We So Thrifty

Easy Does It

March 6, 2013 — 19 Comments

Two weeks ago, I decided I needed a new winter coat. Like, “new” new. As in, not from the thrift store (yes, that still happens sometimes). I have suede coats and vintage trenches galore, but I still lacked something 100% suited for Canadian winters at their worst. While I am fully aware winter is on its way out, March can be pretty crummy. So by purchasing a parka now, I’d still get some use out of it, and I’d get it at least 50% off. Because my limbs are about 25% longer than the average person (I guess I’m doing a percentage thing in this post?), I knew I’d have to do a far amount of scoping to find something that works. Not too long into my search, I ended up at the Long Tall Sally website. This store was formerly a Tall Girl, and Tall Girl pretty much got me through high school, because ankle pants just weren’t in style back then.

Guys, I was on that website for hours. HOURS. Days changes to nights. Food expired in my fridge. G.R. R. Martin finished the last two Game of Thrones books. It was that long. While normal people speak of the ease of online shopping, I find it to be one of the more difficult and insane activities human beings have taken to. There are too many options, too many colours, too many sizes, and too many styles. How do you choose between charcoal or slate? Textured or non? Size 8? 10? 12? IT’S TOO HARD.

This overwhelming experience stood in stark contrast to how I usually shop. You know when I found that navy Ralph Lauren blazer? On my lunch break. You know what it costs me? $2. You know what size it is? I have no idea. I just bought it ’cause I liked it. Same story goes for that colourful scarf, and the belt, and the purse. While some people might find the limitations of thrifting frustrating, I find them positively freeing, because there are only three questions I have to ask myself:

1) Do I like it?
2) Does it fit?
3) Does it smell?

And that’s it. So simple!

While I eventually did eventually order a coat off of the Long Tall Sally site, I’m still terribly anxious over its impending arrival. Should I have listened to customer reviewer 104 who said it might fit funny at the hips? Or should I have gotten the one with the down filling, even though reviewer 3762 said the down clumps at the bottom? I chose the coat with toggles, do I like toggles? What IS a toggle, anyway? I thought that was something people did to their emails?

Even after I’ve made my purchase, the options not chosen are still nagging at me. But have I ever had a single regret about the $2 spent on this Ralph Lauren blazer? Nope. Online shopping has opened up a glorious new world of infinite possibilities, and if that thing floats you’re boat, live it up like you’re on a boat. I, on the other hand, would basically drown in the sea of too many choices. Like this! Thus, I think I’ll stick to the thrift stores. 90% of the time, anyway.

Blazer: Salvation Army | $2
Belt: Talize | $0.99
Bag: Salvation Army | $5.99
Boots: Me Shoe | $50 (from $250!)
Photos by the lovely Yen!

In Wearing. fashion, ralph lauren, shopping, thrifted, thrifting

Predictable Peplums

February 25, 2013 — 39 Comments

I don’t usually eat my lunch in the staff room. This isn’t because I don’t like my fellow staff (I do!). It’s because I’m a graphic designer, and graphic designers are essentially trolls that live inside caves built out of monitors and reams of paper. We emerge from these caves for three reasons: to pee, to glean snacks from the Birthday treat table, or to go home. When it comes to our precious lunch hours, we allocate that time to catching up on what happened on the internet in the morning, because that’s just what designers do. But occasionally, I’ll bring a lunch that requires heat, and I’ll peel myself away from Buzzfeed to heat up yesterday’s leftovers in the staff room microwave. The nice thing about only using the staff room on an occasional basis is that the magazine stock pile always seems fresh.Today’s outfit has me reflecting on an exchange that took place in this very context.

One this particular day, me and my soggy left-overs crawled out of the cave towards the staff room. I was pleasantly surprised by a new (to me) stack of In Style magazines. As I casually flipped through the pages, I came across a spread of very flamboyant printed pants, forecasted as the next big thing. A fellow employee leaned over and said, with utter disdain, “Ugh, I don’t like these”. I replied, with annoying assurance, “You will.”

