There's No Place Like... Marshalls

Much to our man's dismay, we were not able to stay out of the shops this weekend. It was rainy; we had nothing better to do-- and besides, we are going on vacation in a week or so and needed to round out our wardrobe! We got some lovely bright basics, like three lace-trim camis in hot pink, kelly green and this deep purple here!

Plus, as you may notice peeking out from the pants there, these amazing, gorgeous red patent pumps!

*Dies*

They were on clearance at $25! They're real leather! They're by Me Too (never heard of 'em but who cares?). We have red shoes!!! We feel a little bit like Dorothy, and they're so horrendously high as to require a change into the fake Vans when walking any distance at all, but oh how we love them.

Other scores: two t-shirts with built-in removable scarves, $7 each (two free scarves! One turquoise/black zebra, the other lilac/white tie-dye; both we'll totally wear!), quite a bit of adorable underwear and a purple bandana-print pashmina we just couldn't say no to ($7.99 didn't hurt that much).

We're wearing black corduroys from Kohl's (which should be illegal in June, but it's bloody freezing and drizzling nonstop out there!) and our little lace jacket again. We really need to find some more cardigans and blazers, stat.

We couldn't resist a little bit of matchy-matchy, so we have purple eyeshadow and red glass butterfly shoulder-duster earrings by us (one of the first pairs we ever made!).

Sunday Experiment: Dress over Jeans

One of our co-workers rocks this look all the time and we decided to give it a shot for a hanging-out-with-the-fiance-while-the-kiddo-spends-Father's-Day-with-his-dad outfit.
This is not the thriftiest of ensembles, as the dress was an Etsy purchase and is a soy/organic cotton blend- it's by Dancing Tree Creations of Eugene, Oregon, and we wanted to support what was then a brand-new shop. We are so pleased to see her doing so well! And sometimes handmade and eco-friendly trumps bargain. It's a versatile little piece which looks great over a longer, heavier skirt and thermal longsleeve in the winter, adorable on its own when it's nice out, or evidently pretty decent over jeans during this questionable June we're having in Boston.

Jeans are Vicky's fancy backlifters (on clearance for $30 and in our opinion not as advertised, as the nylon panel in back does nothing but make them hotter) which we don't really like because they're too light and emphasize our thighs, but they work pretty well here.

Scarf, from a street booth in Salem, $15. It has little smiling skull & crossbones all over it! But it can be reversed to pure purple with merely a hint of a black print, for the office. Peeptoe slingbacks by Hot Kiss, $15 at Famous Footwear.


We think we'll do this again... unless our dear readers advise otherwise. Thoughts?

Saturday: The Thrifty Stylist Wears Jeans

You may have noticed a lot of skirt action in our posts up until now, and it's true that we wear skirts nearly all of the time when we're not hiking or camping (and even then sometimes a nice hippie skirt and some flip-flops are perfect fire-tending gear... No?) but we do occasionally foray into denim territory.


This is our running-around-doing-errands outfit. We bought these dark-wash bootcuts at Old Navy a few weeks ago for about $30 (oh, it hurts. We miss AmVets!). They're unfortunately large in the waist which is causing a good deal of "gapping"in the back and makes our belt go all wonky. Why is it that they can't make jeans for girls with big hips who aren't necessarily big all over? Sigh. (Side tangent: what is up with their sizing these days? We swear every shirt was a tent, although a friend claimed the opposite problem last time she went. Bizarre.) However, we do like the wash and we're glad at least someone still makes a petite length under 30" (have you noticed how they've all been creeping up?)

The aforementioned wonky belt is from a pair of cropped pants we bought ages ago and has out-survived them in our wardrobe (apparently us shorties cannot rock the capri). We love it for how it doesn't add bulk to a fitted silhouette like a leather belt would. And when half of it ends up on our lower back, failing mightily to contain the extra fabric of the waistband, it doesn't chafe. ("Get thee to a tailor, Thrifty!"-- we agree that this would be advantageous.)

We have to admit here, dear readers, that we have an addiction to (a collection of, really) butterfly t-shirts. Having just passed out of our twenties this year, we're fairly sure we should never, ever be drawn to sparkly butterflies in the juniors section, but quite honestly we can't help ourselves. Granted, on a day like this when we are out and about with our almost-teenage son and people assume we're siblings, we do question our own judgment ;) We did get a shouted compliment from an older lady while crossing the street... Hmm... Besides the butterfly, we love the layered look of the tie-dye patterned sleeves. The bottom band of purple is a heathered bra top cami from Vicky's, of course (we probably have 15 of the things).


