Thrift store haul Part 1 (epic)

Here is a recap of my most recent thrift hauls from the past 2 weeks.  I shopped at Value Village, and the Salvation Army.  Warning: This s a looong post.

Tapestry broach ($2, Value Village), dangly green earrings (33 cents, Value Village), copper enamelled maple leaves (33 cents, Value Village), vintage Coro thermoset earrings (33 cents, Value Village). 

Value Village happened to have a rack of jewellery with three pieces for $1.  This is where I found the three pairs of earrings.

The Coro earrings were a total score.  The three, wavy strips are a pearlescent white and midnight blue.  The thift store gods must have been smiling on me because I also happened to find the matching necklace a few weeks earlier at the same Value Village yee-haw!

I love thermoset jewellery.  This type of jewellery was made in the 50s through the 70s.  It would come in sets of earrings, necklace, broach and bracelet called parures.  I've purchased my share of parures, and demi-parures on ebay.  I more than happy to buy them at yard sales and thrift stores as they are usually cheaper than ebay.

If you ask really nice, I may show you my collection of thermoset and other vintage jewellery.  :)




Dr. Scholls brown sandals ($10, thrifted),  Naturalizer leather flats ($10, thrifted) and handbag ($25, thrifted)

I never find shoes at thrift stores.  To be honest, used shoes used to rank highly on my ickymeter.  Then one day I started reading about fabulous shoes finds here and here.  So I plucked up my courage and sallied forth into the shoe racks.  To my surprise and delight, I found shoes.  I found a whole lot of shoes!  Of course it helps that I'm a size 7.

The 2 pairs of shoes above were in mint condition.  I don't think they were worn at all.  I wore the Dr. Scholl's sandals on a recent, tropical holiday.  They were sooo comfortable.  The Naturalizer flats are made of strips of multi-colored leather.  The leather comes in delicious shades such as lime, fuschia and pink.  I was so happy when I found these shoes I think I floated over to the handbags.  The handbag above may not be the real thing, but it's the perfect size for me, and I liked the studded detailing.  This handbag is now living with the rest of my handbag collection :)

Yellow denim capris ($5, thrifted, the tags are still on it), burgundy cordorouy knee-skirt Gap ($5, thrifted)

I love knee skirts.  You can dress 'em up for the office, or you can pair it with a tee for casual times. 

Long rayon shirt with apples and pears ($5, thrifted).  Long cotton skirt ($7 thrifted)

I looooove rayon  It's drapey, lightweight, and seems to come in a plethora of fun prints and colors.  The shirt above has pictures of apples and pears.  When I saw it, it was love at first sight.  I think I may have said, "hello precious, you're coming home with me".    This shirt is uber-long.  Think vintage, 80's shirts that were worn long and baggy.  I may have to perform some surgery on this shirt.  We'll wait and see.

The long cotton skirt is white with a brown print.  It's Denver Hayes.  It has an elastic waist and an inner lining so I won't shock people by showing them an outline of my legs (the horror).  These skirts are perfect for wearing as a skirt, or as a strapless dress. 

Leather shoes ($10, thrifted), silk scarf ($1, thrifted)

 Another pair of fabulous summer shoes.  I love vintage, leather shoes...especially when they haven't been worn like this pair :)  I don't think I could even buy shoes like this anymore.  They are well made, genuine leather, have wooden soles, and they're not made in China.   The silk scarf was a total score.  It has a great scenic border (check out the horse drawn wagons!).



Earrings (thrifted $2, Salv Army)

Dear Google, please add image rotation tools :)  Here we have a fabulous pair of paua shell earrings.  These beauties are probably vintage Watercolors, a now-defunct Canadian, jewellery manufacturer.


Comfy XL black tee with neon Las Vegas logo ($2, Salv Army). 

This is a fabulous, comfy tee-shirt.  Like everything else I've found, it's in mint condition.  I had planned to do some DIY alterations on it, but then my junior stylist saw it and claimed it for herself.

Sorry for the sideways pic.  Denim jacket with studs and jewels ($7, Salv Army).

 I wore this denim jacket today (the pic above shows it on a snowbank).  I layered it with a hoody,  long sleeved t-shirt, and bright pink pants.  I was as warm as toast.  It helps that the temperature is hovering a little above zero Celcius. 

Although spring is on it's way, I'm hoping that we'll have a few more weekends of snow so that I can get some skiing in.

I'll post the rest of my finds later.  Lessons learned during these thrift hauls are:
1. Shop off-season.  I found fabulous, summer shoes in the winter.
2. Follow staff when they stock the shelves.  While I was browsing in the Salv Army I stumbled across an Under Armour hat.  The hat had been on the floor for about 5 minutes before I snapped it up.  Cost, $4.  They retail for $22. 
3. Try a size up, and a size down.  Vintage shoes fit small and narrow.  Some of the shoes I found are size 7, some are size 8.  I am usually a size 7, but I learned to try size 8 shoes on.


Here is one last find.  Boots!!

Canadian made black leather boots, Jessica ($4, thrifted)

Originally these boots were $8.

 These lovelies were originally priced at $8 at my friendly, Salvation Army.  It looks like they were never worn.  And the leather is deliciously soft and supple.  The problem is that I couldn't wiggle my feet into these beauties because the leg opening was too long and narrow.  I bought them anyways.  All the winter boots were marked down 50%, and I figured for $4 I could experiment and cut them down to ankle boots.  But then my stylist saw them and now they belong to her :)

Stylist's outfit, leather boots ($4, thrifted), plaid skirt ($15, Zellers clearance), Lands End down vest ($5, thrifted), purple Smurfs t-shirt ($2, thrfted)

Various members of my family have pointed out that I like to shop :)  And since I've had a glut of great thrift hauls, I don't plan to shop for a while.  Thus my "Don't buy till July" resolution has been born.  So I plan to show you what I've got, but I won't do any shopping for a while.

How about you?  Do people ever tell you that you have a shopping addiction :)  I still think that shopping, especially thrift shopping, is cheaper than therapy.

Thanks for dropping by.

:)