thrifting luck

Hi!



So, I went thrifting for the first time the other day and I must say, I am actually better at this than I thought.

OK, it wasn't my first time. I have bought many a halloween costume at thrift stores, when I was hardcore in to classic movies and retro clothes (still am with the former), I frequented overpriced vintage stores, and when I was in high school I was all about the grandpa sweaters and tiny, faded tees.

Anyhoo, on Saturday we headed to my parents house for a scrumptious BBQ Salmon dinner and on the way I stopped at the local thrift store. Not a Value Village which rips you off hard (least in Vancouver it does) but a local support your charity doo-dad where they have a few under-priced gems.

At first it didn't seem like much was there and this is where the old me would have given up, but I kept an open-mind and really got into it. I managed to walk away with a whole load of loot (and it was sale day too). Funny thing was, I wasn't really buying them all for myself (more on that...one day) but I ended up putting on this Ruby Rox dress when I got home, and then never took it off.

On the hanger it looked cheap and satiny (which I don't like) and I knew cap sleeves were the devil for large-armed women but nevertheless, somehow it worked! It paired beautifully with my thrifted belt which in turn paired beautifully with my new Matt Bernson sandals.

To me, this was definitely "an American girl vacationing in St. Tropez, circa 1961." No?

When I am not so lucky with thrifting, I get my silver dangle earrings at Birks.com.


Dress: Thrifted (Ruby Rox); Sandals: Matt Bernson; Earrings: F21; Belt: Thrifted (Laurel)






Awwww their newly rescued dog Muffin :)


My mom is a volunteer for the 2010 Winter Olympics, here in Vancouver


Mmmmm Chilean salmon BBQ...sooooo good


Us and my rents...can you believe me dad turns 70 next year and my mom turns 64 this year?

Speaking of new sandals, later that night we attended a small bday party where badminton was the name of the game. I love badminton, it's easy and fun and I can play well thanks to my years of tennis lessons. I get pretty aggro though, and was really going for it, even though the dress didn't allow too much movement and my shoes were killing me. Even today, the backs of my heels are still bloody and wounded...why I can't do things the normal way? le sigh.

Bonfire of the vanities and prize winner #3!

To me, there is nothing that signifies the arrival of summer (and youth) than a beach bonfire. In high school, every summer night we would mosey on down to the beach, light a big one and crack open a beer (or 24). Living downtown now, we are right on the beach but naturally you can't have bonfires without the bike (or horse) cops on your back within 2 seconds.

So when my friends suggested a chill fire on the long stretch of beaches on the otherside of English Bay, known as Spanish Banks, I wondered why I hadn't thought of that sooner.


Even though the night was low-key (and we needed a Dura-Log to get the fire going) and we feasted on homeamade salsa and cucumber/watermelon salad, it definitely made me feel like summer had arrived....even though it's been feeling like summer for the whole month of June thus far!




















Dress + belt: Forever 21; Gladiator bracelet: House of Harlow; Coin bracelet:Indiska; Bag: mango MNG; Sandals; Dolce Vita;
But next time, I will not choose a day of beach-walking and night scrambling up clay banks as a time to break in my new shoes. I will also not choose a tipsy and overly enthusiastic game of badminton to break in new shoes (studded sandals, no less) either, but that's the lesson for tomorrow's post!

AHHH, and here is the final winner, the lucky one who wins the Forever 21 chiffon dress...ISSA! Of We Wear Things! Issa, email me (my email is at the side) your address and details and I will send this glorious dress out to you! It's gorgeous and the reject out of the three but think how wonderful it will be on hot, sultry nights! CONGRATS!!!!!!!

Fixing a too-short dress and Prize Winner #2

I am often afflicted with the "too-short" condition. This applies to both tops and dresses...and skirts, now that I think about it.

I am blessed/burdened with a long torso and upper body. My butt is round and sticks out and is placed fairly low on my body. My legs are very short, yet my thighs are very long in comparison. This makes for all sorts of wardrobe problems. Dresses are shorter on me because the fabric is still covering my torso when it should be covering my butt - and of course, the mountainous detour it has to take to get over my rear shortens it up quite a bit in the back. Skirts that should go to abouts the knees are invariably shorter on me because of my long thighs, and of course, the buttaral region :)

So I bought this tunic/dress and thought I could make it work. Nope! Too long for a top and too short for a dress. So I just tucked it inside a drapey skirt, added a belt for emphasis and huzzah! Dress becomes shirt. I know this isn't a new concept (in fact I did this in my MUSE post) but whatever!

That said, I did end up giving away the dress at the clothing swap to the lovely Hannah, whom I'm sure could make it work with leggings (I'm not really a legging person).
















Dress/Tunic (tucked in) + feather earrings: Forever 21; Skirt + Belt: ASOS; Shoes: Te Casan

Aren't the shoes darling (please don't let me horrible feet detract from them). They were limited edition "Liu" (as in Lucy?) pumps by the now recently defunct Te Casan. I saw them on Bluefly last year and had to have them...so unique, patent leather, normal leather and a metal, crackle finish heel. I wore them last October to my bf's concert and danced my ass off, causing one of the shoes to be looser around the heel and side which makes for some instability as I walk. Even after a trip to the cobbler (where he actually found other problems with the shoe), they still aren't perfect but hopefully I will brave enough to wear them outside again.

Ahhh right...winner number two time!

Bella, was the wonderful first winner who picked out the Love Yaya dress, which means winner gets to choose between the remaining dresses (check a few posts back for the pics).

And the winner (#2) is....Zombie Lace! Congrats!! Please email me your dets with your choice of the Forever 21 dresses!!

