July Favorites

Starting this month, I’m going to be featuring some of my favorite outfits from other blogs. I really like how Raquel of Black Sheep posts monthly outfit favorites, so I decided to do the same! These are a few of the looks that I loved this month.

Stories Read Aloud

 Sock Monkey and Gee
 

Custard Heart Vintage 

    

The Styling Dutchman

  Homerun Ballerina

  Fashion Forestry

Black Sheep

 Lucy and the Runaways

        

Coco Maria

Flattery

          

Kitsune-Kun

 La Vie C’est Yeye

Concrete and Asphalt

Tank: Collective Concepts

Shorts: thrifted

Shoes: thrifted

Bag: thrifted

This is the historic Colorado Street Bridge in Pasadena. I would love to take more photos here in the future because it’s one of my favorite spots in town. The bridge is especially beautiful at night with the large, old-fashioned lamps lit up. Back when I worked in Glendale, I would sometimes take surface streets home just so I could drive over this bridge and feel like the lights were welcoming me back to Pasadena.

Thrifted Thursday No. 16

Blouse, skirt, shoes and bag: thrifted

I had a more interesting (well, in my opinion) outfit planned for today involving a short-sleeved sweater, but it was just not happening now that the weather is heating up again. Instead I went for this light blouse and short skirt. Sometimes I feel like I have way too much office attire and not enough casual clothing, which makes sense since I worked in offices for several years before losing my last full-time job. Then again, I still like dressing up a bit and plan on finding another office job, so why drastically change my wardrobe at this point?

In a comment on my last blog post, Courtney asked if I work all day in heels. Well, when I worked in an office, yes, I did. When I work from home, I don’t wear any shoes, but I wear heels out running errands, thrifting, reading at the library, etc. I mostly wear low heels or wedges, though. I know heels aren’t good for my feet, but they’re just so cute! 

Oh So Anthro

Top: Willow & Clay

Skirt: Fei from Anthropologie

Shoes: thrifted vintage

Bag: thrifted

My skirt is the only piece from Anthropologie in this outfit, but I think this overall look is very much their style. I mean, I’m wearing an embellished top, a full skirt, a leather bag with hardware and quirky shoes — yep, pretty Anthro, I’d say.

I don’t know if Anthropologie carries anything by Willow & Clay, although Willow & Clay would definitely fit in with their aesthetic. I’ve actually done a little freelance copywriting for Willow & Clay in the past. They were really fun to work with! The copy in their spring lookbook is mine (introduced typos and that "Stripes Abound" heading aside), and I also worked on a sweater guide for them last fall.

Pink Me Up

Top: Susina

Skirt: thrifted

Socks: For Love 21

Shoes: thrifted

Susina makes such cute tops. I bought this one and a yellow one just like it at Nordstrom Rack a few years ago, and I’m always tempted to buy more Susina tops when I see them in thrift stores. I came very close to buying one today and had to remind myself, “Vintage for your shop ONLY.”

I started my outfit today with these hot pink shoes that I recently bought from Goodwill because I’d only worn them once so far. They’re by the brand Life Stride. Is that an old lady brand? They were pretty comfortable to walk around in, and I spent all afternoon on my feet scouring two thrift stores. 

Rah, Rah, Rah

Top: H&M

Skirt: Forever 21

Shoes: Urban Outfitters

Doesn’t the name of this post go perfectly with my bored expression? Whenever I wear this short pleated skirt, I kind of feel like a high school cheerleader. I’ve always resisted the urge to pair it with this red top, but today I decided I really didn’t care if I looked like a flag. These two pieces were meant to be worn together at some point.

                I also liked how Zeus looked with my shoes.

                            Awww, Zeuuuuuus...

First Estate Sale Finds

Hello! I feel like I’m posting so much, but I wanted to share a little more about my first estate sale experience on Friday.

The sale started at 8:00 a.m. and was in Rancho Cucamonga, my hometown, about 40 minutes east of Pasadena. I didn’t arrive until 8:40. I tried to be there right on time, but 6:00 a.m. was not an early enough hour to wake up, get ready, get gas, get cash at the ATM and make it to Rancho by 8:00.

When I pulled up to the house, it was very empty and quiet outside. I wondered if I had gotten the date wrong or something, but I went up to the door and knocked anyway. A young couple showed me in and asked what I was looking for. When I said “vintage women’s clothing,” the wife said they only had a few pieces. She showed me three dresses and a tunic laid out on the couch, none of which I thought I could sell.

I had gotten the impression from the ad for the sale that there would be dolls and doll clothing in addition to a storage unit full of human clothing, shoes and wigs. However, this sale was all about DOLLS. If I were a doll collector, I would have been really excited because they had dozens of collectible dolls in great condition, tons of gorgeous doll clothes and even doll accessories, including doll shoes from Germany still in their original packaging. (As you might have gathered by now, this wasn’t exactly a typical estate sale because everything for sale was in piles and bins in the kitchen and living room. They were not selling the contents of the house.)

