Everything Thrifted

Wow, two consecutive posts from me this week! No I am not having a fever. I wanted to take a photo of what I wore today because I am especially proud that every single item I am wearing is thrifted!

As it was rainy outside, I took these indoors. This is how I would wear it, untucked. My top was from the garage sale I mentioned, I even bought a pair of leather boots from her for $1 which I will wear and take a photo of one day! The jeans are Lucky Brand - I don't really know much about this brand but I heard the fit is pretty good and as soon as I saw the tag, I tried them on and the fit around my waist and butt area was perfect. It was too long but I have been taking sewing classes on how to alter jeans. I altered these to fit me. Jeans $3 from Goodwill. I just noticed that my jeans look like they are not zipped but I swear they are!

For the blog, I tucked in my top in the front so I could show off the belt, which is something I have been looking for, a wider leather belt that could go over a white dress. Goes well with jeans too! Got them yesterday for $1.50

 

 I really need a haircut, but I am just giving you the privilege of looking at my tush. No, really, I am loving the fit of the jeans.

 The bag is leather, Nine West, quite new $4.00 and the bracelet from the same thrift store for $10. Yes, surprising that jewellery is more expensive.

For me, the crème de la crème are the shoes. I have been on the lookout for wedges and as soon as I saw these, I snatched them up, despite the fact they were half a size smaller. Two women saw them and asked me if I was going to buy it and if not, could I give it to them so they could buy it? (On separate occasions)  Sorry ladies, but I am holding on to them especially for $5. It is nice when people covet your finds. Snarly evil grin.

The necklace was $2.00

I am linking this up for the first time to Thrifters Anonymous - not sure how disciplined I would be in posting something on a regular basis. Taking photos and writing a blog takes time and that means taking time away from my favourite activity, which is thrifting! LOL! Hope you have a good week thrifting.

Inspiration Monday: Carrie Underwood

I have to confess that I do not know a single song of Carrie Underwood's. I only know that she won American Idol many years ago when we were still living in Singapore and I do not watch TV.  This is a habit we have carried over to us living here, even though there are so many channels and networks.  I liked this week's inspiration because it involved jeans, something I am super comfortable in!

I did not have a top like hers so I improvised with a sleeveless sequined top (similar here except with stripes) I bought on final sale from Jcrew, reduced from $49 to $10.80. They did not have it in XS so I bought one size up and the collar hangs lower than I am usually comfortable with. So the scarf, a gift from a Christmas gift swap, gives me a bit of cover. The jeans are my favourite from Forever 21, just under $11. I love them because  they fit so well and I did not have to alter them.
 

I found the necklace at a thrift store this week for $6, they were marking everything down to 50% of the price. Thrifting for jewellery is my favourite way of acquiring accessories. 

The bracelet was a gift from a girlfriend in Singapore, sterling silver.

My gladiator style shoes are also from Singapore,  for under $40. They are super comfy and so soft.

I just wanted to say that since the weather has been so nice lately, garage sales have been popping up everywhere. I went to one last week and scored so many clothes and a pair of leather boots for $1 each. That makes me very happy. I love this part about spring and summer, aside from a million other reasons! Enjoy your week!

Linking up to Inspiration Monday!

Inspiration Monday: Emma Watson

Happy Monday everyone! I know I am probably one of the very few who look forward to the week because I do crave some "me" time after hectic weekends. I love my family but I am more productive during the week. The house gets cleaned, and errands get run. Most importantly, I get to go thrift store shopping. Just kidding.

I love Emma Watson. Brits are fantastic, they have rapier sharp wit and I adore their comedies. Mind Your Language, Goodness Gracious Me, 'Ello "Ello to name a few. These all go back in the 80s and they would not be shown now because they are so politically incorrect.

I love what Emma is wearing. She is showing off her very nice legs and I love the juxtaposition of her soft florals and rugged leather. I have four leather jackets but nothing cropped like hers so I went with my denim one.

This was initially what I came up with.

After I took the photo, I thought that Emma's outfit was more about mixing patterns and I was more color blocking. So I had to re look at my skirts to come up with something closer.

I read from home decor magazines that when it comes to pattern mixing, one could mix bigger patterns with smaller ones so this was what I did with my skirt and my top.

The necklace was a gift from my neighbour's 15 year old daughter. Her youth group at church had this program where they tried to raise awareness for all the hungry people in Latin America and she fasted for a whole weekend. She baked cookies, sold them, wrote to her teachers and neighbours to be sponsored and raise money. She managed to raise three times the total amount of all the other participants there. As a thank you gift, she gave this necklace to me, made by one of the village people she was trying to promote. I am shocking, I don't remember which part of the world it is.
 

Hope you have a good week ahead, I am so excited that it will be warming up from Thursday onwards, I get to wear skirts and dresses, woo hoo!

Denim jacket: More than 10 years, from Malaysia
Top: From Singapore
Skirt: From Singapore
Wedges: Dolce Vita, from TJ Maxx $39

Linking up to Two Birds.

Copycat Friday: Dahlia Capris

It is that time of the month where we get to copy someone who inspires our sense of dressing. I love Bee from Atlantic Pacific, she is the Queen of Layering and piling on the bling. This is the image that inspired me.

I had purchased the capris from Jcrew when they had their spring sale and have worn them several times. As it is my first pants purchase from them, I was uncertain about the fit but as it is a final sale, returns were not allowed. It is just a tad loose in the waist but nothing a belt can't fix. I also have the same shoes as Bee - I love them so much. I just need to walk very carefully with them as they are about 10cm heels. (4 inches)

I love these Blog challenges because I would not have considered pairing my capris with a military style jacket until now. I tend to click my images in Pinterest and save them for later, not really scrutinizing them. Are you like that too?

