SWEET SWEATER

Eddie Bauer hat
L.L.Bean Kid's sweater
Revlon Matte lipstick in Wine Not

I could barely believe mine eyes when a late night eBay search turned up the very sweater I had hemmed and hawed over and eventually missed out on scoring last November. LLBean kids, size Large, 50% wool 50% acrylic 100% dreamy. I'm still clinging to the hope that they'll stock it again this year, since if memory serves it comes in navy and grey as well. Bean, baby, Bean!

P.S. I wrote a sweater joke:
Q: What did the traffic cop say to the old lady he saw knitting a sweater while driving?
A: Pullover!

Victory is mine

I finally found a pair of Justin boots in my size! It's hard for me to really muster up any degree of excitement about winter shoes right now, but I'm pretty stoked on them, and I can't wait till I can wear them sans tights with dresses in the ~*spring*~.



Like this! Here they are with the beautiful dress I have for sale at the moment. I mean, so yeah, I may be a bit biased when it comes to things I'm trying to sell, but this one is a real peach, I'm telling you. It's another one of those if-it-fit-me-I-would-NEVER-let-it-go sadnesses.

Otherwise, I've basically been wearing a variation on the same exact outfit for the last couple of weeks. It's about this time of the year, every year, where I finally give up any hope of ever being able to dress stylishly and/or appropriately during the colder months and just throw in the towel.

OVER IT.

Ice & Snow & Bows & Bandits

Today was cold, guys. So cold that, after returning home at about 11:00am after triumphantly laying my last final to rest, instead of doing the many important errands I had planned, my body went into some sort of shock-induced hibernation and I emerged from sleep six hours later, my pillow soaked in drool. High-fives all around.

Anyways, what better time to receive a beautiful, heavy, full-skirted blue dress in the mail than in such deep-winter conditions? Let me explain...


A few weeks ago, Eva and Sophie of Bows & Bandits Vintage sent me an email asking if I would give them some feedback on their new site. Naturally, I quite promptly...forgot all about it. Because I'm a jerk. But after some gentle reminding, I finally snapped out of it and gave their shop a look.


I was quite honestly impressed. These ladies have really got their act together. Not only is their site refreshingly clean, stylish, and easy to navigate, but the clothes that they are selling are all truly gems. I'm no stranger (no indeed...) to the world of online vintage shopping, both from the stance of a buyer and a seller. It's not every day that you come across people who are willing to take the time and make the effort to ensure that their store looks not only so polished, but also like so much fun.


So, of course, I wanted everything they were selling (I mean, come on!) and of course, I have no money! Apparently however, ridiculously generous is another phrase you can add to the list of compliments I have for these two ladies, because they happily suggested that they send me something from their stock as an example of what they have in store.


So, here I am, pulling my "happy-happy-joy-joy" face, and wearing my lovely new (old) traditional Austrian dress. The beauty is really in the details, for which I hope you will excuse my sad attempt at justice-giving:



Now, schlepping for some stranger's businesses is not something that interests me, and for every one thing I accept, there is usually some creepy site trying to get me to review pearl necklaces or super discounted engagement rings (I mean, for reals guys? At least pretend that you read the blog. Humor me?) But I can easily say that, hands down, this dress is one of the very best things I have been gifted so far, and at the hands of some fine folks for whom I would happily schlepp till the cows come home!


So thank you, Eva and Sophie! You obviously put a lot of hard work into your store, and it shows! I hope I can play a small part in making sure that it pays off.

Chez Grandma

(which is, in fact, the name of a gift shop I saw while trolling the main drag today in Woodstock, NY.)

Hi guys! The last few days have been something of an "apartment improvement" saga/nightmare/farce. Home Depot now not only owns my entire bank account, but also my first born child and one of my kidneys. But more on that later. At the moment, I'm hawkin' a rockin' pair of black leather granny oxfords over on ye olde eBay, size 7.5.



A girl's gotta pay for painter's tape somehow (and they tell me I really need that other kidney...)

