Reimagining Clothing: Plain Wool Cardigan

 

Slowly, over the last ten years or so, I've built up a wardrobe made up of mostly thrifted, vintage, or free items. The only items I don't thrift are jeans, shoes, and undergarments, because it's difficult to find the level of comfort and fit I want unless I buy them new. Goodwill and Value Village are the source of most of my wardrobe staples - and it's pretty amazing how much quality clothing you can find, very inexpensively, from places like these. And because the garments are so inexpensive, it's an easy way to try out trends or silhouettes without a huge investment - not only that, I like the idea of giving new life to clothes that might otherwise have been discarded.

Despite the low cost of much of my wardrobe, I try to only keep items that I really love - and up until a few weeks ago, I was thinking that it was time to modify or let go of this cream wool cardigan. It has a flattering shape and color - but it's also really, really boring, and I never found myself reaching for it in the morning. At the same time, it's a great cardigan, and it seemed a shame to get rid of it.

So when I was thrifting a few weeks ago and found this stained, too-big Lands End cotton cardigan with a super cute enamel detail, I decided to spend the 6 dollars to see if I could poach the elements from one cardigan to make another cardigan more wearable. A few minutes in Illustrator, and here's what I came up with:



I'm hoping that the addition of graphic, colorful details will turn this warm but boring sweater into a wardrobe staple.

We'll see how it goes!

Happy Monday,
Cory

Outfit Post: Turquoise, Cream and Gold

I've been in a major style rut lately.  All I ever seem to want to wear is jeans and t-shirts or oversized sweaters - not that that's a bad thing! - but I remember those days at Oberlin when I'd wear heels and a crazy outfit to work at the student union, and I sigh.  Where has my panache gone?  My desire to wear kickass high-heeled boots while setting up tables, high-waisted skirts and tailored jackets to coffee dates?

And then I realized that I hadn't gone thrifting in something like five months.  Egads - no wonder!  For some reason, looking at old clothes inspires me to go home and try things on, to make color combinations I wouldn't ordinarily think of, and to gather up my courage to wear looks that border on costumey.

So yesterday I went on a Magical Mystery Roadtrip to Issaquah to one of my favorite vintage and consignment shops.  I poked around in the racks for a bit and took five things with me to the dressing room.  Then the unthinkable happened: I liked all of them.  Every single one either fit perfectly, or had some great design detail, or was a great color.  I bought all of them - four dresses and one cashmere sweater - for less than I've paid for a pair of pants.

And I was inspired to dress up this morning.  In clothes that I already had in my closet.

I think at least part of my lack of recent vintage shopping/thrifting is because my absolute favorite haunts are back in Ohio.  In Seattle, some of the areas with the highest volume of thrift shops are also the most picked over, so I have a really hard time finding anything I like.  Issaquah, about 20 miles out in the suburbs of Seattle, is actually fast becoming my favorite place to look for old stuff - there's a high end vintage boutique called Stella, the vintage/consignment shop I went to yesterday with mid-range prices called Doubletake, and an antiques mall full of books, beautiful old furniture, and various housewares.

It's funny how sifting through a huge variety of things can make you think differently about what you already own.  The funniest part of my outfit today is that only item I bought new was the shoes.  The rest have been in my closet for six months to five years.  I guess everything old really can be new again.

Shawl-collar alpaca blouse:  Catherine Malandrino, vintage

Mustard suede skirt: Brass Plum, thrifted

White slip: Thrifted

Shoes: Fluevog Belle Stars

Tights: Hue

Epic vintage haul: Part III: yellow is the color of the day!

Hoo boy! Here's some more from last week's thrifting excursion. The first is a great little sweater I got for 99 cents at the Elyria Salvation Army. I wish I had a better picture of it, but unfortunately my camera crapped out right as I finished taking this one.


It's a size 42, the tag says Halle Brothers (which my friends told me was a chic department store back in the day), 100% wool (!!!!!), made in Hong Kong. When I picked this up, I thought for sure that it was acrylic, as there are more than enough little lace sweaters that look cute but feel like crap because... well. I guess I'm biased (and a snob) but I'm just not a fan of acrylic, even in vintage stuff. The sweater has a crocheted button band and collar, which is nice and sturdy.

