Thrift shopping

Today I went thrift shopping at two different locations (my church festival and an antiques store that sometimes has clothes and such) and got a bunch of really nice stuff for under 30 bucks. I'll post pictures up here soon, but I got two belts, sunglasses, a bunch of shirts, a grey jacket, a skirt, a dress that I'm going to make into a skirt, and three dresses. Can't wait to share my finds! So there'll be pictures soon, and hopefully some actual outfits with them (although some pieces are too hot to wear now and will have to wait for fall). Come back soon to check them out.

UPDATE: Also, I just got a pair of boots in the mail today as an early birthday present, so I'll definitely be posting some pictures of them too.

Updates

Hey all. My laptop had to be sent out to get fixed, so posting will be light for the next two weeks. I'll try to update every few days, but in the meantime, here's some blogs and sites you should check out. Most are fashion-related, but not all (and sorry they're not links, but you can just go old school and type it out yourself or do some old-fashioned Googling):

• Karla's Closet--Awesome fashion blog. Nice clothes, nice hair.
• The Glamourai--Same as above.
• Kendi Everday--Funny and full of creative, pretty outfits basically daily.
• College Fashion--It's in the name.
• College Candy--Sort of like College Fashion's sister, but with a broader scope in topics.
• Cracked.com--Funny website with informative and hilarious articles, and more.
• Secret Society of List Addicts--For you fellow addicts out there.
• Yes & Yes--Upbeat, inspirational blog with lots of traveling tips.
• Already Pretty--Really helpful fashion blog with lots of good advice in general for women.
• Daddy Likey--Fun and addicting fashion blog.
• The Sartorialist--He posts pictures of some amazing street style.
• The Selby--The best photos of artistic people's home interiors.
• For Me For You--I'm not sure how to define this blog, other than that she has really nice photographs that make me covet her life.
• I Am a Greedy Girl--She posts about pretty things that help feed my gluttony.
• Flickr's Wardrobe Remix group and What I Wore (drawings only) group--One's for outfit photos, the other's for outfit drawings, and they're both inspiring and awesome and suck up a lot of time.
• The Cherry Blossom Girl--A sweet Parisian girl with the best wardrobe and style.
• The A.V. Club--A smart, enjoyably cynical pop-culture website with all the latest news about music, movies, and more.

Jeez, that was a lot, sorry. I probably even forgot quite a few.

One last thing: I'm happy to say that I'm probably going to New York City for my birthday with the boyfriend. So now I really need an awesome outfit. You can bet your life that I'll be posting a photo of what I'm going to wear on here... as soon as I find something. Eeek!

What I Wore

I was inspired recently to wear a white button-up shirt because of this College Fashion post, and here's what I came up with:


I wore this to go out to lunch and then shopping. It was super casual and comfy, and I made it even more so for the rest of the day at home by ditching the jewelry and belt and adding glasses. I'll see if I can get a shot of that on here later. This, however, is the chic version (or so I like to think.)

These earrings are vintage, probably from my grandmother, and they're actually not as heavy as they look.

Still wearing the pink nail polish.

The black flats are from Target, and everything else is either thrifted or so old I don't remember where I got it.

Forever 21 Sale

To sort of bring us back to reality after all that glitz and glamour, here's some much more down-to-earth dresses that I love. All five of these dresses are on sale online at Forever 21, and I love them. It can be pretty hit and miss sometimes, but when it's hit, it's like it was made for me. The first two are rather casual, while I think the last three could be good for the workplace and such.




Grey, belts, button-ups, stripes... So many things that I love have been put into these dresses. I want to snap them all up right now, but since I can't, you go out there and take them for yourself!