The shoes are American Eagle or somethingorrather from Payless. Love the little skulls and heart crossbones! We hope girly punk continues to dominate the teenage retail landscape. We don't really do sneakers or flats (it's so difficult to find sneakers that aren't hideous and flats that don't make us look stumpy), but fake Vans, we can handle.

What do you wear to do your errands? We can't abide sweatpants or pajamas in public... how has that suddenly become completely acceptable? The Thrifty Stylist needs some smelling salts.

Friday Steals and Deals: MetroStyle

We're sort of hyperventilating over here. While searching for a cheap velvet blazer, we came upon MetroStyle.com and their amazing clearance section. We wanted to share some of our crazy-thrifty finds...

How about $10-$15 for jeans? (Depending on color- they come in several! Different lengths, too!)

$10 converible sandals that you can wear as slides, or attach the ankle strap (ingenious!)

$8-$10 for this adorable ruffly sundress (just look at those princess seams! Phenomenal)!

Only $8 for this incredible vegan patent corset belt which would really funk up an outfit!
$10 for velvet jeans? (These would so be ours if didn't need the petite length!) Wow.

Moving out of the $10 range, this $15 linen/rayon-blend maxi dress has wood bead detailing at the neckline for a double-trend-whammy (maxi length + ethnic detailing = score!)


Stock up on sexy sweaters for fall now, since you really can't beat the $13 price tag and 6 color options in this surplice version:
If you, too, are trying to add a little bit more bold color in with your fondness (obsession?) for black, try this skirt with bright goring at the hem, also only $13:


How about a $12 jean jacket in one of the hottest colors for summer, coral? (Also in bright yellow "gold")
Here's another stunning sweater option at $15, although sadly we can't promise that it will do anything this incredible for your ass. *Sigh* don't we wish.
And $20 for a skirt suit! The jacket has 3 buttons and the seaming we discussed last post... it's polyester, and only the ivory is lined, but it's $20 for two pieces!
Lastly, why not liven up your boring black pump collection with some gorgeous teal or purple platform peeptoes for $20??

Now please excuse us while we go fill up our shopping cart :D

Let us know what you think of these finds and if you buy anything!

What We Wore: Lace Overload

These pics are horrifying. Our apologies. Our man's mirror sucks even worse than ours for proper lighting. But we wanted to share anyway...


We're wearing the green lace skirt we discussed in this blog, a white shelf-bra spaghetti strap tank from Vicky's ($30 for 3-pack), and a little black lace ruffle "jacket" (really more like a cardigan) that we bought on sale also at Vicky's, several years ago- we think we paid $30, down from $79. We thought it was going to be cold (it's not) so we threw this pashmina around our shoulders before dashing out the door (TJ Maxx, for a wedding last month, $12.99).

The jacket thingy is one of the most versatile pieces we own and it was a great investment (at $30; $79 was just obscene). It can be worn as a dressy dress cover-up, with jeans, with skirts... it really just looks great with everything. It's a nice summer tattoo-cover-up for the office, as well (we have a gigantic dragon on our bicep and while they don't mandate that it be covered, we prefer not to answer too many questions about it!)

We are not wearing any of our own jewelry today (for shame!) Our earrings are from Target. Shh! (If you don't make your own, it is a great place to find inexpensive accessories... but they do tend to fall apart).

There's a lot of lace going on here, possibly an overload, but we like it anyway. Do you?

What We Wore Tuesday: Hibiscus and DOTS

By dots we don't mean polka, we mean those little semispheres of candy stuck to rolls of paper that we used to eat as a kid. The colors in this outfit remind us of those wretched little sweets, although we are not actually consuming any fibrous bits with it (thankfully!)

We're being AWFULLY adventurous today, venturing not only into print-land, but also wearing three (count them! 3!) colors besides neutrals today! Usually it's black and one solid. We're not sure whether the print on this Skirtology skirt is overwhelming our petite but curvy frame... we loved it at the shop (and especially loved its $8 price tag) but maybe it's a tad big? Is it making us look shorter and fatter? Hmmm... This might be one for passing on to a taller friend, even if it is quite lovely.

