mission: je ne sais quoi en hiver

For those of you who don't know, my husband and I are travelling/wwoofing in Italy for 4.5 months. For 1 week we will take a trip to Dublin, and for another week we will be in...drumroll please....PARIS! Ahhh...Paris. I'm pretty sure that I was not born in Korea but in fact France as I have a strange feeling it runs in my veins.

Now, my adoration for Paris fashion is unmeasurable. And I'm not just talking about the major fashion houses...I'm talking street fashion. A guilty pleasure of mine is searching for blogs that feature Parisians in their everyday garb. The prospect of trying to match that "je ne sais quoi" look that a true native has (me a lowly american) is quite frightening...I figured I should get some practice.

Here is my basic equation for the epitome (my epitome) of french style:

Red Red lips (and big earrings):

Off-beat accessories like this beaded vest and fuchsia leopard print scarf:

And funky but practical boots (after all, I am still a tourist trudging miles around town):

Add a little snow (we will be there in February) and viola!:

So how'd I do? Could I be walking the snowy streets of Montmartre?

scarf: $3 goodwill
vest: $2.50 spokane vv
boots: $9.99 spokane vv

Mission: Holiday JEWELRY

And so the holiday BLING continues. These are a few jewelry items that I picked up over the past few months specifically for the holidays. Again, the theme of black and gold prevails along with RHINESTONES! I will start to incorporate these pieces into my daily outfits so you can get a better idea of size and sparkle-tude. A piece of advice: if you have short hair, rock out the crazy earrings. If you have long hair and plan on wearing it down, stick more to the necklaces, bracelets and cocktail rings.

stars: $1.00 garage sale

flowers: $2.50 Susan's Secondhand,DeerLake, WA

rhinestone baubles: $5.00 Bobbi's, Spokane

rounds: $3.00 garage sale

black and silver rhinestone: $10.00 south hill UMC rummage sale

gold leafy/scaly: $3.00 Bobbi's

gold and pearl: $3.00 Bobbi's

black and gold plated: $5 Classy Rack, spokane

daily outfit: 2 degrees fahrenheit (-16 celsius)

This is what you wear when it's below freezing. I also had a hat.

$5 leather jacket, $2.47 green cardigan, levi jeans (new), "combat" boots from payless shoes source when I was in middle school...seriously, I haven't grown since then. I once was giant.

Mission: Holiday Bag

And here it is!

The ULTIMATE holiday bag.

Obviously this bag is not for the faint of heart. It is covered inch-to-inch in sequins and beads...and I mean INCH-to-INCH (see second picture...that's the bottom of the bag). I purchased this wonder for $6 which was WAY expensive for me. I had been staring at it for weeks at my favorite thrift store in honolulu and decided I'd better snatch it up before it disappeared and became another item in the catalogues of missed opportunities.

If you plan on using a bag this bold everything else is basic basic basic. It's the perfect touch of holiday for the LBD, or it can be worn with a cream color cashmere sweater and black miniskirt.

I love this bag.
but my husband always looks skeptically at me as I try it on with outfits...go figure.)

Wish List

In the spirit of the Holidays...

Dear Santa,

Please bring me/lead me to:

1) flat brown distressed leather mid-calf boots
2) the PERFECT red nail polish
3) chanel costume jewelry
4) leather skirt a la ashley olsen
5) mounds and mounds of sheer tights (i'm getting tired of opaque)

daily outfit: winter time?

So this is the outfit I decided to wear out unbeknownst to me that a snow storm would hit. Not exactly appropriate...but as I lifted myself into our Ford Bronco (product placement) I told my husband I would wear heels in the snow until I died...and then my shoe slipped out from under me and I almost fell on my butt.

Oh well.

Not snow friendly shoes:

But they leave very "jody" footprints in the snow!

only recycled clothing are the accessories. But the dress was only $15 at the fighting eel showroom in honolulu. woo hoo!

beret: gift from parents when I was 10
scarf: $1 spokane goodwill

daily outfit: (back logged) blurry

A couple blurry pictures of a pretty typical outfit:

boots: $5
shrunken blazer: $3.99
scarf: stolen from grandma?
bag: $4.99
gold broach: $2.00

daily outfit: bundled up post-work

Not much to say about this...except not TOO much of it is thrifted...actually, only the accessories. Sorry!

Store Story: Value Village, Spokane

Took my weekly trip to Value Village Spokane this evening and decided it's time I share the joy I find within with everyone else. From this first picture I'm sure you can tell how wonderfully organized the store is in comparison to others.

I definitely think this VV has some of the best selections in town as all their departments are humongous...literally WALLS of denim and a wonderful array of men's sweaters:

I really liked this wood bead bag for $2.50 (half off of 4.99). I've been browsing through a coffee book of ethnic dress which has re-awoken my appreciation for natural colors, textures, and materials.

