Work Wear We Love: The Vest

We are semi-scarred from a childhood involving hand-me-down sweater vests, and recall with horror and revulsion the tux-inspired gold-threaded satin-backed vests of the early 90s (shudder). We have suddenly, however, begun to adore the waistcoat-style vest as an alternative to the blazer for workwear. We picked up a version by AB Studio on clearance a couple of weekends ago at Kohl's, which fits like a dream, with five buttons, a deep v neck and interesting collar detail.

Much like choosing a blazer, selecting a vest requires thought about your body type and what would be most flattering. Most of us will be looking for something more than one button, to create that "locked and loaded" hourglass. If you are concerned about your hip area, look for a vest that skims and covers them rather than a cropped version. If you are slim and straight-up-and-down, look for details like princess seaming, nipped-in waists, shiny, light-bouncing fabrics, and bustline emphasis in order to create additional curves:

Waistcoats for Three Body Types by ThriftyStylist featuring Forever21

We think vests are a particularly adorable addition to a circle-skirt and slim-fitting shell t-shirt combination, but they are equally adorable over wide-legged tweed trousers or dark-wash jeans. They really help to flatter any woman's figure as they all essentially work to create that curvy silhouette most of us are after!

Do you like waistcoats? (We love pronouncing that word-- WESKIT!!!) If you've been wearing them, what are your favorite outfit pairings?

Happy bargain-hunting and have a wonderful weekend!

What We Bought: VS Clearance (Psst, Extra Clearance Codes!)

It's been a while since we splurged on Victoria's Secret clearance, as the "new clothes" by catalog is still within the general new clothes ban just as Marshall's and TJ Maxx are. But... but... this time they offered free shipping (unusual with clearance items) and we had to fill a few holes in our wardrobe, really! (OK and the beauty gift sets from xmas were marked down heavily and who doesn't love clearance makeup and bath and body?!)

We bought a Nanette-Lepore-ish-without-the-price ruffled silk blouse, a bit over our usual range but hey, real silk, work piece, why not, at $34.99:

The picture will take you to a listing for $39.99, but go to catalogue quick order item number 21-247527 (no picture but it's the same!) instead to get the extra $5 off!
(Also available in black)

Just recently we were lamenting our lack of a sweater in hunter or forest green to go with a lovely new skirt from Goodwill. The cotton square-neck in Cilantro we had our eye on was sold out, so we settled for this boucle-knit corset-inspired one-- love the detailing, not that fond of boucle, but it'll do at $14.99:

Also available in 9 other colors!

We fell in love with the sumptuous color of these velvet leggings, perfect under a black mini or tunic, we think:

Listed at $29.50 but use this link to item number 21-247507 and you'll get them for $24.99! (Also available in black)

The makeup and beauty deals were unbeatable. We scored this delicious travel kit with everything but liner and mascara, originally $32, clearance price $15.99:



We got $5 off this cute little keepsake box with lotion and mini perfume of the scent Noir from the Sexy Little Things collection, clearance price $9.99:

Luscious-sounding body butter in "Romantic Wish" (cucumber, freesia and pomegranate) is clearance priced at $3.99, down from $10. Shea butter, olive oil, aloe... mmm... We bought two.


Here's hoping these gorgeous colors and lovely scents will help lift us from the doldrums of a cold, grey winter!

Happy clearance shopping!

Best and Worst of February's Lucky

Hello dear readers,

Long time no blog!

The "real job" has gotten distressingly busy over the past few months, so forgive us for the hiatus.

We were inspired to post today by the February issue of Lucky magazine which showed up in our mailbox on Monday. It's a bit of a wispy issue-- looks like they've already talked about most of the winter fashions-- but there were a few exceptional features.

First off, we are dying and absolutely in love with the new "Diva" collection from Doc Martens. We spent the entire span of our teenage years in nothing but 8-hole Docs in purple, black and green... (still own the green ones but they're not so comfortable anymore, sadly, as we didn't take care of the leather). We were stunned and thrilled, therefore, to discover that Doc has updated their offerings with these amazing, kinda-granny-boot, kinda-Victorian, still-very-Doc heels (sorry the jpeg doesn't do them justice- check out the link):

Drool-worthy, for sure (unless you just hate them, we suppose).



We were also struck by (and had to discuss) the juxtaposition of both some of the BEST styling we've seen in a magazine with some of the very WORST. Different fashion editors, so perhaps that explains it, but really there is just no excuse for this hideousness:

Really, Andrea Linnet? Really? A DENIM QUEEN suit? We care not that the pants are technically silk and not jeans-- this is a denim suit. And it's fecking hideous. We'll forgive her the transgression since the rest of the spread was fairly tasty and inspired, but we hope that no one, NO ONE, will be seen in such a combination, this winter, spring, or any other time, except in a 1970s-era Halloween costume. Thank you.

On to the loveliness:

What we adore:

-Delicious boots

-Knee socks peeking out of boots (our absolute favorite trend this season)

-Richly-hued skinny jeans (acceptable to us if tucked into boots, or if you're going for a Hepburn look with ballet flats and can pull it off-- not really otherwise)

-Floppy grey hat with floral headband worn over it. Farking genius! Adorable. We die. Grey is our new favorite color, believe it or not... it's so versatile and lovely. Especially grey tights. We don't really wear hats- they're awfully itchy- but maybe we'll change our habits. Off to Etsy to look for affordable felt hats and floral headbands!

We could take or leave the sweater and bag here, but something similar that is a bit more our taste would definitely work.