We do love the turquoise and hot pink, though, even if it took us a while to come around. This is a cropped sweater we found at Marshalls in the junior clearance for $8. We love the saturated color. Our man calls it our "miniature sweater" but it really does fit... we think anway! Layered underneath, a short-sleeved knit top with lace ribbon detailing at the gathered shoulders (we let the lace peek out around the cardigan for a little extra girliness). And... we kicked up the candy-liciousness (although you can't quite make it out in the photo) with those purple pumps we discussed earlier. (Turns out they're microfiber, not actually suede, but they were cheap and had never been worn and they're luscious so we're not complaining).


We think we'll definitely be trying some more outlandish color combinations in the future... Trinny and Suzannah (of the UK original What Not to Wear) say that any colors can go together as long as they're tonally matched-- i.e. have the same quantity of black in their shades. Who knew?!

For accessories, we picked up the pink in the sweater with hot pink and black chandelier earrings by us (of course)

And then echoed the print in the skirt with our David Anderson leaf bracelet again:


...as well as matched the turquoise with a beaded cuff (we absolutely adore coordination), also a gift from mom but not vintage... which we've now tried to transfer from the phone approximately ninety-seven times and have now given up. But it's quirky and fun, trust us- you can sort of see it in some of the outfit pics.

Wish list: tights in super fun colors. This outfit would have been kicked up to 11 with some hot pink, turquoise or (gasp! What have you done with Desiree?) yellow tights. The black are so blah, even with the purple shoes.

What do you think of our foray into more-adventurous-land?

What We Wore Today: Mac n Jac 'n' H&M

If you're like us, the second you buy something new you must.wear.it.

It's probably horribly sketchy to put on used clothes without washing them, but they looked clean enough and at least they don't have nasty factory chemicals all over them like new clothes (which we do wash first, promise). We don't really do dry cleaning unless absolutely necessary (it's not really thrifty).

So, although we had quite a difficult time deciding just which of our new treasures to wear today, we settled on the most "fun" one- the silk shantung skirt with beading and silk chiffon trim at the hem. We almost passed this up, by the way, as it was marked quite larger than our usual skirt size. However, once we tried it on, we discovered that worn on the hips rather than the waist, it's a perfect fit.



It's "Mac n Jac" brand, which we'd never heard of, but is apparently carried at Nordstrom. This fact, along with the beautiful (100% silk) fabric and exquisite beading detail, suggests to us that the $15 we spent (down from $28 originally at Raspberry Beret) is kind of like an obscene steal. We dig it.

We paired it with the new (to us of course) $5 slinky sweater which is from H&M, and some divine turquoise chandelier earrings we made for ourselves during our last craft fair (good to stay busy when absolutely no one is stopping at your table- le sigh). With earrings this big and a fairly interesting neckline to the sweater, we decided against a necklace. We are wearing a beaded bracelet with turquoise cat-eyes which we made long ago, as well as our Norway Silver leaf-print David Anderson bracelet (consignment shop, gift from mum, one of our most treasured pieces) which echoes the leafy sequins in the beading on the skirt (see detail).

Please pardon the lousy cell phone pictures. We promise that one of these days we'll get around to learning how our camera's self-timer works and leaving time in the morning for daylight outfit shots. Our bathroom mirror stinks. Sigh.

What do you think? Are the black boots too boring with it? We considered the purple pumps since the sequins have some purple iridescence to them... Maybe next time!

High on Bargains

Oh.My.God.

We went to Raspberry Beret. It was amazing. Truly. We're still a little light-headed.

The boutique is beautifully and absolutely perfectly arranged-- by color and size! We could just die. The entire place is gorgeously decorated, from the giant vintage mirror to the dressing rooms filled with silk embroidered throw pillows and wrought iron hooks... Just a pleasure to be there and take in the exquisitely designed wall displays. But the clothes, of course, are the main event...

Pictures will follow but we just had to post about what we got, right this moment.

8 items, $102.00 (most things were marked down further than the price tag because they had been at the store a certain amount of time! Score!)

