sometimes Bullets are all that will do

This outfit incorporates all of my favorite things at the moment, to be told in bullet form to avoid run-on sentences (I'm feeling a bit long-winded today, and apologize in advance):

• My white rabbit brooch: nicknamed so because it reminds of the White Rabbit, who constantly has to check the time, and while my boyfriend has his signature pocket watch, I have my brooch.
  
• My new secondhand striped dress: my newest etsy purchase acquired from one of the loveliest sellers out there, Harbour District Vintage
  
• My secondhand Laredos that have been patiently waiting in a box back in Massachusetts since I bought them in February off of eBay for $10. It took me a while to convince my mother to send heavy boots all the way to London (something the seller would not do) but she caved and even threw in a whole ziploc bag of Splenda (my white stuff). I've been wearing them nonstop since getting them last week. (ps. I have to thank one of my favorite bloggers, Ringo, for posting on her own search for Justin Roper boots a bit ago...I only had an idea of what I wanted but didn't know any brands to search for, and had been constantly searching for "toe-fringe boots", which didn't end up too well. A week after her post, I found my boots! Although I didn't end up with Justins, I am very happy with my find)
• Last but not least, my floppy hat! Something that I wear constantly inside, a little too afraid to wear outside, but venture outside I did (if only for a moment, the wind, made it impossible to wear).
  

Phew! That was quite the outfit round-up! A little exhausting (and exhaustive) but there you go...

New Old Gadgets

I've been having a streak of good luck on eBay recently. I finally found an old toy camera, bought some 120 film but now I am afraid to even try to load it. What if I break it?! So for now, it is sitting pretty on my mantle.

The other gadget...my glorious Imperial typewriter from the 60s is getting plenty of use. I love the clickty-clackty sound it makes. And for only £2, it was a steal. I am a bit terrible at typing and going to have to invest in some whiteout...but still, prreettty.

makes me want to jump, jump

So, this may be hypocritical...writing about something on eBay, right after writing about how much I hate eBay (or its wicked power), but a link led to a link and...you know how it goes. ANYWAY, if I were not boycotting eBay at the moment and if I weren't on a self-imposed shopping ban, I would be quite tempted to bid on this:


Sequined deco blouses from the 80s aren't really my bag, but the way that the seller (persephone vintage, who also has an amazing etsy) has presented it, kind of as a cardigan, makes it twenty times more amazing. Quantifiably.

Once, and if, I ever start shopping again, I think I'll keep my eyes pealed out for bedazzled pieces that I used to dismiss. And so, the search for the ridiculously extravagant cardigan begins.

edit/ps:

she also has a ridiculously cute sailor-esque dress, that if I were smaller chested, I would definitely be breaking all the rules for!

Dear eBay, how I loathe you,

*beware: a long rant to ensue*

I have a love/hate relationship with eBay. Sometimes you will look something up and find it being sold for 1p with no one bidding, and voila 5 days later its yours and it is everything you wanted it to be. Then there are other times, when you find something, that you kind of hoped would be there, but never actually expected it would be, like this A.P.C. dress:

I've had a thing for this A.P.C. dress since I saw it on Kirsten Dunst last summer. I lusted for it, but it was already sold out and I figured it was just one of those things that I would want but never have. I don't know what it is, to be honest, it is not particularly special...but want it I did. So periodically, I search for A.P.C. on eBay -- and last week, there it was, that A.P.C. dress going for a very reasonable price. So I watched it...the evil eBay watch that allows you to visit an item everyday and build up hope that one day, soon, it shall be yours. Only 1 bid -- for a week. "Others have to be watching it," I told myself, "No way it will be that easy." On the day of bidding, yesterday, I had the page open all day so that I wouldn't forget to bid. I like to bid 45 seconds before its over, swoop in and ensure my victory, and that was my plan for 1:20 am yesterday.

But then, at 10:30 pm, I refreshed the page to, ya know, check on the bidding when, all of a sudden, the price had jumped from reasonable to $162.50! In one second, I had lost it. Before I had even begun! $160 was definitely past my budget for a last season dress that essentially is a chambray sack with a little sailor detailing. I went to bed heartbroken, all my daydreams of the past week-- wearing it on a sunny summer day -- were dashed.

