Shop Like a (Thrifty) Fashion Editor, part 2

Welcome back. This is part 2 of a 4 part series. Click here for part 1. One of my favorite magazines, InStyle features an article titled "Shop like a Fashsion Editor". Here's a quick recap of what it's all about. Three editors are given a budget of $400, $2,000 and $4,000 respectively. Each editor in turn shares what has “inspired” them and then goes about finding key clothing pieces within their budget. This is an ongoing thing lasting 4 months or so. The funds are spread accordingly, ie: approximately $100 of the $400 budget gets spent per month. Well, this segment is for the gal who's got a budget of $50.

This time around I was inspired a cute display of light house yard ornaments that I pass by every day at a local nursery.  You’ve probably heard me say before how much I love the nautical look and these scream nautical to me.

This month’s (April) selections were found at Goodwill and other various thrift stores;  and believe it or not, there’s even a couple of retail purchases too. 

My inspiration

Liz Claiborne striped pullover hoodie: 4.49 - Notice the little touches of orange?

Gruen Fashion Watch via hospital gift shop: 12.99 These bright watches are really trending right now. Love the way orange goes so well with navy. If you’re willing to splurge, Coach has a very similar version.

 

OP blue on blue dot flip flops via Walmart: 3.88 – So cute and beachy looking. These may only last through one summer, but I’m cool with that.

Vintage Simon Says navy and white sundress: 6.99 - I’m a sucker for this color combo and the swirl pattern is a welcome departure from the usual dots and stripes.

White Stag red ¾ length sleeve cardi: 4.49 – Red, white, blue…are you noticing a trend here? Can’t wait to wear this with the sundress.

Bill Blass Easy Fit white jeans: 5.99 – gotta have white jeans; they’re essential for the nautical look!

Parkhurst coral sweater:  5.99 – I couldn’t resist this color and the rolled, unfinished edges; plus, it’s 100% cotton, made in Canada. I've never owned anything made in Canada before!

Antonio Melani green zebra print purse: 5.99 – Ok, so this isn’t exactly nautical, but it’s good to mix the look up a bit don’t you think?


 Total for April: $50.81
                                                                       $99.32 remaining

See you all at Monday Mingle and Visible Monday.

The Long and Short of It.

Have you ever been thrifting and Bam! an outfit comes together right there on the spot from items found on the same trip in the same store? It's a marvelous thing isn't it? That's how the ensemble in this post came about. I've been wanting to do the short over long thing for quite a while, but nothing I had on hand really worked.
     I discovered the "short" piece first and then just a few shirts down the line I found the tunic. I knew instantly they were destined to be together.  The 3/4 length sleeves leave just enough room for the "long" piece to show. The pants were also found purely by chance as I wasn't actually looking for black pants, but, hey, you can never have too many pairs.
     I excitedly raced to the dressing room tried the whole outfit on and voila! It worked out just as I thought it would. I later threw in a zebra print scarf for a little extra print mixing.  I love it when a plan comes together, don't you?
     The only drawback to this whole thing is that the jacket was very poorly made. It had all kinds of puckers and tucks sewn into the left sleeve at the arm hole. Perhaps it was a factory second. So I basically had to take the sleeve off, work out the tucks and puckers then reattach. But it was worth the effort. And that my friends, is the long and short of it!

Zebra print scarf via ebay: $2.99!
Sag Harbor jacket: thrifted
Izod tunic: thrifted
Dana Buchanan pants: thirfted
Naya "Eternal" wedgies via Nordstrom.com

Pssst....The tagua nut necklace giveaway is still going on. Check it out here.


Oh Hey, I almost forgot! I'm going to Thursdays are For Thrifters. I've only passed by, but never went in. I think I'm gonna see some familiar faces. See you there.



Until next post, happy dressing,
                  Sincerely,
              Style agent 909

Earth Day Giveaway. Got Nuts?

