milk & amber: styling

Showing posts with label styling. Show all posts

Friday, 3 May 2013

Good fortune: A thrift & gift haul

It has been a hard week for a few reasons I won't be blogging about, but this is a little high point of the week (gotta think positive). I found a few things of my own, which we'll look at first, but the real gems are the items my mom found for me (read on!).

First exhibit: vintage bathing suit that looks freaking awesome on, thrifted at Value Village.
How often do you find a bathing suit and think "OH MAN I LOOK SOOOO GOOD IN THIS"? Case closed.

Exhibit Two: Vintage white wicker nautical box bag. Yes.

Exhibit Three: Roots leggings, in perfect condition, complete with marled grey (favourite) and worksock hems (other favourite)

Exhibit Four: Mid-century-style hand carved wooden candle holder, made in Nova Scotia

But here is the really good stuff.

Mom and Dad went to an auction the other night and my thoughtful mother found these (in a larger lot of stuff) for me. Three pairs of fancy antique 1930s round glasses, a 1960s-to-1980s pair of sunglasses, and a fffaaaabbbulous pair of 1950s Bausch & Lomb horn-rimmed glasses with mother of pearl inlay (which I am definitely getting refitted with lenses).

My favourites!

So much fun stuff! Will share a few more finds soon!

Saturday, 13 April 2013

Uninsightful Fashion Tip!

I read a lot of fashion magazines, and one thing I tend not to enjoy is when there is an article on "remixing your wardrobe" or "shopping your closet" or "get more out of your outfits!" because usually all the tips are the same and most are, for lack of a better word, like DUH. Yeah yeah, wear a blazer "for night" instead of for day. Wear a t-shirt for a fancy thing. Wear a scarf as a belt. Groundbreaking! (Actually, irrelevant - like, all those tips are from 2003 but I still see them in these articles - and condescending.)

I find it is usually tips from fashion designers that are the most condescending. I'm pretty sure I once read Tory Burch recommend wearing things inside out - if you're such a poor plebeian that you can't afford her $800 tunics in order to mix things up, well, jeeze, I dunno, maybe show off all the seams and tags of that Old Navy t-shirt, that will be so tasteful!

(On second thought, it might've been Isabel Marant, but I could see her actually doing that so it's not as condescending. Or it might have been Kelly Wearstler and that is pretty much the same as Tory Burch.)

Anyway...

I do have one of those tips that I just needlessly ranted about. I found this 90's dress at work and thought it was just so almost cute, but not quite what I'm looking for... until I turned it around! The front is just a little too My So-Called Life, but the back is kind of dreamy fifties, no?

Could it work? Well, let's take that Dalmy's tag off first and find out...

Verdict: yes, it works. A lot dressier than wearing it the conventional way - as Pete says, good for a wedding reception!

I love the high boat-neck neckline and the 1/2 sleeves, and even the little shoulder pads. Plus, the back is now a deep-v with lace, and it buttons all the way down. Kind of blah as a front, but quite pretty as a back!