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!

16. