The Thriftmaster

This is me today (below). This is me, triumphant. This is me in full preparation for my impending ‘bag-lady’ future. I will be the most eccentric bag-lady you have ever known/not. And I am already practicing with fervour.

See… I have a slew of bizarre talents and many of them not particularly practical in a real-world sense. Bagpiping? Check. Imitating Napoleon Dynamite to a tee? Check. Nosefluting? Check. However, I do have one talent that combines some of my keenest interests: community service (it’s for charity!), fashion (obviously), and history (it’s used, there’s a story there!)… that’s right my darlings, I am gifted at thrifting. I can find secondhand clothes like a slinky secondhand sartorial master. I can silently ooze through a thrift or vintage store and suddenly BAM I’ve got it. Whatever it is, it’s probably worth way more in the fashion knowledgeable market than in the ratty dust bin I found it in for less money than my daily coffee cost. At this point this skill has not yet turned profitable, but perhaps one day. We shall see. However, the conquests of the last two days have inspired me to share, in the hopes that whoever you are, if you are reading this, you too will be inspired to find vintage Burberry wool coats for $23.00.

First, I wish to share the pieces I have uncovered:

*ignore the poor state of my self in these--- I was multitasking and did not have a hairbrush*

And below... is a shirt I just met at Urban Outfitters for $58.00 which is really very reminiscent in both pattern and material of one of the above shirts I just bought for about $2.00.

Alright, you have seen the treasures. Now for the game… guess how much I paid for these 14 pieces of often vintage, occasionally designer clothing and four vintage patterns. (Hint: I found a coat similar to that Burberry one for $250 on Ebay). 

I paid less than $70.00. That, in fact, is far more than I usually spend on clothes, ever and it totals to less than $5.00 per item of clothing. But these were all too good to pass up. Especially considering my need (yes, need) for: 1. Leopard print, 2. Minimalist knit dresses a la Olsens or Kate Moss in 1995, and 3. Quirky jackets (one can never have enough, I might be at over 30 now), especially of the leather variety.

All in all, I don’t feel too much buyer’s remorse. Especially considering that one of some of these pieces could easily sell for the price I paid for all of them, if not twice as much. I barely spend money on anything and even less on food, so, really, this was my summer treat. Now don’t tell my mother, she thinks I have too many clothes already (c’est impossible). Shhhh.

(Really) Cheap & Chic

I recently found this dress at a hometown consignment store that is (sadly) going out of business. Their loss, however, was my gain... everything was 50% off, and fortunately no one in town would recognize the potential value of this piece: a summer dress from Moschino Cheap & Chic. It was less than $10 and made the perfect centerpiece of my Fourth of July barbeque ensemble.

Not to mention, it goes swimmingly with so many colours. Seen above and directly below with the vintage mustard blazer I bought at a vintage store in Canterbury, England (also a really cool piece... there's a cigarette burn on the inside liner and I always wonder what the story is behind that!).

Seen below with a vintage coral jacket from the sale bin at Hidden Treasures in Topanga Canyon (the colour isn't quite as intense in person as in these photos...).

And finally, one of the best parts is the mixing of stripe size/angle. I know the navy/white breton stripe thing is vair 'of-the-moment', but this is a delightful twist... a delightfully inexpensive twist.

It's Beginning To Feel A Lot Like Summer

Summer, and any other time at all possible, is about adventures. Even mini-adventures between work and dinner. Par example: My "Pilgrimage" to Griffith Park Observatory in pursuit of James Dean.

The architecture is simply wonderful.

That is my (very battered) vintage Dooney & Burke purse in hand. Actually, it belongs to my mother, but heaven knows she doesn't use it, so I have commandeered it.

The "pilgrimage" was followed by a chocolate souffle at The Grove. The sauce, once the souffle was gone, was eaten alone. It was, really, that good.

Next on the evening's programme was Anthropologie. The glass (above) was over $300, and hence, not mine. 

Above is the berry bush outside my apartment... when not host to miniature spiders these blackberries are delicious. I grab one sometimes on my way out the door to school. Que sabroso!

