Bonjour! Gucci, est que vraiment vous?!?

Found a fall 2008 Gucci at Thrift Town for 6 bux yesterday! Really loving this dress, it pairs well with some fancy sandals I got at Crimson and Clover a few months ago. My furry olive hat and tapestry purse round out the outfit, and multiple bracelets, rings and necklace top it all off. This is only the second Gucci I have ever thrifted! Have you thrifted much designer lately?

Crimson and Clover, over and over!

Gonna sound like a broken record but guess what? I love Crimson and Clover! Still do, and have since they opened shop or rather, reopened what was also once another vintage clothing boutique. They are located close to my werk so I like to hit em up on the regular. It's pretty embarrassing to admit but last year I went there two days in a row one time! BUT, I found the raddest upholstery fabric that Nicole just put out on that second trip! My sad ass target ottoman was wrecked and needed a rebuild. I'm pleased with the results and it was eight bux very well spent!

70s hat, twenty bux on ebay
70s dress and 60s bracelet, 20 bux and 16 bux respectively, Crimson and Clover
70s spacey ring, gift with purchase from Smashingbird!!
70s cork ans leather sandals, 10 bux Sacramento Antique Fair last month, seen purchasing here

Unexpected gifts and random acts of radness!

I won two blogger awards, a blog contest, and got surprise gifts in the mail! Hot damn, instead of sittin here writing this I should go buy a lottery ticket so I can quit my day job!! First off I was recognized for my thrifty outfit savvy by none other than Debbie Baker Burns of Thrifty Girl Vintage! She bestowed upon me the blogger luxury award. Check out her blog and see how she makes a dollar holler, Kentucky style! Next up the lovely Greek goddess Dimi of Little Witches/Tiny Wizards awarded me the irresistibly sweet blogger accolade! Being that Dimi is so very sweet herself I am very honored!! Then I was randomly selected to win a gift certificate to Smarty Cats etsy store by the adorable Nikki of Little Bits of NikkNak! Nikki is a local girl who makes bein a lil bit look so good! I had the pleasure of hangin with her at blogger meet ups and I am stoked to be her friend. Check out her online shop too, she is parting with killer clothes and accessories you may need to adopt!! Speaking of adopting, I was perusing Smashingbird's etsy shop and had to make a vintage turquoise beaded purse mine. Well, as a bonus for being her first etsy sale I got a surprise hat, shirt, and ring too! This recognition has been the icing on an already totally sweet cake! Thanks to my friends in blogland for making the magic happen!
70s Hawaiian maxi dress, $6 Goodwill thrifted a few years ago
60s atomic ring, Smashingbird bonus gift, FREE, WHEE!!
60s repurposed aurora borealis ring, Smarty Cats etsy gift, FREE, WHEE!!
Modern new bcbg sandals, $25 Citizen Rosebud sale
60s beaded raffia purse, thrifted cheaply a long time ago
50s bakelite ring, $20 ebay last year
60s cha cha aurora borealis bracelet, $16 crimson and clover last year
70s green glitter sunglasses, $20 ebay a few years ago

Jumping on a Jumpsuit Challenge!

Sometimes the stupidest comments can get me riled up! For instance, my husband’s friend was talking about jumpsuits several months back, stating that they were hard to pull off so most people shouldn’t try. Well, if you want me to do something just say it’s next to impossible and I’ll be all over it like a fly on you know what! Plus, I quickly pointed out that I wear jumpsuits frequently and have for years, but he didn’t believe me.  So here is one of said jumpsuits, a vintage nightie which I have seen fit to wear out of the house.  The added bonus of being super comfy doesn’t hurt one bit either!   So don’t hold back, please tell me if you would do this particular don’t!!
60s leopard print jumpsuit nightie, $10 ebay several years ago
70s shrunken fit child’s Lee jean jacket, $5 thrifted several years ago
Diba pointed toe flats, $5 thrifted in Seattle when our friends got married 4 years ago
Vintage chain belt, $1 thrifted several years ago
70s sunglasses, $1 thrifted several years ago
70s Sarah Coventry necklace, $10 ebay last week
killer chain earrings, $8 porkchop rules via Crimson and Clover

Proud to be stylish and feminist!!

Dusk is an absolute force of nature, and one of the most positive, fearless and creative women I have had the pleasure to meet in blogland. I am floored she has chosen me to be a recipient of the Stylish Blogger Award!! I am very happy to accept this accolade and pass the torch forward to the following bloggers who all bring it with style in their own special way: Nikki of Little Bits of Nikk Nak, Kara of Porkchop Does Rule, Nicole of Flaming Hag Folkwear, Joanna of Mrs. Bossa Does the Do, Rebecca of Smashingbird, Shy Biker, Dhee-Ghee of Dear Girl, confessions of a wallflower, Annalise and Jennifer of Hummingbird Girls, Dolly the bird of The Knack and How to get it, and Dash of The French Sampler!!
And per the guidelines for award recipients, I would like to share some things about me I have not yet divulged on this blog! As a member of the Feminist Fashion Blogger group, we are blogging in concert today on the topic: finance, feminism and the fashion blogger. This relates well to the introduction of my background as a construction worker. For many years I was very proud of the fact that I worked as hard as any of my (almost all) male peers for equal pay. I am a journey-level electrician, heavy equipment operator, and a gradesetter. I spent eight years working for union companies building soul less subdivision McMansion tract housing neighborhoods that I loathe! I then was self employed for almost three years as a General Contractor, specializing in remodeling homes built prior to 1950. After the economy started to tank in 2007 I got an entry level office worker job for the State of California. I was sick of dealing with deadbeat clients too, I won’t lie. It was a pay cut and a morale bruiser but my paychecks don’t bounce! I would cringe when people asked me what I do for a living when before I was proud to exceed their expectations of what women are capable of. But I’m small boned and I have since been diagnosed with early onset osteoarthritis in my spine, a result of having worked like a dog building everything I could get paid well to for almost 15 years. So now I’m grateful I’m not beating my body up just to prove that I can do what men can do, only better! And I was also fortunate to have purchased my house by myself when I was just 24 years old, having saved up some of the good pay I used to shovel in!! My little bungalow was built in 1920 and is located in an urban area near downtown Sacramento with huge trees and a killer park. So I don’t want for much, and I don’t need to abuse myself to make a decent living anymore! In contrast, fashion blogging has been purely a pleasure. I am new at this, having only seriously started blogging a few months ago, and if I never make any money doing it that would be fine! But as I have been collecting vintage clothing for over 20 years I’d love to be able to sell some of that to other vintage lovers out there too! You can’t put a price on the value of the connections and camaraderie I experience by sharing what I love most: building, restoring and celebrating life through my vintage style filter!  
  