And, because it's wool, it's been cool enough to wear even on slightly toasty days. And on slightly chillier days - which we've actually had for the last three days or so, which I'm in total love with - it's a nice layer. I wore it in the lab at CMA the other day because they keep the AC cranked up so high, and I wasn't cold at all. Oh wool. My one true love. (Shhhhh, Crown Prince. You're wooly, sort of.)


And then there's this dress, also from SA Elyria. (You'll have to forgive the dorky expression.) It's (suprise) a sheath from Anne Taylor that is (legitimate surprise) a size 4. It's linen and wrinkles like crazy, but damn if it doesn't look smashing when worn with the right attitude and heels. For actually wearing it out I nixed the matchy shoe and cardigan combo for no cardigan, but otherwise: perfection. It's such a great color yellow, and I got several compliments on it today.


Also adorable: buttons up the back. Nigh impossible to get myself into without help, but so worth the cute factor.

D'awwwwww.

Now all I gotta do is throw my poke-your-eyes-out yellow Koigu socks at these pieces, and I'd have quite the outfit.

Epic vintage haul: Part II

Yesterday, at our first stop at the Elyria Goodwill, I got a couple of really great pieces. Two little black dresses - one lacy party dress and one long, v-neck sheath.

The first is by Jeffrey and Dara, which I've never heard of but apparently makes formal wear. I love the shape of this one - the always-excellent nipped in waist and swishy skirt. It's strapless, so I'm actually pretty surprised that it fit - chestier girls like me don't do well in strapless anything.


The second one is perhaps a touch less young, more Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's. But really, a classic shape. This one is by I.N. Studio, and it's hard to see but it has piping at the neck and right below the bust - a nice touch on a very basic shape.


I'm definitely feeling the sheath dress love lately.


Also thrifted were the white gloves, which actually fit me - a first! I think they're Anne Klein. Pretty comfy. Very dramatic. For $2, pretty awesome.

Taking photos for this was fun - I definitely got some weird looks from the electric company trucks as they drove past our house!

Epic vintage haul: Part I

This morning, I went to trade in my rental car and get a ride from a knitting buddy, who is being incredibly gracious in letting me borrow her car until August so that I can make the commute to Cleveland. She also happens to be an avid thrifter, so after dropping the rental off, we went on a whirlwind vintage/thrift tour of Elyria. I picked up quite a few things for not very much money, and I spent the most on two pieces that are beautiful dresses from the 50s or 60s - both of which fit perfectly and are only obviously handmade from the hand-stitching and seams. The first is this white lace number, bought at a great little boutique called New To You. It's hard to see, but it has a pink lining and a crinoline and fits like a dream. I can see it being a classic wedding dress with the right accessories - not that I need to worry about that anytime soon.


They had a lot of newer thrifted items as well as a fabulous collection of vintage garments. It was generally a little pricier than the other two places we went today, but the quality was very good. I passed up a super cute Rosie the Riveter-style dress from the 40s - polka-dotted denim (maybe chambray?) with puffed sleeves and a pleated skirt. It was very nearly a museum piece, and even though it didn't fit, I was tempted to take it home, give it a wash, and properly store it for posterity.

I'm not going in any particular order of buying, but this is another cute one I found today. It was $4.99 at Salvation Army in Elyria. I've been wearing it all day, and it's super flattering if a little bit shorter than I usually wear. The weather has been terribly hot and humid lately - even though I think it only got up to 85 F today, it felt much hotter. The dress went on a ride to Crocker Park for martinis and curry and held up great the whole time. It's sort of hard to see, but it's a red gingham, not-quite seersucker fabric. I love the details at the neckline!


Also: due to cosmicpluto's awesome shoes posted occasionally on her blog, I have a serious crush on Fluevogs. This pair in particular. Sumatra:


And, ok, maybe this pair too; Mitte:


And yeah, yeah, yeah, maybe this pair too; Cana:


Shoe love siiiiigh.

Shoe photographs copyright Fluevog website.