I will announce the final winner tomorrow!

Oh, btw...IT'S FRIDAY :D



YAAAAAY!

Red Hot + Prize Winner #1

You know when there's a sign that you are really meant to have an item? Well, it happened at the clothing swap the other week.

I had this gorgeous dress from ASOS that I just never wore - I'm not sure why, the colour is awesome (and my man loves me in red) but it just never made an appearance (I shouldn't sound suprised, I have tons of clothes I haven't worn yet :S).

So at the swap I thought, meh, why not, and chucked it in the pile. Maybe someone else could use it, after all it was lovely.

Well, I watched as literally everyone tried the dress on - all looked stunning in it - but for some reason, no one would take it.

Anyway, at the end of the day I realized how much I do actually like the dress and was suddenly glad that there were no takers. I promptly placed it back into my wardrobe, and then later that evening, wore it out for some drinks, accessorizing with gold (gold and red is my favourite look...well, one of them).

It wasn't smooth sailing though...as the dress is basically backless, I had to tape it to my upper body so the arm wouldn't slide off and I'd expose my boob to the world.








Dress: ASOS; Starfish sandals: Gojane; Tassel chain belt: Forever 21; bag: Prada
That red bag is the Prada bag that was sent to me by mistake. I've emailed the woman twice now about it and no reply...she even has a seersucker Theory blazer that I bought and hasn't sent it my way yet. So until she gets back to me, I'm holding the Prada bag hostage!

Right, before I forget, the 1st winner of the prize is:

Bella - of Vintage Lollipops

Bella, CONGRATS! Please email me your shipping address along with your choice of dress!

I will announce the remaining two winners over the next two days, so please check back to see if you have won! It was SO much easier to use the random generator than to write out everyone's names on the back of my business cards lol and pick from a pile! Also, looks less suspicious at work :P

Nautical Fashion - St. Tropez Stripes, boating style

Saturday was cloudy, but warm, which left my man and I a bit confused as to what to do with ourselves. I just wanted to do something different, since lazing by the pool was out of the question today and the beach would have been too windy. Something about a beach on a cloudy day just doesn't do it for me (unless it's stormy, then I loves it) - I get bored.

Anyhoo, I knew I had to take my car in for an oil-change since I had been putting it off for a ridiculous amount of time. It was also making these noises, this rumbling of the engine, that only got worse (LOUDER) over the last few months.

So we took it to Mr. Lube, and two hours and $500 later, I came out with a new transmission kit, new air filters, new transmission pan, new radiator and a warning that I need to replace my rusty fuel..thingy...and of course, the oil change.

Le sigh. That definitely put a damper on my spontaneous idea to go to Mexico for a weekend.

After that ordeal, we made our way to Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver and rented a boat. We had a bottle of wine and a Whole Foods picnic packed up and away we went! The best way to blow steam is to pilot a boat over silken waves, wind whipping in your hair. An hour later we had spotted some seals, drank the entire bottle of wine in 15 minutes and feasted on brown rice sushi. I almost forgot all about my car woes.

Almost.






This is my nautical (power-boating) style...a stripey fedora, striped ASOS shirt, Hudson jeans and Matt Bernson sandals.


















Can't wait till our actual boat is available in a few weeks (we charter it out a lot during the summer)! You can bet there will be tons of photos from there :)

Ah, yes, the contest! It is still going on my fellow fashionistas - Three lovely dresses up for grabs, Forever 21 and Love Yaya from Shopbop (speaking of nautical, have you seen this one?):



Leave a comment here or in the posts below and you are entered. And remember, if you mention my contest on your blog, that's three entries for you! I will be doing the first draw tomorrow afternoon, so get cracking if you haven't already :P

Your new question (should you choose to accept it) is:

Have you ever lied about the cost of something you've bought? I am mega guilty of this...I'm proud to announce my best deals, but if it's pricey, I tend to subtract the price by 25% or more, lol. If it's to my parents, I subtract the price by 75%!

Clothing Swap + 500th Post Giveaway (cont...so, 501?)

So last, last weekend I had my girls clothing swap party. As I said, it was a great success, with everyone trying on a load of swag and getting out of our comfort zones. The weather was so brilliant on my roof, that we were tempted to bring the swap up there!

Eyeliah from Style Symmetry was there (her apartment a mere few blocks away), as was featured local designer Hannah Fletcher from Narcissist, my bf's sister and two other uber stylish friends. A great gathering of various styles!


All my wee shoes lined up for grabs


Kiersten decides if the bag is "black" enough for her


Eyeliah thinks about my Forever 21 "Marilyn" dress, before Hannah decides to snatch it up.


Kelli scores Hannah's owned designed and made skirt (sample), which I am uber jealous cuz I love that blush colour with the black. She also found my Locher's I Hate Children top.








Kelli teaches Hannah a new way to tie on your string bikini (hello cleavage maker!)


Ain't my roof swell?





dress: Alice and Olivia; sandals: Go Jane; earrings and necklace (worn as bracelet): F21

Remember to enter the contest: read my previous post for the (non-existent) rules and to see the swag and then leave a comment on that post or on this post below - and if you link back to this contest (mention it) on your blog, you will get THREE entries into the contest. That certainly more than doubles your odds of winning and yes, I am pimping out this baby hardcore (I have plans *rubs hands together evily*) - also, I will be giving out little goodies (mmm, fun stuff) along with each prize, so you will win more than just a dress!

In the meantime, because it's been so long, I wanna learn more about my readers, so in the comments below, shout-out:

1.Where you live


AND

2.Your favourite store (can only pick one!)