I was about to leave, but then the husband told me they had some jewelry and the wife added that they had vintage baby clothes. I looked through the jewelry and didn’t find anything of interest. Then I started working my way through the baby clothing. They had a lot of cute, cute items, although most had some kind of minor damage or staining, unfortunately. Twice I picked out items that the wife took from me saying she couldn’t part with them, including an ADORABLE shirt and pant set with a cowboy and the words “Howdy Partner!” embroidered on the front.

In the end, I wound up with the three items below...only two of which are actually for babies. I realized when I got home and inspected it more closely that the receiving blanket is meant for DOLLS! But it’s so cute that I put it in my Etsy shop anyway.

Blast from the Pastel

Dress: thrifted

Cardigan: Windsor

Socks: Forever 21

Shoes: thrifted

Bag: thrifted

Jasen and I spent this afternoon and early evening walking around Downtown Fullerton in Orange County. While we were there, we discovered the coolest vintage shop, Out of Vogue. In addition to some amazing mid-century furniture and housewares, they had a small collection of tastefully selected clothing. I saw a dress printed with sailboats that I wanted so much and totally would have bought if I were working full-time right now.

I thought what I wore today fit Downtown Fullerton’s retro vibe pretty well. I found this robin’s egg blue dress at Quality Thrift several months ago, and I liked how it looked with my clock socks and bow shoes. The only problem is that the dress is snug in the bust and kept wrinkling up on top, which was REALLY annoying. I’ve learned my lesson and will wear a more minimizing bra with this dress next time.

As Jasen and I were walking back to our car, we stumbled upon one of the Crepes Bonaparte food trucks and decided to buy a Nutella crepe. Crepes Bonaparte is owned by my cousin Danielle and her husband, Christian, so we were excited to finally try one of their crepes! It was delicious, and I think Crepes Bonaparte needs to visit Pasadena =)  

Isn’t their truck cute? Christian and Danielle also recently launched a bratwurst truck called Brats Berlin.

Aaaaand...to add still more text to this loooong post...I ended up buying three vintage items at that estate sale I went to yesterday, but they’re items for babies! Long story short: I thought there would be a lot of women’s clothing at the sale and there wasn’t, but they had tons of dolls, doll clothing and vintage baby clothing. So I thought, “Dang, these clothes are CUTE! Why not add a few baby items to my shop?”

Thrifted Thursday No. 15

Blouse, skirt, belt, bag and shoes: thrifted

Lately when I go thrifting I just look for vintage clothing for my Etsy shop, but whenever I see a pretty blouse like this with puffed sleeves, I have to buy it for myself. I’m addicted to collecting prim and proper blouses now to go with my prim and proper skirts. This is just an H&M blouse and I wish it had a Peter Pan collar (of course). I really like the little dotted pattern on it, though.

I’m also in a great mood today because I got a large paycheck in the mail for some freelance work I did AND Audrey of homerunballerina wore a “Thrifted Thursday” outfit today, too, and gave me a shoutout. Thanks, Audrey! Hers was one of the first style blogs I ever discovered and it’s still one of my favorites. I love, love, love her use of color and ’60s influences. Oh, and she’s also a trained pastry chef and posts the most amazing recipes!

Since I got paid today, I’m going to my first estate sale tomorrow morning, bright and early at 8:00 a.m. I don’t expect to do too well since I’m totally inexperienced, but I have to start somewhere. Hopefully I’ll find some pretty things for my shop!

Height of Summer

Top: thrifted

Shorts: thrifted

Shoes: thrifted

Bag: Tignanello

This outfit made me feel very tall. I usually feel that way when I wear heels — or in this case, wedges — with short shorts. I actually am a little taller than average, I guess, at five six and a half, but I don’t usually feel like I am.

These are some ’80s shorts that I found at ACTS Thrift Store. I’ve worn them before; they appear in this blog post. I was lucky to find a white pair of shorts in such good condition in a thrift store, so hopefully I won’t stain them myself. Although it’s kind of annoying to have to watch where I sit when I’m wearing them, I love having a nice pair of super-summery white shorts!

Today I met my friend Emily in Glendale for some birthday gift and Aveda shopping. I bought Aveda’s Inner Light Mineral Tinted Moisturizer (in Aspen because I’m pale like that) since I’ve been wanting to switch over from using sunscreen/moisturizer and foundation to using a single product. I’ll let you know what I think once I’ve used it! I’ve loved all the Aveda products I’ve ever used, so I think I’m really going to enjoy the switch. 

Desert Sunset

Top: Forever 21

Skirt: Banana Republic, found at Crossroads

Necklace: gift from my mom

Shoes: thrifted

Or maybe the title of this should be “Tropical Sunset” because I’m in a green area with palms. Or actually maybe just “Blogger Awkwardly Posing on Smoking Patio While Neighbor Awkwardly Waits for Her to Finish So He Can Get Something Out of His Shed That Is Next to the Patio.” Well, the idea was that this outfit would be reminiscent of a sunset with the orangey skirt and amber pendant.

Dots and Lines

Blouse: thrifted

Skirt: thrifted

Belt: thrifted

Shoes: Target

Bag: Tignanello

Bleh, I really don’t like how my hair looks today, but I’m posting a photo anyway! It’s hot and my hair has grown to an annoying, difficult-to-straighten length in back, so I decided to be lazy and let my hair air dry. I feel like it’s not long enough yet to look good curly, though.

