Thrifted Finds: Clothes Galore!

I am having a stroke of luck with thrifting and garage sales lately. Maybe it's because of the warmer weather, people are doing more spring cleaning and throwing out stuff. Stuff that I am gleefully picking up. :) I picked up (1) a wool tweed jacket which I have been coveting for a long time but was unwilling to pay over $100 for. You can imagine how happy I was when I saw this. The fit is just right and it is from BCBG Max Azria for $6.98, yes under $7, people! (2) Sheer cotton top from Gap $2.50 - I am thrilled to add purple to my wardrobe as I don't have that many pieces in that colour (3 and 4) a couple of neutral sweaters from Gap (around $2 each) one in cotton and the other wool, great for layering in winter. Obviously I can't count because for some reason, I skipped 5 so let's go to (6) I love this sequined top from Jennifer Lopez. I was surprised at the quality of the garment. I wanted to give it to someone but now I am seriously thinking of keeping it.

I found this beige jacket ($6.98) which had and amazing piping detail together with THE FIND of the day, an Escada top, layered under the jacket, which deserves its own write up ($10) and a spotted skirt for $5. The necklace, you saw me wear in this post.

Anyway, I wanted to write about a pair of gingham pants I picked up and I love that they are so light, just perfect for summer! My face is so red and hot because it is 33 deg C today!! SO HOT! So wonderful and lovely. I love summer!

The pants are $5
Bag is $4 (both no brand names)
Top: Mine, old from Singapore
Shoes: Another great find - Ferragamo's for $8 from the thrift store!! It is brand new and never been worn!

The soles are clean and new.

 

Sorry for the blurry photos. You'd think my DSLR wants to be an Iphone, with the way it's behaving.When all else fails, blame your equipment.

Linking up with Thrifters Anonymous.

Inspiration Monday: Hot and Bothered

Happy Memorial Day! This is a day important to Americans to remember their fallen soldiers. Most people celebrate by having a BBQ by their pool. It was also a very hot day today - about 30 degs C and we lost power! So we had no choice but to have a BBQ as our whole house is run on electricity and our cook top stove is electric.  We had no water, as we have a well, which has a pump run by electricity so we had to use water out of bottles sparingly

I had my face in pimple cream which leaves white marks all over - and of course, I had no water to wash my face with so you will only get a headless picture of me today. This week's inspiration is Halle Berry. It doesn't look anything remotely like her does it? But I love what she is wearing!

My take on it - this is the only neon thing I own in my closet. I have been on the lookout for all things neon at thrift stores but they are quite rare. I found this though for $5.00.  My capris are old, old, old! There are mud stains on them and I am about to throw them out. But only after this Inspiration Monday post! :)

The sales have been quite crazy leading up to Memorial Day. Most of the thrift stores were having 50% discounts. I found this playful plastic necklace for $5.00. I had a great, great week with finds from thrift stores, which I will post about separately.

 Please try to ignore that I did not iron my pants for the shoot - no electricity, remember? At least that is my excuse..

My shoes are from a garage sale - my neighbour was having one and her mother was getting rid of her Ferragamo shoes in my size so I bought two pairs! This one cost me $20, what a steal. She also had Lily Pulitzer clothes but her prices were pretty steep for a garage sale. It was my first year in the USA and I did not really know who Lily Pulitzer was but I liked the bright colours!

Linking up to Inspiration Monday

CopyCat Friday: Lace Dress and Military Jacket

 I missed the last Copycat Friday because I totally forgot about it and nearly forgot it again this time.  I had to ask my husband to take some pictures at 10pm because on Friday morning, I have some workers coming to install hardwood flooring in my house.  I do not want them peering at me, wondering what narcissistic activities I am up to, photographing myself with a self timer.

I noticed that I always seem to copy Briar from Atlantic Pacific. I love her style because she is so daring with textures, juxtapositions and colours. I would say that she started the arm stacking with bracelets, watches and other bling, which other bloggers have adopted.

Here is my spin on her outfit.  I won my dress at an auction called Tophatters.com. I bought this dress for $26 including shipping. It comes with a belt but I prefer not to use it with the dress.

As Briar has a pop of red, I decided to go with a bit of orange, in my necklace from Ann Taylor which I bought from their factory outlet in Dec 2011. I paid $16 for it.

  

My jacket is from Forever 21, it was half off and I think I paid $12 for it. The belt and bracelet are thrifted.

 

Oh, and my shoes. They are everywhere, have you seen them making the blog rounds? They are from Zara's and it comes in two other colours, which I have been tempted to get. These are the highest pair of heels I own, 11 cms, a touch over 4 inches. It is near impossible to walk in them but I LOVE them!

