REVIEW: Positive Ebanlan (Ebay) Ring.

Back in December I posted on my tumblr about how I had made my first personal ebay purchase, well, this is my review of the whole process and the item in question. The above pictures are taken from the listing (the item in question is the bronzey / gold ring, not the silver). The ring itself is one which is mass produced overseas and then sold incredibly cheaply on ebay with free shipping by numerous different sellers. This means that even if you do not buy the ring from the same seller I did, it's very, very likely that it will turn out exactly the same.

Basic Details.
Item ordered: "Fashion exquisite Korean charming style retro cute cat ear ring" from ebanlan on ebay.
Date ordered / paid for: 14/12/2011.
Date posted: 15/12/2011.
Date received: 01/01/2012.
Postage: Postage was free and due to this the item took some time to arrive despite being shipped the day after payment. However, the listing said that the item would arrive between a two week period starting from December 31st, the ring came the second day which I was pleased with. Taking into consideration that the postage was free and that I was forewarned of the time period it would arrive, I was not annoyed by delivery delay. The package came from overseas and was delivered to Australia.
Packaging: Came in a small padded postal bag with the ring contained in a plastic bag within (see images below). No damage was sustained.
Total cost: $1 AU for the ring, free shipping.

The Ring.

Haha, yes, that is a Pikachu shirt - my sister got it for me for Christmas (XXS from JayJays). The first two images are taken with my camera, and the others are taken using my webcam as I seem to have misplaced my camera in-between the time I took the first photos and now, when I'm finally writing the review. If desiring some more detailed shots, refer here for images provided by the seller. I can guarentee that the ring I received looks exactly like the ring in these pictures.

The ring is apparently a size 8 (according to the listing) and my only qualm is that if I push it very firmly down to the bottom of the finger that it is pictured on above, it needs a slight twist to pull it off (but nothing major at all).

Overall Opinion.
I'm very happy with this purchase and gave the seller positive feedback. They were upfront and honest in the listing about delivery time and I had no issues with them what so ever. In fact, my sister liked the ring so much that I have brought her one and am currently waiting to receive it.

18. The Last Thrift Of 2011.

Before we get on to the thrifting, does anyone remember one of my recent posts "Forget diamonds, sales are a girls best friend" ? Well, they really are. I quite enjoy the store 'Cotton on' as their clothes tend to be quite comfy and relaxed. I had a quick look in there today as they had sales sign up and brought the following skirt for only $2! I was a bit surprised at the price, so inspected it before double checking the sale price was right, there was no flaws and it really was only $2. Needless to say I brought it. Not only was it a bargain, but it's my favourite style of skirt.

I love skirts with elastic waists like this and nice, comfortable material. They're perfect for my style as I love to tuck things in and this means they can be essentially paired with anything - blouses, singlets & t-shirts. I especially love pairing them with singlets as they then appear as a dress. Anyway, on to the thrifting:

Stripe Top - $2.

Okay, not exciting at all but sometimes it's nice to have some basics. I'm a great fan of nautical-inspired outfits and hopefully will be able to locate a bottom half to give this a more nautical flair. The shirt itself is nice fitting and in perfect condition, I don't think it's ever been worn.

Sheer Blouse - $4.

Before we go anywhere, yes, this shirt is massive - it actually basically reaches my knees.  It also has a long slit in either side which goes to the bottom of my underwear. The sleeves are also very long, almost reaching my wrists while I think they're suppose to be 3/4 sleeves or even half sleeves. There is no sizes or labels on the shirt so I have no idea what size it actually is.

Despite the fact that it's a massive shirt, once tucked in it appears to be of a loose fitting size (which is what I wanted). It's very likely I will shorten the hemline of the shirt (as atm there is a lot of material to tuck in) and either shorten the sleeves by removing some material, and then rolling and stitching them to create a cuff or altering them in some other way so they are shorter. 

While on the rack it does look somewhat navy blue, however, on & simply laying on my bed it appears more black. If you look at this inspiration post I made about sheer fabric, I'm sure you can understand why I instantly had to have this shirt.

I hope everyone is enjoying their last few days of 2011!

WARDROBE ESSENTIALS: That Little Black Dress.

It's a saying everyone has heard - ever girl should have their own little, black dress - so let you tell you a bit about mine first.

