The Joy of Secondhand

Remember a few days (or, okay, weeks) ago when I mentioned that I got some new things that aren't actually new--specifically, boots for my birthday from eBay and a bunch of vintage clothes? Well, here they are, most of them worked into outfits!

I wore this badass outfit to church. That's right. My mom didn't even do a double take and simply said, "Oh, you look nice. Ready to go?" I only wore this to mess with her, and then I had to go to church looking like this. In 90 degree heat.

It turned out to be fun.
Red nails that I'm in love with:
The necklace I made a while ago, and my sister's bangles:
A ton of belts, most of which I got for a dollar at my church's summer festival, which is also where I got most of the vintage clothing, including the black dress I'm wearing under my old button-up.

The bag is from Modcloth and the boots were 10 bucks on eBay. I got my dad to nab them for me for my birthday. I figured I needed some sensible winter boots. That does not explain why I thought it'd be a good idea to wear them in July. Oh well.


This outfit features a $1 belt and $1 sunglasses from the aforementioned festival, an old corset-style top I've had for a while, and cutoffs I made myself from old jeans. And, of course, my new boots, and once again, the necklace I made.

This one was a bit more casual and easy, just a throw-on black tee I've had forever, the same cutoffs and shades, and my new boots that I just seem determined to wear no matter what the weather.

Here's what I wore for one of my birthday parties (I had two because I'm spoiled like that). I'm wearing an old black tee, a vintage skirt I just got for $5, and Vera Wang strappy heels.


And, apparently, metallic nail polish.

I really love the stripes and colors of the skirt.
Here's a vintage jacket that I got for $5. I can't wait to wear it in the fall. I'm only wearing it for the picture, don't worry-- I didn't actually walk around in it in this heat.

And this is my other birthday outfit. The same old black tee (can you tell how much I love it?) and a vintage skirt that I bought as a children's dress for $3 and then hacked up.


The heels are from Maurice's.

I also bought this vintage slip/nightgown for $3 and adjusted it a bit to make it shorter, I'll get a picture on here as soon as I find where I put the darn thing...


And here's a bunch of blouses that I also bought at the festival for $1 each:


The grey blouse in particular is really nice, and the mustard colored one is just insane--ruffles everywhere. I'll put up pictures of these being worn soon.

And I think that's it! I'm sorry to say that I failed my driver's test today (stupid parallel parking) so I'm off to make myself feel better with copies of Elle and Glamour that I splurged on. I don't normally buy magazines, and I just subscribed to Vogue and Glamour. I'm excited. Oh, and of course I also bought two shirts from Old Navy's clearance section. What's retail therapy without some cheap clothes thrown in? So I'll post outfit pictures of those too. Check back soon!

Back!

Well, I finally have my laptop back, so here's the latest picture of what I wore, and there's much more to come. I wore this to church and the flea market today:

Flats: Target
Skinny jeans: Target
Shirt, belt, sunglasses & vest: thrifted/too old to remember
Bag: Kohl's
Necklace: Gift from a friend

Here's a closeup of my new sunglasses that I got for a dollar at a church festival:


And I found this lifeguard hoodie for two bucks at the flea market today and obviously just had to get it.
Hooray, now I can save people's lives! (Not really. I can't even swim.)

Check back for more pictures (finally) soon.

Links and Inspiration

Have you checked out lookbook.nu? I'm ashamed to say that I've only just discovered it--and have since been browsing everyone's amazing outfits. It's great outfit inspiration, especially when you feel like you're in a rut. That often happens to me in August and February through March. I'd love to post some outfits of my own on there, but unfortunately it's apparently very exclusive: invite-only. Darn. In the meantime, I'm entertaining myself by creating outfits on Polyvore inspired (or pretty much copied from) the pictures on Lookbook.

Oh, and one other tidbit of news: I really love this post on Gala Darling. I am soooo in for the Gossip Girl on Acid uniform this fall. Are you?

Polyvore

Well, it's pretty much impossible to get pictures from my camera onto my dad's computer (which I'm currently using while I wait impatiently to get my laptop back) so I'm afraid the wait for pictures of my lovely new things and outfits will be a bit longer. However, if you're starved for some images and outfit inspiration, I've just recently been pulled into the all-enveloping addiction that is Polyvore. Of course, I've used it before, but I never had an account so I couldn't save the little works of art that I made. Now I do have an account, and I've been busy making tons of sets. Go check them out and let me know what you think: http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/profile?id=1771856
I've only recently tried putting backgrounds and other non-fashion elements into the sets. I like the outcome, but I'm not sure if I prefer those (they seem a bit busy) or my older ones with just the clothes. The latter seems to showcase the outfit itself a lot more, while the other one is good for sharing a mood or idea. Share your opinions in the comments, as always!