This person probably found my ominous, confident prediction insulting (and unnerving, as it was delivered in a weird troll monotone). She probably thought “Um, you’re not even a regular down here. You haven’t even contributed to the book swap. I’ve seen you take books and I’ve never seen you put any back in. How do YOU know I’ll like printed pants, cave troll!?” If that were in fact her response, it would be totally justified. But, dear fellow employee, I speak from personal experience! Behold my polka dot peplum dress:

See, last year, when the peplum first became a thing, I was all “That’s weird. I don’t like it. Too 80s.” But slowly (predictably) I saw bloggers making it work, I saw one pop up on my girl Emma Stone, and I saw how it could disguise the fact that I eat Ruffles by the bag. Thus, suddenly (predictably) I wanted a peplum as much as I wanted another bag of sweet salty Ruffles.

Like the denim shirts and pleated skirts that preceded it, the peplum moved from something I resisted to something I wanted in my wardrobe. That just how fashion works. Those sneaky powers that be tell us we’ll suffer inside leather pants, and we think they’re crazy, but the next thing you know we’re all pulling a Ross in the washroom. So, fellow employee who’s fortune I tried to read, I don’t know if you’ll ever warm to printed pants. Perhaps you will forever find them ugly and distracting, but it’s more likely you’ll realize how well they disguise the crumbs from your bag of Ruffles and warm right up to them.

There are many people that will forever deny the influence designers and magazine editors have over their tastes. They’ll remain pre-makeoever Devil Wears Prada Anne Hathaways. That’s OK. I, on the other hand, welcome these fashionable overlords with glee, because they’ll never hold sway over my wallet. They may influence what I like, but they’re not going to profit from it. The Salvation Army, on the other hand, is taking the $3.50 it got from me for this peplum dress, and laughing all the way to bank. And in return, I’m happy to keep them laughing, because at least it gets me out of my cave.

Dress: Salvation Army | $3.50
Belt: Salvation Army | $0.99
Bag: Talize | $8.99
Booties: Talize | $12.99

In Wearing. fashion, peplum, retro, style, thrift, thrifting, vintage

Bossy Pants

February 14, 2013 — 14 Comments

Apparently, I was a bossy kid. My husband might tell you that I’m also a bossy grown-up, but it’s Valentine’s Day, so we won’t go there. At one point, my Dad even bestowed upon me the nickname “The Little Boss”. Personally, I would have preferred “The Little Princess,” so I could run away with The Little Prince, but I soon learned you can’t marry a cartoon. My sister Laura learned a similar lesson about computer game characters when she realized that Commander Keen would never be her boyfriend. Man, I loved that game…Where was I going with this again? Right! Bossy kid!

I was a bossy kid, and today, I’m feeling a little bossy once again. This bossiness comes from my dress, although this dress almost didn’t make it home. See, when I thrift, I’m usually a very decisive shopper. When the change room is about to bust open with 23 different garments, one must learn to say “yes” or “no” pretty quickly. Occasionally, though, I can’t make up my mind, and when I can’t make up my mind, I ask my Instagram followers to make it up for me. While I loved the way this 80s purple dress gathered in the front, and draped in the back, I wasn’t sure if it was 80s in the good way or bad. So, I posed the question to my fellow Instagrammers. The responses were mostly “80s good!” and one response in particular sealed the deal for me: “Very Judith Light.” Suddenly, the leafy opening credits of Who’s the Boss? passed before my eyes, and I thought “Oh what the heck, I’ll get the dress.”

For those of you who weren’t raised on TV, Judith Light portrayed Angela Bower in Who’s the Boss? For reasons I can’t explain, I’ve seen more than a few episodes of this show, even though the whole thing sort of creeped me out. I didn’t like Tony, I didn’t like Angela, and Mona just made me flat-out uncomfortable. Who’s the Boss? occupied this weird space in my childhood pop-cultural formation of TV shows I didn’t like, but watched anyway. My parents didn’t get home until 6, so I HAD to watch as much TV as possible before then.

Sure, we all loved Full House, Boy Meets World, Fresh Prince, and Saved by the Bell, and I’d still watch all of those shows in reruns, but those shows were the cream of the 90s child crop. On the other side of the pog, there were a whole host of lesser shows; shows like Who’s the Boss?, Sister Sister, Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper, and The Nanny. I’d bet more than a few Beanie Baby Trading Cards that many others in my generation also wasted precious hours of their youths on these lesser shows. We did not like these shows. We did not look forward to their presence on the screen, and yet, we can still recall particular episodes from all of them. What was in the mid-90s water that convinced all of North America to let Fran Drescher be a thing? I don’t know, I just don’t know.

