Month: July 2018


Jul
2018

Ask Me Anything, Instagram Edition

categories: Trifles

If you spend any amount of time on IG, then you’ll probably be familiar with the new “Ask a Question” feature on IG Stories – everyone and their mom is using it. For once my apps were updated – sidenote, but am I the only person who forgets to update more than once every six months and then wonders why everyone else has much cooler filters/features/whatevers? – so I jumped on that train right quick. Being “with it” feels so good! Anyway, I didn’t get a ton of questions but I did get some, which was more than I was expecting, and while I did my best to answer them in the Stories format, I thought they might be well-suited for a longform response. And here we are! Your IG questions, answered.

What advice would you give to a newbie thrifted who right now is just “buying” things?

We’ve all been there. Or, at least I have. When I first got into thrifting, I was super excited to find any brand name clothing that fit me; I was pretty indiscriminating in my purchases. After a while, my scarcity/FOMO mentality started to evolve as I came to realize that there WILL (usually) be other great finds out there – so if a piece of clothing doesn’t fit as well as I like, or doesn’t fully suit my aesthetic, or generally isn’t at least a 8 out of 10 for me, it’s a pass. Doesn’t matter what label it is, or how cheap. But it takes a while to get there, if only because it may take you a while to figure out what you like, what works best for your body, your lifestyle, etc.

My advice is to take every thrift trip as an opportunity to learn. Learn about brands. Learn about fabrics. Learn about cuts. Learn what works on your body, and what you want to see reflected in the mirror. [For me, my current aesthetic is somewhat divorced from the platonic figure-flattery ideals, which then requires a different analysis than merely “does it fit well?”] Don’t be afraid to experiment. Making $5 mistakes is not the worst thing, especially if you have the option to re-sell or consign the things that don’t end up working out. You are not contributing to the fast fashion cycle in the process, so there’s that.

Do you often purge your closet to make room for new stuff?

I feel like this answer goes hand in hand with my response above. And it’s “YES”. I am constantly editing my closet, and I usually do 1-2 large purges every year on top of that. For me, at this stage of my life, it’s all about tweaking rather than overhauling. I have been a stable weight for a few years, I’m not planning major career changes, and I have my personal style finally figured out (for now, at least); all of which to say, my lifestyle needs are fairly well defined. I don’t buy as many “new” clothes as I used, but I still probably buy more than the average bear. Part of that is a process of upgrading – replacing pieces as I find new ones that better encapsulate my new style. Part of it is just the fact that I like variety. My closet will never be static, because I like having new pieces to rotate from time to time.

To make it all work with my spatial constraints, being a pretty ruthless editor is necessary. I do keep an overflow closet, which I use to “archive” pieces that don’t currently work but which I am not prepared to let go just yet. These tend to be pieces that are special or unique for one reason or another – things I couldn’t easily find again if I later decide that I want them again. But I also regularly edit that closet as well.

What part of Edmonton do you mainly focus your thrifting on?

I live on the south side, so that’s where I thrift most of the time. The key to thrifting “luck” is going often, which I try to do. I usually thrift once, sometimes twice a week. That’s only feasible because I have a couple of stores that are a 10 minute drive from my house, which is where I end up going 80% of the time. I might visit a couple of other stores (westside Goodwill, and Whyte Ave VV) once a month, just to see if I’m missing anything. Because I go to the same stores regularly, I can usually keep my visits to under an hour – I know the layout well, and I can scan things pretty quickly.

I was also asked what my favourite Edmonton thrift store was, and the answer is the Goodwill on Gateway Boulevard/Calgary Trail. It’s a combination of convenient location, best prices (for a chain thrift), and quality of finds.

Fave heels and shoes you own?

This was a tough question because I could talk about shoes all day; and, really, the answer depends on the occasion, weather, etc. Generally speaking, based on style and comfort level, for heels I like Manolo Blahnik, Stuart Weitzman, Ferragamo and Jimmy Choo. I think J. Crew makes (or used to make) surprisingly good shoes at a lower price point (wait for a sale).

For flats, I really like AGL as you guys know. The most comfortable flats I own are AGL.

On the less pricy side of things, I’ve had good experience with Louise et Cie, Sam Edelman, Cole Haan, and Calvin Klein (basic pumps).

What made you transition from wearing more flats than heels?

This was a follow up question to the one above. The reason is a combination of my style changing – loafers and oxfords suit the Prince and Adventurer personas better than heels, for the most part – and getting older. My foot joints hurt more now, and flats are obviously more comfortable.

Do you plan your outfits, and how far in advance?

