Thrift Haul Scores of Late......

 

I don't always buy my clothes at thrift shops. Sometimes I shop Ebay and Etsy and then there is that rare event that I find treasures at estate sales. Lately the thrifting Gods have been kind and I have been able to score some sweet things.

 

Take a look!

 

 

This darling pink and black dress is actually a modern piece

by H & M styled to look more vintage. It is in lovely condition so I had to have it and at only a

few bucks... why not?

 

 

This blue dress is vintage. It's cotton, buttons up and even has a sweet little red and white belt.

The piping on this is in red and blue. Very patriotic and perfect for a 4th of July picnic!

 

 

 

This black cocktail dress is also vintage and was a mere 1.00 at an estate sale.

It was not in my size but at a 1.00 I picked it up and it quickly sold in my Ebay shop.

How sweet is that?

 

 

 

 

 

With Tiki Oasis coming up, I thought this dress was perfect!

This dress is not only vintage but it sets the tiki mood so perfectly!

I love the mandarin collar and sweet buttons on the front!

 

This is a great modern skirt with a great tiki-ish floral print. This is a perfect summer

skirt to wear with strapless shirts and sandals! I found this at Goodwill where the skirts were on sale

for 1.99.

 

 

I also found this pretty aqua skirt at the 1.99 sale! It looks like a wrap skirt

however it has a side zip and just ties on the side. The bottom has a bit of a leopard print which I love and the color is just so Summery!



 

 

 

Just a few of the many things I got.

Sometimes I wish I could thrift all day! All these items were purchased locally so I was very lucky.

 

 

 



 

 

Channeling Your Inner Lucy Ricardo and Betty Draper

I have always adored watching I Love Lucy. Not only was she funny, she also had such great style! Her outfits were always so well put together and she looked so marvelous in them! Whenever I see polka dots I am always reminded of her. I have a few black and white polka dot print items, a dress, a jacket and a blouse. I even have a red and white polka dot top. While out at an estate sale I ran across this little number and I just had to have it.

It's a vintage 1970's sheer poly navy polka dot print dress but to me, nothing about this dress screamed DISCO.  It has a V neck with faux white shell and belts at the waist. I loved the full skirt. The belt was attached to the hanger although I do not think it's the belt that originally came with it as the polka dot print is larger than the print on the dress but I did not mind at all.  It reminded me of Lucy and I just had to have it and at $1.00 who could blame me?

The sale was wonderful and it was stacked with many dresses and shoes most of which where from the 70's and 80's. While looking through them I was surprised at how much the prints and shapes reminded me of this lady.

The elegant housewife, Betty Draper!

I knew with some simple styling these dresses would be close to something she would have in her wardrobe so I was sure to snatch them up and yes, they each were only $1.00

This is a 1980's Vintage dress by Orvis. It's a rayon blend with a gorgeous aqua floral print.

It's full skirt is pleated and it buttons on the bodice with these amazing sparkly lavender buttons! It belts at the waist with original belt and has short sleeves. 

This one is also from the 1980's by Draper & Damons. It has a semi geometric print

in muted colors, full skirt, belts at waist with original belt, v neck and 3/4 inch sleeves.

This one is from the late 60's to early 70's by Willi of California. It's got a lovely floral garden theme is pastel colors. The fabric is a cotton sheer. This dress has long sleeves and a button up bodice, V neck and belts at the waist with a full skirt. 

I added small petticoats to these dresses to give them a bit more volume and give them a more retro look.

I also found this sweet apron which I think paired with the polka dot dress gives a perfect retro housewife look:

Once again my bargain hunting was successful. 

Til next time

The Retro Glam Girl

Estate Sales Finds

 

Over the weekend my husband and I went to a few estate sales. I use to get excited about this the night before but lately sales listed as ESTATE SALES end up being nothing more than an over priced yard sale. I can not tell you how disappointed I get when I see that. However I will say that sometimes while at those "bunk" sales, I meet others who share info on OTHER estate sales going on. Neat-o! This is what happened last Saturday. I have learned some valuable lessons. One, you always go see even if it may be bunk. Someone may just let you in on valuable info. Two, you always go see even if other people say it's JUNK. There wasn't much at the first Estate Sale but while in line I heard a lady say there was another down the road. I also heard her say there was another one off a main street. Another lady there mentioned a sale in the basement of a church but she said they had nothing but "junk".  Normally when I go to sales... I know what I'm looking for. This time it was vintage costume jewelry sets, bakelite and vintage handbags.