Lace plunge-neckline evening gown, $16
Forest green faux leather megahandbag, $17
Black & white floral a-line skirt with ribbon belt, $8
Black tiered crochet-trim summer skirt, $10
Black chiffon-trim beaded shantung skirt, $15
Multi-chain teal & turquoise glass bead necklace, $17
Purple suede pointy-toe pumps (marked 6 but fit my 7 feet perfectly!) $14
Turquoise lightweight boatneck sweater, $5
We are so absolutely thrilled and can't wait to drag our man back to the store (haha). A bonus for him, they had a lovely ottoman between the fitting rooms; a provision he calls the "man corral" and one that we rather enjoy for its prolonging of the disinterested shopping companion's patience!

We have no idea to what event we'll ever wear the nude-with-black-lace-overlay evening gown, but it fit so magnificently and was so inexpensive that we had to have it. Surely we'll go to some sort of fancy event someday? It is a classic style, with a tulip skirt and some serious decolettage, so we're pretty sure it won't look dated in a few years. We're thinking of it as an investment piece. For not much of an investment :) (Oh how we love second-hand!)

We were hoping to find a few more bright accessories, but the green handbag and purple shoes should go a long way to livening up our regular black-centric outfits (which we further propogated, heavily, we're aware).

You should absolutely check out this store if you're in the area. Next stop, the Cambridge branch...

Thrifting Weekend!

Just a quick post here- wanted to mention what appears to be an AMAZING consignment shop here in the Boston area that we're going to check out this weekend: Raspberry Beret (two locations: Wakefield and now between Harvard and Porter Squares on Mass. Ave!), named after a Prince song, painted bright fuchsia and, from the looks of it, totally awesome.


We absolutely can't wait to peruse their stock and hopefully come up with some fun new pieces in bright colors and some terrific accessories... reading other daily wear blogs, we're starting to feel a little boring. And boring is the last thing we ever want to be :(

We will report back! Has anyone else been there? What are your favorite thrift shops? We wish we lived in the Pacific Northwest for Buffalo Mercantile, easily the best, biggest resale shop we've ever seen. Here in Boston we're quite partial to Oona's in Harvard Square, even if it's more of a vintage shop (read: expensive) than thrift per se... and we can't wait to check out the new Goodwill in Davis and Poor Little Rich Girl and Artifaktorie, too-- any reports on those? Lastly, Urban Renewals in Brighton is purportedly an amazing source of vintage costume jewelry (according to InspiredVintageJewelry) and also well-organized and not-too-expensive clothing. We miss the AmVets that was a few doors down, and haven't found anything comparable in terms of prices at any of the shops (even Goodwill wants $7 for jeans these days!)

Please leave any tips or reviews of your favorite!

Dresses and Lovelies on Clearance, Oh My!

We stumbled upon Alloy's site while styling for a friend and just chanced a look at their clearance. *swoon* $10 dresses my friends. Granted they're not natural fabric, and probably not responsibly or carefully made, but $10! We are absolutely snapping up this cute lilac ruffly scoopneck...And we think this is a very cute take on the LBD with the gathered A-line satin skirt and banded waist (nice wide bra straps and good coverage for the more modest of us, too!)! Ten measly bucks. You pay more than that for lunch some days, right?

Tragically for us, this amazing deep red-violet Grecian-style ($15) is only available for our tiny sisters (juniors S-M). *Sniff* Shop on, skinny chicas!.
For $20, here's a sexy little interpretation of the psychedelic/kaleidoscopic retro print trend for the summer:

We looked around for comparable deals and didn't find much.

Victoria's Secret did have a couple of under-$20 cotton/spandex summer cuties like this halter dress (shown in white but available in several colors) and this darling babydoll in green with bow detail (precious!) for $18.99 each.

Everything else was clearly overpriced even though it's "on sale."

We couldn't seem to find the actual clearance section this time, either, evidently due to the annual sale being on (bother!). We can usually find a few really fabulous bargains, but currently even simple tank top dresses are fetching $29; and who wants simplicity, anyway? A little bit of embellishment, like the crochet bust in the halter and the bow in the babydoll, are what femininity is all about!



We just discovered Jane'sClothing - motto "Look Fabulous For Less," which we venerate, of course- and wow... some really adorable little numbers for astoundingly cheap like this other kaleidoscope dress, in pink, $14.99, and this unusual metallic leaf-print bright magenta halter dress with no back (ooh lala) for our lucky bra-going-without girlfriends! $15.99:

We hope you're as excited for summer and flirty little dresses as we are! Now just to work off a little of this accumulated winter pudge... uh-oh...