But here we are. I’m in a dress that could very easily go “Full Angela,” if I blew out my hair and kept in the shoulder pads. Oddly enough, that’s the reason I bought it. So maybe this is my way of reclaiming all the hours I wasted on not caring about Tony and Angela’s chemistry. I may never get back that time, but at least I got myself a pretty sweet dress out of it. And that makes me a Boss.

…Now I just have to find a way to reclaim the hours spent on Teen Angel. Yikes.

P.S.: These pictures were taken on the one-year anniversary of meeting my best blogger friend (BBF?) Jentine. When I started blogging, I thought I’d have some fun, but I never thought I’d end up with a real-life friend that I intend to keep long after blogs die off and fashion is replaced by silver space suits. Yen, you love cheese and cats and thrifting as much (and maybe more) than I do. For all those reasons and more, I love you. Cheers to many more years of removing the cat hair off each others’ vintage blazers.

In Wearing. eighties, fashion, nineties, nostalgia, sitcoms, thrifted, thrifting, vintage

Setting the Table

February 6, 2013 — 10 Comments

In my last post, I mentioned I was taking a little break from thrifting clothing. While I’ll be back to it very soon, I’ve made some substantial steps in terms of keeping the habit in check. For one, I went to the thrift store with my sisters with the sole intention of helping them find clothing, without finding anything for moi. And I succeeded! It was fun. I was like a personal shopper. Except now, every time Adele wears here cool new two-toned sweater with a zipper on the back, I stroke it and whisper “You could of been mine. She better be treating you right.” Minor creepy tendencies aside, that was fairly momentous. The other victory came when I went to Valu Village strictly for housewares. I blew right pass their many racks of clothing, and came out with exactly what I needed – a new look for my dining room.

The trip to Valu Village was a calculated decision. I find most of their clothing to be very overpriced, but they still have the largest selection of housewares, thus I knew I could get what I needed from them with minimal temptation to add to my closet. My mission came about after Matt and I invited some friends for dinner. Most of the time, when we entertain, I just assume they’ll be sated with wine and cheese like myself, and we avoid the dining room all together. This time, however, we were having an actual meal, so I needed to address the blank space that was to house our food, and that’s just what I did:

First off, it’s a bit of a misnomer to call this space our “dining room”. It’s really just a corner in between our kitchen and living room, large enough for a table, with only two walls to call its own. I’ve neglecting this space in terms of decorating, so it was a blank canvas. Sure, one wall is blue, and one is taupe, but other than that, there were no motifs or colours I had to match. So, I searched through the table settings with a very open mind.

At first, I sifted through the table cloths, in hopes something would jump out. It didn’t, so I moved right along. Not long after, I picked up a brand-new (with tags) table runner. The lighter blue was a nice (albeit not perfect) match to the wall, and I loved the clean, retro print. I then found a whack of circular place mats (also with tags) in the very same navy as the modules on the runner. I loved that they not only matched the runner in colour, but also in shape.

With those two items in place, I went back to the table cloths. I thought about searching for a solid white one, but then I remembered how much I spill on myself and nixed that idea. I was about to settle on a vintage seafoam one, as it was a perfect match to the runner, when this heavy striped cloth popped out. Not only did it have the seafoam from the runner, but all sorts of other purples, blues, and greens as well. I also liked how the stripes tied in with the runner. This table cloth would work with the pieces currently in my cart, and leave the door option for other coordinating pieces in the future. Perfect! From there, I did what I always do: Buy a bunch of flowers and a big loaf of bread.

This mini-transformation is perfectly reflective of the approach to home decor that I’ve already taken on this blog. I don’t have the time or the coin to do anything big or dramatic, so I focus in on the small spaces – the corners, nooks, and crannies. In this way, my approach to home decor is right on par with my approach to fashion. I don’t always have a grand idea or vision in mind, but I know what I like (and what Matt will let me get away with). So that’s the way I set my table – bit by bit, piece by piece, until something comes together.

Now I just have to figure out how to apply this formula to food, because a pretty table is only as good as the food that’s on it. Unless you’re in the movie Hook, in which case you could just imagine all your table settings, too. Bangarang!

