Zombies on the Move...

To China!

Top: Vintage silk undershirt, gift from my aunt.

leggings: Probably target.

Sweater: Vintage 1940's

Granny shoes: Thrifted

Necklace: found amongst mom's forgotten costume jewelry

Suitcase: my astronomer found it at a yardsale.

Panda head purse: our chinese friend gave it to me when he came to visit last summer.

My dear readers,

as much as I hate to leave you for three weeks, I love an adventure more, so it's off to China for me! My mother and I are going together to attend a wedding of some Chinese friends in Chengdu. While we're there, we decided to also spend time in the bigger cities of Shanghai and Beijing. Featured above is my very comfortable airplane outfit. For the most part, I'm letting fashion slide and erring on the side of practical (ew!) but I'm able to do so for the sake of travel. Not to mention there is a TON of fashion and cheap shopping to be done in the big cities so I need plenty of empty suitcase space to fill! I am quite looking forward to bargaining in the open markets and perusing the counterfeit DVD and handbag market. Also, as a language enthusiast, I have tried to learn a bit of mandarin and I look forward to seeing how that goes. I hope I can pick up a lot of interesting culture and share a lot of experiences with my dear ma! I also hope that we will not drive each other too crazy. Ha, just kidding, of course, mother. In the meantime, I look forward to sharing all my pictures and catching up with all your blogs when I get back!

XOXO 

-Katie

Short Cut to Summer Cuteness

I have finally done it. I'm sure my friends and loved ones were getting tired of hearing me insist that I was going to chop my hair off, but I finally did it! And thanks to the genius of the hair-artist Cregg at Soge off of Clairemont Road, I went from having a mop of I don't know what 

to a pixie cut of a certain je ne sais quoi! 

Although I've always considered myself a stylish person, my hair has been weighing me down (literally and figuratively) when it comes to fashion. I've always wanted to have a beautiful hair cut with some shape and interest to it, but my hair is thick and wavy and otherwise just plain hard to manage, and let's face it-- I'm lazy. I like to sleep as late as possible in the mornings and the idea of waking up to wash and blow-dry and style is pretty much unrealistic. Which results in lots of pony tails and lots of days where my hair isn't something to compliment an outfit, but something to deal with.  

I was a little worried that if I cut my hair short I might look too masculine or that my vintage outfits wouldn't look right anymore. Ridiculously ungrounded fears I realized as I searched for vintage pixie cut inspiration and found that the women who sported these looks are some of the most stylish feminine women in Hollywood! 

  

(Twiggy, Mia Farrow, and of course Audrey Hepburn)

It's only been a day,  but so far I have had nothing but fun playing around with my new look. It's amazing the kind of liberating feeling something as simple as a haircut can give you! I was so inspired that I went home and finally started experimenting with my new sewing machine and some scrap fabric. The results:

A fun little summer clutch that ought to make people feel just a little bit hungry when they look at it. All I did was use some leftover fabric to cover an ugly plain thrifted handbag, added a little lace and a bow, and voila. Cookout. I mean clutch. 

 

Blouse: H&M last summer.

AWESOME pants with straps: Etsy from Violet Folklore.

Necklaces: American anchor came with a pair of boots from Left Hand Endeavor's etsy shop and I found the heart one in a random assortment of costume jewelry that belonged to my mom.

I wish you all hair success and creativity such as I have found to kick off summer!

Thrift Around Town

I know it doesn't look like much, but Last Chance Thrift Store in Decatur has been a favorite for many years. It might be missing an 'L' but what it isn't missing is every crazy thing you've ever dreamed of stumbling upon on a thrifting adventure! Located off of Church Street, this ugly green-roofed building (it used to be purple) is nestled between Indian grocery stores and mattress supply outlets, and behind it's somewhat-functional automatic doors (harkening it's past life as a supermarket) is a world of moth ball scented treasures. 

The prices are right-- every day has some half off deals and on Mondays EVERYTHING is half off! I'm particularly fond of their shoe selection, most of the ones in my closet purchased at this very thrift store. 

Most pairs are under $5.oo, so on Mondays you really can't go wrong. But what I really love more than shoes (if that's even possible) are the random unexpecteds that crop up in this store! Their messy aisles of trinkets and tchotchkies are magical. I could spend all day sorting through the funny old lady-ish dish sets or rooting through the bins of throw pillows and fabrics. This is where I have found almost all of my picture frames and often the contents.

Last week, I found this lamp.

  

It was a little busted but I have crafty technologically smart people in my life and it was only a matter of electrical tape to get this baby shinin'!

I also found this boaters hat.

I swear I wasn't even looking for a boater hat, but when I saw this one there for less than a buck, could I really turn the poor thing down? It was actually someone's souvenir hat from Venice; I saw them all over the place when I visited there, so I just pulled off the corny gondola ribbon and tied a (probably familiar to you by now) scarf around instead.

Hat: Last Chance.

Shoes: Last Chance.

Shorts: Last Chance.

Top: I wish I could remember!

Bag: Clothing Warehouse in Little Five Points.

Jewelry: All thrifted and antiqued.

With these kinds of treasures waiting to be unearthed, you bet your behind I'll be there tomorrow for half of Mondays! Last Chance Thrift Store, you receive two very meaningful thumbs up and the Zombie Lace seal of approval!

 

Top: My mom brought it back from China last year. (I am getting pumped for MY upcoming trip to China by wearing all my chinese clothes).

Shorts: Vintage 50's reversables, swapped.

Sandals: Target.