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!

Steals and Deals: Body Central

We started receiving the Body Central catalog again quite randomly (cough, MetroStyle selling our info, cough) and were pleasantly surprised to note that the prices seem to have come down since last they solicited our business. Or maybe we're thinking of Boston Proper. Anyway, we found a zillion cute things under $30, so of course we are sharing!

If you've never checked them out, you'll notice that the aesthetic is somewhere between Victoria's Secret and Delia's: sexy tops and junior sizing and a little bit of slutty thrown in. Pieces are priced lower than either of the others, though: bonus!

We were thrilled to see animal-print cardigans offered at only $27-- a leopard cardi is one of the only items left on our list of things we're allowed to buy new! It's so ours. (Click pics to go to Polyvore for links to purchase).

Body Central: Animal Print and Ruffles Under $30 by ThriftyStylist on Polyvore.com

The zebra print is adorable and totally on-trend also (we'd wear it with hot pink and turquoise, oh yes). They also offer it in a dalmation print (looks more like snow leopard to us, but whatever), if you prefer black and white to the brown leopard. Isn't the ruffly-charmeuse-neckline pencil-skirt dress stunning as well? And what a price!

We're always looking for cute, feminine layering pieces for work, and BC definitely doesn't disappoint with several little jackets and other great professional (but still fun) basics:

Body Central- Work by ThriftyStylist on Polyvore.com

Quelle jolie! We especially love the styling of the pencil skirt with bold belt and flowy top- all three pieces are listed. And the lightweight sweaterdress (a major piece for fall into winter!) comes with the belt- both for $27. Not bad!

What BC really excels in is body-conscious (no surprise given the brand name) little tops for going out on the town. You'd be hard-pressed to find details like this at these prices at any other store:

Body Central: Sexy Tops Under $25 by ThriftyStylist on Polyvore.com

The special little embellishments, like hook-and-eye closures and lace insets and ruffles and sequins just make us squeal with delight!

Have you found any awesome deals lately? Let us know. Hope you enjoy these finds!

Happy Bargain-Hunting!

What We Bought! Metrostyle Clearance Naughtiness

So we were admiring AudraJean's amazing leather steampunk belts last night, and lamenting that our budget could never possibly allow us to own such a thing (never mind that we're still trying to warm up to the idea that belts in general could look alright on us). Then we remembered that we showed you that super-hot, super-cheap plastic version from Metrostyle not too long ago... so we went to look if it was still available, and yes! Still $8. Of course we couldn't stop ourselves from clicking on the clearance link and then the $9.99 and under link... who could resist?!

Here's what we have on order now:

Vegan patent corset belt, $8

Satin party skirt, $10:

Layering cami, $5.99

French cuff button-down with princess seams, $6.99

Purple jeans! (6 other colors, 3 lengths!) $9.99


2-pack of tights (ours are deep royal blue!) $6.99


Lace-sleeve detail sweater, $12.99


Sterling filigree ring, $12.99

We wouldn't normally buy jewelry- since we make it- that's not handmade or at least purchased from an independent purveyor. But that price!!! We couldn't help ourselves.

We could have kept going and going because there are pages and pages of stuff under the $6.99, $9.99 and $14.99 price points (right-click "open in a new window" on each price to link to the whole section!), but we figured $88 was enough to spend for one night! Someone needs to pry our debit card out of our overtired hands at times like this ;)

We can't wait for it all to arrive and hope you find some awesome stuff too! Happy shopping!

Steal-Sharing: Ann Taylor Loft $7-$30

We just recently signed up at ShopItToMe, a site we discovered on Ramit Sethi's personal finance blog, and we recommend you do the same, unless you are on a personal shopping embargo!

You answer a few questions, give them your email address, and pick your favorite brands from their list (you can add more as you go), and then they send you emails (you can adjust the frequency) with sale items in whatever price range you designate! You can even choose what percentage off the item has to be to show up in your inbox, in addition to the final sale price.

We are pretty enamored so far. Since we're not exactly "into" brands, it was difficult to make our initial selection, but we're glad we branched out of our comfort zone, 'cuz they showed us an adorable skirt at Ann Taylor Loft (middle below for $29.99) and a bit more digging by us resulted in the rest of these awesome steals (pics loaded via Polyvore due to difficulty copying from Ann Taylor site; click through to be linked to actual listing):

Ann Taylor Loft Sale- Skirts by ThriftyStylist on Polyvore.com

Ann Taylor Loft Sale- Pants by ThriftyStylist on Polyvore.com

Ann Taylor Loft Sale- Tops by ThriftyStylist on Polyvore.com

Great basics for super cheap, and the quality and fabric are worth far more. Upscale clothes for Target prices= score.

They're also offering free shipping on any orders over $125.00.

