Sunday, 31 July 2016

Massive mid-summer savings and cold-weather countdown!

Hello friends! It's the end of July, the weather has been glorious and sunny.  And nothing says glorious and sunny like distressed denim.  I had a hankering to buy jeans and distress them.  Luckily the Salvation Army was having a 50% off sale, and I was able to purchase several pairs for cheap!

Funny thing about distressed jeans.  As a child in the seventies, I remember wearing jeans until they were so worn that there were holes in the knees and inner thighs.  Ripped knees were patched with colorful pieces of fabric.  Inner thigh areas were invisibly patched by carefully matching the color of the patch to the jeans.  Our family was very frugal with money, and I wore my clothes to threads.

When the eighties arrived, shredded and acid-washed jeans became popular, thanks to artists like Madonna and Def Leppard.  I'll never forget the shredded jeans in Pour Some Sugar on Me.

At the time some people considered shredded jeans scandalous.  The idea of purchasing clothing that had been deliberately damaged was shocking to some.  Now it's commonplace to fork over wads of cash for torn and patched jeans.  

Here are the pics of the jeans I purchased.  I plan to wear them as is.  Once I figure out how I want them to look I will distress them.  Perhaps I'll recreate a pair that I had when I was a kid.  The knee was patched with a colorful, homemade apple applique.

American Eagle and Gap jeans. Plus a 'granny' patchwork vest.

I also picked up a vest and a hoodie.  Don't fool yourself, crisp autumn weather is on the way - and layers are a great way to stay warm (without hauling out the parka).

Quilted light-blue vest and hoodie.

Whoa! What's this I see?







I managed to find some high-end jeans.  A quick Google search yielded the identical pair of Lucky's selling for three digits online.  Score!

I also scooped up another jean jacket.  Everything I purchased was $5 or less.




I have a fatal attraction to rayon, granny prints, and long flowing skirts.  Enter the 2-piece Tabi set of my dreams!!  I can hardly wait to wear them (separately).  This set was $3!!  How on earth did it not get scooped up by someone else?






A mint condition, oversized, black cotton blazer.  Perfect with a white t-shirt and jeans.




A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to win a vintage, mannequin head at the Salvation Army, silent auction.  I also snaffled this FOUR-POINT, Queen sized Hudson's Bay blanket.  I threw it in the delicate cycle in the wash and hung it to dry.  Now it's waiting for a cold, winter's night!!




These blankets retail for about $650 (I know, I priced them online).  So for $50 I was ecstatic to take this home with me.



FOUR POINT baby!

It pays to check all the departments at the Sally Ann.  I found these 3 Fire-King mugs for 99 cents each!!  Bring on the cold weather and the hot-chocolate!!



I conservatively estimate that I would have spent over a thousand dollars, had I purchased these brand-new.  My total was a little under a hundred dollars.

haha!

happy thrifting ;)

Saturday, 16 July 2016

Thrifty handbag haul

Hello friends!  Well another interesting week for news indeed. Turkey foils an attempted military coup (good thing because dad is there!), Trump has a VP pic, and Pokemon GO has gamers stumbling about outside.

Phew, where to start?  How about some handbag pics. All of these handbags came from the Salvation Army for $10 or less.  I collected them over a period of several months.  They were in excellent condition.  I wiped them down with a disinfecting wipe and they were good to go!


I dithered whether or not to buy this purse, as I already have two others in this color.  But the workmanship was beautiful. - look at the even stitching that pieces the leather pieces together!! So this patchwork lovely came home to join the hoard collection.


Burgundy patchwork Ellepi, made in Italy, genuine leather.

I spied this adorable black and white purse on the racks and pounced on it.  I love Betsey Johnson!!


White and black, heart motif, Betsey Johnson.

Our Salvation Army has random bins of smallish items.  That is where I found this snakeskin clutch for $4.99!!  If you have time, check all bins and corners.  Poke high and low when you thrift.  You'll never know what you find, or where you'll find it!

Snake clutch, $4.99

On the topic of reptiles, this eelskin handbag was also $4.99. Whew!!




This lovely travelling set holds all  the essentials.  Manicure scissors, eye shadow brushes, eye-lash curler...indepensible, and a steal at $3.99!!  It will come in handy the next time I have to travel and look glamorous.







Our Salvation Army periodically has silent auctions.  I was the winning bidder on this mannequin head.  I call her Julie, as she reminds me of Julie Andrews. 


happy thrifting ;)