Rice and Beans Vintage: Interview and $50 gift certificate giveaway!

Anywhere but Here is proud to present you with an interview (and giveaway!) with Sarah Korsiak Cellier, the hard-working owner of one of the coolest vintage shops around: Rice and Bean Vintage. This unique online botique caught my eye a few months ago after I started lusting after a pair of Ferragamo shoes....then started lusting after a vintage Gucci bag...and then a Chanel one...it just goes on! So I was thrilled to have a little tete-a-tete with Sarah herself.

What did you do before you started Rice and Beans Vintage?

I became a vintage & designer clothing dealer while I was in graduate school studying Traditional Chinese Medicine! I decided that while I loved Acupuncture and Chinese medicine, I actually like getting it more than giving it and so the choice was easy.

What lead you on the path to opening up your own store?

I opened Rice and Beans Vintage as it is today after the birth of my son. I wanted to continue working with my love of fashion, have a creative outlet, and be able to spend as much time with him as possible. And so Rice and Beans Vintage was born!

Vintage clothes used to be associated with not having enough money to afford new clothes, but that couldn't be further from the truth these days. Why do you think vintage clothing has become more popular over the years?

Wearing Vintage and Vintage designer clothing, not only sets you apart from the run of the mill big store fashions, but really allows you to get creative. Personally I love to mix vintage with modern clothing to achieve my perfect look. I also really appreciate the history of each vintage piece. I think people are also thinking more about the enviornment and their bugets now as well and buying Vintage and pre-loved designer clothing is a great way to care for both.

Which is your favourite time period for vintage finds?

The 60's and 70's. I love the Luxe rock star look.

You have an impressive selection of vintage shoes on your site - what should people know about vintage shoes, especially if they are buying online and can't try them on? Like clothes, I know the sizing is a little different.

Thank you! I have huge love for shoes of all styles and time periods. Yes, that is a really good point. For the most part, vintage shoes (here I mean shoes prior to 1980) tend to run a bit smaller than modern day shoes. Generally around a half size smaller. It is really important to pay attention to the measurements that each store should offer. Take these measurements and compare them to one of your current pairs of shoes to make sure the fit is right.

What was the fastest selling item on your website?

Anything Chanel, hands down!

Without spilling all of your secrets, what are some of the best places to score some fabulous vintage finds?

Ohh....let's just say I have many different places I source my vintage and designer clothing from and I am very fortunate.

What is the best way to keep vintage clothes from looking too "costumey?"

I suggest trying to avoid dressing head to toe in vintage, unless you can pull it off.

Do you have any advice for potential vintage or online clothing store owners (like me!)

Do it because you love it!

Since vintage clothes provide uniqueness in a cookie-cutter world, how do you manage to keep Rice and Beans Vintage different from other similar stores?

I think Rice and Beans Vintage has the advantage of being a small company (very small, I am the only employee), the attention to detail is not lost. I handpick each and every piece that comes to be at Rice and Beans Vintage and that is very important to me. I also take great pride in our customer service.

What items always sell out? Anything "on -trend?" Chanel bags?

Yes, Chanel especially Chanel bags do not last long at Rice and Beans Vintage! I do pay close attention to the current trends and buy appropriately. I spend many nights pouring over the latest fashion magazines so these vintage & designer pieces usually run out the door as well.

Have you ever loved an item so much, you ended up keeping it for yourself? What was it?

Yes, oh this is that hard part of my job, letting things go! I have a Vintage 60's white leather Gucci bag with bamboo handle and gold wings on the front. This piece never made it on & never will!


THE CONTEST

To show her appreciation, Sarah is doing a giveaway through my blog for a $50 gift certificate to her store. This contest will run from now until Friday, August 7th where a winner will be chosen via the randomizer. This contest is open to anyone.

To enter, all you have to do is visit her store: Rice and Beans Vintage and take a look around - if you find something you'd want to spend your $50 gift card on, come back here and leave a comment below. Tell me what it is! Either link to it or just say "I would die for that Pucci dress" I wanna know what my readers are craving these days :)

I'm not eligible for entry, but these are some of the stuff that I would pick out:

Gorgeous 60's coat - check out that colour and the piping!


YSL Fringe Sandals - YUM!


These Etienne Aigner boots and leather jacket




So what are you waiting for - tell me what YOU want to buy and you could win $50 towards it!!

PS sneakpeek at Wanderlusting Style's Shoe Sale coming up on Sunday - everything's under $25:


Steve Madden Houndstooth round-toe pumps, size 37 $20

Did you know that on Wednesday Vancouver had its hottest day ever on record? EVER!? And that these last few days it's been hotter than most places in Texas, even Florida?? CRAZY!

And so I am glad to be going to a cool and refreshing island - Salt Spring, of course - for this long weekend. So excited to hit up the market too, really wanting to get some local, unique art. It's SO much more refreshing to buy art from real artists as opposed to wannabe, try too hard to be "weird and arty" hipsters fresh out of art schools like Emily Carr. I prefer art with an honest message and the market has tons of great finds :)

I probably won't be able to check your blogs as usual but I will have scheduled posting. Hope you all have a good weekend!

