We typically think of Sea Green as being a color that we might wear only during the summer. I think that is exactly why I love this Seed-Stitch Turtleneck Sweater from TALBOTS so much. It keeps me warm during the cold fall and winter months and reminds me of the warm ocean waters that I have barely had the chance to experience. Find yours by clicking HERE.
I've been wearing headbands lately as I grow my hair out. Don't get me wrong. I have totally enjoyed having short hair. But you know me. I need to change it up once in a while. It's all part of the fun of fashion!
And last but certainly not least, I am wearing this Vintage Perfume Pendant from my online vintage jewelry boutique, The Canny Canary. Isn't it interesting? It holds a tiny cotton ball that you can saturate with your own signature fragrance. Great for people who don't necessarily love putting perfume on their skin, but they still like to smell pretty. There is only one of these vintage perfume pendants available at The Canny Canary! Be the first one to own it by clicking HERE.
You know me, I love summer. But I never said that there was anything wrong with preparing for the cooler months ahead. If you live in New England, you know that the weather cools off quite quickly, so it's important to be prepared. If there were just eight pieces that I would suggest that you buy right now in preparation for fall, these would be them:
A couple of days ago I wrote a blog post about embracing August, our last full month of summer. But I just couldn't help but experiment with this fall/winter color called Marsala. It's such a rich color and I happen to love it. Not just because it's Pantone's color of the year, but because I feel like it really works well with my complexion. I have to admit, I do struggle with color during the summer months. I feel like I wear jewel tones and deeper colors better, but they are hard to come by in the summer.
I just happened to find this sweet flutter jersey from Talbots hanging in my closet. I couldn't find anything like it on the internet! I was hoping to find something similar in a close color so that I could refer you to it just in case you wanted one for yourself. However I did come across some adorable flutter sleeve tops for you to shop.
You might be starting your back to school shopping already, but don't forget that summer is still here and there is still plenty of time to wear those tropical prints. Time to get in the mindset to celebrate August before it passes us by!
Thrift shopping requires a certain mindset. It's not like walking into a Neimans or a Nordstrom and seeing that perfect look all put together for you. But that's the beauty of it. Of course thrift shopping is not for everyone. Not everyone wants to take the time to hunt for the perfect shirt, skirt, pants, dress or blazer. And thrift shopping does take time. I believe that thrift shopping is an art form. Because chances are you are going to be putting pieces together yourself, which to me, in itself, is art.
{Photo via POLISH, which is one of my favorite thrift shops in Bangor, Maine! Shop their two locations on 1205 Broadway and the other on 548 Hammond Street)
Today I thought I would just fill you in on a few of the things that I look for when thrift shopping. See my ten tips below:
First of all, be willing to get dirty. Thrift shopping is not a task for a germaphobe. Bring some Purell with you and just take a shower when you get home if you feel really gross. Believe me, it's not that bad. The person that previously wore the clothes that you are looking at is/was human, just like you. You are no better than that. Unless you truly are an extraterrestrial visiting us from another world. And even then, you are no better Ms. Alien.
Personally, I never spend more than $8.00 on a piece unless I feel that is in MINT condition or that it is a BIG TIME designer brand like Chanel, Gucci, Versace, etc. You get the idea. I do not consider names like Banana Republic, J. Crew and Ann Taylor designer brands, although they are really nice brands to scope out.
I usually wear a size small in a shirt or jacket, but I look through the medium and large sizes too. If an item has been worn and washed, it tends to shrink. And more than likely if you are shopping thrift, it has been worn and washed before so it might be a size smaller than what the tag says.
You have to be careful of defects when shopping thrift and pay attention to details. A garment might look fantastic at first glance, but have you done a 360 degree look at it? Hold it up and look at it from all angles. Look for any stains or holes. Look for missing buttons too, but keep in mind, those are easy enough to replace if you love the garment and are willing to put a little work into it.
Do the inside out test. I mean, literally turn the garment inside out. Inspect the lining of jackets and pants. I pay close attention to the arm pits making sure that there are no stains.
Check all zippers to make sure they have all their teeth and are working smoothly. Zippers can be replaced, but again, it requires some extra effort and zippers can be expensive. Possibly more than the thrifted garment itself.
I always look for tags that say that a garment was made in the USA when I am shopping for vintage pieces. I just feel that to own something that was actually crafted in this country before clothing became mass produced overseas is just really cool!
There is no harm in asking for a lower price on a garment if you feel that it has a defect. So, swallow your pride and just ask a sales person for a better deal. The worst they can say is no.
It is easy to buy random pieces when thrift shopping so make sure that you have an idea of what you would pair it with in your wardrobe. Just because it's a good deal doesn't mean that it will do you any good just hanging in your closet. You want a working closet. Meaning a closet full of things that you actually wear.
Bring a friend with you when thrift shopping. There could be a chance that you could miss something great that your friend would not! When thrift shopping, two is better than one. Trust me, thrift shopping can be fun!
If you have any more thrift shopping tips, please leave me a comment!
Yes, this vintage necklace from the 1960's is so pretty and iridescent that it GLOWS, but one might ask, how do I actually wear this pretty vintage necklace in 2015? There are actually many ways you can wear it if you keep an open mind.
{1960's Vintage Moonglow Necklace can be found at The Canny Canary}
When I first look at this necklace I automatically think, dress up.
Below you will find a few really cute modern dresses from Nordstrom that would actually work really well with this vintage necklace.
But, if you are like me you might not dress up every single day. See how I wore this 1960's vintage moonglow necklace in the photo's below. As you can see, my outfit really only consists of two elements: A simple white blouse and a pair of boyfriend jeans from TALBOTS.
