Thrifting Queen

Sorry I've been kind of absent the last few days. I'm off work this week and have been doing some home projects and enjoying the beautiful (but hot) weather outside.

Today is a big day in our household - it's my husband's 50th birthday and our 25th wedding anniversary! We're not doing anything super big as we are planning on a big trip next June to coincide with our son's high school graduation.

However, MIL wanted to take us to a new barbecue place as my hubby absolutely LOVES ribs. This is a very casual restaurant, in fact many of the people there were in jeans or cutoff jeans and t-shirts. But that's not quite my style for dinner out so I wore my green silk casual dress (great in the heat), mixed metals with gold metallic flats but silver metallic laser-cut belt, and the new clutch that I did not use for Kristin's wedding. I like how this outfit is a dressier version of casual and still extremely comfortable. I also took my denim jacket in case the A/C was blasting but I didn't need it.

So what do you think? How are the colours and proportions together? As always, all comments/suggestions welcome.

Dress: Tommy Hilfiger (thrifted)
Belt: thrifted
Shoes: Enzo Angiolini
Handbag: Sterling Shoes

ETA: Here's a picture of my hubby and mother-in-law sitting in our yard after we got back from dinner, just relaxing. The blue tete-a-tete seat hubby is sitting on was one my father-in-law made about 30 years ago. It fell into some disrepair but my son wanted it from the family home when my MIL came to live with us. So on Monday and Tuesday, my MIL and I scraped the old brick red paint off (what was left of it), sanded it all down, repaired the slats that were loose and gave it one huge cleaning. Then we painted it this vivid blue colour to give it a new life. It's pretty comfy and it's full of memories.

The other project my MIL and I worked on this week was the stained glass window. This window came from a 100+ year old farmhouse that was being demolished that my husband and I came across on a vacation out of Province a few years ago. We were sad to see this old home being torn down and were horrified when we saw the demolition crew throwing these beautiful old windows into a dumpster. We asked the crew if we could have the last one and we drove home 3000 km with it on my knee. DH built the frame for it earlier this year and my MIL and I painted it, mounted the window and installed a small solar powered LED light above it so that it will be softly lit at night. We just have the finials to mount on the top of the posts tomorrow and it's done.

I've added a picture of my red lily which is finally blooming and the Welcome to My Garden sign that was in my MIL's garden and which she brought to our house.

We had a FANTASTIC time at my friend Kristin's wedding last night. It was without a doubt the nicest wedding/reception I've ever been to. All of Kristin's planning paid off and everything went so smoothly. It was also very much KRISTIN & RYAN - there were many individualized details that set it apart from anyone else's wedding. I'll have pictures of Kristin later to post but nothing right now. Needless to say, she looked stunning and radiant.

I did indeed go with the blue lace dress, red shoes and red clutch and felt comfortable. stylish and appropriate all night. Sorry for no pictures - wasn't able to take my camera. However my red clutch met an early death when a young lady at the reception in at least 6 inch stilettos and full of WAY too much liquor, bumped into me on my way to the washroom, knocking my clutch out of my hand and then promptly stepped on it with her weapon-like heels putting a gigantic hole right through my handbag. While saying to her "excuse me you're on my purse" and bending down to get it, didn't she step on the clasp with the other foot and break it right off. I was not amused but what are you going to do?

However, I have secret revenge today knowing she's nursing one gigantic hangover!

The first pair shown are the smaller of the two sizes I have. I hacked off two inches of the length so the cuff wouldn't be so thick. These are what I'm considering to be my "warm weather" BF jeans. I think these are ok.

The second pair shown in pic #2 (cuffed) and pic #3 (straight) are the ones I'm wondering about. They are a size up from the other pair. I want to be able to wear these ones full length with my various Docs in winter but may also want to wear them cuffed once in a while. Is the current length ok rolled or is the roll too thick? Are they too long unrolled? Should I take any off the bottom or is the amount of scrunch when unrolled ok?

I'm also wondering about the width in the leg. In order to get the size to be slouchy enough around my midsection (my widest part) I'm wondering if the legs are too wide? Should I maybe try another brand like Kut from the Kloth Catherine's which have a slimmer leg? Or should I just quit fussing and enjoy the ones I have?

It’s no secret on YLF that I love vintage items – clothing, handbags, and jewelry. My sister-in-law popped by last night and we got chatting about vintage and the new vintage handbag on its way to me (thanks to MIL) and she asked if I was going to use it. To me this seemed like such a silly question – well of course I’m going to use it, just like I use all my vintage items.