Happy Earth Day everybody! I'm excited about this post because it's my first real give away. You all are the greatest and I just love all your different styles and looks, no two are alike. You're so kind to share your thoughts, memories and snippets of your lives, so, I want to say "Thank You" for that with an earth and animal friendly item.
     Do you know what a tagua nut is? I didn't until earlier this year when I got my first piece of  jewelry made from one and researched what they were all about. They come from palm trees in South America and they're hard as rocks once they're completely dry. It's also known as vegetable ivory and palm ivory and has been used to replace elephant ivory. I know the elephants are happy about that and I'm happy for them! These nuts can be sliced, diced and carved any which way and also dyed any color. The natural "inclusions" guarantee that no two items are alike (just like you all).
   I got my second piece of tagua nut jewelry a few weeks ago when Stephen bought me a lovely bracelet  from Le Petite Bohemian. Allie is the owner and has lot of cool looking South American items in her ebay store as well as other tagua nut pieces. The featured item(s) here is also from her store. Isn't just great? It's all about color this season so you should be able to get some mileage out of this set.
     Want to know more about tagua nuts? This Wikipedia article is a good place to start or just google it or any of it's aliases. And remember to stop over Allie's store and have a look at all her neat stuff.

Monday I'll be party hopping at Monday Mingle, Visible Monday, and Thrifters Anonymous. See you there.

closed

Here's how to get this beautiful set:
Between  April 22nd and April 28th 12:00 midnight EST

1) Just leave a comment about the necklace set.
                             OR
2) Leave a comment about a "green" or earth friendly thing you do. (pssst! If you're a thrifter you're green!)

I'll use random.org to pick the winner. Good Luck and stay green!

Corporate Vacation

Folks, I'm going to be honest with you. I love a good scandal. Celebrity, corporate, royal, you name it, (although the thing with Martha Stewart was pretty unfair). I especially like a good government scandal no matter which political party is involved. So I can't help but comment on latest goings on with the General Services Administration, GSA. They're supposed to be monitoring the spending of other government agencies, while all along they were living it up on our tax dollars! Did you see what they did in Vegas? Had I been working for this agency, the only expense submitted by me would have been a paltry $50 Goodwill invoice. But what's new, that's the government. Anyway, this isn't a politic blog and lord knows I'm not as savvy about those things as I should be.
     So why is my post titled "Corporate Vacation", when I've talking about the government? They're two completely different things right? Just stick with me for a minute and I'll explain.
   I was playing around in the closet and noticed how this "new" tropical print wrap, had the same color blue as this blazer. Just for kicks, I put the two on to see how they looked together. The wrap looks vacationy and the blazer look corporate. Corporate vacation. And the government bails out corporations after the executives have spent all the company money on vacations right?
    Back to the clothes. I have to say, I do love these wraps. They're great bathing suit cover ups and they also double as  dresses or skirts. When I'm vacationing I'm tempted to buy them, but they always cost at least $18. No way am I paying that! That's why I jumped on this for $1.

This is the kind of post that happens when you have a glass of wine before taking photos.


Liz Claiborne blazer: thrifted
Tropical wrap: Thirfted
Naya Eternal Wedges via Nordstrom
Shell: yard sale
Flag: gift from father-in-law
Flower: free from bush outside



As lousy as our government can be sometimes, I still love living here in the good ol' U.S. of A!

Thanks for indulging me in my quirkiness
today. I'll be back to my normal self by next post (maybe).


Until then, happy dressing,
Sincerely,
Styleagent909

Breaking All the Rules!

Ladies, this is a cry for help. I’ve been in a funk lately. My photos have not been at all to my liking, thus the lack of posting.  I finally got one that I was somewhat satisfied with. After analyzing it, I realized I broke a lot of fashion rules.  Can you spot them?  Honestly, I’m all for breaking fashion rules, just not all at once.

