clothes first. In the past, I have consigned items at a cute nearby shop but because the store is so little, they are really tight on their seasonal selection and it takes weeks to get an appointment. I've made good money off items but it is a lot of work to prep the pieces, drop them off, wait 2 months, then pick up the money... Sometimes when I think about how much work it was to make sure everything was ironed and perfect, I realize I could have just worked for few extra hours instead. I wanted instant money and less effort this time, so I went to the nearest Plato's Closet.

I made some tough decisions going through my closet because I knew Plato's Closet doesn't have high pay outs and I wanted to have enough for the bed jacket. Good-bye Stuart Weitzman boots, BCBG leopard dress, French Connection top... may someone give you the love that I don't have enough room in my heart for...

You can probably predict how the story goes now... I walk into Plato's Closet and I realize that I have walked into the graveyard of F21 and h&m... Everything is really casual and my stuff doesn't fit in at all. Most of my carefully selected stuff got rejected and I made a grand total of $17... and then I spent $40 on gas 10 minutes later. Apparently a well worn pair of F21 sandals makes the cut but a leather pair of bronze Ralph Lauren flats is rejected... Yes, I wanted to yell as I stood among the racks of pilling jersey shirts, about how quality should be appreciated and about what true style really is (so humble I am...) but it was the hottest day of the year, their AC was broken and I let it be. I kid. I know now that their target market is a younger crowd and the buyers know what sells in their specific location. Lots of people have very good experiences with resale store, Mel often trades vintage clothing at resale shops and B. Jones is very successful at Crossroads but this location of Plato's Closet just didn't work out for me.

Between effort, payout and rejection, it is hardly worth it for me to re-sell my clothing. I know I could sell it online but that sounds like effort too. And we hates effort. Donation time it is...

So, if you are still wondering how loads of good stuff ended up in fine Hamilton thrift establishments across the city, you should know, it probably started with a silk Armani bed jacket.

Are you donating? Re-selling? Hoarding?

Another Day, Another Thrifted Dress

2011-08-01T09:21:00.002-04:00

Dress? Thrifted Shoes? Frye, Winners Belt and Clutch? Thrifted Bracelets? Thrifted and Winners

This winter I hit a rich vein of summer dresses while thrifting. I think that was meant as a lesson in patience because I had to wait for months before I could wear them. Included in the haul were this dress and this dress but I think I like the dress I wore this weekend the best. Maybe picking a favourite dress is wrong, like picking a favourite cat, but Matt has no problem letting everyone know that of the herd of cats, Kyle is his #1 buddy, so...
Besides, the dress worked hard to be a favourite... it's a pretty printed cotton with pockets and button back closure and all the pleating and style lines of the dress make me feel... rather fabulous. And when I say fabulous, I always add finger snaps...

As it turns out, I wasn't just learning a lesson in patience but in humility as well. Because just when I think I am so finger-snapping fabulous, I see that half of my outfit pictures have me posing among dog crap... nicely done self.

Make it Happen

2011-07-28T09:12:00.002-04:00

Shorts? Joe Fresh (cut from pants) Shirt? Winners Cardi? Gap Bag? Winners Shoes? Thrifted

I cut a pair of cargo pants into shorts. And just like Gretchen and the word 'fetch', I really want to make this look happen. I realize I cut right through the cargo pockets and rendered them absolutely useless (as demonstrated below) but in the world of fashion we can just market that as whimsical or quirky.

If we hadn't been going out for a walk yesterday when I wore this, I would have put some fakester glasses, striped socks and python pumps on, instead of my beat up and beloved oxfords. And then I would have carefully taped an outfit picture of mine into the fall 2011 J. Crew catalogue. In 1997 I thought fashion trends started in a Sears catalogue; now, as a wise fashion blogger, I know that the only way to make a trend happen is to have it styled by J. Crew. And somebody please tell Gretchen that fetch is only going to happen if it's a hash tag. Right? My shorts are so #fetch!

A Weekend

2011-07-26T22:52:00.004-04:00

This weekend Matt and I took a very quick little trip to Montreal to see some friends. I feel like we should have strapped on our fanny packs and touristed it up around one of my favourite cities but we spent most of the time relaxing on a friend's back deck. We also should have taken more pictures but we slacked on that too.
Happily, we caught the most important highlights of the weekend so we could share them with you.

There saw a pretty teenage cat on a neighbouring patio. 'Stop making that face! We're going to be friends real soon.'

I wore one of my favourite dresses and I ripped the back seam out. I'm smiling because I didn't know that the dress was ripped yet...

I changed into another dress and a beautiful friendship blossomed between the neighbouring cat and I.

Was your weekend this awesome? Didn't think so.

P.S. A big thanks to Emily, a hot babe I like chatting to online, who let us use her condo this weekend. She posted some pictures of us that don't involve ripped dresses or cats... they are still pretty good though.