i love Izzy’ s outfit here. i’ve blogged her before. it’s funny, the internet being so endlessly huge, i keep coming back to my favourites. i just think this outfit is perfect perfect perfect. and Izzy is such an incredible inspiration :)

view here on Flickr.

just now checking back at the other Izzy outfit i blogged… they are definitely variations on the same theme! i really am a creature of habit. i have great habits.

well this is actually yesterday, but close enough. for the Flickr wardrobe_remix group and other Flickr groups too. continuing with my shirt [or blouse] under vintage t, and menswear theme. and everything is thrifted. buttondown boys long sleeve shirt. tiny wine leather 80s belt. the t i got in tokyo a long time ago in a vintage store, i reworked it since the graphic was weirdly sliding to the left. i wouldn’t rework such an old vintage shirt these days. but i am so glad i still have this one. it’s like some sort of thrifting trophy now. and i love my 80s highwaist pinstripe skirt which i never wear. you can’t see them here but i am wearing my wine leather 80s Cougar brogues. and i trimmed my hair. anyway, this is me.

for wardrobe_remix & a pile of other excellent flickr wardrobe groups. all is thrifted in the last year, the tote just last week. except the jeans! oh… and the t-shirt is Mark’s. given? lended? hmmm? the blouse is 80s and beautifully cut. i should have a close-up of the details but don’t. i love it. the shoes are wine leather 80s brogues.

today i was shopping for more SWANclothing tote fabric. i love lavender! i want a lavender tote!

I love it. Want it!

i was only in Miami briefly, a few years ago. i really loved it. billowy warm night winds. coloured laser beams cutting through the sky. getting my outfits right… or trying [i wore a lot of rhinestones]. i always want to go back. and seeing Susie’s StyleBubble blogs about her trip there, i want to go back even sooner. i had a little time to check out thrift stores and with Miami’s particular take on style, the stores were sparkly playpens.

so basically this is a reblog. the vintage stores and areas Suzie checked out should really go on any Miami-bound thrift shopper’s list: Lincoln Road Challenge & On the fringe.

Both photos also from StyleBubble. Thank you Susie :)

it’s been forever since i have done a thrift post. but i think these 2 items really deserve it.

the 1st is a gift to Leah to thank her for modeling in my STRAIGHT Mini tote photos. [this is most likely wrecking the surprise but i can’t help myself.] it’s a 60s knit maxi dress. the best video game-esque pattern. fitted on top. turtleneck. matching belt with brass buckle. wow.

and this! i found myself thinking about it. i found myself regretting not buying it the 1st time around. and i found myself standing in front of it a 2nd time. then it just came home with me! perfect for over winter coats and oversized sweaters. simple, brilliant design. very adjustable. amazing.

i’ve learnt the strangest thing on the internet. people are nice. really nice. and honest. it makes the few who are dishonest [in terms of dealing with them with sales] look pretty foolish, i mean why bother? and of course there are filters on sites like eBay and systems that enforce fair dealings. but when people start sending me things in the mail just because i complimented it in a flickr photo? i am astounded. some people call it swapping, i call it a niceness attack. so they send me something and i send them something… and it’s just so DARN NICE! some people don’t even want anything in return, it’s just a PIF, a “pay it forward” as i had to be taught.

i already wrote about the amazing jeans sjwhidden sent me. i am slowly compiling my return swap to her. and the very far out ring
from Trevira that i swapped for a gold horse necklace. the swan gift from le robo. the pompom socks that made me so happy from Vlada, who i then sent 2 SWAN t’s. and now cakeybabes has sent me this incredible acid wash skirt! so i am thrifting around for a return swap for her.

there’s more too! i haven’t taken pics yet but i sent MEMPHIS DIME a SWAN bunny t. it didn’t fit him but Vlada likes it :) and i can’t even believe what he sent in return. a full on niceness attack! so i will post about them next week. AND also the PIF situation of some sweet little hedgehogs :)

and it’s not that i get all this “stuff”, it’s that there is this friendly, spirited, playful thing going on. and i love when i send something to someone that they also adore and i make them happy. and of course there are extensive groups on flickr for this. i can’t blog them, the internet is too big! but they are easy to find :)

here’s the acid wash skirt from cakeybabes… followed by 2 of my thrift scores this week. a pleated, striped, above-knee skirt from the 80s and an insanely bright fuchsia Minnie Mouse sweatshirt!

i bought this on eBay from Miss Dandy. [Miss Dandy has a very cute banner.]

i want to make myself a pretty regular classic hoodie. and i don’t want to buy it at American Apparel. i bought a few things there this summer already. AND i found some amazing fuchsia sweatshirt fabric at a thrift store. a pile of it. and i found a deadstock fuchsia zipper too! so i am going to make myself a long skinny hoodie with it.

more gorgeous colours are infiltrating my wardrobe. i think some sort of combination of style & colours is finally starting to make sense to me. it goes something like- i like a couple of slices of really bright colour with more neutral tones. and i still seem to be mixing really classic [uptight?] 80s/90s pieces with obnoxiously bright 80s preppy stuff. something like that. oh, and denim of course. i seem to have some denim on every day.

some bagged finds…

you can see them better in my Flickr stream.

sorry for my absence. i am on a take-it-slow week or two here. but not to let this blog stop entirely i finally want to address this topic. green!

i’ve been thinking of how to address it. you can make it so complicated. but this is how i feel in simple terms.

i make things and sell them. and profess to be interested in sustainability. which seems to be a bit of a contradiction. so i do my best. i use vintage & thrifted fabrics. i make everything myself. and am moving towards using organic fabrics. i work hard to keep the quality of my items high so that you aren’t dumping them in a year. and i also think of design in terms of having a lengthy and hopefully lifelong appeal for you.

industry won’t stop, and stopping wouldn’t actually solve anything. and we do need things. not as many things as we often now desire. so we all make a shift, the bigger the better. and i am talking on a consumer level. and also taking into consideration that this “shift” is in itself a luxury that some people can’t afford. governments and large companies need to make their shift too, addressing this on many levels, addressing fair labour situations and countries economies that are being exploited and more. so that there is a trickle down and it isn’t a stress on consumers alone to enforce these changes.

on a personal level. i buy less overall. i don’t really want to own a lot of things. i do indulge myself with clothing, so i buy mainly thrifted items. i mean 90%. if i buy a new item, i try to have it fit as many good categories as possible- know where it comes from and that the labour practices there are not exploitative, preferably buy from local & independent businesses, know that there is low toxicity involved in making it, that it is of a high quality and will last a long time, that i can recycle it or donate it when i am done with it. i try to think of myself as a babysitter of an item that i come to own, and think what care will be involved in its lifecycle.

i did buy some jelly flats a few weeks ago though, those things are like a five alarm fire of environmental no-nos. so i do screw up but i’m working on it.

so nothing new here. but wanted to say where i was with all this.

here is a more detailed take on this issue-
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/01/fashion/01green.html

and now i really need to share this…