In Housing. decorating, home decor, interior design, thrifting

Rainbow Remix

January 29, 2013 — 10 Comments

I’m going to level with you folks here for a minute: if I had it my way, I’d be at the thrift store at least three times a week. I’d hit up Salvation Army on a weeknight, Talize on a weekend, and Bibles For Missions sometime in between. The thrift store is my happy place, my hobby, and if I don’t watch it, it could become my home because Matt will kick me and all my pretty vintage dresses to the curb for blowing our mortgage payment on the Toonie sale at the Sally Anne.

That hasn’t happened yet, though, because for all my frequent stops, I always have a monthly dollar limit in the back of my mind. For the most part, that number keeps me in check. But for reasons I can’t quite explain, January was a different story. I blew right through that limit before January even entered its second week. Thrift shopping is an economic way to build up a closet, but not if you do it too much. And I realized early on this month: I did it too much.

So, for the past couple of weeks, I’ve tried* to avoid thrifting more clothing, until mid February. I didn’t, however, swear off the thrift store in general, because that would be insane, and I recently procured a $0.99 rainbow necklace that is sure to tide me over until then.

At first, I was worried I’d have to abandon blog until then as well, since so many entries begin with my latest thrifted find. I couldn’t think of an entry’s worth of material around my necklace, and while I’m sure I could have squeezed out a Rainbow Brite tribute, who wants to read that? (actually, that sounds awesome, I’ll do that next time). Instead, I worked this necklace into an outfit that’s the result of a different kind of shopping: the kind you do in your own closet. The outfit is unique in that every item of clothing I have on is one you’ve already seen before on the blog:

(Original looks here, here, and here).

I find this kind of shopping to be much more of a challenge. Scooping up $2 sweaters and $7 sundresses is easy, but making those finds work beyond the blog post is the real trick. I’m really quite pleased with how this all came together, although it wasn’t easy. Remixing isn’t something that come naturally to me, but it reaffirms what I’ve learned from thrift shopping as well: Things work out better when they take time. Call it my way of participating in the “slow fashion” movement.

I’ll admit, I always feel a bit out of my league when I enter into “advice mode” on the blog, because I’m fumbling my way through textures and colours like everybody else. Yet that’s really the best advice there is when it comes to shopping your own closet: fumble around until you find something that works. That moment right before you’re ready to throw all your clothing in the trash and denounce carby foods for all eternity is usually the moment it all comes together. And even if it doesn’t, February isn’t that far away ;)

*There was a Toonie sale last week and I got two sweaters. I am weak.

In Wearing. fashion, remixing, thrifting, vintage

Pajama Day

January 24, 2013 — 14 Comments

There are two ways I can describe this outfit. The first is as follows:

A cozy winter combo, made up of a thrifted poncho ($7.99), a thrifted vintage shirt-dress ($5.99), a thrifted Ralph Lauren Belt ($0.99), and finished with a thrifted Tony Poretti purse($9.99).

The second, more true-to-reality description goes something like this:

The absolute closest thing to wearing pajamas in the daytime, while still allowing for a modicum of dignity.

Straight-up, you guys. I have solved one of life’s great challenges: Getting dressed like you didn’t actually get dressed. I’d like to say I solved this quest by way of happy accident, but that would be a lie. When I dress for laziness, I do it with intent.

For starters, this dress: I thrifted it in December, and everything I thrifted that month HAD TO be Christmas-y. What’s Christmasy about a striped shirt dress? I thought it looked just like Scrooge’s night shirt (hey, sometimes I thrift for quality, and sometimes I thrift for things that look like the pajamas of beloved fictional characters). You guys are lucky I wasn’t pressed for content in December, because otherwise I would have blogged this dress much earlier, under the title “A Dickens of a Christmas!”. The poncho was thrifted only a few weeks ago, and as soon as I saw it, I thought “why the heck don’t I have one of these? It’s a snuggy for grown-ups!” (…and we all know I already have an actual snuggy).

When it came time to pair my big red blanket with something (because, let’s be honest, that’s all ponchos really are), putting it with the item that is essentially a men’s night shirt made perfect sense. And here it is, in all it’s pajama-like glory.