My Dream Birthday Outfits

My birthday is coming up in one week! Since I'm turning 20 and I'd like to be particularly well-dressed on the day of (I love an excuse to dress up), I've decided I need to find the perfect birthday outfit.
I'll be going out to my favorite breakfast place, then spending the day with the boyfriend. We're going to see Inception, and I'm so excited. The only question remaining is, what to wear?
I want something glamorous and Mad Men-inspired--princess-y, even. I'll be in public half the day, and for everyone else it'll just be a regular Tuesday, so I guess I'm aiming to turn heads with my over-the-top outfit. If money was no consideration, these would be my top picks:

1. Red Leopard

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Silver and Gold
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Fairytale Princess
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4. Monochramatic Mix
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5. Zip-It and Go
(My personal favorite, because I've actually wanted each item in this outfit for ages.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

6. Tealing the Spotlight
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

7. Glitz and Glamour
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


8. Feminine Sophistication

Sorry for the dorky names! I couldn't resist.

Although sadly, I won't be able to recreate any of these specific outfits, I'll definitely be wearing heels and (hopefully) an awesome dress. Now I just have to find said awesome dress...in six days. Wish me luck! I'll keep you updated.

Oh, and as for my dream outfits: Do you have a favorite? Which one would you wear on your birthday?

Birthday Suit

Not that one, you dirty-minded person, you. My birthday is in exactly one week--I'm turning 20!--and I'm going to use it as an excuse to dress way, way up. Here's some inspirational pictures.

The more sequins and shine, the better.

Mad Men-inspired would definitely be a plus.

Again: sparkle and shine.

I love red lipstick & a yellow gown.

I really wasn't kidding about the sparkliness, although I probably won't dress up in a sequined jumpsuit. But only because I don't have one. Sad face.

If only I could dye my hair pink-blonde for the occasion... Sigh.

Coming up soon: Polyvore sets of my dream birthday outfits.

A Peek Into...

...My workspace! Months ago I gave you guys a peek into my bag, and today I thought I would share the place where the, erm, magic happens? Whatever, here's my desk. Enjoy!

The basic setup: laptop, notebooks, glasses, flowers, jars of pens/pencils/markers/etc.
My glasses, writing notebook and drawing book. The red writing notebook I got at the flea market ages ago for 25 cents and it had an old, personal letter in it that I still have somewhere. On the front it says "The Scribble-In Book" in fancy gold cursive. I use it for poems and lists and ideas. I have a smaller notebook that I keep with me at all times for jotting down lists and important things. The blue book has a very specific use: I keep all my "What I Wore" drawings in there.

I just put the Polaroids up there the other night because the wall was looking awfully blank, and the photos have just been sitting in my red notebook for ages.

The flowers are just for prettiness. I try to have a vase of flowers around all the time. My computer background is currently Jean Seberg, who was awesome, but it changes constantly.

We've had this desk and chair for ages. The lamp (you can just barely see it in this picture) was from Target--a steal for 10 bucks.

And there you go. It's clean and organized this week because my two sisters, who I usually share the room with, are at camp. So the desk isn't cluttered with makeup and hairbrushes and various other things, although their straightening iron is still there. (Obviously it was a mistake to keep a mirror right by the desk.)

Come back sometime soon for another post on interiors, as well as another What I Wore post, assuming I wear something interesting today.

What I Wore: Day & Night

Yesterday I was in the mood for sequins and glam after wearing a t-shirt and shorts for days, but I also wanted to be somewhat comfy and casual. A hard balance to strike. During the day, I was out doing errands and hanging out with the boyfriend, so I wore this:

The vest, sequined top, and cutoffs are all thrifted. The black flats are from Target and the bag is from ModCloth.
A big bag for holding all my stuff throughout the day, comfy clothes for the heat with a bit of shine to make it less boring, and flats for practicality. Oh, and glasses because I was driving.


A bit dorky, right? I love it.

Then I went with the girls for an impromptu night out. Since it was short notice, I didn't have time to do an outfit change and figured this would pretty much do fine. For extra glamour, I added glitzy earrings, heels, and a cocktail ring. I also undid the vest a bit to show more sequins and swapped the big bag for a clutch.

Ta-da!

I made this clutch from an old purse. I like the zipper trimming I added.

The heel's are from Maurice's and, continuing the theme, they have zippers!



A clutch was essential, because big bags can ruin an evening/fancy look.