Do you like these? Let us know if you end up buying any of them!!

Thursday Splurge Vs. Steal

Work outfit- Splurge vs. Steal! by ThriftyStylist featuring Juicy Couture bags

We are so completely addicted to Polyvore it's not even funny. Real work has been pushed to the far, far back burner as we spend our days putting together virtual outfits. We've discovered that, contrary to our previous beliefs, we DO have expensive taste! It has nothing to do with labels-- on Polyvore you see the picture first with no details-- but everything we click on seems to be ridiculously expensive! Who knew?

We were putting together a work outfit (we're lucky enough to be able to wear jeans to work; maybe you are too, or at least on Fridays?) and we found these absolutely insane purple beaded Lorenzi pumps... but at $2500, they sent the outfit careening dangerously out of "thrifty" territory. Then it occurred to us that we should do a splurge vs. steal!

We admit wholeheartedly that the SPLURGE is a cuter outfit-- the shoes are more interesting, the jacket has more detail, even the cami has more shape than the cheaper one-- but for a difference of $3200, we are willing to be adorable rather than stunning.

The ruffly orchid corduroy jacket from the STEAL outfit is available for a scarcely-believeable $10 at a site we'd never seen before but will surely be perusing frequently now, ioffer.com, which seems to be a new and better ebay-- not quite an auction house but rather a resale and trade site. There are 31 million items available as we speak, and 38,000 users online. Hmmm... we'll have to do some more *cough* research now...

Another site we've been turned on to through Polyvore is DorothyPerkins.com - amazing deals (especially with the current conversion rate) and great fashion articles and advice! And they DO ship to the US (unlike Peacocks, grrrr! We love their stuff sooo much; why does America have to lose out?!)

Which outfit do you like better? How did we do?

Let's Talk about Labels

We're reading "Shopaholic Takes Manhattan" on the subway for a nice pre-and-post-work diversion, and it's simply lovely... but we realized immediately that it is impossible for us to empathize with the heroine, given as she is to near-vapors at the sight of a designer label. Yes, we have a shopping problem, to an extent, but rarely does a single piece we buy top $30. Have we mentioned that we don't care for things that are expensive just because the designer has a certain image? We admit that frequently the higher-end labels have exquisite workmanship-- which is why we surely squeal a little at finding a huge bargain in a Calvin Klein skirt or Ralph Lauren dress (the savings off the original price tag is only part of the excitement)-- but we find it simply astounding that women pay hundreds, if not thousands of dollars for things just... because! Not couture, not hundreds of hours of beading, just that it's the "it" thing (waiting lists for handbags? o_O

To us, something being the "it" thing means that far too many people like it and we should steer clear. Tiffany jewelry and Coach bags don't say upscale to us, they say conformist. Maybe it's because we've never actually had money to throw around to that kind of extent, but we're simply aghast at times-- like last weekend when we stepped into a Macy's for the first time. You can talk all you want about the supposed sales, but this store terrified us. Arranged by designer?? What if we want to look at all of the dresses? Or all of the dresses that have been marked down? What a travesty. We ended up spotting and buying a top that we were looking for (black, slinky, tummy-control, $30) for a bachelorette party, but we got the hell out of there quickly after that. And the jewelry, mind you, was way overpriced, terribly generic and horribly gold-heavy (we forgot to mention in last week's "nevers" that we do NOT wear gold.

So anyway... we got to wondering what kind of a girl goes in for that sort of thing. We know a few who love select designers-- and that's all fine and well; if you find something you love, run with it! But do you have to grow up with money to appreciate rather than denigrate the clothes in Vogue, for example? We remember even as a child not thinking "wow I hope someday I can afford this" but "what is wrong with people?"

We're probably cynical, but other than a nice solid pair of shoes or coat or bag that you will use every day, we don't see spending more than $100 for any attire.

What do you think? Does a name brand guarantee quality? Are high-end designers worth the price to you? Does the brand impart something that we are missing? (Or perhaps just don't care about) Do you think it is bred through luxurious upbringing, or perhaps a spartan one, inspiring excessive longing? Give us your thoughts!

TAGGED! The Always/Never game...

We were "tagged" by BeckyKayDesigns of Purseonality... so here goes!