I’ve since worn this combination a few times over, even wearing it to work (with black tights instead of nylons – Scrooge likes his nightshirts a bit on the short side). And I can tell you, it’s quite freeing. The only other time I’ve experienced something similar would be the actual Pajama Day in grade school. Although, upon reflection, those days were always a little bizarre. While the “pajamas at school” thing sounded awesome, seeing everyone else in their Ninja Turtle onesies was actually very uncomfortable. Suddenly, the whole class was put on this strangely-vulnerable level with one another. Just weird, really. No one needed to see my Bullwinkle pajamas but me. So, perhaps faux-pajamas really are the best solution.

I do have to hand it to my grade school for throwing a good variety of school theme days, though. In edition to Pajama Day, we also had a Hawaiian Day, a Play Day, a Winter Crafts Day, a Mexican Fiesta Day, multiple Pizza and Hot Dog Days, and, in Grade Six, a Medieval Times Day. Half the class got to dress as Royalty (myself included), and the other half as servants. This was hilarious because the teacher actually made the servants do all the dishes. So, we didn’t so much as learn much about the Middle Ages, but rather that classism was an alright deal if you were on the winning side. I have a feeling that wasn’t what Ms. J. intended.

The other thing I remember from that day is that I busted out a giant hot-pink 80s prom dress, from the Salvation Army, and felt positively regal. I may have moved from Bullwinkle to blue stripes, but some things never change.

In Wearing. fashion, nostalfia, pajamas, thrifted, thrifting, vintage

Resolved

January 15, 2013 — 28 Comments

Tomorrow is January 16, 2013.

That is an important day, friends, and not just for Kate Moss because it’s her birthday. See, tomorrow is the day I shall give myself a hearty pat on the back. Why? because it marks the end of my “No New Clothes” pledge that I made a short year ago. If you were a reader way back then, you’ll recall I made a bold promise to “Break Up with the Mall” for a whole year. Translation? I would buy only second-hand clothing for a solid 365 days. And wouldn’t you know it: since putting my closet on a thrift-only diet, it’s never been healthier.

That pledge was quick decision, born out of frustration with recent Mall purchases, and elation with new thrift scores. While it was a pledge made in haste, it has had a transformative, lasting effect on this blog, how I shop, and the way I dress. Four months into my Mall-free year, I wrote a progress report as a guest blogger. While I considered penning a similar summary today, I would be a near-rewrite of what I wrote back then (and you can read it here). The benefits I listed there—freedom to shop any trend, choose from any decade, wear any brand, and look in any size—have been (I hope) been illustrated by many of the posts I’ve written since.

When I made this promise 365 days ago, I thought that I’d be starved for some clearance rack goodies by the time January 16, 2013 rolled around. But my appetite to revisit the mall has never been weaker. Meanwhile, I have never had more fun getting dressed, and less guilt about where I spend my money that I do right now. And I really mean that. When I look over what’s in my wardrobe, nearly every piece feels like a score. And while not every piece tells a story, some of them tell great ones. And that’s why this breakup is permanent.

So what’s next? Another pledge that lasts indefinitely? An updated button? I don’t think so. Mall shopping is not something I’m “banned” from anymore: it’s just not something I plan to do. Not because I can’t, but because I don’t want do. Really, this is what New Year’s resolutions are supposed to do. You make a resolution, and at some point, it stops being a resolution, and becomes just another thing about who you are. And that’s what happened this year: I am Juliane Claire Van Huizen, and I shop at thrift stores.

Will I ever buy clothing from The Mall again? I’m sure I will. I mean, I still need to go there for my skivvies, socks, and bathing suits. And there are other exceptions, too: I may still go there for a fine pair of leather boots, and if my friends want to plan a weekend trip to scope out some outlet malls, I’ll shop right alongside them because I love those girls. But mostly, I’ll carry on exactly as I have for the past year: Thrifting things like this pleated silver skirt from Talize, this cozy black turtleneck is from Salvation Army, and this vintage pink (suede!) coat from Granny’s Attic Treasures on Ottawa Street, that cost me a mere $10.

As I list those items, they highlight exactly why I’ve signed up for a lifetime of second-hand style. I never would have sought out a pink suede coat (or pink suede anything, really), and even if I had, I’d be hard-pressed to find one at at the Mall for $10. I’ll take this coat over clearance racks at H&M any day, any year.

