Fashion Book Review: Dress Smart Women

The used bookstore is the best place to spend a lunch break besides Goodwill, if you ask us. So many lovely tomes at half price or less... Delicious! One of the most fun sections to browse in our local shop is Fashion. As you know if you've been reading, a major challenge of late has been the adjustment of trying to look more professional (and sadly, less young/punk/hippie/fun) in the workplace. While obviously anyone can put on a twinset and pearls or a suit and white button-down, we are seeking ways to put forth a confidence-inspiring facade while still retaining a significant amount of personality (i.e. you'll never catch us dead in a navy double-breasted skirt suit, no matter how "professional" it may be). So we were excited to find this guide, called Chic Simple Dress Smart Women: Wardrobes that Win in the New Workplace.

We've had some good scores at Goodwill since reading the book-- unfortunately no suits, but some great wool pencil skirts, blazers and blouses that are much more professional than what we usually wear. Which prompted a VP to ask if it was "for Halloween." AUGH. Here are a couple of the looks:

New Work Looks for New Haircut by ThriftyStylist featuring Marc by Marc Jacobs jackets

Of course we didn't pay any of this ridiculousness. All from Goodwill except tights and shoes (purple- Payless; black- Famous Footwear.) and striped shirt (which has more pinky purple in it- from Kohl's?)

(Oh, yeah, and we lopped off 6-8 inches of curls in favor of an angled bob that has to be flat-ironed every day or put up. Madness. But, on the other hand, it's far more polished than the long hippie chick curls we were rocking.)

The idea is classic and still feminine, more serious than sexy (this can be difficult when you have DDs, as Suzannah of what not to wear points out), while trying not to lose too much of "us". While we lament the fact that purple hair and multiple piercings just don't get taken seriously in an office, even an academic-ish office, (sigh. Miss the lip ring.), it's clear that something had to be done to up the game, because much of our wardrobe came from the juniors section at Filene's Basement or the Vicky's catalog and it's a little bit tooo sexy (or just plain tight).

This book's philosophy is to pare your wardrobe down to essentials and accent pieces instead of buying a whole bunch of crap you're not going to be able to-- or probably shouldn't-- wear.

They suggest four suits as the basis for a full wardrobe, while fully acknowledging that many of us can definitely not afford that to start. Nevertheless, thrifting is mentioned as an alternative to buying new, expensive suits. We hope that the days of "ew, someone else wore that" are gone as we move in to attempted-planet-saving mode!

Happy thrifting and reading!

Obsession with Wool Skirts on Etsy Continues...

We really can't get enough of this topic. Theoretically plaid is hot right now, if you go in for that trend thing, and so is vintage, if you're being green, which we all should be, so it only makes sense to at least look into your options, right? We are seeking out super-thrifty selections on Etsy tonight.

First up, we're kind of staggering at the bargains offered in GittaMarie's shop, including this cutie, $4!


...And this kilt-style (way cuter than our childhood ones) in pastels, from MyVintageCloset, $5!



And this lovely from GrayBirdVintage, $5!:


If you're a red kind of girl, this blended number would do you well, from ThriftyBirdVintage, $8.50:


If you do well with some pleating and a longer length, this color palette is gorgeous (from CloseYourEyesVintage, $12):


..Or maybe you prefer stripes to plaid? Gorgeous hues here too, from kabibiextras, $12:


Love the button detailing in this Gap number, $13, from ButterCupMom:

She also has this gorgeous circle skirt for sale, also $13:


...and this pencil skirt, also $13:



This adorable gingham-type minty green version is only $14 from SweetSugarBoutique:


This one is also only $14, from ThePlaypen, and is tagged Burberry- whether that's "-inspired" or genuine, we're not sure:


Then there's this lovely from QuiteSimply, $17:


Hope that helps you to stay warm this winter! Happy Shopping!

