Back To The Future

I told you I'm a Microsoft Paint Professional.

thrifted jacket, thrifted dress, thrifted clutches; .jpg Prada glasses

Hyper Floral Pizzaz

The best part about Spring collections is seeing what fresh new takes on floral will pop up. 

In Spring flowers are a must! 

I love flowers on my clothes just as much as I love a pretty bouquet to be delivered to my office with a special love note attached that says "you are so beautiful and talented and smart and so nice and so funny, you deserve these Loca whooops i mean Poca!" (WINK) 

or more realistically, I love to buy fresh bunches of the most beautiful flowers on earth and place them sporadically in my house because money is no object I am dirty filthy rich. 

Here is a crappy cell phone pic for proof.  

I know you love my crappy cell phone pics.

Then again since honesty is our policy here I should probably just spill the beans and tell you how I usually get my flowers. Its when they are FREE because I pounce on the arrangements after special events at work. Shh! It's our dirty little secret. They would want me to have them.

This is my roommates cell phone pic porn. Clearly his phone is nicer...
and clearly I did not pay for these flowers.

This spring what was more evident than ever is that the typical sweet garden floral pattern just doesn't have enough pizzaz.  And since designers are smart they know that life is all about pizzazin-it-up. Pizzazin! [Root word = pizza]  they found the sassiest flowers in the brightest colors and the waackiest sizes and mixed in a little sex appeal and VOILA! That's how magic works.  Don't believe me? Do the math: Bright Colors + Waacky Sizes + Sex Appeal = Magic.

So here I present you with my thrifted magic.  Waacky bright pizzazed flowers on a strapless dress with a little sex appeal. I think it's homemade so that gets extra points in my book. Plus it was only $5.99. Triple score!  I thrifted the jacket (last seen here) and the thrifted shoes are by Jessica Simpson.  I added ribbon to my ankles from leftover scraps I collect collected from my weekend job (shh!) and pinned on pink flowers leftover from my sister's pink explosion wedding.  CRAFTY EH?? 

I hoped to look just like this d&g model:

 

but much happier because my outfit is 100% thrifted and I don't want to seem like a wallflower (I'm just by a wall wearing flowers)

 

Dior

Mary Katrantzou

Louis Vuitton

Jil Sander

Carola - Advanced Style

Cleavage shot. Just for you.

Photos by Ronnie From My Eye To Yours and Style.com

Tie The Knot

I'm not the girliest of girls (just ask my friends or brothers or ex-boyfriends) but since all my friends are beautiful, obviously, I look to my gal-pals for tips tricks or a general push-shove-kick to keep my beauty regime in check.  When I say my "beauty regime" please note that in my world this translates as take a shower, brush my hair, brush my teeth, shave my legs, shave your my pits.  All essential things that keep us beautiful, no? There ARE days when I'm feeling especially girly and I'll get my nails done.  This may not be a new concept to anyone who successfully survived their teenage years, but keeping up these nails takes some concentrated effort aka a professional.

My latest color choice, I know you were wondering, is a soft pink-cream called "Tie The Knot" by Essie.  It's the perfect girly neutral polish to pair with my summer all-white outfits and easily fits in with my summer brights. It's name is also an appropriate segue to show off some highlights from my sister,  Princess Sarah's, Royal Wedding. I swear to you she's the older one and she'll promise you she's only 21.  I'll give her 23.

Let's just say that if my sister had it her way, the whole world would be a candyland filled with positive energy, her closest friends dancing and having fun, all wrapped in her favorite color pink.  Once Upon A Time it was her wedding day (sometime at the end of May) and that very world existed; the perfect allusion of a Princesses Dream! Love you sister.

- xoxo -

Oh P.S. because in the name of all-things-holymoly I have sworn to deliver thrifted content to you in every post (so this isn't just "another one of those blogs") AND because I see it as my duty to show you that I truly am a die-hard thriftaholic, I thrifted my bridesmaid dress and wore thrifted accessories and shoes.   

All photos by Michelle Martin Photography

Big Flat [and awkward] Feet

Flatforms dominated the Spring 2011 runways from Chanel to Derek Lam. So what did that mean to me? ABSOLUTELY NOT THAT MUCH until I thrifted a sweet pair of blue suede flatform sandals by Sundance for $7.99 at Goodwill.  I'm all for geisha-inspired shoes at walkable heights and anything that will compliment my flared jeans or maxi skirts. Thus I can now comfortably look like a 70s inspired geisha? 

I've put together my newest creation as a Microsoft Paint Professional (ahem self-proclaimed) for you in a set called Big Flat [and awkward] Feet.  This collection of notable 'artwork' features Spring 2011 Flatforms from different designers juxtaposed into one of my favorite looks from their Spring collection.  While you are browsing through this well-edited gallery please notice the careful alignment of legline-to-legline and the Picasso-like flow of the feet.

What I like most about my new thrifted suede flatform sandals is how well they go with my next Style.Spot.Runway look from Resort 2012.  CAN YOU GUESS WHICH RESORT 2012 COLLECTION IT IS? Maybe not at this point in the post. So read on and browse on. Hint: find the 'artwork' below with a crappy cell phone picture foot inserted.