We will be sharing our finds periodically, but for now we'll leave you with our final pick, a too-cute-for-words ruffly-puckered-bodice summer dress for less than $20:

Ann Taylor Loft Sale- Dress by ThriftyStylist featuring Tarina Tarantino jewelry

You love us, right?

Steals and Deals: Tulle4Us

We discovered this brand- Tulle4us- in our new Lucky mag and made a note to look for comparable pieces in a lower price range, since the featured items were sooo cute but fairly expensive. But Robin at ThreadbearThoughts posted about a cute little skirt from them that was only $14.00, so we figured there must be more sale stuff! And there is.

Much of it is very much not our style, and (as per usual, sigh) , it's clearly geared toward juniors and definitely not generally affordable- except for the sale section (you can sort low to high, and skip whatever pages are out of your range!) But we thought we'd mention a few inexpensive and adorable standouts (click pics for links to purchase).

Blazers and jackets are usually priced fairly high because their construction is much more complicated than, say, a skirt. So we're excited to see these two cute corduroy ones for only $14.99 each, available in either the tangerine or the celery:

Personally we're not into brass or gold hardware (then again, buttons can be changed), and we're not sure the pocket details would do us any favors, but we think these are very cute for someone else!

And now some blue dress love!

Ruffled shirtdress, $17.20

Tiered voile dress, $18.00

Pleated cotton dress, $18.00

Terribly cute and terrific prices, right?

We also found this lovely lace-cut-out-detail slip for only $19.80, far less than just about everything at Frederick's or Vicky's; it is crazy sexy but functional, too (we have quite a few see-through skirts and this looks like just the cure). And it's made from cotton jersey, not that nasty hot nylon/poly blend most slips are!

We're forever seeking out cute cardigans for layering, and they're amazingly elusive. We're not 100% sure about the tie detail in this sweater here-- for us, that is-- but it's a linen/rayon blend (hooray nice fabric!) for $12.00 so we're sure someone needs this (shown in rose/ "berry" but also available in black and pale yellow/ "banana"):

We love bamboo but haven't seen much of it around except in really high-end stuff... it's so soft and lovely, if you've never felt it! This is a bamboo/rayon/nylon blend short-sleeve sweater in a really cute shape (again, not for us but maybe for you!) at a truly amazing clearance price of $14.00:

Definitely another site to add to the "let's-see-if-anything's-marked-down-further lists... Enjoy the finds and Happy Shopping as always :D

Are You Kidding Us? Lady Language

Many thanks to Audi at FashionForNerds for the mention of LadyLanguage, where we just discovered this Marilyn-inspired LBD for a staggering clearance price of $5.


The site could use some re-tooling (an advertised but not hotlinked clearance/sale section is nowhere to be found, nor is sorting by price an option, necessitating rifling through-- or letting the Thrifty Stylist do it for you), but there are some amazing prices here. Unfortunately the sizing is pretty limited at as well: only S, M, L (junior measurements). We apologize if this is a frustrating post for you (we've been there, girl... do you remember the store 5-7-9?)!

We're rather obsessed with dresses right now so we'll show you some more!

How about a coral strapless 50s-inspired embroidered circle skirt option for only $14?



Or perhaps you are a girl who likes a bold, kaleidoscopic floral in a precious flocked-bodice sundress? Divine, is it not? 100% cotton and only $22.00...


...And we're pretty much dying over the exquisite eyelet-and-ruffle detailing on this gorgeous bright orangey coral tube dress, $24- which we envision with a white cardigan at the office- what do you think? (We also saw this one in a maizey-yellow).


For inexpensive work basics or layering, we found this rich burgundy dolman-sleeve pointelle sweater for $12 (check out the link for the cool back collar detailing!):


We are forever looking for cheap tights to stock up on for fall and spring since we wear so many skirts, and these sweater tights certainly fit the bill, in 6 colors, only $4! (But we're not so thrilled that their "one size fits all" says up to 165 lbs. Sorry to our taller and curvier sisters).


We also love this precious puff-sleeve tee with button detailing at the shoulders, fairly inexpensive at $17.


We hope you enjoy these finds! We'll be checking out Lady Language every once in a while to see if more of the cute stuff has gone on clearance, since a few of the very loveliest dresses are still way out of our range. Happy shopping!

Rainbow Romance: Lucky Finds

We came home from vacation to find our first two issues of Lucky magazine!

When we had first heard about a shopping magazine, we were highly skeptical. However, Etsy members were offered a super-cheap subscription, complete with free faux-black leather mini-tote (aaah! We can't resist a freebie!), so we decided to subscribe-- just in case we were missing any fabulous deals for our readers (and also in case we decide to care briefly about what's popular rather than just what's gorgeous to us).

We are thrilled that we "splurged", as we've already discovered a couple of fantastic thrifty resources and were inspired to search for less pricey alternatives to a few luscious pieces we spotted.

