Thrifting Haul

Yesterday I went thrifting with K, or as we like to call it, Good Will Hunting. We are terribly clever. We were looking forward to heading into Philly for Minipenny's stoop sale, but it was rescheduled to next weekend so we ended up hitting many South Jersey thrift stores instead.

 First up was Village Thrift in Pennsauken. The thing about South Jersey roads is that they don't always run in a way that would be considered common sense so it took a bit for us to figure out how to get on the other side of the road, but with some hope, trust, and a little bit of pixie dust; we made it. The store is large and extremely organized with prices that were very good. Somethings, like a Lane Bryant high low skirt was ten dollars while a full dress could be $3.50. I think it greatly depended on the brand of clothing. Everything I looked at was clean and was great quality, so it could be worth the extra dollar to spend there instead of Goodwill because things don't smell like pee, and the items are organized clearly.

The first thing that I grabbed was this pair of jeans from Old Navy that still had the tags on it. I originally thought I would make them into cutoffs but after putting them on, they look really good as pants. I think I may take other pants I had and swap them with these instead. Old Navy jeans are at least 25 dollars usually, and I normally only buy jeans at their black friday sales, so this was a great find.

Next is what I have been calling my 1940's Safari dress. The label says it is Leslie Fey collections. I really loved this in the store but once I put it on I realized that it was altered and rather poorly. Instead of taking darts in the back to size the top, they folded over the fabric and hand sewed it up the side. I took all of those mindless stitches out and now it fits better, but is too large in the back and shoulders. I now have to take darts in the back, and if I am feeling ambitious, reset the sleeves. I was thinking of cuffing them to get that look, but they would still be too large and long even with a sensible cuff. I am still thinking of the cuff. I really like the cuff.

Also the skirt has this really strange piece of interfacing in the front that was folded over. It made no sense; another poorly done alteration. I seam ripped the front and  folded it under for the picture. My options are to re gather the skirt but it would be a lot of work, or I regather up until the pocket. I have to see if the skirt will be really affected with a tiny bit of less fabric in the front. I just love this dress, and know that when I style it, it will be fantastic. It is taking a lot of me not to buy a hat and a whip so I can Disneybound as Indiana Jones.

Who needs cheetah pants? I think the question is who can go without them. These are Jones New York and still had the tags on them. They fit really nicely, but because they are patterned, I think they will only serve me well as skinny jeans. I am going to take them in at an angle from the knee down so they will resemble more of 60's cigarette pants. I think I may sew in a half inch cuff at the bottom because they are a little short for me. I think they may be capris but since I am short, they fall at a strange place. When they are skinny though, it may look nicer to have a cuff at the bottom.

The last thing I picked up at Village Thrift was this green bowl. It looks like several crystal bowls that I saw at my grandma's house, but it may be made of glass. Who knows. What I do know is that it was the perfect size. The thing about having my own suite in the Residence Halls is that I can put my keys and shoes near the door as to not have them stray and be hard to find or forgotten. This will change very soon when I move up to the eighth floor and my roommates arrive. I needed something that I could throw my keys and change into every time I walk into the room. This is really perfect for that purpose.

 

The next place we went was Born to Shop in Haddonfeild. This place has more mature clothing than anything else, and they are much pricier than any of the other places. This being said they have a very nice selection of designer clothing. The women sitting there told me that someone came by and dropped off several pieces, and by several I mean their whole wardrobe, because they lost a lot of weight so they have a variety of sizes. All of Haddonfeild was having a sidewalk sale so skirts and dresses were half off while the rest of things were discounted. 

 

The first thing I picked up was this M.P.H. dress. I saw it and Instantly fell in love, but know that the breasts I am blessed with would not fit into the top. K suggested that I wear the top open and with a tank top underneath, but I really love the way it looks all buttoned up. I tried it on, and have decided to put panel down the center back and side seams. I would like to extend the waist about an inch as well because it is rough getting that over my boobs too. They are a gift and a curse, but most of the time they are squished. The length is perfect so I really would like to get this project finished to wear this before the summer ends. 

 The details of this dress are really beautiful. I don't know why; it may be the costume student and all around geek in me, but I feel like someone dressed like Ophelia at Ren Faire in this dress. I know it looks like a hippie love child dress, but I think it is that it reminds me of John Everett Millais' Ophelia painting. I just love this and want to start work right away.

 The last thing I picked up for this store was this Land's end sailboat skirt. This was perfectly sized which was by chance because there were clear darts taken in on the back seams. What a crazy random happenstance. The reason I couldn't let this skirt stay in the store was that it was the perfect size and reminded me of this seagull skirt  without the high price tag.

The last place we went was by happenstance since it was only two doors down from Born to Shop. Niffty Thrifties had a really excellent sale on their stock as well. All tops and pants were $5 and dresses and shoes were 10. They had a more contemporary selection than the one before, and we spent quite a while looking at what they had.

I first grabbed this Michael Kors tunic dress with this adorable blue print. It is sheer, but only because I removed the lining because it fits better that way. I am not sure what I want to do with this piece. I could add some panels on the side so that I don't have to wear the top open because of my boobs, or I could wear it open. I think it would be nice to have it button all the way up, but I will have to find a fabric that matches the blue perfectly in the same type of sheer light weight material.

Aren't the pattern and buttons just darling? I think it would look lovely styled with purple tights and boots. I just need to find the perfect fabric to extend the top.

Then I grabbed these big bird yellow capri pants from Talbots. I thought that these would be amazing as shorts because of the color and the button detail on the top. I wouldn't wear them the way they are now since they flare and hit my leg at a strange place. They are made of nice stretch cotton so they will be comfortable shorts.

This is a really wonderful top that is a super gorgeous color. The detail at the bust is braided and the sleeves are three quarter length. I am super happy with this purchase. It is perfectly wearable as is, but when I wear it with shorts I tie up the side so you can see the shorts otherwise it looks like I'm not wearing anything. It feels like I'm wearing nothing at all. Stupid sexy Flanders.

The last but never least things I grabbed was these loafers. They look like men's slippers. I wish I had a matching smoking jacket and a beautiful pipe to wear with these. They are very comfortable and are easy to put on. They have a leather sole, so I can wear them outside as long as it isn't raining, but I think they will serve me best as a quick show to slip on when I get calls and go on rounds. I could wear my crocs, but these are a bit more fashionable. Plus, I just love them.

I have a lot of work to do before I can enjoy all of my wonderful thrifty finds, but I think they will be really wonderful once I work them all out. The thing about thrift shopping is that you can find some wonderful things but if you don't know how to style or make them work for you, then you end up with a bunch of crap. Plus paying attention to your thrift stores to know when they are having their sales because sometimes you can leave the store with crazy deals.