What are your thoughts on these and other current trends? Love 'em or hate 'em?

Trends We Love: Lace Pencil Skirts

This month's Lucky Magazine presented an Arden B. lace pencil skirt that's absolutely gorgeous, yes, but as we recall was also very expensive (and is no longer available, anyhow). Here it is:

We absolutely adore lace in any form, and this silhouette is just awesome. But... since you couldn't have this one even if your wallet said yes, let's turn to Etsy!

$17 at Happy'sVintageCloset, marked size 12P/31" waist
(we might snap this one up, yowza!)



$24 at RetroRenegadeVintage, size small/24" waist



$7.95 at Nuttinover20Vintage, size small/28" waist
(what a price! Major sale in this shop, too...)



$20 at LotusVintageNY, XS/S/26" waist (we die at the hotness)



$24 at ModPod (with matching jacket!) xs/26" waist



$16 at RedoRedux, M/L/30" waist



For the bold, $25 at Yesterdazed, Med/29" waist
(We think this could be very modern if styled a bit differently)

While we are really big on vintage for the obvious reasons of thriftiness and environmental soundness, we did come across a bunch of other inexpensive new options via this site TheFind.com, which we'd never heard of! You can search for anything and sort by price, relevance, etc., and so many options come up... We even found our own Etsy picks here! We're a little bit confused because the prices shown are lower than those when you actually click on the items... something to do with coupons, it appears.

$19.99, BisouBisou at JC Penney


$30.80, NYC Collection at Macy's



$24.99, INC International Concepts at Macy's


$17.99-$24.99, Worthington at JC Penney

$29.99, Newport News

Do you love or hate this trend? Hope you enjoy these picks if you do like it :D

Happy Shopping!

Thrifty at Home: Selling Your Extra Stuff

We set up, at another blogger's encouragement, an amazon.com used bookselling account. Now our addiction to new discount books and used home reference reading can at least pretend to help pay for itself!

We have no idea if anyone will actually want, find, or buy our books, but it's free to list, so why not give it a shot??

Check out our storefront! (Still under construction):

Dez's Discount Books

(Anything that says not currently available is just brand-new- it'll be up within 45 mins)

We basically just want to de-clutter before we move in the Spring, and to share the love of literature (and, uh, distracting trash now and again) with others, so most titles-- unless rare or old-- are selling for pennies, essentially, (Amazon's commission is taken at the time of sale). The mandatory $3.99 shipping cost stinks but still, buying used is environmentally friendly and also cheaper even with shipping cost figured in (can you believe they're charging $30 for hardcovers these days?). We hope your loved ones wouldn't turn their nose up at something pre-owned. If they do, bop them over the head with it and ask if they know what planet they're on.

Happy book-browsing!

Vintage Sweaters and Sweater Dresses on Etsy $30 and Under

Hope you enjoy today's picks of thrifty vintage knits on Etsy that totally rock, in our opinion!

Striped bell-sleeve boatneck with highly unusual pattern at NoCarnations, Medium, $15



Pink ribbed v-neck sweater at SadieLynne, Small, $15

Ruffly Cherry Red "VaVaVoom" v-neck sweater at FireGrog, approx. M/L, $15



Purple cabled v-neck sweaterdress at LorrainesVintage, approx. S/M, $30



Purple crochet "hippie dress" at RedoRedux, Approx. Small, $16

Happy Friday and Happy Etsy shopping!

Vintage Party Dresses $15-$30 on Etsy

We've progressed from just not-ugly into the truly spectacular realm, just by venturing above fifteen dollars... there are so very many more absolutely stunning items in this price range  (although, we concede, still a tremendous amount of crap to wade through! Forty thousand listings, many thousand pages... which is why you let us do it for you ;) )

Truly, we found so much awesomeness that there's no way it will fit into one post. So. We're going to introduce some themes. First up, the holiday party dress. When you're saving your possibly-meager pennies to buy gifts for other people, it hardly makes sense to spend $100-$200 on a brand-new dress, or, goddess forbid, get yourself into debt that will make January bleak! Yet we're sure you lament, as we so often do, that you have absolutely nothing to wear! (OK so we thrifted two velvet dresses and two party dresses this year, so we're probably all set, eh?)

Presenting the most lovely, thrifty vintage party dresses to be found on Etsy for the holiday season (click descriptions under pics for full listing and/or shop homepage). 

Red Satin and Black Lace "Spanish Princess" at CallMeChula, Small, $30

Red Scalloped Velvet "Deck the Halls" at McGregorGirl, 6-8, $30

Red Chiffon Romantic Ruffles at MagicalMirror, 30" waist, $15

Long-sleeved velvet minidress at LOLAVEE, 6-8, $30

Emerald Green Long Velvet at SavoyBetty, XS/S $30 

Hunter Velvet "Under the Mistletoe" also at McGregorGirl, 7/8, $30

Blue Sparkly minidress at BeckyPlantsTrees, S/M, $15

Purple Velvet "Pretty Woman" which we just had to buy while writing this, from IonicRoost (sorry, and please send literature for Shopaholics Anonymous), but check out the rest of the awesomeness.

Fabulously Unique Lavender at WillowCreekSparrow, approx. M, $29

We do lament the lack of vintage in not-modern-Small-sizes. We apologize that everything here is so teeny, but we do hope that someone finds the dress here or in one of the featured shops. 

In any case, Etsy is still a great place to find gorgeous, affordable vintage. We'll keep sharing our finds as long as you keep readin' about 'em. Possibly longer ;)

Happy browsing and hot-party-dress-selectin'!