I awoke this morning and went to the page that I had despondently left open last night. I refreshed it one last time to see the final bid. It went for $372.76. 372.76 EFFING DOLLARS!!!

And this is why I hate eBay. It makes people crazy. The dress originally was 110 euros which is something like $140. Now, a year later, some crazy (or determined) person paid almost 3 times the price. There is a weird adrenaline rush that happens when you bid, and though you told yourself, no I will only bid $100, somehow, it's a competition and you can't let anyone else win and so you bid ridiculously high, hoping no one will suspect you are bluffing. But they do, and you pay $400 for a chambray sack that your mother could've made.

In fact, an epiphany! I bet my mother can make it (I've put her sewing skills to the test with A.P.C.-copying before). So I come out of this awful eBay experience with a defeated ego, dashed hope, no dress BUT the vindicated knowledge that I did not overpay for something just because eBay told me to. Plus my mom will make it better anyway. hmph!

Phew. The End.

You down with OTT?

I found this vintage slip on eBay a while back when I was on a hunt for those '50s dressing gowns, a consequence of watching L.A. Confidential. This is nothing of the kind, but it had the perfect amount of sheerness so as not to offend propriety yet still seem delicate. Going out in something so light meant the need for some heavy-duty outerwear, enter this faux-fur delight from topshop. I topped it with my cloche, and felt a little bit like one of those eccentric old ladies you see on Advanced Style. A little over-the-top, but appropriately so.

the madness must come to an end

All these goodies are floating in the mail for me somewhere...mostly from ebay.

I've been searching for spectator flats for quite sometime now...seems every single pair I find are either too big or too small. Darn my 6.5-7 feet...So, these are not quite spectator but they are two-toned, and that's good enough for me!
Red stacked boots in preparation for fall/winter...luscious red leather. basically, all i could ever want.
So this is not from ebay, it's from forever21...I've never actually shopped there; it became big after I left the States for college (in Montreal, woot!), and I wasn't really dying to explore it anyhow. But, I have also been wanting a simple little jumper for awhile...I was going to ask my mom to make me one for christmas (and will probably still ask...) but I couldn't wait that long and this was so cheap! (for a reason, i know, i know.)

This cardigan is my dream...mainly because of the ugly mustard color of it rather than the lacoste-ness of it. That's incidental.

The moral of the story: ebay -- she's a subtle and sly temptress.

but after this...no mas!

Victor Victorian

Ever since I was little, I've had an odd thing for the Victorian (and early Edwardian) era... don't know why, but I have distinct memories of pretending to be a Victorian orphan, accent and all. I never thought that it would actually be a source of inspiration, style-wise. It's not the clothes that I look at though, rather, it's Victorian jewelry and how they wore it. I am particularly fond of the way they layered necklaces, both chunky and delicate, all the while adding brooches and lockets to the mix.

I am constantly searching for the perfect Victorian locket.

I love the different lengths and various brooches.

This necklace is amazing, especially the way it falls and is pinned.Her necklace falls at just the right spot below the collar bone and is the epitome of simple elegance (with a hint of sultriness).

These photos inspire me in terms of how I layer my costume jewelry and vintage brooches, but they also have inspired me to collect Victorian pieces of my own. So far, my collection is small but I'm always searching for more, both at antique markets and especially on eBay. I have a photo-charm necklace that has a photo of one dapper gentleman on one side and a different man on the other. I also have a brooch that apparently was from a nurses uniform and as well as a charm bracelet.


The most intriguing thing about vintage or thrift shopping is finding things with a bit of history, and imagining the story behind them. This is especially so with the vintage Victorian pieces that I have found. I wonder...

Who is this fellow? Why did this woman have him on one side of the charm and another fellow on the other? Were they her brothers? lovers? sons? I like to think of some sordid melodramatic love triangle. Probably not, but it's fun to imagine.

This charm bracelet is probably my favorite piece of jewelry. There are just so many charms on it, and again makes me wonder about it's original owner. There is the huge bull (which is perfect for me as a Taurus) and intriguing charms like....

A porcupine, a sewing machine, a faun, a frog, a teapot, a Scottish piper...Maybe she was a Scottish seamstress who loved tea, and had a fondness for woodland creatures, real and mythological alike. Erm, it's possible?

(Victorian Images via (1) tastevick's flickr; (2 & 3) ggaabboo's flickr; (4) V&A Lafayette Studio)