 

 

Unfortunately I did not find ANY of this at the first sale. The second sale was a bit better! I'm not sure if someone came and CLEANED it out while we were at the first sale or if they really did not have much to sell. It was SLIM PICKINGS but we did manage to get two beautiful Mid Century Vintage Paint by Numbers pictures similar to this:

 

 

and

 

I found a large vintage leaf pin / brooch similar to this.

 

 

The pin was .50 and the pictures were 1.00 each!

As I said, it was slim pickings but one of the things I adored about that sale was the inside of the house! It was built in the 1950's and it still the original PINK bathroom! Pink tile, pink sink and shower! The kitchen also had original turquoise VCT flooring and a vintage pink double oven complete with round bubble glass! Swoon city!

 

After this sale we headed for the church basement sale where it was said was a lot of "junk".

The "Junk" the lady spoke of was vintage! The man running it was kind and let me know that today everything was 50% off. Much to my surprise they had just what I was looking for! LOTS of vintage costume jewelry sets! The prices were already LOW and to get an additional 50% off... I felt like I was robbing them blind. I bought ALL the sets they had as well as some super cute vintage brooches.

As if we needed MORE items...we did some FREE STYLING and stumbled across some yard sales.

One of them had vintage handbags galore! I bought 5 of them. I also found a bracelet that looked like bakelite for .50 cents! Could not tell if it was for sure but at .50 cents I took the chance.

 

 

After this sale we found a parking lot sale that had a lot of antiques. We stopped and browsed for awhile but the items were a little pricey. As soon as we got home I tested the bracelet and found it to be bakelite! All in all it was a GRAND day!

 

 

 I had also done some thrifting the week before and thought I'd share my finds!

 

 

retro red rockabilly bandanna blouse

 

 

retro black velvet like evening jacket

 

 

pin up yellow cherry print sundress

(this actually sold right before I posted it)

 

I added these to my shop so if you are interested please come on by

http://stores.ebay.com/delovelydelux

The Retro Glam Girl

 

 

Skirts

 

 

Skirts are amazing. They can look so professional at the office and so chic out on the town. It's that alternative garment to pants, dresses or shorts. There are pencil skirts, maxi skirts, mini skirts and hoop skirts all of which are fine but I have set out to find the perfect summer skirt for my wardrobe.



I have pencil skirts. Two in black. But I wanted something with a print. I wanted something light in weight and something that would go summer tops. I wanted to dress it up and dress it down. I wanted it comfortable and easy and I did not want it short. I wanted something with a retro look and I was not limiting my self to just vintage.


In my search for the perfect summer skirt I checked out Goodwill. They had plenty of denim! I skipped that rack and went right for the multicolored rack of skirts. After browsing the entire rack, I ended up finding just one. Normally I would consider this a bad thing but I really liked the skirt! It was black and white gingham with fabric covered buttons down the front. It was long and it most def had a retro vibe even though it was from the 80's! At 4.99... it was mine! I knew it would look great with a red, black or white summer tops paired with my wedges!

 

Thrifted Vtg Black n White Gingham Skirt: $4.99

 

The next day the hubs and I went to a few estate sales. I was excited about one of them because my mother in law had went the day before and said they had a lot of jewelry. This excited me because I always hope to be one of those lucky gals that finds Bakelite for a bargain. Unfortunately this was NOT the case at this sale. There was ALOT of jewelry however none of it was vintage :(  Sometimes I still browse and end up finding something but the lady that was running it (she was no professional!) was making me VERY nervous. She must have had 5 people working with her and they had a LOT of stuff. She seemed to get freaked out by having a few customers in her area at the same time and she would yell out to the lady at the door NOT to let anyone else in. She kept doing this and was so flustered I just did not feel comfortable browsing and had to move on. I wanted to tell someone that she was making it hard for people to enjoy the sale. Oh... and there was also some sort of animal...a cat I think .. locked behind a door.. that would HISS and make creepy noises!

I did not buy anything!

 

We stumbled upon another sale that had some really cool furniture and other things. I saw that they had some clothes out in the back yard. I rummaged through it and found nothing too interesting at first but then saw a glimpse of something TROPICAL! I pulled at it and saw that it was ... A skirt!

This skirt was not vintage but the vibe was so perfect and I knew I could pair it with my summer tops

and vintage straw vacation totes!  I loved the colors and the buttery soft fabric. It felt TIKI to me!