Romper Room

Oh, Hai!



So....


I bought a pair of rompers. Yep. Rompers. The trend that I think is RIDICULOUS. But I saw these and they were oh so cute and I thought, well maybe...maybe if I lost a few and maybe if they were long enough in the crotch and maybe....you get the idea.

Then I saw the belt. Sweet, sweet yellow belt with grape detail on the clasp. The belt was worth the cost alone. Then I saw the "Apre Ski" dress from the same seller (see previous post) and I thought "HEY. Why not? Maybe, just maybe, I could pull it off! And combined shipping..."

And the package came in the mail and it was a big NO. I mean, it's not bad, per se. I've seen worse on me. And thankfully it is long enough to accomodate my long torso and huge ass and the shorts aren't riding up said ass.
















Romper: Vintage; Belt: Vintage; Shoes: Robert Clergerie; Clip-on earrings:ASOS

But as much fun as it was to put the babies on for this shoot, I realized it's just not me. I have the attitude but I don't have the BODY to pull this off. Even with my new "Lego Clonkers" aka Robert Clergerie wedges which I love dearly (especially since his shoes average above $600 and I got them for about 80% off!)

And there ya have it folks....I am now offering these rompers for sale (sans belt). They fit a size medium and have an elastic waist so they would fit a large too. The only thing that isn't stretchy is the bust....it looks adjustable but it aint. So I advise a chest of 34 or higher otherwise the thing will fall off.

Vintage striped romper: $20. Shipping anywhere world wide: $10. I accept Paypal! Drop me an email (my address is written discretly on the sidebar) and let me know if you want it!

So speaking of not having the body, I have to ask...how has your body influenced your fashion choices?

See...in the blogging/fashion world, I feel like I just don't stack up. After all, most popular bloggers are tall and skinny (try and dispute me but just look around and you know it's true) and I am very much not tall and not skinny. So when I wear stuff, it doesn't look as good as it would on other people and also I can't even wear a lot of stuff because of it. I mean, they can wear a garbage bag and BELT it and make it look good...I can't do that and I think it is a considerable disadvantage. I dream about the stuff I COULD wear IF I had the right skinny body. If your average skinny blogger wore this romper outfit it would be awesome, right out of a magazine. But with ME? It's bordering on a joke.

And I am treating it as such.

(Though the fact that I am selling the rompers is not a joke - please buy :P)

I'm not saying nothing looks good - indeed I do know what suits my body. But I don't think "skinny" girls realize that "we" (not skinny) have to work a little harder to make things look almost as good as they do. I don't think it's a matter of confidence either - though that certainly comes into effect - but just the way some people look better in short shorts than others do.

So, as I asked before...has your body type determined what clothes you can and can not wear?

PS - Lots of good stuff coming up this weekend....a giveaway from Rice and Beans Vintage as well as MY END OF SUMMER SHOE SALE with rad discounts!!

Vintage Dress Week Lookbook #6 - Sun and Ski

All righty, well to cap-off Vintage Dress Week (which seemed to go on for two, but no matter), I present you my new favourite dress:
















Dress: Vintage; Shoes: Modern Vintage (the brand); Jewelry: Forever 21; Bag: Coach; Car: my bf's sister's VW ;)

Aside from a few small tears in the dress, I could have sworn this was brand new. The cut, with the bustier like top (actual support here) and strategic pleating, plus silky material make for one hell of a flattering dress. Let's not forget the kicky 60's print of the Swiss Alps, downhill skiers and a happy sun.

Speaking of sun, whooooooboy. Im sure everyone in the Pacific Northwest knows what I am talking about....heat waves like this (being above 30C/86F for more than 5 days with a high humidex) only hit BC 3x a century! This is INSANE heat! But though it is a pain when you are trying to sleep (fans only blow hot air on you!) I am NOT complaining. I love this stifling oppressive heat - it is EPIC! It's fun and I know we will all look back and say WOW now THAT was a Summer! Plus, how can I not feel like I am vacationing in Maui or Palm SPrings?

It's great - especially now that I have set up a Slip N Slide in the backyard!! Spiderman, no doubt. And yes, I am over 12 years old, yes I weigh over 110 pounds and I am over 5 feet tall but those warning signs will NOT talk me out of this one!




Haha, in fact though it was 930 this morning when writing this post (I work from home on Wednesdays) I just had to run out and try it. AWESOME!

Anyway, hope you all enjoyed vintage dress week - I have one more vintage treat for you guys and this time it will actually be up for sale. It's one sweet, vintage romper...but Ill keep you in suspense for now :)

Vintage Dress Week Lookbook #5 - Sienna Miller Swinging 60's Style

This dress isn't normally my style - but when I saw it on Ebay I got a rush of inspiration. Suddenly I saw myself as Sienna Miller, pairing the dress with some kicky 60's flats, bouffant hair and freckles.