I thrifted the above dress last year for $4, only to later discover a Supre label to my surprise (I generally find the store unappealing to my personal tastes). To be honest, had I found this dress in the store I probably would not have tried it on, figuring it would look poorly on me, however, something thrifting has taught me is that you can find an amazing wardrobe piece in a shop / label / etc that you wouldn't expect.

Since it's purchase, this little black dress has proven to be invaluable for numerous reasons, including:

1. It's simple.
   Sometimes simple is better - you don't have to worry about matching colours or patterns, you can just pop on some complimenting shoes and accessories then be off.
   
2. Black is a flattering colour.Black is universally accepted as a flattering colour. It doesn't clash with skin tones or hair colours, and tends to disguise shadows that may be cast by lumps / bumps / buldges / whatever that may be cast by your body thus creates a more flattering presentation of your body. Colours are usually associated with words as well (ie. the colour red may be associated with passion, the colour white associated with purity). Black is usually associated with being 'sexy', something particularly useful if you intend to wear your little black dress out to a club or similar event.
   
3. There's so many variates.
   There are so many style / cuts / designs / whatever of little, black dresses that you're bound to find one that is not only appealing to you, but also flattering and in your price range.
   
4. It's versatile.
   This means you'll have a lot more options to create your coordinate and also means that it's easy to create a new coordinate with it that looks entirely different. For example, my favourite two coordinates with this dress is the above picture  (usually with a necklace of some sort) and the second one is over red tights and large, stompy black boots complete with buckles (The closest example I could think of is Demonia).
   
   As my dress is also quite tight and short, I also have worn it tucked into a pair of shorts for a more casual look. While it looks like an ordinary plain t-shirt from the front, the back has been replaced with lace.

INSPIRATION: Kuro Lolita.

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Now, I know I mentioned this in my review of Bodyline's Rocking Horse shoes, but I am a huge fan of the style of fashion known as 'Lolita'. This style of fashion has numerous substyles and one of my favourite is known as 'Kuro Lolita'. While this substyle follows the 'rules' of the fashion, it features coordinates that are solely one colour - black (the opposite being Shiro Lolita which is all white).

While I'm sure some of you may feel that black on black is boring, I believe when well done it can look very nice (as I guess, can anything). This post features some of my favourite Kuro coordinates. While I do not have the wardrobe to dress in such a manner (oh how I wish I did!), black is a staple colour in my wardrobe and I can always use new inspiration in how to wear it

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INSPIRATION: Sheer Fabric.

I have a new love - sheer fabric. I have never pictured myself as being a person who wears sheer fabric despite having thrifted a sheer floral blouse a few months ago. My boyfriend at the time told me it wast he ugliest thing that he had ever seen which put me off wearing it (while that may sound harsh of him, he's just very honest about things like that and didn't mean it in a hurtful way etc). Recently I wore the blouse out with my current boyfriend to have a few drinks and he complimented my outfit which made me realise I really did like sheer materials.

It's also getting quite warm here (I live in Australia) so sheer materials are going to be lovely for the summer heat. Since I enjoy collecting images of trends I like for inspiration, I thought I'd share some with you!

09. Thrifting Onwards to Halloween.

With Halloween this month I've been trying to think of a few costumes to wear to attend my favourite club - Hot Damn, which is having a 'Mega Halloween Party'. To help me think of the perfect costume I made a list of requirements which was as follows:

1. Has to be inspired by something I personally like.
2. Something at least reasonably recognisable (being a club I don't think too many people will get it if I turn up in something heaps obscure, not to mention answering "So.... what are you suppose to be?" every five minutes strikes me as annoying).
3. Inexpensive and something that won't upset me if parts are damaged / stolen / lost.
4. Something comfortable / suitable for a clubbing location (in other words, massive props are a no-no but looking easy is encouraged).

After looking at this I decided I was left with a few options, my favourite one wearing something Doctor Who inspired - probably something from season 5 / 6 as it would be more recognisable. I also considered going as Ash Ketchum since I own his hat / a home-made version of his overshirt or, if all else fails, a zombie. At the moment I've settled on constructing a (very casual) version of femme Eleven, so here's a picture of him from season 5:

My costume will be comparable to this although I'll also be donning a fez ("I wear a fez now, fezes are cool" is probably one of the first things I think of when I think of Eleven). So yes, I'll be wearing a blazer, button up shirt, bow-tie, fez, boots, suspenders and most likely tiny shorts. Personally I think that Eleven would be a shorts kind of gal, if you know, he was a gal, and since I'll be at a club I don't really want to look overly boyish / be running around in dress pants for the entire night. I'd rather something a bit more 'flirty' purely because of the location. I already have the boots / shorts, and intend to make the fez - unless I can find one somewhere (which is probably unlikely), however I don't own any of the other essentials. This lead me to a very quick thrifting trip at Lifeline after work today. I only purchased two things, and they are as follows:

Blazer.