70s Midi Dress, Joseph Magnin, $4 Sacramento Antique fair last week
Contemporary fake fur capelet, $15 Citizen Rosebud a few weeks ago
70s plastic cameo choker, $8 Sacramento Antique fair fair last week
Fake pearl and ab rings, $1 each Sacramento Antique fair fair last week
Bakelite dome ring, $20 ebay a few years ago
70s pull on boots, $4 thrift town, last seen here
         

It's a Spring Thing!

I never met a 70s novelty print I didn’t like, and this dress was no exception. It was in very sad shape when I adopted it from the thrift store last summer. The bodice was stretched out, it had shredded spaghetti straps and many small holes in the hemline. I felt sorry for this poor abused frock, so I took it in on the sides, removed said sad straps and brought up the hem enough to disguise the holes in it. She has flitted around repeatedly since then, recently making her first appearance of the season. Sunshine on my shoulders makes me very happy indeed!
70s owl print dress, $6 thrifted last year
Moroccan leather and brass belt, $15 ebay several years ago
BGBG girls studded leather sandals, $20 Citizen Rosebud sale
Bad ass triple chain earrings, $8 Porkchop Rules via Crimson and Clover

Hello Yellow!

I was super excited to receive my order of these yellow tights from we love colors hoping they would match my beloved yellow leather go go boots. Starting with a sunny foundation on my legs, I then busted out my hiding elephant dress, which I thrifted about 10 years ago at the now defunct Northgate thrift store. Man I miss that thrift store!! I bought some of my very favorite vintage items there. I even bought a Burberry camel peacoat for $3.80, which I wore for years and then sold on ebay 2 years ago for $300 (someone took the buy it now bait less than 24 hours after I listed it!), and my first ever thrifted Pucci, A 60s wool vivara print blouse for 80 cents which I had dry cleaned for $3 and then sold on ebay for $286.00. The same organization has another thrift store located on Fruitridge Blvd in Sacramento and it’s okay, but there was something extra special about Northgate thrift. It makes me grateful to have been able to shop there so long ago, and wish I had a time machine to go back to the 90s and shop there again!
60s vintage sunglasses, made in France, $1 garage sale 10 years ago
elephant print dress, Northgate thrift store, 80 cents 10 years ago
60s yellow leather go go boots, $50 ebay 5 years ago
ab cha cha bracelet, $16 crimson and clover last year
blue cha cha bracelet, $10 ebay last year
adjustable rings, ebay a few years ago $5-$10 each
yellow tights, we love colors, $10 last week
Nauga monsters, Stanimal thrifted over 10 years ago, priceless

We are the vintage clothing preservation society

It's a cause near and dear to my heart, the preservation of fine vintage clothing! We are proud members of the vintage clothing preservation society, with over 20 years of manically haunting thrift, flea and church sale alike. Hoarding is a word that gets thrown around a lot, but that's ok with us. Esteemed vintage clothing seller Denise Brain put it well in a blog post she did several years ago about saving the maxi dresses. Also making a convincing argument to preserve and stay long is fantastic blogger and shop owner extraordinaire Nicole of Crimson and Clover (and dig vintage, and flaming hag folkwear!! ) fame who wears maxis with aplomb! If the vintage clothing has survived decades intact it should stay intact. I will professionally alter to fit and if the hem has been carelessly taken up crooked ( as is usually the case, grrrr) it has to go up higher to correct. The most heartbreaking of all is to see a once beautiful maxi dress chopped off into a tunic length shirt. Anything shorter than 32" from shoulder to hem is a shirt, and this opinion is coming from a short waisted 5' 2" lady!
I thrifted this gem of a dress a few years ago on my birthday! Goodwill was good to me with this $5 treasure. It fits perfectly (length and width!) and it's a novelty print with naked ladies splayed throughout. It was made by San Francisco Dress Works, est. 1971 A.D. I'm wearing it with thrifted pull up faux patent boots I got at thrift town for $4. Also included over the gown is a favorite custom made velvet trench coat I found on ebay and won for $40 several years ago. I'd cry to see either maxi garment get chopped as they are in such good shape. I thrifted these sunglasses so long ago I can't remember where! They are 70s cool ray by polaroid. My necklace is a 70s cameo I fished out of a huge pile of tangled up jewelry at the local antique fair, $3 (down from $5, a discount for my effort!).