Derek Lam x Band of Outsiders x Philip Lim x Vena Cava x Michael Kors x Resort 2012 x Chanel via Style.com

Primary Color Influence

Maybe it's the kid in me but I can't stop noticing the pairing of primary colors. Red/Blue. Yellow/Blue. Red/Yellow. Red/Yellow/Blue.  I'm starting to sound like Dr. Seuss.  This primary color influence must be due to the inheritance of my thrifted yellow blouse (last seen here) and new most favorite thrift-additions, a pair of cobalt blue wide-leg pants and a pair of thrifted bright yellow satin strappy platform sandals.  I wore the shirt and pants together for a friend's event and was pleasently surprised by the happy response. Here's teaser snapshots for now but I promise a full post with outfit details sooner than later.

Looks like I'm not the "primary" one who's been color-inspired (badum ching!). Here are a few snapshots by Tommy Ton (the infamous style photographer behind Jak&Jil) captured outside the Spring 2012 Menswear shows in Europe. Since I can't make it to Europe anytime soon I think instead I'll find a parked NY Yellow cab and casually plant myself in front of it wearing my new cobalt blue pants and a red top. Maybe then he'll notice how casually cool I look for the perfect photograph. Hopefully at least he notices before the driver is back on duty and needs his car.

images via Style.com

Bullheaded Thrift Style

I'm not sure why I didn't share this with you when it happened, but I entered in the Norma Kamali Astrology for Fashion raffle hosted on the NK website.   Each birth-sign has a chance at winning a free reading from a top astrologer in U.S.!

I'd have to agree with their description of the Taurus Style: "The Taurus aesthetic is all about beauty" and they have "an impeccable eye."  I definitely agree with the next part about loving good food - if it really wanted to describe me it would follow that by saying "especially cookies!".  Cookie Is Life. As you can see by my professional red pen markings I'm not a fan of the last part which says some jibberish about being uncomfortable with change imposed on my vision.  I'm SO open to change. You say try that dress with that blazer? I'll do it. You say blue looks good with yellow? I'll try it. We're talking about outfit changes, no? 

ANYWHO... well thank my lucky stars,
 believe it or not, yours truly, WON!  

It was such a fun experience and easy too.  Elizabeth Racine really knows her craft! She gave me an overview of my personality based on my birthdate, time, and place.  It was eerily "spot on"! (maybe she's heard about my blog?) She gave me a timeline of the next few months to come and advice about things I'll need to keep my eye on.  The session lasted for an hour, was prepaid, and recorded so I can listen to it again.

THANKS A MILLION NORMA!!
THANKS AGAIN ELIZABETH!!

When I didn't think my luck could get any better I recently THRIFTED the sweetest Poly Lyrca Norma Kamali dress from Salvation Army.  Don't worry, there will be pictures to follow soon.  I plan on wearing it to Norma Kamali Beach Party Part II this Thursday, June 23rd - did you hear about the first Karaoke Beach Party??

The Real McCoy

Last night I attended a glam 60th Anniversary Party (yes, sixtieth!) for The Countess of Glamour and her husband Sanford Cohen. I decided it was the perfect moment to wear my newly thrifted Diane Von Furstenberg - DVF - dress.  My first ever DVF!  As I mentioned in my last post, labels only add to the appeal they do not define it.  However, there is an art and skill in the design behind many labels that come with a higher price tag and Diane Von Furstenberg is a designer that has earned her price. DVF is known for her classic designs that emphasize femininity and flatter the figure. This might be one of the most comfortable dresses I've ever worn and the asymmetrical ruching gives my square hips some much appreciated curveture.

The deep fuschia color played into this seasons pinks but is classic enough to work in with Fall's hues.  Oh yeah, I thrifted this dress from Goodwill for $20. I'm not one to spend over $10 on a thrited item, but once I tried it on I knew I had to have it.  Originally marked at $30 I had a savings coupon from racking up Club Goodwill points so I was able to score an extra $10 off.  I'm pretty sure this dress is from a recent season too, it's still online!  See to the right the original retail price. Thanks but no thanks!  While the design and labor that went into making this dress is well worth the cost, I'm not complaning about saving a few hundred dollars.

What designers have you discovered you like through thrifting?

White Night + Thigh High Slits

Not too long ago I put up a teaser of an inspiration photo I claimed to have recently thrifted (here).  I was finally able to snap a few pictures of the outfit in full effect so you know I'm not telling lies.  I care about you THAT much. I'm super satisfied with this thrift score and I still can't believe how shockingly close it is to the Maison Martin Margiela Spring 2011 runway inspiration photo!

While this may not have been their strongest collection, this look stood out to me for one particular appealing element: a maxi skirt that has been instantly sexified to create the perfect ladylike-come-hither combo (don't be shy, take a peep) yes, that's right, I'm wearing a THIGH HIGH FRONT SLIT skirt.  I'm not afraid. Although I AM having trouble with the world "slit."  It just doesn't seem approprite. Probably better than saying a THIGH HIGH FRONT OPENING? Either way these are all essentially pseudonyms for my lady part.

The skirt originally was marked at $6.99 but since it was Family Day I snatched it up for half price! It is 100%  silk and not only does it have pockets but it also has BUILT-IN SILKY SHORTS. Dream.
The label on the skirt says "The Wrights" but I couldn't track any information behind that name. To me that's just another part of the Thrill Of Thrifting - to discover and learn different designers/brands. For that very reason I rarely buy something with a design I don't LOVE and buy it purely based on it's label.  Labels add to the appeal, they don't define it.

What role does designers/brands play in your style?

 

Cami Cosabella; Blazer Thrifted Calvin Klein Collection ; Clutch Thrifted Whiting & Davis; Shoes Thrifted Aldo

WhoWhatWear x Stella McCartney Spring 2011 x Calvin Klein Collection x Michael Kors Fall 2011 via Style.com

All photos by Ronnie of From My Eyes to Yours