She then explained that in her mind, a vintage item is something you collect, display and enjoy looking at. Using it decreases its value and adds wear and tear to the item. She asked what I will do if I use it and it eventually falls apart – won’t I feel bad? I replied that I would have enjoyed the item while using it and that was the main thing.

But it got me thinking and now I’m curious what other vintage collectors/buyers do – do you use your vintage pieces or do you “save” them?

Yay for Casual Friday! I'm pulling out my crazy crops and crazy tee for today. I know the tee reads as black but it is navy blue. To honour Angie's post yesterday about orange and blue, I'm wearing my orange handbag. And today is the debut of my new gold metallic flats. Talk about comfortable!

It will be a very busy day today at work (I'm covering for three other people today in addition to my own work) and then we are closing the office at 3:00 to go to Kristin's wedding. We're all taking our outfits to work and changing there.

Anyway....how are the proportions and combination in this outfit? As always, all comments/suggestions welcome.

Tee: Thrifted (no label)
Crops: Dockers (thrifted and altered)
Handbag: Danier Leather (thrifted)
Shoes: Enzo Angliolinin

My mother-in-law knows of my love of vintage and of my love for handbags that are a bit unique.

While I was out the other night getting my hair trimmed, little did I know that MIL and hubby were in cahoots choosing a gift for me. My MIL wanted to thank me for helping her out so much in the last few months, helping her make the move to our home a smooth transition and for being with her at the hospital on the weekend. She is such a sweetheart and I count myself incredibly lucky.

I found out because they kept whispering and giggling last night at dinner and finally they couldn't keep it a secret anymore so hubby just sent me the photo of the purse (with MIL's blessing).

The two of them found this handbag on Etsy and it is so me I can't stand it! It's circa 1960, has authentic Bakelite clasp and handle and is gathered grey patent leather.

I am one lucky lady!

So I had one more idea this morning driving to work for an outfit for Kristin's wedding tomorrow. Yesterday I posted two possibilities, both using my blue lace dress http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....ch-version. However, the weather has turned fairly chilly and this other idea popped up because of that.

What about the new Maggy London black/white wrap dress I just got (see picture below) with my black vintage beads, red pumps and red clutch? Or is the dress not quite "wedding-ish" enough?

Yesterday and today have been unexpectedly chilly so it's giving me the opportunity to wear a few things I haven't worn for a while - like my blue vintage blazer. I've paired the blazer with my Gap black trousers and my white/black/blue animal print flowy blouse. I stuck with my black and white handbag (I've used this handbag three days in a row - unheard of for me - lol!) and gold oversized watch to go with the gold buttons on the jacket.

So what do you think? Do these colours and proportions work? As always, all comments/suggestions welcome.

My friend Kristin's wedding is Friday afternoon. It's a relatively small wedding (under 100 guests) being held in a garden setting, with the reception to follow in a fairly casual reception hall. I had already decided to wear my blue lace dress to the wedding and am just ironing out the accessories detail. For sure I will be wearing my diamond stud earrings and a cocktail ring. I cannot wear a necklace with the lace dress because of the necklace catching on the lace. I have decided however to wear one of my vintage brooches instead.

So here are my two versions - one includes my green Poetic Licence pumps, a newly purchased clutch with blues and greens in it, and a blue/green vintage flower brooch. The other version includes my newly thrifted red patent pumps and my red clutch, with a vintage silver and faux diamond brooch.

You may not care for either of these version as they are not very "blingy" but they suit my style at this point and I'm comfortable in either one.

Which one do you prefer?

Yay = green shoe version
Nay = red shoe version

Well this is a step out of my comfort zone, that's for sure! I'm pairing my black tiered midi skirt with my two-tone flats. Normally I would wear heels but I want to see if this works for a shortie like me. I've added my drapey-cowl neck sleeveless polka dot tank to the skirt and topped it with my red Gap blazer. I need to get this blazer to Wonder Woman to have the sleeves shortened but wanted to wear it one more time before I send it off. I've added my two tone handbag to mimic the shoes and a silver bangle for accessories.

So does this work? Can a petite wear flats with a midi length skirt? As always, all comments/suggestions welcome.

Blazer: Gap
Skirt: Laura Petites
Tank: Winner's
Shoes: Shelly London (thrifted)
Handbag: Danier Leather (thrifted)