In closing, I have to thank all those who’ve shown enthusiasm as I blogged my way through this year. I’d like to think I would have come to this conclusion without a blog, but I don’t think that’s true. Blogging has not only provided heeps of encouragement for my efforts, but a certain level of accountability as well. And for that, I am truly grateful.

…All the sudden I’m realizing that I haven’t made a pop-cultural reference or used an exclamation point in a couple hundred words, and this post is starting to sound like some kind of sad farewell, which is crazy because I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to thrift and blog my way to infinity and beyond! (Whew, back on track). But it is nice to take sometime to reflect once and while, huh?

So as I put the Mall in my review mirror for good, please join me in raising a glass to a brand new year of old stuff (not really though because I don’t want you to spill on your keyboards). And while we are metaphorically toasting, please also toast me for not titling this entry “We Are Never Ever Ever Getting Back Together,” because while thrifting is easy, that was hard.

In Wearing. fashion, leather, mall, resolutions, secondhand, thrifting, vintage

What’s My Age Again?

January 9, 2013 — 21 Comments

Malls. Home to more stores than one person can take in on a single visit. And you’re not even supposed visit them all, really. The tweens find their tight tees and tighter jeans in Hollister and Forever 21. More mature shoppers stick to places like Cleo and Mexx, and everybody else hovers around Zara and H&M. Malls specialize in catering to these specific demographics. But those strategically-designed storefronts and prohibitive pricing structures can prove quite confining to those of us with a broader approach to style. And to those people I say: come thrift with me. The thrift store doesn’t care how old you are. They don’t care if you’re a Joe Fresh or J. Crew kind of girl. They don’t care if you want fine leather or cheap pleather. They simply want you to enjoy their offerings. The Gucci is next to the Guess. The Dynamite next to Dior. And you can mix and mingle amongst these labels as you please.

Today’s all-black ensemble is the end result of this multi-generational mingling. The three main players (jacket, dress, shoes) in this outfit make a pretty stellar team, but only in the thrift store can they transcend their ageist restraints. Allow me to explain:

I’ll begin by contrasting my pleather jacket with my leather booties. The jacket originally came from Sirens. Sirens specializes in terribly cheap club wear for teenagers and college girls. Their clothing is essentially disposable, and rarely survives more than two or three washes. I outgrew that store around the same time I outgrew Bacardi Breezers and the Black Eyed Peas. BUT when I saw this pleather jacket in nearly-new condition at the thrift store for a meager $12, it came home with me. I’ll certainly get $12 worth of wear out of it, and my $12 isn’t going to the sweatshop that manufactured it for pennies in the first place. On the very same Talize visit, and for a very similar price, I found these black ankle boots. Contrarily, these boots are real leather, and manufactured by a company called Rieker. Rieker uses words like “sensible”, “long-lasting” and “orthopedic” to describe their product. Their target market? The parents (and grandparents) of the girls shopping at Sirens.

Smack dab in the middle of this leather-pleather sampler is my Zara dress, thrifted for $7 from the Salvation Army a few years ago. If Sirens is the teenager, and Rieker the middle-aged parent, then Zara is the late-twenty something with more discerning tastes and a slightly larger disposable income. Basically, it’s me. So, if we break this look down by age, I’m 19 on the top, 45 on the bottom, and 26 in the middle. But when I put all these items all together, they just look like me. I’m not a teenager anymore, nor am I ready for mom jeans and minivans, but the thrift store allows me to pull from both of these worlds as I choose.

If I limited myself to shopping at the stores that are aimed at my age group as opposed to the thrift store, I still might have found this dress on clearance, but I certainly wouldn’t have found this jacket or these shoes. And what’s a basic black turtleneck without a bomber and booties? I’ll tell you: very, very boring.

In Wearing. age, fashion, salvation army, talize, thrift, thrifted, thrifting, zara

You Say Goodbye, and I Say Hello

January 1, 2013 — 27 Comments

NYE style

Remember when you watched TV on a TV instead of the Internet, and actually used the TV guide? And you’d check the description for your favourite show, and it would have a tiny little “N”(for new) instead of instead of “R” (for repeat), and you’d be all like “YUS A NEW EPISODE!”. And then, you’d tune in all excited, and it would actually be a CLIP SHOW? And you’d be like “UGH THAT HARDLY COUNTS. THE ONLY NEW PART IS THE BEGINNING” (note this was me as a preteen, so I am using all caps to denote preteen-ness). Well, all in a huff, you’d reluctantly tune in because you are 14 and didn’t have anything better to do, and then you’d find yourself actually delighted to relive some of your favourite moments, because there was no YouTube or Tumblr, and you actually hadn’t see a lot of these episodes in a long, long while.