Okay, sorry, enough complaining. At least I’m wearing my favorite skirt. Yeah, this is the skirt in my blog header. And I put a photo of it there because it’s my favorite. (I’ve probably mentioned that before, but I feel like maybe I haven’t.) Since I love blue and green together, I decided to combine it with this thrifted Ann Taylor blouse because I’ve never worn the two pieces together before.

Does anyone else tape the flapping ends of belts down? I started doing this recently with very sticky packing tape, and it’s worked great! I just wrap a little piece around itself so I have two sticky sides and then place it between the part of the belt around my waist and the end sticking out from the buckle. I hate when the end of my belt is sticking out and flapping back and forth. Maybe it’s kind of tacky (I know, I know) to tape part of my outfit together, but I say why not if no one can see it?

Baby Shades

Blouse, skirt, shoes and bag: thrifted

This is what I wore to a baby shower today for my friend, Ceci, and her husband, Andrew. I actually hadn’t seen Ceci in about three years. We live pretty far apart and had sort of fallen out of touch, but since I’ve had so much free time lately, I tracked her down...and found out she’s pregnant! She and Andrew are having a boy in about a month. It was so cool to see her and her family. The shower was held at her parents’ house, where we used to hang out all the time in our late teens.

I hadn’t worn this blue skirt in a while and I figured today would be a good day for it since the shower was for a baby boy. But then I had to go and pair it with a pale pink blouse and hot pink shoes because I like pink and blue together.

Thrifted Thursday No. 14

Dress, bag and shoes: thrifted

I found this railroad-striped dress at Quality Thrift the last time I went. I didn’t think it would fit me since the shirtdresses I find usually don’t, so I was pretty happy when it did! I love the Peter Pan collar and crisp ruffles.

And I’m also wearing the bow shoes I was flipping out about in my blog post on Tuesday. I picked them up from Zinke’s yesterday and then cleaned them last night. They have a small gash on one of the heels, but it’s not very noticeable.

Now for a little food porn...

Jasen took me to lunch today at our favorite Mexican place in Pasadena, Chiquita Bonita. I LOVE Mexican food and grew up eating it a lot, at home and at little mom and pop restaurants since they’re everywhere in Southern California. My mom’s mom grew up on a ranch near (on in, I’m not sure) Tucumcari, New Mexico, part of a Spanish land grant that her family had lived on for a few hundred years. She used to cook some amazing meals for us, and my mom also frequently made enchiladas, tacos, tostadas and burritos for me and my sister and brothers.

Villains

Top: Forever 21, found at Buffalo Exchange

Cardigan: Jessica Howard

Skirt: thrifted

Necklace: belonged to my grandma

Shoes: Naturalizer

This is what I wore to my friend Mary’s birthday party at Villains Tavern a few weeks ago. Jasen and I didn’t get a chance to take photos that evening, so I thought I’d recreate the outfit today since I really liked it.

Villains has a sort of old-fashioned, steampunk vibe and serves some pretty amazing signature cocktails. We couldn’t spend a lot of money there, but Jasen and I each tried one cocktail. I had the Loki, which is “vodka infused with green tea, sage, honey, peaches, citrus and soda.” SO good. Jasen had the Fatal Hour, which he also loved. I can’t find the menu description for that one, though. If you’re in the L.A. area, I highly recommend this place, although I have to warn you that it was a little hard for us to find because the address numbering on Palmetto St. seriously makes no sense.

Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm

Top: Forever 21

Skirt: thrifted

Belt: thrifted

Shoes: Jessica Simpson

Bag: Tignanello

I guess my new outfit formula is printed tank plus belt with a different wild print plus solid pencil skirt. And yeah, this outfit reminds me of Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm, specifically the teenage versions of them, which I realized after I did a Google search and saw that Pebbles appears to only wear pink as a teenager. That’s also how I learned the proper spelling of Bamm-Bamm’s name.

I went thrifting today in search of shoes for myself and clothing for my Etsy shop. I arrived at the first store I had planned to visit not too long after it opened and was rewarded with a pair of vintage ivory low heels with BOWS on the toes for $3.99! I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I kind of teared up a little when I saw them. I’ve been searching for shoes like that for so long! Unfortunately, the insoles needed to be reglued and I don’t even know if they’ll fit. They’re at Zinke’s Shoe Repair on Colorado right now, which charges $5 for regluing. If they don’t work out, I’ll put them in my Etsy shop, but they’re marked size 7 1/2, medium width, so they should be okay.

I also found two more pairs of shoes, one in hot pink and the other in gold. Plus, I found a blouse and skirt for my Etsy shop. I added three more items to my shop yesterday, and I’ll put the two new ones up once I’ve washed the blouse and taken photos. (The skirt is unworn with an original tag attached.)

Sorry this post is so long. I really try hard not to write long blocks of text, but sometimes I can’t help myself.

PS: I recently discovered that Trader Joe’s sells large bottles of mango green tea, and it is delicious. I’m drinking some right now.