This dress has a surprise, it looks totally innocent in the front but the back.... (like my Angelina Jolie leg?)

 

...is open. I do not have a special bra that straps down low so I am braless here. I have not worn it out before because I think this is a dress I would wear on a date night with my husband but I have many other clothes which I want to wear on date nights with him first before this one.

 I hope you have enjoyed reading my interpretation of Briar's look. Thanks for dropping by, please leave a comment if you can, I love hearing from my visitors! Linking this post to Frills4Thrills!

PS. My curtains are really bugging me because they need to be ironed and also adjusted so that the back of it doesn't show!

Thrifted Finds: Shirt Dress/Tunic

I mentioned in the previous post that I have found many things lately while thrifting, and I thought I'd do a little show and tell of one of them. I found this shirt dress at Goodwill for under $5 and it is from Banana Republic.  It is a little roomy around my hips and waist but it is quite tight around my arms. I also thought I might take some pictures indoors for a change. My living room is a work in progress, I am paralysed by indecision as to what kind of furniture to place in that room.  That painting in the back was painted by me and it represents the suburbs we used to live in Melbourne, Australia. Let me say that it is not an original idea, I saw a picture of it hanging on someone's home on the internet and I loved it.

 

This is the painting.

My shoes are new and dear readers, if there is anything I cannot resist, it would be shoes. I found these Calvin Klein sandals last week at TJ Maxx for $50, and they are really comfortable for their height.

I accessorised it with a chunky gold necklace from Goodwill's (old) and a tortoiseshell bracelet from H&M from my sons to me on Christmas day. The handbag in the first picture is vintage Coach, from Salvation Army $15.00

Another view of those shoes.

I love the thrift store near my house because the ladies there are all retired seniors who know their shoppers by name. As I picked up the dress, I also bought a red belt for $1.50 and one of the lady volunteers commented, "Oh you could wear this belt with the dress!" They are so helpful in giving me fashion advice, and I appreciate it!

I love my red open toed shoes; I have worn them with so many outfits, who knew that one could get so much wear out of red shoes? 

My silly shot. 

Thrifted Finds: Gray Skirt Disaster and Coral Blazer

I have been having such a big score with thrifting these past few weeks, usually clothes in my size are a bit difficult to find so I end up altering them but it is nice to find clothes that you don't need to adjust. Last week, I went to a thrift store further from my home. Goodwill in Rockville dry cleans all their clothes and they leave the dry cleaning tags on so that the customer knows that they have been cleaned. However, I suspect this drives up the pricing of the clothes. Still, I am happy to get a clean piece of clothing because it takes away the trouble of getting them cleaned yourself .

I found the skirt and the coral blazer this week, the skirt was a size 14 but I could alter it. The jacket was size 2P, a wee bit boxy but the shoulders and sleeve lengths were great.

 

I had a bit of a disaster with the skirt. It was made beautifully and I think it was a skirt made to sit below the waistline. I wanted it up all the way to my waist so that I did not have to take up the hemline so I took 8 inches off the sides. However, after I did that, I realized that the zip was a short one which did not give me room to open out the waistline a lot.  I really had to squeeze into the skirt as I could barely get it past my hips! I just wanted it to be quick and simple but the result was a bunching at the back just below the waistline. Sorry, I did not iron the skirt, I did not realize this until after I had uploaded the pictures.

See how it is collecting at the back?

As I put this skirt on for the shoot, I heard a rip as I struggled to get into the skirt. It cost me $3.98 so I will think about re-purposing the fabric for some other craft. It is too big a job to fix it now that I have done away with the excess fabric at the start.

Or, I could just wear it like this, with a longer t-shirt over it. I just bought this stripey top from H&M for $5.95.  The longer top would cover my mistakes.

For now, I will just enjoy it as it is, until I find another gray skirt that I can mess around with.  The Banana Republic coral blazer cost me $6.98

I also found this Chanel inspired flap bag at the thrift store for $2.00. 

My shoes are also thrifted, from last week's post.

Linking up to Thrifter's Anonymous.

Have a great week finding treasures!

Inspiration Monday: Super Casual

This post is late! I am usually ready by Sunday evening, with all my picture taking but I have only two more weeks to go before we leave for the whole of summer back to Malaysia and Singapore and I have been painting my son's room.

So it is now Monday evening and I have paint all over my hands and hair, have no makeup on so this is a perfect outfit from Inspiration Monday - so casual, without much effort.

I saw and tried this dress on at H&M this week, all the time thinking about the dress that Gwyneth Paltrow was wearing. It only cost $17.95 but I thought that it was a simple dress that I could sew. A tank top sewn to a gathered skirt so back to the rack it went. Isn't it sweet though? I am really inspired to sew it before I leave, or at least make it one of my summer sewing projects. I made myself look through what I already had.

