St. Louis Thrift Finds: Obnoxious Vests, Or, How My Thrifting Style Has Evolved

Vest: Savers in Crestwood, MO

I don't frequent Savers--I'm a much bigger fan of its cheaper, dirtier sibling, Value Village--but decided to take a gander last week. My favorite find was this chair vest. Have you ever seen anything like it?

Pieces like this remind me that my style has evolved, even when it doesn't feel so. I don't want to say my standards were low back in high school and college, but they were liberal. I have a long history of hoarding obnoxious, striking prints (especially if they were under $3). If it made me laugh, or I thought it would be fun to wear, I'd usually buy it. (Case in point: this tulip shirt.)

Lately I spot items while out thrifting that make me think, "I would have snatched that up in [high school/college]!" then laugh at its obnoxious details and go about my way. Vests have always been a weakness, and I've owned some doozies. This vest reminded me of that struggle--it was tough to pass on. I definitely would have bought this if I'd spotted it five years ago. Would I have worn it? Maybe once or twice (probably even with this black cocktail blouse). But it felt good to walk away, knowing "my" aesthetic better these days, and holding out for a much better-suited floral blouse two rows away. That's one of the best things about thrifting: there's always the promise of something great out there.

Oldies But Goodies: Vintage Cocktail Blouse with Gold and Baroque Touches

Blouse: thrifted
Necklace: purchased at Belleville Flea Market
Belt: thrifted

During high school and early college, a shirt needed one of five details for me to fall in love: a ruched shoulder, a fun print (I left this qualifier intentionally vague), a bell sleeve, a henley collar or a high neck. This shirt has stood up to several closet clean-outs because three out of five ain't bad.

The trick, though, is that without bright details the shirt can make me look a little Wednesday Addams. I find giant, gold things always help! (You can see closer details of the necklace on this post.)

Fine Form: Garden-Luscious Mannequin Heads From Silver Swan Home

I stumbled upon Silver Swan Home, based out of Union, Mo., during my jaunt to St. Louis Vintage Market Days earlier this month. While they specialize in shabby chic and French-inspired decor, I found myself most drawn to these garden-inspired mannequin heads. I love the use of moss, feathers and ferns to give these ladies some serious style! I'm not much of a green thumb (I killed my newly-purchased rosemary plant within two weeks), so I've been debating buying one of these as a way to add an earthy element to my apartment decor without fear of having to toss it in a week.

Experiments In Statement Necklaces

Blouse: thrifted
Necklace: Belleville Flea Market

One of my favorite things about the Belleville Flea Market is that I can go outside my usual style parameters with my jewelry purchases.  At $1 a pop, why shouldn't I at least try out some zany statement necklace? With this particular necklace, I was drawn to its nonsensical combination of loops and lines to create its shape, but was still left wondering, "What the hell is this supposed to look like?" I don't think I would have ended up with it if it had been sold anywhere else, and I'm having a lot of fun incorporating it into my wardrobe.

Showing Off Latch Details On a Retro Necklace

Red tank: thrifted, Value Village
Cardigan: Target (old)
Necklace: purchased at Belleville Flea Market

I can't believe it's taken me this long to realize I can show off those cool, ornate buckles on my old necklaces! Duh doy.

Keep It Simple, Stupid: Dressed Up Like a Classy Lady In a Shimmery Henley

One of my secondhand weaknesses is a good henley-style collar. The shimmery stripes on this pink blouse bring an extra 'oomph' to this everyday look.

Fine Form: Hand Jewelry Display

This cool sterling ring dish was part of my birthday present from my mom. We both spotted it at the exact same moment when browsing at St. Louis Vintage Market Days, but she was quicker to snatch it off the shelf. Lucky for me, she loves me!

I think it's already become one of my favorite jewelry displays. Also, I like piling so many rings on it that it looks like the hand is trying to dig its way out. Like so.

Celebrating My First STLFW As a Blogger!

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the STLFW VIP Blogger Lounge at Scrape American Bistro, hosted by ALIVE Magazine. It was my first time attending as a blogger, and I couldn't be more grateful to meet so many cool new people and brands.