We just ordered two of these chiffon handkerchief-hem skirts to layer under shorter skirts.

What a fabulous solution for those just-too-short pieces and to add some extra color to an outfit! (OK we admit we ordered one in black... we couldn't help it). $16.10 at discountdance.com - Lots of colors, and so cheap... can't wait to incorporate them!


Apparently Forever21 has launched a new line called Love 21 that is, quite frankly, a little bit less slutty (longer hems, flowier fabrics, as Lucky says). We absolutely adore this dress in caution orange which is making us possibly consider lifting the ban on orange in our personal wardrobe!

It also comes in a hot turquoise they're calling jade... This cut is so universally flattering, and you really can't beat the price of $22.80 and the semi-synthetic fiber (rayon- did you know it was made from cellulose, not oil like nylon?)


One of the most adorable trends in the "spotlight" was bustier dresses, and we love this flirty but innocent-looking pale yellow eyelet-trim version:

This one is cotton and viscose (another semi-synthetic made from fibrous organic material rather than oil), from Charlotte Russe. At $29.99 it just about busts our summer-dress budget but the detailing is awfully cute and very similar to a Calvin Klein we tried on at Marshall's that was still $50 even on clearance.


They found and we loved a watery-print dress by Necessary Objects for $57 (that now seems to be sold out), but this fantastic skirt from Forever21 captures the same spirit for only $17.80!

Target has a new designer/brand, Tracey Feith, turning out really super cute, flirty dresses. We weren't the biggest fans of the floral one Lucky chose, but this adorable cobalt and purple-- with more eyelet-trim-- spaghetti-strap one makes us very happy, especially with the zipper to harden up all of that ruffling.
Again, slightly expensive for our personal tastes at $31.48 but keep an eye on it and surely that clearance price will continue to drop.


They also featured a gorgeous cobalt tie-dye swimsuit (pictured in link only) that hurt our theoretical pocketbook, even at 30% off the original $128, so we sought out something similar, and found what we think might even be more beautiful!



Apparently Amazon carries Newport News clearance. Who knew? This one in ombre multicolor is $39.00, down from $59.00.


We had never heard of WindsorStore.com, which seems to have a pretty awesome selection, and while there are plenty of pricey pieces, we found this absolutely demure and delectable little purple floral on sale for $29.00. Not bad!


As always, hope you love the finds- can't wait to hear from you- and happy shopping!

Packing for Vacation!

We decided to do a feature on packing (mostly) light and combining clothes for different outfits while on vacation. In our case, we're going to be camping at a hippie festival in Oregon for a week with the brother and niece (sweet!). We need half of our checked bag for our sleeping bag. So we have to try to cram a week's worth of clothes for our picky self into that half bag plus maybe a few incidentals in our carry-on in case they lose our bag en route like the last trip there.

We're bringing 4 skirts (hey, they're light!), one pair of shorts and one pair of jeans:

Vacation Packing: Bottoms by ThriftyStylist featuring Old Navy

These aren't exactly they- we bought our tie-dye and purple batik skirts both on Etsy and the blue skirt from Vicky's- but it's a decent enough color representation anyway.

For tops, 3 solid tank tops and one tie-dyed, 2 long-sleeves and a hoodie:

Vacation Packing: Tops by ThriftyStylist featuring Dorothy Perkins

You may be noticing a heavy purple theme. There usually is one to our clothes, but we figured we might as well stay fairly monochromatic on this trip for the most coordination options. Many frequent travelers advocate this with black and white or beige, but if you're obsessed with a color, like us with the purple, and hell-- going to a festival-- we think you can go with a bright instead.

For footwear, we need decent walking shoes for being on our feet most of the day shopping and niece-sitting, so we're bringing our Chucks, some moccasin-y fake suede Payless boots that are on their way out anyway and can deal with mud if need be, our new (from Famous today, $10 with the sale- Dr. Scholls, silver with a bow, and soooo cushy!) flats and (also new from Famous, Rampage, $20, ) sequined fucshia/orange flip-flops (unfortunately not represented as fancily here):

Vacation Packing: Shoes by ThriftyStylist on Polyvore.com

So... without further ado, here are 12 outfits from these 17 pieces, plus a cameo of an impostor posing for the great dress we blogged about from DancingTreeCreations of Etsy (who we're so excited to meet in person at the festival as she is vending there!!)

Vacation: First Three Outfits by ThriftyStylist featuring Converse shoes

Vacation: 2nd Three by ThriftyStylist featuring Dorothy Perkins

Vacation: 3rd Three by ThriftyStylist on Polyvore.com

Vacation: 4th 3 by ThriftyStylist on Polyvore.com

We are leaving on Wednesday! So no blog for a week from then from us, sorry :( But hopefully we'll have some amazing handcrafted creations to share with you when we return!

Let us know what you think of the packing plans! Did we do well?