     For starters, I’m wearing a LARGE print on the bottom, something I rarely ever do, but I was drawn in by the bright fruity/floral print. I remember there was a time when I would cringe, when I saw someone, especially a middle aged woman, wearing something like this especially with those elasticized Aerosole type shoes that come in every color and color combination of the rainbow. Yeah,  those ones.  Now here I am, middle aged woman wearing such a thing. Life is so cruel. Well, at least I’m not sporting the elasticized shoes!

     Secondly, I’m wearing somewhat broad horizontal stripes. This is a rule I often break and still manage to evade the fashion police, but usually with a solid or small print on the bottom.

     Lastly, shoes with straps at the ankles. Again, I usually get away with this, but not with capris. If I'm wearing this type of shoe, I'll show a little more leg. At 5’7”, I'm no shorty and I consider my legs to be a reasonable length, but take it from me, unless you’re a supermodel with super long legs, skip these kinds of shoes with capris. Come to think of it, even if you are a supermodel with super long legs, avoid this. In defense of these shoes, they’re by Korkease  and  the most comfortable things ever!

     This is my first whiney post ( I think). I try to keep it upbeat, but I just couldn’t keep it in any longer, plus I figured Monday Mingle, Visible Monday and Thrifters Anonymous would perfect forums for airing my frustrations.

     The upside to this disaster is that I didn’t actually wear it out in public. Whew! Another good thing is that I’m going to completely deconstruct this outfit and correct each wrong (suggestions are welcomed). Wow! That’s three posts right there. Now if I can only get some good pics! Thanks for listening.

     What do you do when you’re in a funk and none of your outfits or photos pan out?

My Very First Time!

Hello friends. How was your Easter weekend? Mine was great! We went on one of our usual weekend jaunts, this time to the eastern coast of Virginia.  We hit a couple of yard sales along the way where I found three, yes, three, tres, trios, vintage cameras to add to my collection! That alone made the trip worth it. We also stopped at a couple of thrift stores and I got a few things I’ll show you later.

     The area we visited is a charming mix of farmland and coastal flavor. I was all dressed up and ready to take some beachy  photos. But when we got to our destination, Sting Ray Point, we found there was no public beach access. So guess what? No pics. Well, the next day we stuck to our own back yard so to speak and went to our local lake a couple miles down the road. I wore the same outfit and still got to take some watery themed photos. All’s well that ends well. By the way, this was my first time wearing a maxi. I said I was going to do it this weekend and I did. It’s not the same one I had pictured here, but I still think it worked out.

I'll see you all at Monday Mingle, Visible Monday and Thrifters Anonymous tonight.

Stephen's artistic shot through the tree's.













 

Revue cotton maxi: thrifted

Zebra print scarf: Arden B.

Denim vest: thrifted

Gap T-strap sandals: I’ve had these forever!

It was kind of windy that day.

Pretty soon every one of these slips will be filled with boats, but for now, sweet serenity! 

Thinking Ahead...Is it Friday Yet?

One of my style resolutions is to wear a maxi dress/skirt. They've been trending for at least 3 years and can you believe I've not worn one yet? I also haven't color blocked, but that's another post. Lately, I've really been inspired by Tavia, Carsedra, Liddygal and the Bajan Beauty. They've all featured maxi's in one way or another, all of them fabulous of course. So, weather permitting, I'm going to take the plung this weekend and wear this outfit featuring a maxi skirt I found thrifting. What do you think?
     Remember I said I'd let you know what was in the shopping bag in my last post? Well, it's the scarf that's shown here. It's a brown and yellow zebra print. It was on clearnce for $6.49. I went in practically every store at that mall and that's all I got! That goes to show how thrift stores influence my shopping habits!
     This outfit actually serves three purposes. 1) To fulfill my resolution. 2) It's going to cover my bum ankle. 3) I'm not going to have to figure out what to wear. I feeling a great weekend coming on...

Denim vest: thrifted
Zebra print scarf: on clearance!
Leopard camisole via Walmart
Bisou Bisou maxi: thrifted
Classic Dooney B. purse: thrifted
Ralph Lauren slides: thrifted


Thrift factor = 66%