The short answer is “yes” and “monthly”. The longer answer is that I only plan my work outfits; because I’ve been working from home more often lately, a month’s worth of outfits means anywhere from 15 to 20. It takes me 10-20 minutes to brainstorm the outfit ideas, and about an hour to prep and photograph everything. Occasionally, I will scrap an original idea and re-shoot an outfit if it doesn’t look good as good in photos as it did in my head. (Every outfit I post on IG is worn in real life.)

I’ve talked about this before, but I like outfit planning because it reduces the amount of time I spend in the (workday) morning getting ready. Because I have a month’s worth of outfits ready, I can easily adjust what I wear on any given day depending on the weather and my plans. I use Stylebook to record my planned outfits, but I also have the photos as a guide to remember what to wear.

I don’t plan casual outfits in the same way, though I do record them in Stylebook because I am trying to keep my wardrobe usage stats as current as possible.

Got more questions? Leave them in the comments!


Jul
2018

The One Where I Find Gold At The Thrift Store

categories: Thrifting

I am not burying the lede with this title, guys. This is possibly my most literal blog title ever. I would usually aim for some surprise element to justify making you read umpteenth paragraphs of my rambling, but I decided to go for clickbait instead. If you’re still reading this, I guess it worked. Now, don’t run off; grab a snack and settle in for the full story of how I found gold at the thrift store.

I didn’t go looking for it. There are many things I actively look for in thrift stores, from the not very specific (plain black lace-up loafers) to the fairly specific (Hermes scarf, Diptique candle, Anthro mugs) to exact items (a pink felted wool Marni top I saw online once). Gold has never been on my list because I assumed that any donated gold, which must be pretty rare to begin with, would get price-jacked six ways to Sunday. I mean, I recently saw a DVF dress priced at $90. It wasn’t even a particularly nice dress. This is also the reason why I don’t bother looking at thrift store “showcases” – the locked displays where they put the “nice stuff”, i.e. the items that thrift store staff consider to be high value. (Which, more often than not, means crappy counterfeits of designer bags but I digress.) I tend to stick to the regular racks, and that is where, in my experience, the real treasures are to be found.

Since finding some Alex & Ani bracelets at Goodwill last month, I have been mildly obsessed with adding to my bangle collection. I now make a point of scouring the costume jewelry displays in each store I visit, in the hopes of finding more of these bracelets. So far, no dice … but it’s how I came across this necklace:

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It was mixed in with a jumble of other necklaces, mostly trash, and it’s a small miracle than I even spotted it. What drew my attention to it in the first place was the chain. The links were perfectly formed and delicate – not what you might expect from junk jewelry. I looked for a dog tag thingie around the clasp that might indicate a brand name, but there was none. Because I was in a rush, and still had the rest of the store to go through, I decided to take the necklace with me and investigate more later. As it happens, I didn’t end up finding anything else of note on that trip. I was trying to decide whether it was worth going through the line-up at the till for a single item when I noticed a very small marking on the link next to the clasp. It was too small for me to see clearly what it said, but I was sufficiently intrigued to take a chance on the necklace and buy it. I figured the $3 spent on it would provide a learning opportunity if nothing else.

And, boy, it did.

The first thing I did when I got home was look for a magnifying glass. We didn’t have one, but lo! there’s an app for that. Such is the wonder of life in the 21st century. With the assistance of my iPhone, I deciphered the markings on the necklace; by then, I had realized there were actually 4 separate ones, inscribed on different places around the clasp. They were, in no particular order: AND, Italy, 585, and 14K.

AND was a non-starter for obvious reasons — you try googling that — and Italy was self-evident. The quickest research informed me that “585” is European shorthand for 14 karat gold, which checked out. However, it turns out that “14k Italy” is a not infrequently counterfeited mark; who knew? Mine appeared as two separate markings but I decided I couldn’t take them at face value. So I turned to science.

There are several ways to test gold at home, ranging from the impractical (no, I don’t have nitric acid handy, thanks) to the suspect – more on that in a moment. The first test I tried was the magnet test. Gold is not magnetic so it should not react to a magnet. One of my bracelets has a magnetic closure which is strong enough to attract other (metal) bangles to it; I tested the necklace against it and … nada. I also tested the necklace against the magnet in my Marc by Marc Jacobs bag, which seems to be industrial strength; again, no reaction. So far, so good.

According to Google, gold is quite dense. (This did not inspired confidence in me because the necklace was pretty light. With that said, my one other gold necklace – purchased at Tiffany, so I know it’s legit — is also fairly light so *shrug*) Gold is supposed to sink to the bottom of a glass full of water, while fake gold should float. I must have been doing something wrong because literally everything I dropped in the glass, sunk immediately. Hmm.

