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Thrifted Thursday No. 25

Blouse, skirt, shoes and bag: thrifted

Another Thursday, another thrifted outfit! Sometimes I wonder if people are getting tired of this all-thrifted theme and if I should discontinue it at some point. I don’t know. I’ve been thinking maybe in 2012 I should replace it with a different weekly feature.

Do any of you fellow thrifters come across Dana Buchman clothing in your local thrift stores? I occasionally find it, and I’ve been impressed by the quality and saturated colors. This blouse is a Dana Buchman piece that I found at Quality Thrift. It’s 100 percent silk, and wow, there’s just something about beautifully dyed silk. It’s even more vibrant in real life than it looks in this photo.

My bright lime skirt is also by Dana Buchman, and I looooove that skirt. The only reason I haven’t been wearing it lately is that it needs to be dry cleaned. Or needed, actually, since I’m picking it up from the dry cleaners tomorrow along with a few items I’m adding to my Etsy shop.

The interview yesterday went well! I met with three people from the department where I would be working if hired, and they were all super nice and professional. I got a phone call today to schedule a second interview on Monday, this time with two people in more senior positions in the company. 

So Close

T-shirt: thrifted

Skirt: Fei from Anthropologie

Bag: from a swap with Natasha

Shoes: thrifted

You know that copy test that I worked on over the weekend? Well, the company liked it, so I have an interview at their office tomorrow! I have no idea how many people they’re interviewing, but I’m not going to lie: I’m really hopeful about this because I was recommended to the company by a friend and former boss who now works for another well-known fashion/retail company in the L.A. area.

I went and got my filthy car washed today in honor of the interview, though hopefully I’ll be parking in a structure and won’t be seen anyway since my car isn’t too attractive even when it’s clean. It has a large scrape along one side from my making too close of a turn and hitting our apartment building while trying to park on the day we moved in. Hey, if you saw how little clearance there is, you’d understand. I do have spatial skills, I swear. I’m good at parallel parking!

It was nearly 90 degrees here today, so it’s pretty much still summer. I wore this Ann Taylor T-shirt that I found at Quality Thrift a long time ago and my khaki Anthropologie skirt. Of course I spilled part of a burrito on the skirt because it’s light colored and has to be dry cleaned. I grabbed this bag today because I liked how it tied in with the top. I was surprised when Natasha let me take it in the clothing swap we had after our yard sale because she used to carry it all the time. I think the pattern on it is so cool.

Super Mario Colors

Top: H&M

Skirt: thrifted

Headband: Urban Outfitters

Bag: won from Audrey’s Loehmann’s giveaway!

Shoes: Urban Outfitters

I tried to make a faux dress out of a red top and skirt today, and I think it pretty much worked out, but wow, I felt so...red. I added the turquoise accents because I love turquoise with red, and then I suddenly felt like Mario. Yeah, he wears overalls and just his eyes are light blue, but when I think of Mario, I think red, red, red. And a little blue.

Okay, that probably made no sense, so moving on...I won this awesome bag from Audrey’s blog, homerunballerina! This is the first time I’ve won something from a giveaway. Thank you again, Audrey! This will be a great bag to take on interviews, too, because I can fit my portfolio inside. I didn’t have a cognac bag either, and I think this is such a gorgeous fall color. It was actually the reason I wore red today. I like when I see people wearing cognac accessories with red.

Oh, aaaaand, thanks again to my friends Ani and Emily for these shoes! They saw on my blog that I got them in yellow and also wanted them in turquoise, so guess what they gave me for my birthday? Yep! They also got me some Aveda products and MAC’s Lady Danger lipstick, which of course I have also rambled on about. I can’t wait to use everything!

29, 30!

I love when other bloggers post childhood photos of themselves, so since today is my 30th birthday, I thought I'd share a few pics of myself in the 1980s. Of course I chose these specifically for the clothes. Clearly my mom liked hats, and I liked to make weird faces!

Jasen is taking me out to dinner tonight at my favorite tapas place, Viva Madrid in Claremont. We first went there together when we were dating. I was just 20 then! 

Tomorrow my friend Natasha is having a birthday celebration for me at her apartment...nothing too big since I prefer to be able to talk to everyone at a party and I didn't want to invite a big crowd since she so, so, SO kindly offered to host a party even though she's working crazy hours at her job.

And...tomorrow morning before the party I have to work on a copy test for a potential new full-time job! I don't want to say the name of the company or get my hopes up too much, but it's a well-known fashion/retail brand and I want this job so much. I think it would really be a great fit given my experience. I'm incredibly happy that they contacted me on my birthday and are considering my application! 

Thrifted Thursday No. 24

Top, romper and shoes: thrifted

Tomorrow is the first day of fall and my 30th birthday, so today I’m celebrating the last day of summer and the last day of my youth in this crazy bright outfit. Well, maybe it’s not THAT bright, but this afternoon Jasen compared it to the bowl of Cap’n Crunch’s Crunch Berries cereal that he was eating.

I also just added seven more items to Pasadena Vintage. A few of them are posted below if you’re interested in seeing what’s new!

Interview Suit

Cardigan: Jessica Howard

Blouse: thrifted

Skirt: Cynthia Steffe

Shoes: Jessica Simpson

Yeah, I know, black again! As you can tell from the title, I had an interview today, so I decided to post what I wear to interviews on my blog. I kind of have a superstition about wearing a green top and black skirt to interviews because that’s what I was wearing when I landed my last two full-time jobs.

So obviously I’m not really wearing a suit but rather a black cardigan and skirt. Since I work in a creative field (copywriting), I feel comfortable dressing in a way that’s a little more fun and relaxed but still professional. I like to wear this blouse in particular because I feel like the pattern on it says, “I’m creative...but organized.” Haha, that’s probably ridiculous of me, but I guess I feel more in control if I’m wearing a carefully planned outfit.

Now I’m going to conclude with a typical blogger tactic and ask, “What do you like to wear when you interview for a job?”

Back to Black

Top: Forever 21

Skirt: thrifted

Shoes: Naturalizer

I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before, but if I had to pick a style “uniform” this would be it: a tee with short or elbow-length sleeves and a full skirt. I always feel good in this combination, though I like my pencil skirts too. I’m also happy to get back to wearing black because I love black, but I also like being comfortable and black in Southern California in the summer usually is not comfortable at all!

I spent about four hours looking for clothes for my Etsy shop today and gathered a nice haul of eight items. I also bought two vintage Japanese dinner plates with yellow flowers for our apartment. Part of me would like to sell dishes in my Etsy shop as well because I find a lot of pretty ones, but I’m afraid of breakage and high shipping costs.

Sea Green

Sweater: thrifted

Dress: thrifted

Bag: Tignanello

Shoes: Urban Outfitters

When I woke up this morning, I discovered that the weather had turned cool and cloudy, a little foggy even. It feels like it’s been so long since we had a gray day. I always feel a little bit like I’m on vacation when it gets like this in Southern California...like I’m at the beach or driving up the coast or in Seattle. Maybe that’s why I chose to wear this sea green sweater with my pinstriped dress.

Jasen took these photos of me on our way back from running some errands in Glendale. We had to buy part of a birthday gift for my dad and a gift for a baby shower we’re going to tomorrow. I once saw Angelina Jolie, two of her kids and a guy whom I assumed was a bodyguard at the Babies R Us on Los Feliz Boulevard near Glendale, which is the closest Babies R Us to us, so whenever I go there now, of course I have to keep an eye out for celebrities, but we didn’t see anyone famous today!

Thrifted Thursday No. 23

Blouse, skirt, bag and shoes: thrifted

For some reason I looked cross-eyed in almost all my photos today. Maybe I’m going crazy, but that’s how they looked to me. I feel like even in the photo above I look slightly cross-eyed. Maybe I’ve been staring at computer screens too much!

Um, anyway, I really like the combination of peach and green, so when I found this blouse at Goodwill, I knew it had to be worn with my teal green skirt. These shoes are another recent find. They are, I think, from the ’60s. Inside the right shoe there’s some cute script reading “Howard Fox” and inside the left shoe it says, “Huggins Shoes.” Some similar mod-looking pairs by Howard Fox are on Etsy right now.

Toga! Toga!

Dress: Rose Bowl Flea Market

Belt: from a dress I bought on eBay and no longer have

Shoes: Urban Outfitters

Jasen gave me the name for this outfit post. That was his response when he saw me wearing this dress that I bought on Sunday at the Rose Bowl Flea Market. It’s a little different for me, but I thought the colors and simple shape were beautiful.