High class shades

I'm selling these heart-shaped sunglasses from MANGO, the same ones in this post, on my ebay!

Photo stolen from Diana's myspace. Thanks friend!

Beige-y love

These vintage beige Ferragamo oxfords arrived a few days ago and I love them so much I'm almost afraid to sully them with my feet. They're not worthy! They're not worthy! (Which is partly why I'm only providing you with this poorly-doctored stock photo, that and the on-going, severe lack of natural light in my life...) They make me think of:











(Numero Magazine, mystery, mystery, Bryan Ferry, mystery, still from "Last Tango in Paris")

Ring in the new

Two vintage VOGUE brand rings arrived in the mail today from, where else, eBay. The one looks like a funny birds nest, and the other is little pink rose. Spring has sprung on my fingers!

Double siiigh

Those beautiful, beautiful boots I wanted so badly did not fit. So I've listed them on my ebay.



I might be a little biased, but seriously, I am so in love with these frickin' shoes. The leather is soft and shiny and even the inside labels are perfect and golden and classy lookin'. I'm so bitter that they're too big for me. I should have known better than to go for an 8, but I've learned my lesson (yeah, right).

On another note, as my new banner clearly announces, it is now SPRING TIME. YOU HEAR THAT WEATHER? So shape up or ship out...

A package? For me?

Despite general appearances, I do, in fact, have a rather sticky practical streak in me. This is due in no small part to my mother who, while an artist by trade, is a firm pragmatist at heart.

That being said, I just bought some more shoes.



These babies are laying in wait for me at the Post Office. If only I didn't have to be in Manhattan at ten o'clock tomorrow morning! Then, they'd be on my feet.



I was on the fence for days about these, so I missed them the first time around. Half of me is horrified by their potential Pilgrim/Pirate fugly-ness, and all the scary sophomore year theme party ephemera that might somehow follow in their wake. The other half, however, thinks they're just plain badass. The badassery half of me won tonight, when I found them relisted.

When asked for his thoughts on the Great Buckle Boot Conundrum, my friend replied simply with this:



I may be setting myself up for a difficult lifestyle, but it's a small price to pay for all the free Lucky Charms I'll be eating.

Hot to trot!

Since a steady job seems to be well out of my reach at the moment, I'm trying to make ends meet playing catch-as-catch-can, which is why I've just listed these pretty vintage red leather boots on my ebay. It's hard to see here but they have really sweet silver studding details and they are in excellent condition. Ladies of the 7.5, take heed!

On their way...

One thing's for sure these days: being at home sick in bed does not, by any means, keep one from doing some shopping. For better or worse. Over the last few days I've made some (wise?) internet purchases.



Flats from ebay. But these were necessary, because I fell down and scraped the hell out of myself in my other "sensible" brown shoes (which I will be wearing again tomorrow, because I NEVER LEARN).



Lovely vintage hippie shirt from a friend on livejournal for $1 (puppy not included, sadly)! And last, but not least...



I FINALLY used up the rest of my J.Crew gift card, which I have been losing and then re-finding in a vicious, terrifying circle for nigh on a year now. It was not cheap, but it certainly was free, and the color oooooooh the color! I can't wait to wear all these things, at once! Pants optional!

If you have size 6 feet...

...and $150.00 to spare, then you have no excuse. You are hereby commanded to buy


these shoes, if for no other reason than to keep me from buying them and hanging them on my flippin' wall!

On their way!

Well, I've gone and done it! I've made my first shoe purchase on eBay since moving here. You have to understand, when I was living in Santa Cruz, buying shoes on eBay was like a second full-time job for me. I think I actually started this blog to rant about all the shoes I wanted to/was buying on eBay. Amazingly, I had managed to control myself until tonight, but when I saw these babies at a ridiculously reasonable buy-it-now price, I crumbled.

