GET WILD! Patterns galore!

One of my favorite things about thrifting is the crazy patterns you find. Even though this fall it appears as though high fashion magazines want you to believe that "crazy patterns" and "crazy pattern mixing" is so in that just about anyone can do it, I think not. It takes a trained eye, and a no-holds-barred attitude when it comes to wild patterns. What they don't tell you is that if you are going to go down that route, you must do it with attitude! This means that if you are out at a bar and decided to wear a shirt as a dress, you need to not give two hoots if someone calls you out on it! Wear those patterns with pride and no one can stop you!

Like...

This amazing, vintage, kimono-style muumuu situation. It was probably intended to be worn as pjs, but you bet your sweet bippy I am going to wear this to a fancy event some day. Some day. Also, I love the pattern so much at it is currently on my list for "tattoo inspirations" (sorry Mom).

We have SO much to catch up on—like what has transpired with my challenge of thrifting Sheila's summer wardrobe. We have some results, and we had some duds. Luckily, some of the "duds" meant they were passed to me, like this boxy, black and white floral patterned top. It spoke to my grandma and goth style preferences perfectly.

I love this pattern. Love it. 

I found this weird 90's style button up during the same Saver's run as the above kimono dress. I feel like it was meant for some comic artist, who loves Talking Heads and Keith Haring.

And finally, since it is almost (almost!) sweater weather, I have this child's "Glamour Knits" top that is stylistically in the vein of the comic top. I feel very "Claudia" wearing this. You can't go wrong with weird knit patterns. EVER! (Just don't forget your ATTITUDE!).

Special Collections: Sexy Time! Silky Printy Sleepy Things

Sometimes, over the course of years and years of thrifting, you realize that you are unconsciously forming unusual little collections of things. That your once seemingly disparate attractions are convening in unintended ways. Before you ever realize, your love of Hawaiian prints and trench coats has manifested in perhaps the only collection of hibiscus and palm-themed outerwear in the Upper Midwest. Such are the joys of thrifting.

In this particular case, my special collection has grown out of my otherwise unrelated loves of lingerie, print design, and natural fibers. I love lingerie and sleepwear. Especially old lingerie and sleepwear. Despite the fact that I am one of very few people who will pay for the privilege of wearing other people's discarded underthings, good stuff is still very hard to find. Beyond the taboos of thumbing through someone else's granny's discarded panties, the greater travesty lies; that for the last five to six decades, women have been wrapping their most intimate bits in the most unbreathable, untouchable, most flammable, most totally synthetic materials that have yet to be concocted by man. So no matter how cute some little vintage teddy is, if it is made of acetate, I cannot abide. But on those rare occasions that I find pieces that are naturally fibered, and apparently, fantastically printed, I snatch (ha!) them up. And the result looks something like this:



This first piece is some 80's Victoria's Secret business. Can you even imagine finding an all silk, rope printed slip walking in to VS these days?! No. Well maybe but I haven't been in one since high school and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to make an educated guess. But I did find this slip at the Value Village by Milwaukee's airport, when I was killing time waiting to pick up my boyfriend's delayed flight a few Christmases ago.


A scooped out back. And spaghetti straps. I love me some spaghetti straps.



This second silky printed slip I found in Austin, TX, a few years ago, when I was nursing a very severe hangover. My boyfriend took me thrifting, thinking that if anything could stave off a killer hangover in me, it was deals. The only deal I could muster before barfing that day was this fantastic little number.


A chinoiserie floral printed silk slip, that could be the cousin to the VS one. Two is a trend!


Next is a rather recent find, that was featured in the 25 Days of Black Friday Thrifting, this past year. A floral printed silk kimono robe.


A martini sipping uniform, indeed. It is so hard to keep closed, which is a delightful problem to have with your silk kimono robe.


And then there is this little lacey and silky floral printed camisole. So LOVELY.


It is these sorts of finds that make me so frustrated that the whole "innerwear as outerwear" thing will probably never truly happen in the way that it could, in a perfect world. In that I mean I will probably never be OK if I wear this to work as a top.


There you go! Now that I have put all these pieces together in one place for the very first time, I cannot help but imagine a Fiona Apple-esque music video in which they are all layered and sexily discarded piece by piece. Do what you will with that remark.

Day 14: My New Martini Sipping Uniform

It was a gross oversight on my part to not have included this item on my Black Friday Wishlist. I have been looking for a silk kimono robe for ages. Years really. I came close recently with this lovely little cropped kimono, but clearly it is not meant for the desired purpose. Consequently, I have simply done without a robe for all this time, knowing that I would eventually find the perfect one thrifting if I just kept looking. And when you know exactly what you want, it is very hard to accept it in a lesser form.

Well, my persistence, as well as my seemingly pointless abstinence from robe wearing, have finally paid off. My silk kimono robe dream came true for a mere $3 at the Bethesda thrift in Appleton WI, making it my #7 top Black Friday find.



The effects of this robe have been truly life changing. I cannot express the utter loveliness of being wrapped in the massive yardage of silky softness possessed by this robe. The big, drapey sleeves, paired with the somewhat bizarrely bright pastel pallet of the floral print, make it the perfect combination of 30's movie star glamor, and secret-martini-drinking Miami trophy wife. It does however make it very impractical for dish washing. Still, I recommend one of these to absolutely everyone.

Kimono Crack

This is my new favorite thing in the world, and there are so many things to be favorite about it. So many things in fact that I will denote them in list form.

1: It is a kimono

2: It is a CROPPED kimono. I don't know if I have ever seen a cropped kimono before in my life. It is such an obviously good idea I am embarrassed I didn't think of it first.

3: It is a silk cropped kimono

4: There is some serious, serious textile action going on here. Within this silk cropped kimono, there are two jacquard patterns; a floral and a paisley, and two printed patterns; a geometric and a floral geometric combo (closeups below). A very eclectic mix of traditional kimono motifs and modern designs. As a textile design junkie, this is like crack in garment form.

5: As a new addition to my wardrobe, it serves a completely unique purpose of anything else I own. It works like a cardigan, but no other cardigan I have is either woven, printed, multi-patterned, or a kimono.

So there you go. Not bad for $5.

Roses on dot background print, from the lapel. I love the hard graphic background with the placed rose print.

Traditional Japanese cherry blossom and bamboo jacquard. There is a lot of depth in this, very luxurious.

This is a traditional Japanese geometric kimono print. I love how modern these designs tend to look, but they are old old old.

Black on black paisley jacquard. A little textile history for you; the paisley pattern originates in Persia and India, but the name is Scottish.