Upon trying the dress on though, I realized the slits up the side were rather high, so I'd only be wearing the dress with another skirt underneath or with leggings. Also, there is no stretch to the fabric and no buttons or zippers so when you put it on, be prepared for it to stay on until you have someone help you out of it!




















Dress: Vintage; Leggings: Aldo; Sunglasses: Marc Jacobs; Puzzle nappa flats: Kate Spade; Jewelry: Forever 21

Hope you all had a great weekend - it has just been roasting here. It's never normally humid in Vancouver but it sure is now. We even had the most epic lightening storm Sat night, the sky turned a fiery red colour and people saw more than just fireworks at the annual celebration of light. 12,000 lightening strikes were reported in the province and two people were even hit. I love extreme weather - almost thought about going into meteorology.

This week we are pushing the heat barrier - Its going to feel like 40C/90F for the rest of the week. To those ignorant people who think Canada is a cold place, think again! OK yes the East is cold in the winter but it's safe to say the whole country gets mega hot in the Summer. Vancouver (the West Coast) is usually pleasant, maybe highs of 25C but 40C is ridiculous! I love it though - heat waves really signal summer to me and so far it hasn't disappointed!


credit: katkam.ca

There was no "altering" to these photos...the sky really was that orange!







I also felt very old this weekend; A familiar-looking guy approached me in town and said "You're Karina, right? I used to party at your house, back in the 90's"

LOL. It's true - I had awesome parties, "back in the 90's." What a crazy decade :P

Vintage Dress Week lookbook #4 - pastoral pastimes

Dress: Vintage; Shoes: Modern Vintage; Necklace: gift; Hat + aviators: Forever 21; Zoltan the Crow

I fell in love the French Pastoral qualities of this vintage dress the moment I saw it. The peeks of maroon and blue will pair wonderfully with my corresponding metallic Vic Matie Mary-Janes and matching tights come the fall. It's easy, flowy, breezy and different. I probably won't wear it with this hat ($3 on sale!) but on this day - where angry dark skies cleared to a mustard yellow sun - it seemed to flow.

So did Zoltan the crow (named after The Dark Tower Series) who came along for the photo shoot.

Big BIG thanks and hugs to all of my lovely readers and friends. Your support on my last post, and in general, is beyond awesome. You guys make my world go round :)

We interrupt Vintage Dress Week with an important bulletin

So I wasn't originally going to do this because I don't like to tout my own horn here, but considering the circumstances on my last post, I decided I will.

It's scary enough to post pictures of yourself in a bikini on your blog but even more so to be in a bikini in a national magazine. Hell, most of my friends haven't even seen me in a bathing suit!

But to hell with it...here I am in Self magazine (I picked it up at the Toronto airport while we were flying out, it was quite exciting!):





Regarding the comment in my last post: Normally I would ignore the haters...if someone called me "fat" I wouldn't say anything, but when you make fun of a disabled person, you're pretty much going straight to Hell, lol. It's sad that there are pathetic, petty people out there who get off on making fun of others, anonymously too I might add. It's even more pathetic when such a person takes a dig at someone for their disability...I mean, could it be more obvious, more desperate? It's like they are grasping wildly for anything to bring me down. Nice try.

That's why I am posting this today, because I am proud of these damn scars on my feet and the years of pain my disability has put me through. Hell, I wouldn't be where I am today (in a magazine, no less) without them. You can make fun of my legs but I think they suit me just fine, you can tell me I have cankles (ironically my ankles are very slim and what does jut out is broken bone due to surgery - not fat, you fucktard) and you can tell me that you think I make every pair of shoes I wear look bad.

But I'm not going to agree with you - and I'm not going to stop buying awesome shoes and I certainly won't stop showing them off. What I will agree with is what everyone else is thinking: you must be a sad, jealous person to make fun of someone for a disability. The fact that I've lost weight, am in a magazine which showcases my strengths and said disability and have a lot going for me right now only hammers this point home. So say what you want - hidden "somewhat" anonymously in my comments like the coward you are, after all the more you try and "insult" me, the worse you look.

And the better I look. After all, I figure if I've got some haters, that means I must be doing something right with my life! So thank you for that assurance. I am actually...well, flattered.

Back to the dresses! Ok, this is a cop-out because I thought I was buying a vintage dress...it said it was at any rate. But then looking at the label I realize that Blue Plate isn't a vintage brand. Regardless, I wore this mexican-inspired number with my saucy new Antik Batik sandals. I was eyeing these babies for a very long time, not willing to shell out over $200 for sandals though - but when they dropped in price, I snapped them up. FEET CANDY!!






Dress:Blue Plate; Sandals: Antik Batik; Sunglasses: Marc Jacobs

And one more good note:



YAY! Our weather couldn't be better :)