Shirt: From Singapore
Jacket: Forever 21
Capris: Jcrew (Available here)
Shoes: Zara
Bag: Coach, thrifted
Necklace: Consignment Store


After the photos were taken, my youngest son ran excitedly to us to inform us that a bird had built a nest on his brother's bedroom window sill. After a bit of reading on the net, we found out it was a Mourning Dove. Towards the night, my son who was so captivated with it, scared it away by getting too close and there were two eggs in the nest. We are really sad about it because the night is freezing and the bird has not returned. Does anyone know if the eggs will survive a cold night, about 40s?

Linking up to Frills4Thrills here. Join in the fun if you can!

Inspiration Monday: Sara Rue

This week's inspiration, a short dress with a statement belt. Doesn't Sara Rue look so cute in this? I did not have a nice wide belt to wear so I just went with what I had.

I started taking photos in my front yard and suddenly my neighbour came out with his tractor to mow his lawn and he was peering at me, probably wondering what on earth I was doing, all dressed up and standing in front of a camera with various poses. I had no idea how long he was there but I was really embarrassed. I didn't even say hello, I picked up my tripod, without taking my camera off it and just dashed inside. He must think I am a freak. One day after I have recovered from this I might be able to explain that I am doing this for a little blog that probably less than six people read. 

I bought this dress from Ebay and I suspect it is from the same factory that produces Zara clothes in China because they were selling Zara pieces at discounted prices. The problem I find with buying on Ebay is that you can't do returns most of the time but this seller had a reasonable return policy. I wrote to them asking for specific measurements. The response was swift, in broken English but the dress was less than US$30 including shipping so I thought it was going to be fine in a size S. 

The dress arrived in less than a week from China and I was pleased, but when I put it on, the armholes were too big and the top of my bra could be seen. There is also a billow of fabric particularly around the belt area. I wrote back to them and asked for an exchange in size but - silence. I wrote several times and no answer. In the end I decided not to pursue it because to send it back to China was probably going to be expensive so I tried to modify the arm holes by shortening the top of the shoulders by two inches.

The resulted the waistline going up by two inches as well and it sits higher than my natural waistline. Hopefully this is not too noticeable when I wear it.  However, this is probably the last time I would buy clothing on Ebay, my experiences have been more of a miss than a hit. 

I also experimented with my hair for this post to resemble Sara Rue's a little. I have never really worn my hair any other way except in a ponytail or just loose.  Wendy from Wendy's Lookbook has a fun hair tutorial which I followed. I love her style!

 Wall hugger.

Customary weird picture at the end. "What's that? I can't hear you?" but there was no one around except my lonely camera.

Shoes: TJ Maxx (last year)

Belt: Came with the dress.

Linking up to Two Birds - join in the fun if you can! Have a good week and thanks for dropping by once again.

Getting Floral

It's been so gorgeous out today I couldn't resist wearing this floral top from H&M I bought a few months ago.  I am starting to get into florals, but have not had the guts to invest in a pair of floral pants or jeans just yet so this was a good compromise.

I love the butterfly sleeves

Top: H&M $9.99
Capris: From Singapore
Shoes: From Singapore (Sorry I cannot remember the brands but they were from a big mall called CK Tang)
Bag: Thrifted, new with tag, $8.00
Sunnies: H&M $6.95

What do you think of the floral trend hitting the fashion scene this season, do you think this will  transcend to be a classic look each spring?

Inspiration Monday: Tunic

I have to be honest, when I saw this week's inspiration picture, I wasn't very inspired. I wasn't sure what Kerry Washington was wearing - was it a very long shirt or a very short dress? Nevertheless, I wanted to do this because it makes me take a hard look at my wardrobe and forces me think outside the box in terms of how I would suit this to my style.

What I did like about her tunic was the studded effect - I don't have anything like this but I do have a chambray tunic which I bought from Ebay for $6.00. I have never worn it because I bought it in winter and have been waiting for the weather to turn warmer. Today is a GORGEOUS day, around 25 deg C (over 70s) perfect for photo taking.

At first, I wore this tunic like a short dress, just like the picture. It was very short, I felt it was "incomplete" as my son, who took my picture, said, "Mum, go inside, you forgot to put on your pants." He was embarrassed, the poor kid. Then I put on short leggings but I didn't like it either.

Excuse my pasty legs, they need to see some sunlight, something I intend to remedy with the warmer days coming up!

 See, I look like I am just wearing the tunic like Kerry Washington?

Aha, but underneath, I put on the a pair of shorts, for a bit of "protection"! I wish that I had different coloured pair of shorts. But the idea is  to look like I am wearing a short dress but, just in case the wind blows hard, at least my private bits are left...private. Wouldn't want to blind anyone!

Since my chambray shirt is pleated, it is already very busy so I decided to bling it up by wearing loads of my old bracelets collected over the years. In my collection is - a Fossil Mickey Mouse watch, I used to collect all things Mickey Mouse at high school, so this is a very old watch! All other bracelets were from Jordan, Australia and Malaysia - a reflection of  the countries we lived in, and given to me by friends from those places.

I only remembered to do my silly shot after much later:

I noticed that my shirt shows up in different shades of blue for each photo because I stood in the bright afternoon sun and the others, I was in my gazebo.  The true colour is the silly shot above.

I hope you have a great start to the week, the weather is looking really super and thank you for dropping by!

Chambray shirt: Miley Cyrus (she was one unfortunate person who had her private bits photographed recently, would have helped if she put on some underwear, lol) from Ebay new with tag, $6.00
Shorts: Very old pair!
Shoes: Etienne Aigner, TJ Maxx $29
Silver necklace: From Chatuchak Market, Thailand
Bracelets: See above

Linking up to Inspiration Monday.