Here are just a few of the new products I saw from local labels: 

Belle Style (vintage-inspired jewelry)

Luichiny 

Greetabl

Shirt Kong (graphic tees)

Suzanne Lay (flirty, feminine clothing)

Thirteenth & Washington (Kristen turned my mop of hair into a pretty, twisty side bun)

TriFlare (traithalon wear)

Two Ways to Wear a Colorful Tribal Print Skirt

Skirt: Target / ZZTop tee: thrifted / Cardigan: Target / Button-down: thrifted / Printed blouse: thrifted

Target's BOGO on skirts and shorts the other week yielded some great additions to my closet, including this tribal print skirt. The color combination has been stuck in my mind since styling this outfit with pink, orange and blue touches. I plan on wearing it to the office paired with some simpler shirts (white button-downs, solid navy shirts), but I also wanted to test out some fun, casual looks for my days off. To keep the layers on the first look from getting too lumpy, I actually cut one of my old button-downs into a dickey. The second outfit is meant to be more grab-and-go (and will come in handy starting in May, when the St. Louis heat starts rising for the summer!).

Here's a close-up of the pins on the first look. The "Vintage is the new black" pin was a purchase from St. Louis Vintage Market Days. Don't forget to check out the other treasures I spotted at the market!

"Vintage is the new black" pin: St. Louis Vintage Market Days / Floral brooch: thrifted

How do you style your tribal print pieces?

Off the Bust: 6 Ways to Wear Fun, Colorful Tights and Socks With Ankle Booties

I created my Style Rules to outline to readers some of the more concrete do's and don'ts of my wardrobe, except I left out one important guideline: wear fun socks whenever possible!

My habit began when I was a sales associate at F21. Since I was still in college and only had part of my wardrobe with me at school, I relied on different socks and tights to repeat outfits while keeping them fresh. Here I show off some of my fast tricks for styling crazy socks, featuring my slightly-above-the-ankle suede booties from Bakers Shoes. Can you believe I snagged them on a store closing clearance for $30?!



Pull socks over pants or cuff pants to show a peek of color

Socks: Target

Scrunch up cozy socks

Socks: Target

Double up

Socks: Target

Play off of contrasting colors

Blue tights: Forever 21 / Purple tights and socks: Target

Layer tights

Black tights (underneath): Wal-Mart / Teal tights: Forever 21 / Black fishnets: Nordstrom Rack / Red tights: Target

Layer tights with patterned socks 

Black tights: Wal-Mart / Gray and black stripes socks (both pairs): stolen from mom / Pink tights: Forever 21 / Purple socks: Target

St. Louis Thrift Finds: Vintage Is the New Black at St. Louis Vintage Market Days

Did anyone else check out St. Louis Vintage Market Days? The weather was beautiful! I scored a really interesting jewelry display (which I'll share later!), and got eyefuls of upcycled treasures. Here are just a few.

(Stolen Off) My Boyfriend's Back: Getting Ready for St. Louis Cardinals Home Opening Day (Also, My Birthday!)

Cardinals tee: stolen from my boyfriend

Chambray button-down: TJ Maxx

Shorts: JCPenney (old)

Shoes: Vans (old)

Sunglasses: Avalon Exchange in St. Louis

The St. Louis Cardinals' home opener happens to coincide with my birthday! I didn't act quickly enough to snag tickets to the game, but you better believe I'm going to be enjoying it with a few afternoon beers. 

Doubling Up On Collared Shirts

Blouses and necklaces: thrifted

You may recognize the peach blouse from this post. These shirts were hanging next to each other in my closet, and I loved how the colors play off of each other. I thought I would test out how they look layered. Layering collared shirts is tricky--I don't know if the flipped-under collar on the outside shirt would stay put all day, but I like the look of it on the dress form!

St. Louis Thrift Finds: Supplement Your Spring Wardrobe With Vintage and Secondhand Touches

Not so surprisingly, my latest post for ALIVE Magazine's Style Notes blog focuses on vintage events and open-air markets that are happening around St. Louis this spring. Check it out!

6 Events Where You Can Achieve Vintage Euphoria This Spring

The events range from the CWE flea market to fundraisers from STL Symphony and St. Louis Rotary to a special pop-up shop sponsored by Parsimonia. Some of the sales also extend to antiques. My mom and sister are coming into town this weekend so we can check out the Vintage Market Days event! I'll also be stopping by St. Louis Rotary's jewelry fundraiser in hopes of scoring some cheap costume jewelry to play around with. My birthday is on Monday, so I'm hoping to find some treasures to show off during the festivities--as well as upcoming St. Louis Fashion Week events!

Are you attending any fun sales this spring?