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Bethany

Please do not spend your last two paychecks to give me some traditional gold jewelry with diamonds.

Instead give me the necklace with brass heads that represents, “I killed five people.” It means more.

This necklace was made by a Naga tribe from the Tibetan area. They used to be headhunters and would preserve heads of their enemies until the 19th century. Christian missionaries came along and taught them that headhunting was not fashionable anymore. Kill joys.

When it comes to vintage clothing and jewelry and thrift store shopping, there are no rules to what is fashionable except for the ones I make for myself.

Rules I have adopted since vintage and thrift store fashion:

1. Not much is worth spending more than $5-$10
2. Size does not matter as much with the right belt/accessories
4. Fabric quality is more important than brand names
5. Fashion is whatever makes my body look its best not what everyone else is wearing
6. Fashion does not have to cost a lot of money
7. Fashion is experimentation: shirts as skirts, skirts as dresses, belts as bracelets, belts as head-dresses, petite pants as high-waisted crop pants, and . . .

scarfs as shirts

StreetCred Naga Head Hunter necklace

 

Petite pants as high-waisted crop pants: Hanson & Harrold, thrift store
Knit vest: Two Twenty, thrift store
Scarf as shirt: no label, thrift store
Vinyl platforms: Bamboo, Lux Fashion Lounge (second-hand)
Vintage headhunter necklace: Nagaland, Armor Bijoux

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Last week when I was thrift store shopping I found a grandmother’s vintage rose robe. And this week I was inspired to pair it with Jessica Simpson platform spiked heels.

Thrift store
Anthony’s vintage grandmother’s robe
worn as dress
Red leather belt

Dillards
Jessica Simpson platform spiked heels

Armor Bijoux
Afghanistan jingle vintage necklace
Large silver vintage Afghanistan cuff

Photographer: Marcus Pierce

Happy Friday!

 

 

 

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Vee Marai vintage lace dress

What I love about thrifting is I never know what to expect. During these two days of thrift store shopping, I was looking for giggles and hoping to find bizarre vintage pieces similar to those in my posts A Prince Inspired Outfit and To Boldly Wear What No One Would Wear in Their Right Minds. A hour of laughs for $7 or as little as free makes this a worthwhile adventure.

Day 1 with Kelly

Wranglers button-up shirt with sequins, crystal like buttons, and embroidered roses
Rampage suede cowboy boots

Score! I love an outfit that is a total contradiction to my persona. I purchased the shirt and left the boots. The boots were $22 and were not the best of quality. Most great finds I’ve found are usually only $10. It has to be super special for me to spend more than $10.

Silk? scarf

It is blazing hot in Idaho which makes me feel pretty comfortable baring my whole back as I wear this scarf as a shirt. Kelly suggested a bandeau bra might be a good idea. Probably so.

Striped leggings
Cotton tank
Lounge coat?

Nothing is sexier than 90’s attire and a backdrop of VHS.

Kelly keyhole sleeve dressKeyhole sleeve dress, Forever 21

Kelly decided against this one. Not that we would never buy Forever 21, but really we wouldn’t. Thrift stores are full of inexpensive, quality clothes and Forever 21 makes most clothes to only last a few months if you are lucky.

Size 4x women’s shirt / cape / XS dress 

Why don’t you stay the evening
Kick back and watch the TV
And I’ll fix a little something to eat
Oh I know your back hurts from working on the tractor
How do you take your coffee my sweet
I will raise the children if you pay all the bills

Paula Cole – Where have all the cowboys gone

Kelly was having fun posing me throughout the thrift store. When she took this photo, she reassured me that she wasn’t meaning to imply that I was on sale or could be bought for as little as 75¢. What do you think?

Day 2 with Jessica

velour jumpsuit
Velour jumpsuit
with star zipper

Score!

Jumpsuit with jacketBusiness jumpsuit

Jessica is going through a jumpsuit obsession. They are made for her body, at least the first of these two were. Jess isn’t a big fan of looking like a carnival cruise worker. She also doesn’t like the fact that zippers in the backs of jumpsuits make it impossible to pee. She only tried on this one because I wanted to see how bad it looked on.

Linen full length embroidered rose dress

Linen dress with embroidered flowers

Full length linen dress with embroidered roses

What I love most about Jess is her abundance of positivity and kindness. The first thing she said to me when she saw this dress on the hanger was that it was a great find. When I actually tried it on she exclaimed how lovely it was. She simultaneously and accidentally confessed that when she first saw it on the hanger she didn’t care for it.

Vintage Anthony's cotton polyester robe

Score!

Like Jess, I’m going through an obsession, a yellow one. Nostalgia is probably what first drew me to this robe. It reminds me of my grandmother, Nana.

Vintage Anthony's cotton polyester robe

Vintage 70’s/80’s Anthony’s cotton polyester robe/dress

Then I started thinking about how Nana liked to keep Kleenex in her pockets, sometimes clean ones and sometimes the used ones. I got perversely curious and had to check the pockets. The previous owner was her kinder soul.

90s full length red leather coat

Vintage 80’s/90’s red leather full length coat

Regret. A leather coat is amazing, but a red leather coat is one to remember. I didn’t look at the price tag. Probably should have. My guess is this coat was close to $18. The great thing about thrift store shopping is it is okay to walk away from a good find because I’ll find another awesome score the next time. If it weren’t for my budget I probably would have gotten it. It is very likely I will never find a 80’s/90’s red leather coat again.

acey full length underskirtLacey full length underskirt

Jess had to try on this underskirt and a few other layers to see how it looked. Romantic, no?

Ver Maria lace Chinese dress with side slitsVer Maria lace Chinese dress with side slits

Wowzars! At first I thought the Ver Marie lace Chinese dress was just a sweet girl frock until I tried it on, slits all the way to my hips. I’m not sure how I’m going to wear this. It makes me giggle and gasp all at the same time. I think it would be easiest if I use this dress as motivation to start running and doing squats.

Le sigh. The key to happiness and de-stressing is 1 hour of thrift store shopping. Happy Friday!

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