Also, my yellow shoes finally arrived! They’re even nicer than I expected. Now I want them in every color on the Urban Outfitters website. I ordered my usual 7.5, and they’re a perfect fit and seem like they’ll be comfortable, though I haven’t walked around in them much yet. Nothing like a perfect pair of peep-toe flats!

The Pomona Arts Colony

Top: Forever 21

Skirt: thrifted

Shoes: Jessica Simpson

Bag: Tignanello

Jasen regularly contributes to a local free publication called Inland Empire Weekly, and since he often interviews bands for his articles, he sometimes receives free concert tickets. This evening he took me to see The Horrors at The Glass House in the Pomona Arts Colony, which is a cool little revitalized downtown area of Pomona.

We got to Pomona pretty early and walked around, so I took some photos. I was afraid to try bringing my camera into the concert, so I don’t have any photos of that, but if you’d like to see what the Pomona Arts Colony is like, some of my photos are below!

This vintage store has been around forever! I remember going here in high school, and I still regret not buying a belted white ’50s dress covered with blue atomic symbols that I once found here when I was a teenager.

Temptation! But since I spent money on dresses at the flea market yesterday, I didn’t buy anything at La Bomba today.

I wish Futures Collide had been open. It’s full of gorgeous, very expensive mid-century modern furniture and appliances. The sign in their window said they’re only open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

We found a stack of copies of the IE Weekly issue with Jasen’s Horrors article.

We had a delicious dinner for about $17 plus the tip at Casa Jimenez.

I liked this alley.

And the sky looked amazing.

The Rose Bowl Flea Market

Last week Jen Vegas blogged about Pasadena’s Rose Bowl Flea Market, which she visited during a recent trip to the U.S. Well, after seeing her post, I absolutely had to check out this flea market because I had never gone, and it takes about five minutes to drive from our apartment to the Rose Bowl. So today Jasen and I headed over there at 9 a.m. since the cost of admission drops to $8 at that time.

The Rose Bowl Flea Market truly is amazing. It’s the largest flea market or swap meet I’ve ever seen, and the vintage, oh the vintage! I had read Yelp reviews and watched some videos beforehand so I’d know where to go when we got there, but it still took me a little while to find the booths with the best deals.

We received the tickets and two-dollar bills above as change after we paid for admission. Carnival music was playing near the entrance, while a stilt walker paraded around and a man on a penny-farthing rode in figure eights. (Unfortunately I didn’t get photos of these guys.)

Once through the gates, we headed to the left since I’d heard that’s where the vintage and antique items can be found. We soon walked by a charming taxidermy specimen that literally made me gasp and seriously freaked me out.

I also had to photograph this awesome movie poster:

After wandering around the pricier vintage booths, we finally found this sign, far, far, FAR to the left side of the flea market:

If you’re searching for some amazing vintage deals at the Rose Bowl Flea Market, this is the sign to look for! Once you walk over the bridge beneath it, you’ll find clothing, shoes and much more by the truckload.

I bought two dresses in the booth shown above. The people running the booth had hemmed many of their vintage finds to more flattering lengths. Because I had picked out two dresses, I asked if I could have a discount, and they knocked a few dollars off the total.

Then Jasen found the leather jacket of his dreams! He used to have a similar one but gave it to his brother a few years ago because it didn’t fit him anymore. This one was a perfect fit and he was VERY excited to find it!

The far-to-the-left area of the flea market was basically like one ginormous yard sale with clothing, shoes, toys, games, tools, supplies, housewares, you name it. Some of the sellers were charging a little more than you’d pay at a yard sale, but many were practically giving things away. I’m talking articles of clothing for $1 each and gorgeous, robin’s egg blue vintage pumps with cutouts (that sadly didn’t fit me) for $5!

In closing, a few Rose Bowl Flea Market tips:

1. If you want vintage, go to the left, and if you want vintage at low prices, go WAY to the left. Even if you think you’ve gone really far to the left, keep going and look for that sign, which is above a bridge.

2. Bring your own water.

3. Wear sunscreen.

4. Eat beforehand unless you love hot dogs. Hot dogs are $1.50, and all other food and drink items are pretty overpriced.

5. Bring cash and your own bags or cart.

6. Don’t be afraid to ask for discounts.

The Rose Bowl Flea Market is held on the second Sunday of every month. I will certainly be going back...monthly if possible!

Oh yeah, and this is what I wore to the flea market:

Headband: Urban Outfitters

Top: thrifted

Shorts: thrifted

Shoes: Urban Outfitters