Goodwill Scores: Wool Skirt & Pink Shoes

We brought some flats to head to Goodwill on an extended lunch break yesterday (no sense in limiting browsing time with ouchy feet, after all). It's been a few weeks... and since our vintage Pendleton skirt arrived, we have been craving more wool skirts! More more more! Last pass through we couldn't find a single one, but on this trip there were just dozens... We tried on at least five, including a Pendleton in bright teal with magenta and purple plaid (omg, so us!), but most of them had terribly unflattering pleating. Who can wear an inverted pleat on the abdomen combined with puffy pleats at the hips? Really? Not us, that's for sure. Bummer.

But, we did come away with this fantastic just-above-the-knee straight skirt in a gorgeous burgundy-pink-and-teal pattern, $4.49:


Oh, joy! No pleats to speak of, a fairly flattering length and silhouette for our short chubby li'l self, which is pretty difficult to find these days.... Score!

After the fitting room adventure (we also snagged a long-sleeve ankle-length velvet dress in a holiday-season-perfect hunter green, which fits like a dream!), we ventured to the back of the store to have a peek at the shoes, and who should be waiting there for us but the cutest little platform pumps in pale pink canvas. Yummy. $8, Fioni (Payless):



Isn't it just a happy coincidence that they pick up the exact pink in the plaid of the skirt? You can bet we're wearing them together today :)

The outfit is pulled together with this jacket, also scored at Goodwill recently):


Unfortunately we could not find tights we actually liked (tried on three pairs!) and have discovered we really need some muted teal ones. There are a couple of really lovely hues that might be just right at WeLoveColors. Consider that rectified. (Incidentally, we ended up in eggplant, which is OK but not great).

We also couldn't resist an absolutely perfectly-sized, awesomely-pocketed black croc purse. Surely we did not require another black handbag, not in a million years, but at $4.49 we really couldn't resist.

How have your thrifting adventures been lately? Happy shopping!

Vintage Wool Skirts on Etsy

Hello dear readers!
Sorry it has been so long between posts... work has been busy and to be honest, we've felt like we don't have much to add to the blogosphere. Until we can focus on better pictures of our own outfits, we feel far too outshined by other bloggers, so... we're back but will be discussing shopping only, with a strong focus on thrifting!

Today we wanted to share our latest scores with you!

As you may recall, warm skirts are a hole in our wardrobe that our general shopping embargo rules do allow. We tire of pants in the winter and wish for more options, but we spend a good bit of time outdoors waiting for buses and such (have we ever mentioned that we've never had a drivers' license?) so we need skirts that will stand up to the frigid Boston weather from December through April...

We strongly recollect (rather traumatically, actually) being terrorized by hand-me-down kilt-style wool skirts as a child, when they were possibly the most obvious faux pas beyond the saddle shoes our mother tried to put us in... but now that we are grown, we recognize that they're not so ridiculous. Awesome, even. Especially the non-pleated, non-wrap variety.

First, from Etsy shop RuLaLa Vintage, we found this very affordable (even for us- $28) genuine Pendleton wool pencil skirt:


Isn't it divine? It's a bit snug on the waistband due to a severe lack of moving our ass lately, but a safety pin and a longer shirt work just fine ;)

We spotted this other vintage lovely in her shop, and what with the great price (also $28), reduced shipping for a second item, and the rainy weekend, we just had to have it (see how we justified like that?) even though we're not supposed to be buying sweaters. Especially pink sweaters.

(But it's soooo cute! And it has lovely metallic threads and that cutout detailing... swoon).

If you are horribly jealous, never fear: she still has this one available ($32)!


...And if you are also craving a cute skirt to get you through the colder months, here's another precious little thing ($26):


The package came swiftly, with delightful wrapping and a hand-written thank-you note as well as a copy of the (very generous) return policy-- quite unusual on Etsy, really, as most sellers say "as is, no returns." A fantastic seller-- check her out!

Tomorrow we'll share our latest Goodwill scores! (more wool skirt!)

Happy thrifting :D