This blazer is from Table Eight and cost me $2 (marked down from $4). For some reason I thought it was a lighter yet similar colour to Eleven's blazer and thus brought it on for my costume, on returning home I discovered that I have the worse memory ever and was left completely boogled as to how I thought they were similar. However, I did see one of a more suitable colour there today and shall be returning before the end of the week to purchase it (this time I'll make sure I print off reference pictures). I don't usually buy light-coloured clothing (except for white band shirts / white dress shirts) so this is something pretty different for me. I think I may couple it with some of my darker dresses.

The only damage is to the 'fake pockets' which have been slightly torn to make real pockets. This is a blessing in disguise as I hate fake pockets with a passion and intend to unpick them properly.

Shirt.

I am a huge fan of oversized shirts and button up shirts, so I love being able to combine them. This shirt also cost me $2 and I knew from the moment I ran my hands over it on the rack, that I was going to purchase it. I love the colour, texture and the slightly transparent fabric that delicately drapes across my torso. The label reads '1626' which I have never heard off, although it did strike me as a 'size' shop (as it sells size 16 - 26). Google it only revealed the link to 'Autograph' which sells "fashion for the curvy woman" (direct quote), which seems to support my idea. The shirt itself is a size 18 which means it is far, far too big for me. Despite this, I really like it and intend to wear it tucked into a cute skirt or pair of shorts. I actually saw a woman in a similar shirt a few days ago with the shoulders cut out like this. I'm tempted to try it with my shirt but I think I'll practice on some old ones first.

08. Grandma, What A Big Wardrobe You Have!

I know I haven't posted here for quite some time, so apologies. Originally I was going to relocate to Dreamwidth, however, there wasn't many blogs for me to follow and such so I've decided to stay here. Recently my family & I visited my grandparents. Not only does my grandmother love thrifting (although, usually for antique related things), but she's a massive hoarder. Her husband has been slowly going through many of the things stashed away in their basement to give away so she got out some of her old jewellery boxes and that and told us we could have what we wanted from them because the rest was going to be donated. I'm going to have to ask you to ignore the dopey faces I'm pulling since it was hard to make sure I was actually photographing the jewellery without it moving, haha. The header picture is one of my favourite thrift finds (although, really, all my thrift finds are my favourite finds), it was only $2 or something but I adored the nautical symbols + the navy stripes that you can't see. Plus, it's oversized so I love it even more. Anyway, my finds were as follows:

Really long string of amber-like beads.

Two chains (only one pictured). Both were a bronzey / copper colour which didn't come out in my webcam so I gave up (plus they kept swinging and coming out blurred, haha).

This necklace is broken, however, had really nice clasp like things so that it could be five-stringed. I intend to cut all the beads off and restring them so it's got the original five strings again.

I thought the clasp was really nifty on this. I think it's suppose to be a choker, which isn't really my style, however, it was way too nifty to pass up.

The necklace is broken (no clasp, missing a few beads), however, I really liked the centre piece of it so decided to keep it so I can restring it in the future. The dark thing in the second picture is a goldy brooch of some flowers. I don't really wear brooches, however, I think it would look nice with my navy blazer.

Last but not least I ended up with two rings - one is a large man's ring which I could wear on my thumb or put on a necklace, it's just a plain silver band while the other is much smaller and has a small pattern on it that I find quite cute.

Non-jewellery related I ended up with these two gold coin purses. I absolutely adore the opener thing at the top. Sadly parts of them are coming unconnected from the actual purse part so I'll have to see if my father can help me reconnect them. I'm not sure how much actual use they'd get, but I thought they were pretty! I also ended up with this:

My grandmother's evening purse. It has a matching handle and inside is a lovely yellow colour with a pocket. I have no idea what I'm going to use it with since it's a bit flash for my usual outings, however, I thought it was way too nice to get rid of.