The cocktail ring is thrifted. The nail polish I'm wearing is actually a really hot pink, not some grandma color like above. Stupid web-cam. I took another picture this morning, and with a lot of editing I got it closer to the actual color:

It went really nicely with the teal color of the vest.

So there you go. That's how I transitioned from day to night by accessory-switching only. What do you think? Do you ever do this, or--if you're not as lazy as me--do you just change your whole outfit?

An Announcement

I want this girl's hair: a perfect pixie that makes me realize how badly I need a trim...
...and I need her wardrobe.

That is all. Go check out her awesome blog, The Glamourai now.


UPDATE: Oh, and speaking of girls with cute pixie cuts and awesome wardrobes, I want to wear a princess dress like Karla today. I'll let you know how that goes, but coming up first is a What I Wore post from yesterday.

Trends I Hate

Okay, hate may be too strong a word, but here's five trends that I just don't get and will not be subscribing to any time soon.

First off, clogs:
Okay, these aren't so bad and she makes them look pretty good, but all other clogs are devil shoes, alright?

Next, harem pants:
God, I hate these. They just look so unflattering. I don't understand why any woman would want to have all this fabric draped from her crotch to her knees like that.

Third is--brought to you once again by the Olsens--gladiator sandals:
They need to stop wearing such ugly shoes. Shoes should be pretty, and gladiator sandals just look like you hate your feet (and, depending on the kind, legs) so much that you need to keep them in a painful, scary cage. Yikes.

Fourth on the list is cat-eye sunglasses:
They've gotten really popular lately as sort of retro sunglasses, and for the most part I think they're alright if the shape is subtle. I might even try a pair on. But I'm tired of seeing ridiculously pointy ones because they seem too costumey and unnatural.

Finally, we have the romper:
Now, at first I was on the fence about these, but then I tried a few on and they all looked ridiculously bad on me. So I am now against them. Sure, they might work for you, so try them on--but honestly, I don't even think it looks that great on Rihanna. If it doesn't work for her, is it really going to work for the rest of us? Also, as my friend Jill likes to point out: Total. Bathroom. Nightmare.

In other news, trends I'm still heartily enjoying: stripes (but not nautical, I'm pretty tired of that), floral, sequins, and pixie cuts (of course).

What I Wore & What I Bought

Today I went to my local flea market (and I mean very local--it takes two minutes to walk there from my house) and saw these two amazing trunks. They had been there last weekend: a large one for $15 with a yellow and red design and a smaller black one for $12. This weekend they were marked down to $7 and $6, and the guy gave them to me for $12 altogether. They were pretty filthy so I spent half of today cleaning them outside, and then the other half lugging them up the stairs and into my room. It was a labor of love, and totally worth it. I've been dreaming about these trunks for a week now, and I'm so thrilled that I now own them, and can store all my junk in them. (Don't tell anyone but I'm totally pretending I'm heading off to Hogwarts any day now.) Anyway, here's the trunks:

Nice, right? I have a blanket over one because the top is in just awful condition.

...And here's what I wore while walking around the flea market (not while cleaning and lugging huge, dirty trunks around):

The flats are from Target, the skirt was thrifted ages ago, the shirt was from Target, and the hat is my mom's--I borrowed it for the day. The necklace was given to me by my grandmother; it's a silver heart.


I wasn't sure about mixing a studded belt with a straw hat, but whatever. I've seen people at the flea market dressed in way worse.


My sister went with me, and when we were leaving she said, "You're going to wear that hat?" I insisted on it, using the sun as an excuse (the real reason: I had awful bedhead, and secretly thought the hat made my outfit look chic.) When we got to the flea market, she started complaining about the sun being in her face and I got to smirk and crow.

Hm, looks like I've suddenly been into long hemlines. I haven't worn this skirt in ages because I hate when skirts/dresses hit me mid-calf, but my boyfriend mentioned it the other night and I resolved to try wearing it again. Using a belt to hold it up a bit higher definitely helps.

Well, I'm off to continue to gleefully throw stuff into my pretty new storage spaces. Expect more posts later, as always!