The rules...

The tag is ALWAYS & NEVERS • list "5 fashion always-es"• {things you always like or cannot do without}• for you personally• conversely, list "5 fashion nevers"• {things you would not be caught dead in}• for you personally• then tag 3 bloggers

A L W A Y S

• EARRINGS. This probably comes from our mom who never wears makeup and doesn't really care for clothes but always felt nekkid without her earrings. Now, we make our own :D (We're a little bit obsessed with coordination, so it's nice to be able to choose the colors in each piece and whip up something new if we can't find a good match!)
  
• BLACK. OK, there are rare occasions (see a few weeks ago) when we don't wear much black, but in general, we like to pair deep jewel tones with black for the drama. Trinny and Suzannah would be horrified, and we are indeed tired of being asked if we're goth... but that doesn't stop us.
  
• BOOTS - We have long lived nearly year-round in boots... they're really the only footwear that doesn't hurt during the excessive amount of walking that we do since we don't drive... For years we lived in Docs (black, purple, green, 8s) and now we own probably 25 pairs of black boots- heels, suede, patent, motorcycle, ankle, knee-high, buckled, zippered, fringed, whatever you've got!
  
• SKIRTS - OK, this is not 100% true since we do OWN pants... but generally we find that for our pear-y hourglass figure, skirts are so much more flattering (also, we can buy them several sizes smaller and they'll still fit when we drop a little of this excess baggage...). Sure this does not come as a surprise if you've been reading!
  
• EMBELLISHMENT - As discussed in the previous blog, we absolutely adore anything with a little bit of extra sparkle or interest. Sequins draw our eye almost as fast as purple does! It's rare to see us in an outfit that doesn't have some kind of girly-girl quality to it, be it lace, glitter, ribbons or piping.
  

N E V E R

• SNEAKERS. Unless we are actually involved in an athletic activity. One of our most hated types of footwear, especially the hideous styles of late. Embellishment not good here.
  
• LIPSTICK. We like a nice organic non-petrolate chapstick instead. We do wear a lot of eye makeup, so it's a good balance.
  
• SHORTS - Except for a several-mile hike to the beach in August... we wear skirts all summer. Is there any less-flattering garment than shorts, we wonder?
  
• BRAND NAMES - Unless it was bought on sale (in which case it was the garment we liked, not the brand), we do not own or care for anything that is expensive just because of its maker's image. We like high quality and will seek out well-made pieces in natural fabric, but we will never pay for "status". ESPECIALLY handbags.
  
• BROWN, NAVY, CREAM, TAN, BEIGE, YELLOW, ORANGE. Period.

We are tagging InspiredVintageJewelry, TheWeightItIs, and FashionMeFabulous!

New from Old

Long time no blog!
We realized we were wearing pretty much the same outfits we'd already blogged about, and there was nothing very exciting to share with you...

However, today we are discussing a fabulous book that we found in the reference section of our favorite used bookstore last week (because we refuse to pay full price for books, also!):
New from Old- How to Transform and Customize Your Clothes by Jayne Emerson is about to change our lives. If we get a sewing machine for our birthday, that is...

We have always been obsessed with embellishment and sought out clothes with added sequins, ribbons, sparkle, and trim of any sort... which is easy when bohemian/Indian/gypsy styles are trendy, but not so much when clean lines are in vogue. So what's a girl to do? Start collecting trims and pop-on rhinestones, we think. This book has fantastic projects from simply bedazzling a camisole to making a fabulous handbag out of a thrifted way-too-80s leather skirt! Some of the items are more complicated and probably best for an accomplished seamstress, but others were less than terrifying for a newb. Not only do we plan to use these techniques to enliven our own wardrobe and pull consignment-store finds out of the doldrums, we plan to start a line on Etsy of fabulous upcycled gypsy goth wear... eventually. We always knew we would- our storage unit is filled with garment bags stuffed with silks and satins and velvets we've amassed over many years of being unable to pass up a single-digit-$ deals on gorgeous fabric, even if we'd never wear the item itself.

In the coming weeks we'll be featuring some of the better thrift shops in the Boston area- if you have been to one recently or are able to go and take some pictures and report on what you find, please contact me to do a guest blog spot!!

Lastly, we started a twitter page so please add us if you have one, too!