I was too chickens**t to try pouring vinegar on the necklace, a somewhat more practical alternative to the aforementioned nitric acid test. I also didn’t want to scratch it — it was in perfect condition, no dark spots or scratches, which was another point in favour of it being real gold — so I decided to try some more non-invasive testing.

The weirdest test of all was the foundation one. There’s a YouTube video, in case you’re interested. I followed the instructions and smeared a bit of foundation (don’t think it matters what kind) on my arm. After the foundation dries, you’re supposed to rub the gold item over the skin (where the foundation has been applied) – if it leaves a black mark, it’s real gold. If it’s fake, no mark. I thought this was nuts … until I saw the black mark on my arm. It was more like a dirt mark than pitch black, but you get the gist.

Things were looking good, but I was still not satisfied. After more desultory internet sleuthing, I eventually gave up and took the necklace to a mall jewelller for confirmation. They were kind enough not to charge me for checking it out, which is good because …

… never mind; trying to do a last minute fake-out in a blog post is quite beyond my narrative skills. The real lowdown? The necklace itself is 14k gold, while the horsebit pendant is gold plated. The gold plating is quite thick apparently, which is probably why it reacted to my home tests the way it did (or not). I didn’t want to shell out for a proper apppraisal, since I don’t plan to sell the necklace, but I think it’s safe to say I copped a good bargain for $3.

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And that, my friends, is the story of how I found literal gold at the thrift store.


Jul
2018

What I Wore: July 16-22, 2018

categories: Uncategorized

90s Throwback

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To be clear, I am referring to my outfit, and specifically the vintage Jones NY skirt, and not my own self. We would have to throw back a lot farther if that were the case. Ba-dum-tish. Did I mention that I’m turning 38 in, oh, one week’s time? I don’t feel a day over 22, and I am always slightly mortified when I think about the disconnect between how I see myself and how others see me. So I try not to think about it, which seems like the only sensible solution.

Anyway, the outfit. I don’t know how old this skirt is, but it has a 90s vibe to it which makes it “on trend” with the current revival of that decade. The trendiness isn’t what attracted me to it, though it’s always nice to feel even accidentally fashionable; I have been moving away from pencil skirts lately and looking for new silhouettes. Midi and maxi skirts intrigue me, and the details of this particular skirt are very good. It’s minimalist, but not dowdy – that’s a stealthy slit that comes up past the knee – and the quality is excellent (fully lined, 100% lightweight wool). Keeping in line with my Artist persona, I paired the skirt with a relaxed fit, chambray-like Theory top, and a structured blazer for contrast. The chunky necklace is from Chico’s, of all places, but we’ll just pretend it’s Anthro or something, mkay?

Autumn in July

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The weather has been all over the calendar lately; it’s hot one day, cold the next, and sometimes it’s hot and cold all in one day. My office AC is another matter, and only slightly less unpredictable. Don’t take this as a complaint, because anything that isn’t winter is a good thing in my books, but it’s been a weird summer. Which explains as much of this outfit as can be explained. Actually, it was a very weather-smart choice; the jacket was perfect for the chilly morning, and the sleeveless shell was perfect for the office temps. The top covers enough of my shoulders that I don’t feel too exposed without a topper. I do love the full, blazered effect because it’s got that professor vibe I love – I’m calling it “the Adventurer goes to Oxford”.

Prairie Chic

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This is one of those divisive outfits that you’ll either love or hate. Needless to say, I fall into the first camp. This Wilfred dress was a recent thrift score; it’s 100% cotton and I adore everything about it. Rather that pile on more volume – though it’s only a matter of time before that happens, fyi – I decided to dig up this old Tabitha cropped jacket and go for a sorta Neo-Georgian-by-way-of-Little-House-On-The-Prairie effect. Remember Pride and Prejudice?

Who wore it better?
Who wore it better?

Seven Years

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That’s how old my son is. Seven years. Does not compute. He’s only about a foot shorter than me, and some days he looks (and acts) like a teenager and I. Just. Cannot. Compute. Does it ever became more plausible? Like, am I going to be looking at him in 20 years’ time and wondering how it’s possible that he is my son – that small, wrinkly, little bean they put in my arms at the hospital one day?

Leaving aside the existential questions, this was the outfit I wore to the celebratory dinner. Per the birthday boy’s request, we went to Boston Pizza – he is only 7, after all. This linen Lord & Taylor dress was perfect for the occasion, though I’m not sure it wouldn’t be perfect for every occasion. It’s literally a big sack, but it’s also somehow the most flattering shapeless thing ever. I’m also quite madly in love with these Barbara Barbieri sandals. I don’t own any other high heeled sandals, but these are very comfortable, and the spikes add a bit of edge.