L'Ete Commence

To be honest, I haven't had much of a summer. I have been all over the place... well, all over the Southern Half of the state. It's not so bad though. I like being busy. And I have found/remember where I keep my camera cord! Which means... I can take my pictures somewhere more accessible than, well, my camera. However, I am introducing them to the cyber vortex of public access slowly. That way my limited material will last longer, n'est-ce pas?

This one (below) is of a hipster I semi-stalked on a walk a few weeks ago. Well, I did not purposefullly stalk him... until I realized we were walking to the same place. And he made a great anonymous model. And the wave? Well, that's an incidental cameo, but this makes me pretty happy.

This is, in fact, the path down which I semi-stalked the hipster.

The fog was being selectively ominous over the hills. I wish I would paint this, but I think I'm too lazy.

It took more shots to get this one right than there are unanswered questions on LOST. Well, maybe not that many.

I went for a walk a while back when the wild flowers were still blooming. The mosquitoes, tragically, were of a like mind.

I realize this may not be the first thing that comes to mind with this one (rather, it is probably, "well, that's dumb"), but I adore ADORE the textures of dead wood.

In the next edition: See my latest vintage black dress from the 60's! See a salad that includes both grapefruit AND scallops! Get a close-up of diner coffee! See what weird warpings my camera achieves completely on its own! And more!

Soldes

My favourite Parisian boutique is having a sale. This would be exhilarating news, if I could afford even their sale prices. As it is... I look. And I dream.

All images, and the sale, are found and/or can be found, at kooples.com. Enjoy, mes amies.

The Fourth of 'Uly

Part I:

I would like to wish everyone a Happy of Fourth of July. Would like to, but I am not sure I can. Certainly, I hope everyone I know (and don't know) has a fantastic day... but I have issues condoning uber-patriotism. My mind is not made up about it, yet, but I can't fully endorse any country or its inherent propaganda, as much as some of it is earnest and wholly agreeable to me. Additionally, I feel a strong loyalty to nations like England, France, and Norway... and it is difficult to reconcile these by saying that America is better. Now, don't get me wrong, I love America. Or at least significant parts of it, and particularly in the post-Bushian state we currently see it operating (imperfect, but infinitely more promising). I love the sense of limitless possibility on which I was raised, the so-called 'All-American' ideals that you can be whatever you want and that everyone is imbued with those certain 'unalienable rights'. These ideals may not be the reality, but as I have been dutifully trained, I value them. I strive to uphold (though not impose them ruthlessly abroad with brash neo-imperialistic agendas). But I don't really like any particular state, nation, or government in its entirety. I prefer a culturally-respectful cross-national view of the world that doesn't pigeonhole individuals by geographically arbitrary political boundaries. If it's meant to be "us" versus "them" I prefer to see the "we". 

Part II:

Is this the face of a writer?

Maybe. But I do know for a fact that it is, in fact, my face. And a highlighter pressed with easy deliberation against my cheek in an effort to make it look like I am more productive than I am. To be honest, however, I have actually been very busy. And, though this may be cringingly self-indulgent, I am also a writer. Well, alright, there are a lot of definitions of that word and I've fit some of them since I was four, but no, what I mean here and now is that I have written something that people might actually see, read, and if I am lucky, enjoy. A film review. On a legitimate website which publishes amongst many legitimate (a subjective word if ever there was) items reviews, like mine. It is only a little 490-word piece about a relatively obscure (to most everyone I know at least) French film, but it is there. And when you google me, it appears. And while I refuse to laud myself for every minor success in life, I would like to offer myself a congratulatory handshake (this is an awkward thing to offer yourself) as this has the potential to be a stepping stone to other, even more productive, things. I hope most sincerely that I am not jinxing it, but I cannot withhold my excitement, and even if it stands as the lone piece of semi-professional internet writing I ever accomplish, it is there. It has a URL. And they even gave the piece a screenshot for visual effect.

A Dash of Resort 2011

A couple of things I am fond of: