Showing posts with label shopping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shopping. Show all posts

Friday, May 31, 2013

Breezy green choices for Europe

Uniqlo Slub Maxi Dress (Image Source Here)
I want to move in to this maxi dress from Uniqlo. I want to build a picket fence around it, raise my children in its front yard, and grow old in it. That's how good it is. At first, when I tried it on, I was kind of disappointed that it didn't look as effortlessly glamorous on me as it did on the lovely website model. But I threw on a belt to synch it at the waist, and voila! I had a figure AND a breezy dress option for Europe.


Why you should pack this dress to travel:

  • It's made of a light jersey that stands up well to wrinkle.
  • It can be rolled up very small. 
  • You can dress it up or down with jewelry and shoe pairings.
  • It fits loosely around the legs so it doesn't impede walking strides like some maxi designs.
  • You can buy it in tons of different colors.
  • It's a semi Green option (Uniqlo gets points for recycling and ethically sourcing materials but loses points in possibly questionable labor practices). 
  • It's affordable at... holy crap I just checked the website and it's on sale for $7.90!!!!! GET YOU ONE, GIRL!



Wearing:
Uniqlo maxi
Beaded belt from Sole Shoes and Accessories (psst...they have a scoutmob deal on right now!)
Keen Emerald City walking sandals
Vintage thrifted box bag
Holy smokes I love a maxi for a voyage. Do you have any go-to styles for travel? I'd love to hear what's on YOUR packing list!

Monday, March 12, 2012

collecting cobwebs (and a thought on ethical shopping)

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Wearing:
Rainbow white tee and poofy hip pants
Laceup boots from Underground Atlanta
Cardigan from H&M (Suzhou)
Shawl/scarf vintage, found in attic.

I don't know why I let some outfit pictures languish on my desktop for weeks without posting them. Maybe I'm busy, or a bit discouraged by a fussy camera. Or maybe it's because I can't quite decide what I want to say about them.

Reading this Asian Cajuns post didn't help me want to gush about my clothes either. Boo! I hate it when the reality of a favorite indulgence confronts me. Lar basically points out the ugly truth I always know but never really think about when it comes to trendy cheap clothing stores like Forever 21 and H&M and probably my beloved ghettofabulous Rainbow, too. That for me to get that brief satisfaction of scoring a sequined top for $7, someone on the other end is sacrificing in some way. I like the way Lar puts it when she says, "at the back of my mind I did have that niggly sensation (aka guilty conscience) because I knew if I was buying a necklace for £1, someone on the other end wasn’t making very much money." I know exactly the sensation she means.

But what's an impoverished clothes-addict to do? Lar suggests shopping in thrift stores, but sometiems you just need your quick fix of a fleeting trend (you know, to set off all the frumpy oversized thriftstore garments you wear during the week). What do you think, my lovely fashionable ones?

Monday, January 30, 2012

lbvd - little black velvet dress




I love everything about this little black velvet dress from Festivity... particularly the part where I got it for 20% off! It has the sweetest little shape with an open back and exposed zipper.  The only thing wrong with it? Not enough occasions to wear it. 

Playing with color is fun with a black dress, so I paired it with my favorite shade of lavender lace bra and green tights. A Chinese friend gave me the latter straight from her shop, deeming the hue "unacceptable" to Chinese girls. Fine by me! 

Wearing:
Velvet dress from Festivity in Virginia Highlands
Lavender lace bra from American Apparel 
Green tights from China
Golden snitch necklace, gift from my sister
Black bracelet from a friend's give-away pile.

Monday, July 25, 2011

Mint Chocolate Chip continued

Speaking of Mint chocolaty delights, check out Yokoo's tote of the same name. Someday I will have the money to buy a real Yokoo original so I can support my number one girl crush rather than just stalk her flickr page! She's a local ATLien but a self-proclaimed hermit, which is good for me because I would be completely twitterpated if I ever ran into her.


Here's another picture of her with one of her luscious handmade circle scarves, a hue whimsically called "youthful sage" but close enough to mint to satisfy me. Someday, Yokoo knit products, someday....


Friday, July 22, 2011

gingham fantasies

I impulsively want to buy this retro Esther Williams swimsuit for $74 dollars. Which I know is crazy when Target has some perfectly fine, if not perfectly gingham, more affordable options (this one at $35).


But the imitation is just not doing it for me! Is it crazy to spend 50 extra bucks just to fulfill some Mary Ann a la Gilligan's Island braided hair and denim wedge beachside fantasy? Someone talk me out of it! Or into it....


edit: Look what just appeared on my tumblr dash!

source: fromme-toyou
The swimsuit is apparently ModCloth's "Cherry Pie" and costs a whopping $90 (pictured below).

Source: Modcloth
Source: ModCloth

Delicious name and of course the styling wins hands down... I'm already adding a straw hat and a basket of blueberries to my fantasy... but the price is making the Esther Williams version even tastier. 

Plus, she's Esther Williams! She is this swimsuit. It feels wrong to go with an overpriced imitation when you can buy from the bathing beauty herself.

Source: flickr
Oh decisions decisions! What would you and your bank account do?

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Home again, home again, jiggity jog

What’s better than shopping in your own closet? Shopping in your relatives’ closets!! While I was traveling for spring break, I hit up Louisville Kentucky, a surprisingly adorable and liberal town for, well, Kentucky, most of the citizens posessing way more teeth than I expected! Just kidding all you Kentuckians, especially Aunt Ellen. I wish I had better and more pictures, but I had to make do with what was available. You'll see more of the stuff I got when I incorporate it into outfits in the coming weeks!

Speaking of my aunt, maybe a love for vintage is genetic because my aunt made sure to load me up with plenty of vintage treasures from her closets that she swore she couldn’t wear anymore. My favorite scores include two jackets from the 1940’s, a cute pink one with the classic vampish silouhette, and a beautiful asian-inspired a-line jacket that is so gorgeous and delicate that I’m almost afraid to wear it. I transported my suitcase at the airport with the care you might expect from an overwrought mother with a stroller.
This is a candid picture of me at an art gallery in Louisville. I'm wearing the pink 1940's jacket.

The local vintage shopping, while not free and from my aunt’s closet, was also nothing to sneeze at. When I visit Louisville I always make sure to stop in my favorite vintage shop Elizabeth’s to see what’s new (or old, as it were). Being what my family refers to as “birthday week” I paid for very little on my own, but came away with some gems, including this amazing hat which I wore everywhere to battle the cold, and these cute little 50’s slacks that remind me of Audrey Hepburn.

   

I didn’t just binge on shopping. Of course no trip to the North East is complete without a visit to the friendly neighborhood White Castle!
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And before I knew it, it was time to go to Cincinnati to visit my grandmother and try to stuff even more food into my already cake-bloated body. Graeter’s Ice cream is the other traditional North East Must Eat, and you can see why with the size of this chocolate chip... 
...and the chips are soft and oh so melt in your mouth chocolatey. (By the way, I know I am biased, but as far as grannies go, isn’t mine the cutest?)

And is it just me, or do you love thrifting in other cities? I know thrift stores are all kind of the same in their method and stock, but I get true pleasure from exploring the Good Will’s of other towns and have a favorite thrift store near my Grandma’s house. And whether or not foreign thrift store superiority is all in my imagination, the Cincinnati thrift stores were generous in their bounty this trip. I found a dreamy pair of Unisa brand T-Straps that had never been worn, as well as this cute peter-pan collared blouse! Maybe it was just the birthday gods smiling down their birthday luck.

Blouse: Thrifted in Cincinnati
Cardi: target
Jeans rolled into highwaters: F21
Shoes: Thrifted
Despite all the shopping and eating and presents, it was a relief to be back home. Yet another pair of T-Straps, these ones vintage from Etsy, were waiting to welcome me home when I got there. 
A little lower heeled and more sensible for daytime than the Unisa pair, they inspired today’s sort of 40’s outfit... if only I could make my hair cooperate into a 40’s ‘do as well!
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Shirt: F21
necklace: Thrifted in Cincinnati
key pin: antique store in Louisville
Skirt: Vintage, thrifted
Jacket: thrifted on a different trip to Cincinnati
T-straps: Vintage from etsy
Purse: Given to me by a friend who was sick of it.

This satisfying week behind me, I now look forward to catchcing up on all my favorite blogs and maybe finding a little time for some school work in there somewhere too!

hop on