Aubergine Edition (with more black skirts)

Otherwise known as eggplant, aubergine is one of our absolute favorite shades of purple (which is, incidentally, our rather singular obsession). On Thursday we wore a little cap sleeve tee, which we think was a gift from a friend (because we know we wouldn't have bought something with contrast stitching in white, but it's still cute!) with this lovely a-line black skirt ($15) and tights ($3) from Marshalls. We also found these cute little Hot Kiss stacked-heel slingback peeptoes at Famous Footwear last weekend for $15! Oooh la la.
Pardon crappy cell phone pic. Cost of entire outfit (minus undergarments): $33

What you can't see here is that the skirt has tonally-embroidered large polka dots. We're not usually into prints, but when it's more texture than actually a pattern, oh my, we like. We saw the skirt again at Marshall's in Stoneham last weekend so if you look you may be able to pick it up for a jig and a snail shell.

We don't think you can ever own too many black skirts with fabulous individual detailing. Especially if they're thrifty.

For only $15, this one at left from ChateauDeHope looks like it has a crepe over-layer which creates a nice embellishment at the hem.

This little collage is of our Etsy finds, both vintage and handmade... we searched through over 2,500 skirts to find these picks, all under $30:

Left to right, top to bottom:

Handmade floral circle wrap skirt by Vidals, $29
Vintage velvet gypsy skirt w/ tiers & ribbons from Selenesian, $25
Handmade A-line with rickrack trim by CourtsCloth, $20
Vintage rockabilly swing skirt with tulle petticoat from RockZombieOldies, $28
Embroidered corduroy skirt from Meroww, $22
Vintage Ann Taylor cross stitch skirt from FridasChoice, $21

Tops in eggplant don't seem to be readily available online right now, so scour your local thrift or bargain stores, or check out these cool screenprinted versions (also from Etsy):

Left to right:
Star moss tee by Xenotees, $20
Peacock feather tee by Gypsies, $32
Ghandi "Be the change you want to see in the world" butterfly tee by InnerPeaceDesigns, $24.45

Happy Shopping!

Featured Etsy Shop: Poppy's Wicked Garden

Wow, just wow. We found this shop while researching the skirt blog, and we were just going to do a cute spring top blog today but we can't resist featuring Poppy and her amazing Wicked Garden instead.

YES. We absolutely adore the colors, the aesthetic, the banding, the geometry, the model - and also the prices. We picked some of the lower-cost items in the shop to show you, and for sure some of the more incredible gowns and intricate pieces aren't quite as thrifty, but we are definitely going to hit the sale section!!

Every one of these pieces is a stand-out, something that will really make an outfit amazing and that no one else will be wearing, you can be assured. From left to right, top to bottom:

Dot top in navy and violet, $23.00
Damask Elegance top, $23.00
Mauve abstract hoodie, $66
Eggplant Flower Garden top, $23.00
Convertible Indian-print dress/skirt, $33
Convertible Op-Art print dress/skirt, $33

Luscious, saturated color. Convertible skirt-dresses! (This is our new favorite trend- we have been wearing our tube sundresses over tights all winter and can't wait for them to come up above the bustline!!) Upcycled/recycled awesomeness! We are in awe, and can't wait to own a Poppy original, can you?

Essential Spring Piece: OOAK Skirt!

OOAK means one of a kind, in case that was like "huh?" for you.

We have scoured etsy for you for the most fabulous, (mostly) thrifty, unique handmade pieces there are to be had (within our taste parameters, of course).

We're going to go a little heavy on the purple here, so bear with us...

From left to right, top to bottom:
Patchwork by ChopstixWaits, custom, $75
Matroyshka skirt from madebylovewithhannah, Cotton, made-to-order, $68
"Pink is the New Black" by our favorite skirt shop, AKattyWampusTale, OOAK, $56
"Funky Skirt" From Nancy's Needles and Pens, $15
Slip skirt with applique by sewsewsuckurtoe, custom, $23
Orange "flirt skirt" by RaspberryBaby, only $29- multiple sizes available!
Batik hippie skirt from Marudhara of Thailand, $20!
Gorgeous coral print skirt from econica, cotton/linen, a splurge but worth it at $90
Black/white print from BoutiqueMiaByCXV, custom sizing, $42.99
Tie-Die with lace by LucidOpticLab, on sale for $15! (We may steal this one)
And finally, "Mangosteen" purple ruffle cotton pointy-hem skirt from cottonfields, $15!