I salivated at both of these dresses. Unfortunately the green one was too pricey ($35) and the black one I could tell would be the completely wrong length and the beading was coming apart ($12).

I absolutely LOVED this hat ($4.99):

and I found this wall hanging quite intriguing. It's hard to tell from this picture, but the two main horses were actually raised from the surface. One of those wonderfully tacky things that if used correctly becomes completely un-tacky!

daily outfit: tired

This outfit is titled: the long day's journey after a long journey into night. To sum it up: night started with dinner and dancing and ended with changing a flat tire in my $_ _ _ shoes in below freezing temperatures at 3am. My poor poor shoes.

black hoodie (macy's), hand-me-down tee from mom, slightly unflattering jean skirt $0.99, brown tights HUE (macy's), cowboy boots $5 central union thrift, knit hat borrowed from barbour family hat bin.

Mission: Holiday (part un)

Ho!Ho!Ho! The Holiday Season is upon us. Here are a couple of outfits in my go-to Holiday vein: Black and Gold. The main focus of this post is the clothes, so I purposefully left out bags and jewelry. The Holidays provide so much accessorizing fun, bags and jewelry each get their OWN post! Woo hoo for SPARKLE! Shoes are louboutin.

Outfit 1:

black DKNY tank $0.99 kalihi salvation army, gold accordion skirt $2.00 central union thrift, gold figurine belt $12 (trade) red light, vintage pink shrug $10 honolulu (palolo) garage sale.

Outfit 2:

black silk dress with all over gold beading $10 spokane value village veteran's day sale (orig. $19.99)

a promise

So, the truth of the matter is I'm extremely disappointed with my lack of commitment to this blog. I read a story on MSN.com today about a man who hasn't missed his morning run in 30 years. THIRTY YEARS! Now that is commitment. So starting tomorrow (technically today since it's past midnight) I will try to post SOMETHING every day. EVERY SINGLE DAY. It may not be an outfit post, or they may not be the highest quality pictures. but there will be SOMETHING. So for those few of you who have been hanging in there...prepare yourselves, I'm raising the bar!

Here is a list of the upcoming posts:

Friday: Holiday Part I and Daily Outfit
Saturday: Holiday Jewelry and Daily Outfit
Sunday: Daily Outfit
Monday: Store Story and Daily Outfit
Tuesday: Plunderings and Daily Outfit

p.s. another pre-new year's resolution...i'm kicking my fashion up a notch. Marriage and the PNW have made me soft (jeans and hoodies)...I'm bringing back heels 90% of the time and constantly overdressing even if it's below freezing. Life is more fun that way.

daily outfit: date night

Look, I'm smiling in a picture!

Every Tuesday is date night for me and my husband. In order to keep date night feeling extra-ordinary, I use it as an excuse to do my hair and makeup. This means with a done-up face, I tend to keep my clothes on the more casual side. This was my outfit of choice for dinner and a movie.

The jeans are mavi, t-shirt club monoco, belt gap, shoes ninewest. These were all purhased new (but of course on sale).

Scarf: Thrift Store, Honolulu, $2
Loose Jacket: Vintage, Catherine's Closet, $25
Gold Cuff: Catherine's Closet, $16
Faux Chanel Purse: Red Light, $12 (trade)

Shopfrugality Tip: Inspiration

Plain and simple: Fashion is an expression of yourself therefore in order for your fashion to develop, you need to develop yourself. Here are the ways I find inspiration:

1) As often as possible I create "lists" on 1 sheet of legal-pad paper of words, images, ideas that pop in to my head (usually at night before I go to bed). For instance, my most recent list included: Bolero! with RUFfles!, Blue eyeliner-shadow lower lid-reverse cat eye, black lace, leather/lavender, The Perfect-T, octopus, fringe necklace, fish bones, and a few sketches of skirts and what I think a reverse cat-eye eyeliner should look like. Sometimes these things mean nothing, sometimes they inspire me to create/try new things. It's basically a daily exercise in being creative--tuning in to what I'm feeling day-to-day.

2) Magazine cut-outs. This is the oldest trick in the book. If you see a great pair of thigh-high Chanel patent stiletto boots that you LOVE, rip the picture out at put it on an "inspiration" board. Even though you could never afford the real thing, having the image close at hand trains your eye to be on the look out for similar styles.

3) pictures. I'm bad at this one, but really, carry a camera with you everywhere. A street sign might inspire you in a moment. It's beautiful that every moment is new and individual and if you don't have a camera to catch it...it will never be caught.

4) search the web! Seriously, it's lame but important to know what's going on: looking at what other people are wearing, knowing trends, knowing designers, knowing Ebay, knowing Gap/Old Navy/BR, knowing low and high, high and low...KNOWING KNOWING KNOWING. And that good ol' saying, knowing your body!