I'm not sure how much it was (hubs paid for our loot) but I think it was only .75!

 

 

Estate Sale Find Retro Tropical Skirt: .75

 

That estate sale was much sweeter and we ended up running into my mother in law who then took us to a few more sales! I ended up finding a vintage hair dryer for 5.00 at another sale! It's the kind you sit under! Now I must find some rollers and set my hair! Beauty night ..here I come!

 

The Retro Glam Girl

How To Create The Vintage / Retro Look On a Budget Part 2

 

Estate Sale Vintage Navy Evening Purse: $4.00

 

 

Once again having good stock in vintage accessories helps when creating a vintage

look from non vintage items. As I have said before, these accessories can be pricey but they don't

need to be if you frequent yard sales, estate sales, thrift stores and have cool aunts and grandma's who give you said items for free.

 

I scored this 90's Vtg dress at a local 1.00 thrift store. I knew with a pretty slip and some vintage accessories I could make it look more retro. I did not do anything but add a brooch, a belt and a pearl necklace (which I already had). This dress is navy and it has pretty embroidered detailing by the neck. Here I did not add the slip but I did wear it with a nude color slip. It looked BLAH and shapeless on the hanger but sometimes you have to look beyond the blah to see potential. I often grab belts in the store and belt it right there and then magically it comes to life.

 

 

Thrifted 90's Vtg, Navy Sheer Dress: $1.00

Vintage Pearl Necklace: Free / Gift from Aunt

Vintage Gold Brooch: / Free / Gift from Aunt

Thrifted Black Belt: $2.00

 

 

 

When I thrift, I often check for sales. Sometimes shirts will be on sale. Other times it's a tag color on sale. I find out what the sale is and go there first. My favorite is when Coats and Jackets are on sale.

I found this sweet vintage inspired black velvetine evening jacket at a thrift store where jackets were 50% off that day. I went straight for the jacket rack and came up with this.

 

 

Thrifted Black Velvetine Evening Jacket: $7.00

 

This jacket was made recently though it had such a vintage look. It was fully lined in red and had the most beautiful rhinestone button in the center. I loved the collar and the trumpet sleeves! The regular price on this was $14.00 but because jackets were 50% off..I got it for $7.00!

 

The dress is the same one from the photo before and the gorgeous vintage necklace was also a gift from my aunt.

 

 

 

 

This next dress has a 1950's look to it though it was actually a 1970's dress. I loved the chiffon and glamorous look to it. It had a sweet V neck and tied at the waist on the side.

 

 

Thrifted Vtg Chiffon Dress: $6.00

 

I actually got this up by Solvang when I went on a mini wine tasting trip with my girlfriends.

We saw a thrift store and just HAD to stop in. I got this dress and some mid century teak salt and pepper shakers for a steal! Sadly this dress was not my size but I sold it to a very happy customer on Ebay.

 

 

It's amazing the things that you can find in the stuff other people toss out. My mother's friend has a daughter who is going to get married this year and she told me she has spent so much on the wedding that she can't seem to think about spending more on a dress (mother of the bride). I suggested that she go to a thrift shop then showed her some of the lovely things I have found. She was so excited about that idea that we have a date to go thrift shopping together.

 

 

Thrifted 80's Vtg Polka Dot Dress: $4.00

Vtg Pearl Necklace: Free / Gift from Aunt

Thrifted Vtg Belt: $1.00

Yard Sale Vtg Christmas Wreath Pin: $.50

 

This secretary dress was 1/2 off. However, it was wrinkled and wadded up. For four dollars, I took it home, washed it in the sink, let it drip dry in my shower and then gave it a little steam and it was PERFECT. It even doubled as a Christmas Party Dress with the aid of some sparkly accessories.

I see past the wrinkles and wads and I dig like I'm hunting for buried treasure!

 

 

 

This next find was one of the BEST. I found it at a little church thrift shop in the city of Orange

and paid.... $3.00 for it! A vintage skirt suit. two pieces, floral print! It's so chic and really timeless.

The best part of this find is that it was MADE for the orginal owner and the detailing was

magnificent!

 

 

There are ways around an expensive looking vintage wardrobe. All you gotta do is go on a little adventure and be open minded. I suggest trying everything on if you can.

 

So check your local paper for estate sales. Stop at that yard sale you see when going for breakfast on Saturday morning. Visit your local thrift store and inquire about sales.

 

Your next outfit could be right around the corner!

 

The Retro Glam Girl