I really haven't bought more than a couple pieces of clothing since moving here, which is another wonder. Back in Santa Cruz, I went shopping multiple times a week. Granted, it was at the Salvation Army and flea markets (and on eBay) almost exclusively, but when weighed against my sad little income, I was spending far too much. But sometimes, the only thing that could lift my worried spirits was pawing through racks of funny old things, searching for little treasures that made my heart race. Here, I've been too busy with school and work to mind, and too broke to bother anyways. But my wardrobe is feeling so stagnate, and I'm hoping to find time to get to Buffalo Exchange in the next week or so to jettison some things and come trotting home with a few more.

EDIT: Oh gosh, so, I had to edit this because I just bought these:


I have just enterred into dangerous territory indeed, and I fear there are slippery slopes ahead! But come ON, it was worth it right????

Ooooh jeez...

These Mango sunglasses are EXACTLY what I've been looking for (thank you Steph, whoever you may be)! Raaawr! The only question remaining: how on earth can I justify the $40.00 pricetag on my less-than-$900/mo income? Any suggestions???

Speaking of finances...I just listed two pairs of shoes on eBay. These vintage Hush Puppies sandals


in the coolest of sorbet colors, they also happen to be 100% man-made, making them Vegan, for all o' you who take note of such things. Also these supa-hot suede wedges


Seriously hot shit. Both are size 8's (the sandals are 8N), making them just that much too big for me, but, perhaps, perfect for...you?



Tah!

Shoe Update...

They came,



they fit,


they conquered.

Shoe update...

I got some new ones to day, hoooo boy!




Actually, I feel like they make my feet look kind of narrow, and they may or may not actually fit, buuut, when I found out they were on sale for $4.99 I couldn't refuse. They're vintage, by a brand called Cobbies, and in near mint condition, i.e. I would probably would have bought them just so I could gaze at them whenever I wanted to.

Also, eerm...ok, so I know I need to kick this habit, and bad, but I have two more pairs on their way from eBay.

These,


were originally part of a lot that didn't sell, so I convinced the lady to sell just these to me. They have a little tiny heel. I just loved the cross strap. I payed a little more than I wanted to, but I was grateful to the seller for being flexible, so I kept mum.

Secondly, after discovering my lovely and amazing gladiator sandals didn't fit (meaning they will be up on my eBay next week), I was in need of something strappy. So,


these are next in line. Honestly, I wasn't 100% sure I wanted them when I put in a bid (I reeeaaallly need to stop doing that), but meh, I won them for real cheap, they might be cool, and they're by Gloria Vanderbilt, which also happens to be the same brand as my new favorite shoes. So, there's hope anyways. We'll see!

Finally, in addition to the gladiators, these suede wedges (better pictures coming soon!) and a pair of sherbert-colored vintage Hushpuppies sandals will be going up on eBay next week, so if you haven't added me to your favorite sellers yet...what're you waiting for?!

Obsession: Snakeskin

So, ever since being forced to return those snakeskin sandals from Urban, I've been wanting for some white python. There's something so simultaneously Old West rough-and-tumble yet extremely classy and luxuriant about it. Perfect matched with something frilly and summery. You wouldn't want to go overboard, and the idea of any large item of clothing in such a print (I think most of us have been hit on at least once by a sweaty dude in tight pants with gelled frosty hair and an earring sporting a polyester snakeskin button up or, shudder, a blazer with matching boots...) is pretty abhorent, but a single, tasteful accessory would be just the ticket.

This vintage 1930's luggage


from eBay is a dream, and a fair deal I feel, if you're not broke and willing to deal with figuring out how to pick it up. I imagine slouching on the biggest one by the side of some lonesome desert highway, with a cardboard sign reading "WEST" and bare, dusty toes. Oh! I think a whole novel could be written about those three heartbreaking pieces.This purse


is something of a consolation prize, and cheaper, but still too rich for my blood.
And, if I were an 8, I would be alll over


these babies. Curses.

Basically, a search for "vintage snakeskin" on eBay will yield some delightful hits, if you've got the time and paypal capital to spare. Sigh. My goal is to own one item in this stuff before the end of summer. Any suggestions? How do you feel about all this? Spill the beans, all the beans, I demand it!