working girl

back to trying ol' business casual slacks. these are the best trouser's ive found so far- it's so hard to find a slim leg, and i even tried on a bunch at zara but couldn't bring myself to buy just alright trousers for $60, (plus i haven't bought anything from a store like that in so long and i really should stay far away from them...) but these dont have pockets or belt loops! so arg, the search continues.

ps. i have had california girls stuck in my head all week! there's no escape from that K.P.


thrifted white top (i think hm originally), thrifted belt, thrifted pants, etsy flats, vintage bag from punk rock flea market

dot dot dot

i had the hardest time trying to pick out a look to go around these silly polka dot shorts. they are kind of big and baggy, so i didn't want too loose of a top, but a tight top just made them look even bigger. finally i settled on this top which is lyell for urban outfitters, i bought it on after christmas sale last year($15!). i've hardly worn it cause it's sheer which sort of scares me (i know, what a prude!), but it works pretty well for a night out top. and its the perfect amount of looseness to go with the shorts.






fletcher by lyell blouse, 80s dot shorts, t strap flats from urbn, vintage fake coach bag

fringe fest

the bangs got a chop! feel more like myself already. its seriously perfect weather out, i think i love you september.
okay, so big blocks of text are just not my style. till next time!


60s vintage blouse, 60s vintage skirt, thrifted oxfords, bag from flea market

business wednesday

having another go at business casual. this top is really cool because it's 4x reversible- each side is a different color. i went with the magenta side here, but there's also a grey, mustard orange, and black. i love little things like that.

seems like these pants are almost jodhpurs... dunno what i think about it.

vintage reversible silk tank, vintage khakis, vintage shoes, vintage box purse

stripes

trying to class it up a little for work. been wearing jeans everyday for too long. so, trousers it is! i have a few more pairs hiding around here somewhere.. but none of them are quite the perfect ones yet. these happen to be a tad snug, and after a few hours breathing becomes a problem, haha. i don't know how ladies made it through the day back when they were sporting girdles. thank heavens for the feminist movement!


vintage striped tee, thrifted trousers, vintage oxfords, vintage coach purse

the rest of the st lou trip

totally forgot about the rest of these trip pix! been busy, but here it all is..

summery: saw the giant cross, ate some white castle, played with a kitten (all week!), ate a chocolate malt at crown candy kitchen, shopped some vintage (more on that to come), went to the science center, went to the nowhere's-ville town of marion IL for an elvis impersonator (alex's dad is in the band) and we got to go backstage (thrilling), saw some penguins and sloth bears at the zoo, and then drove straight back for 18 hrs (alex did all the driving, lol)

one last guide to thrift/vintage in st lou coming next time!

outfit post

wearing a floral dress as usual. pretty sure this one's from ohio. i just love the big puffy sleeves. gosh, there's really nothing easier to throw on and feel totally put together!

i'm so excited for craft night! you guys gave me some great inspiration and now i'm full of ideas! can't wait to embroider, collage, make bows, and shrinky dink! holy moly do i love shrinky dink! i spent a couple weeks in high school making 'jewelry' out of the stuff with a friend, and swear to god, i was close to getting it sold in fred flare. they had open call for crafts and we got to the final round before getting turned down. haven't touched the stuff since, but now i'm all hot and bothered about it!

silly vintage sunglasses, vintage floral mini dress, thrifted belt and purse, keds sneakers

outfit post

these photos are from probably the last summer day!

some friends are trying to organize a little craft night thing, but we don't know what kinds of crafts we should do. none of us are particularly skilled in any crafty area, and i'm kinda sorta terrible at most crafty things that go beyond doodling. any suggestions my lovely readers? i've come to depend on your advice!

vintage dress, thrifted belt, vintage oxfords

thrift USA reviews part 2

Lighthouse Mission 7/10

now this place had character. it was near indiana university campus, but seemed undiscovered.

poorly lit inside, sort of grimy, no real clear organization strategy- neither by color or size, but clothes were priced as a group, usually $1.99. shelves upon shelves of glassware, tins, and christmas junk. great selection of mugs, and i like a kooky mug.

they actually had some cute shoes, and under a dollar. they had arranged the used furniture into living room displays- like they do at the ikea showrooms. vintage sewing patterns were $0.29 so i grabbed a couple to wrap etsy orders in.

the neat thing about this place was a record room decorated with album covers and LPs hanging from the ceiling. not much electronics or appliances. no bathroom, and workers could hardly tear themselves away from the price is right to ring me up, but she was sorta nice.