Find your own perfect white blouse by clicking HERE.
Find your own perfect boyfriend jeans by clicking HERE.
ALWAYS wash whites separately. You might think it couldn't do any harm to wash a pastel color garment with your white garments, but it does. That is how whites begin to look dingy. And just say you have a white tee shirt with a picture or lettering on it. Put that in with your light colors, not your whites.
Wash your all natural fibers that are white in cold water to avoid shrinkage such as 100% cottons, linens and wools. A shirt or blouse in a natural fiber blended with polyester or other synthetic fibers, will be fine to wash in warm water which takes stains out better. Those fabrics won't tend to shrink as much because they are more tightly woven.
Add bleach to your white wash to get rid of yellowing under the armpits due to antiperspirant. I recently have begun wearing Tom's of Maine natural deodorant (not an antiperspirant). It is better for you because it lets you perspire a bit and doesn't clog up your pores with aluminum like antiperspirants do, PLUS it doesn't make a yellow stain under the armpits of my clothing which is a huge plus. It was a little difficult to get used to at first, but once you try Tom's of Maine all natural deodorant for about a week, you won't want to go back to your old stuff! And contrary to popular belief, bleach does not wear down your clothes if you don't apply it directly to the fabric. I've been using a little bleach in my white washes for years now, and no holes yet! However, bleach may actually turn your synthetic white fibers a little yellowish, so watch your fabric content.
If you don't use bleach because you don't like chemicals, you can make your own eco friendly Oxi-clean recipe for taking stains out of whites using 1/2 cup hydrogen peroxide, 1/2 cup baking soda, and 1 cup water and mixing all four ingredients in a bowl. Pour this mixture on the stained areas of your white garment and let sit in a sink over night. Wash them the next day and the stains should be lighter or completely gone! Even though this method is all natural, you should still test a small spot on your clothes to avoid any accidents.
Another more natural approach to keeping your clothes white, is to add1 cup white vinegar to 2 1/2 pints of tap water in a large pot. Bring the solution to a boil, then pour it into a bucket and drop in your dingy socks, [uniforms, etc.]. Let them soak overnight, then the next day wash them as you normally would.
If you have a clothes line, hang your white clothing out to dry in the nice bright sunlight. The sun will help fade any stains.
Wash your whites right after you wear them. The longer the stain gets to set in the fabric, the tougher it is to get out.
Avoid dry cleaning your clothes whenever possible, however if the label says dry cleanonly, pay attention to it and make sure you dry clean it. I struggle with this myself. I have taken white linen to the dry cleaners before because the label told me to and they turned it a pale shade of yellow due to the fact that they were using an old and dirty dry cleaning solution. So now, if I am buying white linen, I make sure that the label says that I can wash it, otherwise I don't buy it. On another note, if a garment just says dry clean on it, take it as a suggestion, but I have been known to take a chance and actually wash those items. They came out fine. But if you decide to wash something that says dry clean on it, make sure you realize that you are taking a risk and whatever happens is your fault.
I am asked this question all the time. Ladies, holding things up to the natural light and practically looking under a microscope to make sure something matches exactly is not necessary. While I do realize that some of us truly are color blind and need help with finding things that color coordinate, most of us tend to fret over the minor details of exactly matching waaaaaaay too much. There is no need to get a headache over finding the perfect match.
For instance, if you are looking for a top to match a certain shade in a colorful floral skirt, don't fret over finding the exact shade. Chances are the skirt has so many colors in it that if you are a hint off, no one will even notice. Actually, being a hint off can be even more interesting than matching exactly.
In fact, I suggest wearing colors together that are opposite on the color wheel. It makes for a more interesting overall look! Keep reading to see some examples....
Below you will find some lovely looks that combine colors that are opposite on the color wheel
Red and blue are opposite on the color wheel! SHOP this look!
Yellow and purple are opposite on the color wheel! SHOP this look!
Orange and violet are opposite on the color wheel! SHOP this look!
So as you can see. Although, there is nothing wrong with wearing tonal colors, thinking outside of the box when it comes to color can be way more interesting and exciting. If you struggle with this, simply print out a color wheel and take it with you when you go shopping.
Click HERE to print out one of the many color wheels that you will find on Pinterest.
Sometimes, it can be challenging to look nice, be modern and stylish, yet subtle, on a summer evening out with the girls in Maine. But, I think I figured it out.....
It was a warm and humid day, but I could tell that it was going to be a bit cool on this evening out with two of my favorite girlfriends. We were headed down to McLaughlin's At The Marina and I thought there might be some great conversation and a fire pit involved. Guess what? I was right. If you have not been down to McLaughlin's At The Marina yet, I suggest you take some time to do so this summer. The food is fabulous and the music is great. Located in Hampden, it doesn't seem that far away for those who live in the Bangor area, yet you feel like you went on a mini vaca just for a few hours.
While eating lunch there one afternoon with my sister, I recognized that there was a fire pit outside and chairs gathered around. I asked Kim, the owner, "What goes on out there?" She replied to me, "Magic."
And she is right.
That is just what happened between me and my girlfriends there that night.
I decided that a black tank top from Talbots covered with this little shawl from Mexicali Blues would do the trick. It would look modern and chic, yet keep me warm enough on this semi cool Maine summer night.
And of course I chose to wear vintage jewelry from The Canny Canary.
Talk about magic!
Vintage cocktail ring, vintage butterfly necklace, vintage Monet bracelet and vintage Etienne Aigner leather cross body bag can all be found at The Canny Canary Online Vintage Jewelry Boutique by clicking right HERE