Well guys, this post might have a tiny “N” beside it, but it’s really more of a clip show. I couldn’t bit adieu to 2012 without remembering some of my favourite posts, so I went through the archives, and picked out my favourite posts from each month. Just click on any of the images for the full post. If I had to pick a favourite post overall, that might go to August, but that’s sort of cheating since that entry was a bit of a clip show already. 2012 was a year of florals, denim, belts, and pleats. And while that could be said of every other style blogger on that planet, I really enjoyed the opportunity to put my spin on all of it.

And, since I still have a soft spot for that huffy fourteen year old who just wants a new episode of Friends, there IS something you haven’t seen before at the bottom.

That final look is the last thing I wore in 2012, for some NYE celebrations with friends. It’s fun, frilly, and (of course) thrifted for $10. That makes it the perfect way to say goodbye to 2012 and hello to a brave new year. Happy 2013, dear readers!

NYE style_2

In Wearing. 2013, fashion, review, thrifted, thrifting, vintage

Small Stores, Big Scarves

December 30, 2012 — 18 Comments

I’m coming very close to the end of my year-long Mall fast, and I’ve already talked, at length, about the continued appreciation it’s given me for thrift stores. In addition to fostering my love for all things second-hand, it’s also increased my appreciation for local and independent retail vendors. You’d think, given the fact that both my parents are small-business owners, this appreciation wouldn’t need any fostering. After all, those very parents run a second-hand bookstore (White Rabbit Books), and Mom also co-manages a family flower/gift shop that my Opa and Oma started years ago (Vanderburgh Flowers and Gifts). But when your parents do something, it can sometimes stop seeming important or cool, because they’re your parents, and they’ve done it all their lives. But this Christmas brought it all back home again.

While this outfit is comprised almost entirely of thrifted items ($5.99 skirt, $4.99 shirt from Salvation Army, $0.75 Ralph Lauren belt from Bibles for Missions), the real star in this ensemble is my technicolour dream scarf. This scarf was a gifted to me by Mom, and available from Vanderburgh’s.

This scarf, combined with my own experience in shopping for Christmas gifts, is a shout-out for shopping local and independent. As I set out to do some gift shopping for the recipients on my list, I was prepared to suspend my Mall-ban. If any of my Secret-Santa draws wanted something that could only be found the Mall, I would have fought the crowds and made the trip. Lucky for me, no one placed any such item on their wish list. Thus, my 6’8 Dad received a new sweater from Gilbert’s, a Hamilton retail landmark; my friend’s new babe is now decked out in an adorable ensemble from Mon Petite Chou down the road; my Mom-in-law received some goodies from Ten Thousand Villages, and other aromatic soaps and such from Vanderburgh’s.

While I did pick up a few items from large chains like Best Buy and Marshall’s, those trips highlighted how much more enjoyable my small-shopping was by comparison. When you shop at smaller, independent stores, you’ll often meet the owner of the business, which means they’re excited about what they’re selling you. They have a personal, vested interest in your satisfaction, because that’s what keeps their business afloat. They’re people like my Mom and Dad, who are basically the best ever. I realize this is starting to veer into Preach-ville, so I’ll wrap it up with this: you get nicer stuff and meet nicer people. If that’s not enough to entice you, take a good long look at my scarf: it has reindeer on it, you guys.

On Christmas, I discovered that my secret Santas followed a similar shopping pattern. I came home with a beautiful throw, new reads, and the cutest salt n’ pepper shaker of all time, all from independent retailers (Oh! I also finally got some Tom’s, and they feel like slippers you can wear in public, which is what I’ve always wanted in shoes).

That overly-jubilant expression in the last photo is largely attributed to the post-holiday sugar high from too many treats. But when the snacks run out, and I inevitably crash, I’ll have my rainbow scarf to get me back out in the snow, like an excited golden retriever. Or reindeer.

In Wearing. #HamOnt, fashion, Hamilton, ralph lauren, retail, salvation army, shop small, thrifting