I found my skirt 2 years ago at a thrift store, it was hand made and too long. I only altered it this weekend for this Inspiration Monday outfit, thank you for that bit of incentive, Two Birds! :) I threw on my "grandfather top" on - I bought it from Target and it is so comfortable that I sometimes wear it to bed for winter. See, I told you this is effortless!

  Hmm, I seem to have taken only pictures from a side view. I was in a hurry as it is late, and I have to prepare dinner and go back to painting so bear with me this week.

I was so lazy, I didn't even put socks on but these boots are so soft, they are like wearing soft Ugg Boots. I also wore them here.

Skirt: Thrifted 2 years ago $5
Suede Boots: Had them since Thanksgiving 2011
Tank Top: Giordano's from Singapore SG$8
Grandpa top: Target $6

Linking up to Inspiration Monday. 

Thrifted Finds: Kelly Green Dress

On the weekend, I did something I thought was pretty hardcore. I got up at 6am so I could go to a garage sale by 7am. How crazy is that? I saw an Estate Sale being advertised in Craigslist and it went something like this, "My grandparents' house have been sold, so everything must go." And they put up a bunch of pictures, showing a cluttered space. In that photo, I saw two boxes of LGB trains being sold. They are electric trains that are made to run outdoors, in the snow and they puff real smoke! They were made in Germany until 2009 when the company went bust so it was bought over by another company. The trains are now made in China and they are no longer the same quality as before. So the vintage trains are in high demand and my boys are collecting parts. I thought I would be the first there but when I got there 5 mins after the garage sale opened, it was GONE. My only consolation was that it sold for $300, similar to what I would have paid on Ebay.

Anyway, I decided to drop in on several other garage sales and picked up some dresses. This one was brand new, the tag was still on. $3.00. Can't argue with that sort of price but I did not realize that it had this hole in the front, creating a peekaboo for my cleavage. The folds in front were a little strange too. Sometimes I get so caught up with the price being so cheap I don't really look at what I am buying. $3.00 is hardly anything but I am then saddled with something I might not wear.

Peekaboo! What do you think? :)

What I liked about the dress aside from the colour is that it is has this Spanx shape wear underneath to hold down all my bumps and bits sticking out. Believe me, I have them! It just helps to slim down my tummy and my behind.

 This is how I would probably accessorize it, the pink necklace, thrifted from last week at $5.00 and the cheap belt from Ebay I mentioned here just to take away the attention from the "hole".

Well maybe not so successfully but it hides it a little!

My handbag, Nine West $4.00

Shoes are newish - from TJ Maxx $39.00

I think I like it enough to wear it every now and then. Would love to hear your thoughts and read about what you have thrifted last week! Linking up to Thrifter's Anonymous.

Inspiration Monday: Striped Dress and Cardigan

Hello everyone, I hope you mothers had a great Mother's Day Celebration. My boys made me breakfast and some Krispy Kreme doughnuts! I am addicted to them, they are the only doughnuts I would ever eat and unfortunately, the shop is so close to my home. My boys wrote some really cute cards which are so precious. My husband gave me my favourite flowers, peonies. The flowers make me want to paint!

 

This week's photo from Two Birds surprised me, because I had no idea that Reese Witherspoon was pregnant. I was so happy to see stripes though, I have many pieces in my closet which are striped!

I actually wore this today to church without the red wool cardigan because it was about 25 deg C (80s) today. The weather was perfect - just right for Mother's Day. I love this dress from H&M, it only cost me $12.95. The red cardigan was from Macy's two years ago.

I like to wear a belt with most of my dresses because I don't have much of a waist so I have been buying skinny belts whenever I see them at thrift stores. This belt cost me $1.50 but since then, I have discovered that Ebay sellers from China who sell them in so many different shades and styles for under US$2 including shipping. I bought a few of them and the belts are becoming a staple in my wardrobe.

 

The necklace was from a garage sale $5.00

My Coach handbag was a gift from my husband - not for Mother's Day but he buys me gifts without really needing a reason, he's such a sweetheart.

My old, "new" shoes from TJ Maxx by Etienne Aigner. I need to get a new nail colour for my toes. I like neutrals because they are not as obvious when they chip but yeh, it's time for a change.

After church, I climbed a tree with my son - not in this gear (!) and then we went boat paddling just around the corner of where I live. This is harder than cycling up a hill, I tell ya!

We ended the day with a meal at my favourite Korean restaurant and it was the BEST Mother's day ever. I just love spending time with my boys being busy like this. How did you spend your Mother's Day?

Linking up to Inspiration Monday.