Afterword: This entry was not so much a tip, but rather information on one approach I take to the vast realm of fashion. I'm transforming this into a tip by saying this: INSPIRE yourself, constantly constantly constantly. Not only in fashion, in LIFE. If you find something that inspires you every day, every day is successful. Life is inspirational. Bring that inspiration to the stores. Every now and then buy things on a whim. That's the beauty of shopfrugality, you are spending relatively small amounts so there's no such thing as buyer's remorse; buy the magenta dress because it makes you happy, even though it's three sizes too small and will only hang in your closet. Fashion is art. Fashion is life. Fashion is inspiration.

a side note

If you've noticed in the last two "daily outfit" posts, I haven't followed my own rules of proportion. The blue dress is generally too large, and the hem hits at an awkward calf length which is no good since I'm short. Same idea with the leggings in the second outfit, the leggings short length exaggerate my short legs. Bad bad bad. But like I mentioned in my "proportions" post...rules are meant to be broken. Just be sure to break them at the right times...not when going for that super important job interview!

daily outfit: (back logged) many things wrong...makes it alright?

I have a bit of apprehension posting this outfit as I feel there are many things wrong with it. Let me point out a few of the fashion fumbles: #1 leggings as pants. In general a terrible idea, unless you have toothpick legs a la young hollywood. #2. borderline tacky blazer. Yes, it is even missing a button. #3. designer knock-off bag. This is the debut of my faux chanel which in general is very very wrong and something I am usually not attracted to (fakeness, that is), but for some reason I find this bag ADORABLE.

With all that said, I still somehow find comfort in this outfit. I figure you never develop your style without looking ridiculous in public at times. Go figure.

plain white tee and leggings: both from Island Fever, Honolulu (McCully Center)
blazer: Goodwill, Seattle, $3.99
bag: Red Light, Seattle (Broadway), $12 (trade)
platforms: Nine West Outlet, Waikele Outlets, HI, a GAZILLION years ago (don't you love it when you buy shoes that end up being a MAJOR trend years later?)

daily outfit: (back logged) bright prints for fall

I wore this while out on town searching for the resting place of my future boutique. Pretty self explanatory, a bright dress toned down with muted tights and basic accessories. I notice my face is pretty washed out in these photos...but I just bought BRIGHT red and great muted red-plum lipsticks (both from M.A.C) which I plan on using as my "winter/holiday" makeup trend. I always feel cold weather requires an over exaggerated mouth. It's all very Snow White.


dress: vintage, central union thrift, honolulu, $2.50
slip underneath: from my mom
tights: HUE (new), macy's
shoes: Steve Madden, practically new from Crossroads Trading Co, Seattle (Broadway), $18.00
scarf: Catherine's Closet, $20
belt: vintage, Classy Rack, $1.39
bag: vintage, Goodwill, Honolulu, $5 (I think...got a while ago)


p.s. do you notice as the weather gets colder, my outfit list gets longer?

daily outfit: necessity, trench coat

When in doubt, throw on a trench:

Spice it up with great accessories:

A trench coat is definitely on my list of "must-haves." It is instantly classy and classic. It is one of the few pieces that can be both casual and formal, depending on what else you pair with it. Go buy one immediately...and, I will admit, this is something to buy NEW. Yes, new. Even though it is a classic piece, there are "updated" versions with newer silhouettes.

When wearing such a classic piece, I'm always sure to let my style shine through with the accessories. I LOVE these gloves, which are more decorative than functional. It's hard to tell in the picture, but they are navy blue and cream stripes.

trench: banana republic (fall '07), NEW
pashmina: catherine's closet, honolulu, $20
gloves: catherine's closet, honolulu, $12
boots: louis vuitton

fall: vintage jackets and designer shoes

I woke up today and autumn was miraculously surrounding me. It's been a while since I've had to do any seasonal dressing, so it's taking me some time to get the hang of it. But one thing I know for sure...it is time to bust out some of my favorite vintage jackets which I had no chance of wearing in Hawai`i. And to top it off, what goes better with a vintage jacket than a great pair of shoes?

Hope you enjoy (I'm wearing black leggings, black AA tube dress, and a vintage belt, $1.39):

jacket: leather "patchwork," central union thrift, honolulu, $5 (yes, genuine leather for FIVE dollars!)
shoes: prada

jacket: 80s teal suede, Goodwill Outlet, Seattle, $1.39 (per pound)
shoes: christian louboutin

jacket: rabbit fur (don't get all huffy...there are way too many rabbits anyway...and besides, it's second-hand so it's recycled fur), Salvation Army, spokane, $15 (it was on sale from $30)

shoes: gucci

ps. honolulu is the BEST place to buy great outerwear for CHEAP (duh)