We think buying whatever is at the mall shops or wherever else people shop for work clothes is sort of... boring. We don't want to risk someone else wearing the same piece! Ha. Maybe we have a problem with this need, but we certainly enjoy finding special, individual pieces.

Happy handmade hunting!

What We Wore Monday: Almost No Black Edition

We really should have taken a photo, because there is not a single internet image available that represents the fabulosity of today's skirt, found at TJ Maxx for $10. We turned it down the first time we saw it (culled from a group of several skirts), then kicked ourselves for two weeks and were THRILLED to come back to the same store to find said skirt tucked deep into whichever rack we had secreted it. Score.

We're talking fully-lined, spring-green tiered petticoat lace. Amazing. It really defined our spring look last year (and there's nothing wrong with it this year, either).

This one is pretty cute, similar, although not as voluminous. It's available online from Firebird Clothing in the UK for 28 pounds... ~$41 as of today...

We paired the terrific skirt with a bright pink sweater. This is not a color combination we would normally go for, but because we'd been dying to wear this hand-painted silk scarf our boss brought back for us from a trip to China-- it has bright green leaves and big pink flowers-- we went for it.

The sweater we found for under $20 at Filene's Basement- it's similar to the one at right (unfortunately sold out) from Target... We really enjoy the boatneck detailing-- anything a little "different," you know... and they do still have a few nice pink sweaters on clearance like this one in plus sizes, this one in deeper pink, and this one, too, all $25 or under. We are definitely not above Target clearance for essential pieces!

We capped off the floral motif (from the scarf and floral lace) with these adorable rose-applique boots we bought on Etsy... Black boots are a subject for another day... one might say (our friends might say) that we have a terrible addiction and one can only own so many pairs, but we so enjoyed the ribbons cascading from the lace today. Hooray for girly details!

What we wore today: Professional Dress part II

Another day of forced conservatism. A bit sad, but it was OK. We wore this terrific floral circle skirt from Victoria's Secret London Jean collection, which we got on clearance for about the same as this ebay listing for it!

It's lovely, super comfortable, lined, cotton, with pockets (but they're hidden so it's flattering), such saturated color and lovely print... it's honestly just perfect, down to the cute cotton ribbon tie. We wouldn't normally wear such a print, or really any print at all in a skirt, but the black/white/blue was striking and we do love it.

A few more circle skirts we also love:

This one from BarriePace is certainly not inexpensive- $79, but down from $148-- and we personally never wear brown nor white-- but it's definitely a fun look (could use a some bigger jewelry, in our opinion, though), and the little faux shrug here is actually not that gouging at $29 on clearance.

We seem to be finding a lot of brown lately, which we'll gladly pass on to our sisters! We found a great deal in this cute printed skirt and jacket set, $33.94 if you join some sort of shopping club... not sure about all of that, but it's a cute look to seek out. We would enjoy a periwinkle scarf and peridot chandelier earrings and a cute brown suede platform peep-toe with this. But we're into matchy-matchy.

A few incredible one-of-a-kind looks we loved... this skirt is just amazing...  If you find a piece like this, who cares what it costs?! You can only be thrifty most of the time, you know? 

We also love this turqoise circle print skirt at right, rom Weezi in Canada, found on flickr, although we can't quite figure out how to purchase it. She's certainly one to watch, though. We love the light, summery feeling her clothes evoke. 

However, since it's not summer yet, we paired our circle skirt with a black sweater- ribbed, with faux shrug detailing like the white short-sleeve above... While looking for something similar, we found this adorable ruffly cardigan that is on clearance for ONE DOLLAR for our full-figured sisters. We have one just like it and it really dresses up and (well, to be honest) goths out a simple sheath or jeans and ballet flats. (OK, so it's Fashion Bug, but whatever, it's a dollar!), or check out this lovely detailed pullover on clearance at Soft Surroundings for $19.99. 

Now... we hate to tease you with something that's discontinued, but we'll leave you, perhaps salivating like we are, with this incredible version of the faux shrug in teal velvet by Boston Proper, one of our favorite catalogs to cut pictures out of for "someday" sewing projects... Oh, the sadness that it's gone... We'll hope for happy thrifting karma, that we may find something as wonderful.