Thrift Shop-Hospital Auxiliary 9/10

this place got extra points because they were having an end of summer 75% off sale. it was a good sized store and packed tightly with rows of clothing, good selection of both womens and mens.

there were shelves of folded tee shirts, which i've never seen before, since it is a pretty disorganized way to keep stuff, but they just didnt have room to hang all of it up. clothes were organized by type and size. lots of vintage shirts, but not much in dresses or shoes, a lot of large sizes. my best find was a white budweiser bathing suit.

they had some cute vintage chairs and couches. the lady who rang me up was friendly and got a kick out of how little i was spending, with the 75% off and all.

the only thing wrong with this place was that they didn't have a sign, which makes it a little hard to find- but maybe that also keeps it less picked over?

Wayside Bargain Center, Louisville -- 3/10

this place is located in a nearly deserted strip mall in the middle of nowhere. walking in the place is huge- a warehouse really- but mostly filled with used couches and furniture. they had some vintage tops and a knock of coach satchel, but not much in the mens department.

organized by size. they had a whole wall of shoes but nothing good. what this place lacked in clothes it made up for in appliances. we had acquired a lot of VHS during the trip only to realize that we don't have a TV or VCR at home. they had a bunch of old TVs, all 75% off so we picked up a small combo TV VCR for $7 (okay, thought it was a great deal, tested it in store, but since trying it at home it ate return of the jedi and wont play)! we also grabbed a fairly clean toaster oven for $3, even better deal than the $5 one i'd seen earlier.

outfit post

fall is starting fall is starting! it was actually a bit chilly yesterday, i had to throw on a cardigan with this dress. soon it will be time for tights. how long i have waited for this, but am feeling a little sad knowing how quickly winter will follow this perfect autumn weather..

thanks for all the hair advice! after having no bangs all week, i miss them. i'm planning to cut them short again this weekend when i get a chance. but i'm halfway through the wind up bird chronicle, which is so awesome and consuming, and i can hardly pull away, so i'll now go back to reading and enjoying the weather.

vintage dress, thrifted belt and heels, vintage purse

outfit post

trying my hand at the edwardian thing, a little late i guess, since summer is basically over. but i got the top on the trip and coundn't wait until next year to rock it!


i've been growing my hair out since last summer and i've haven't cut my bangs in a long time.. half out of laziness and half from actually thinking about growing them out until they don't exist, but i hate this in between stage where they cover up one eye, but don't quite stay up all day when i pin them back. and i keep going back and forth between wanting to just cut them short again. i've had them since 2004, and change is hard! readers plz advise me??


vintage 70s edwardian blouse, bdg jeans, vintage purse, vintage ankle boots

thrift USA reviews part 1

whew! i'm finally unpacked and the living room has been rearranged with new additions. to start, i wanted to do little reviews of the thrift shops i stopped at on the road. we stopped at 5 on the way there, 2 on the way back, plus a few in st louis. doesn't sound like much but i ended up with a car full of stuff. here we go!

world's attic thrift shop, somerset-- 7/10

the first shop we hit, about a half hour after it opened- i don't think i've ever thrifted that early in the morning before. unassuming shop in somerset, PA. seemed like it was run by volunteers and got all their stuff from the small town donations. when we stepped in, it looked like there was only one small room, but off to the back there were several more rooms to look through. really tidy shop, decent selection of vintage mixed in with a lot of newer stuff. organized by garment and size- very organized. items were priced as a group- $2 for all shorts, etc- and hardly anything was over $3. purses were $1.50 if i remember correctly. they had some records in the back and alex found the boy is mine single! the workers were very nice, nicest of all the shops we visited actually, and they even had a bathroom. not much to complain about, but they didn't have much mens stuff, and the shoe selection was pretty bad.

ohio thrift store, columbus-- 4/10

a big for-profit type of store on the outskirts of columbus, part of a local chain. two floors- women's and housewares on the bottom, and mens and kids above. slightly more expensive than the average independent thrift shop, but luckily it happened to be 50% off wednesday! plethora of striped tops, which i stocked up on. everything was organized by color, not size- this always irks me! not much in the way of vintage, but i did find one cute floral frock. lots of old lady jogging apparel. housewares were mostly junk, except for a GM toaster oven for $5 that i decided not to get in case we found one later (we were on the hunt for a toaster oven, GM makes good ones that last forever and are pretty cute). nothing worthwhile in shoes. all the fake designer purses were marked $50. they did have a bathroom, and the workers were not exactly unfriendly.

value world, indianapolis -- 1/10

i forgot to take a photo of the next shop we hit, it was the end of our first long day of driving and we were tired, plus they didn't have a bathroom and i had to pee super bad. it was a smallish store in 'downtown' indianapolis, over priced and organized by color not size. still, i did get a pair of sunglasses for 50 cents and a floral romper. oh, and the worst thing about this place was that some old creeper tried to creep on me. gross!!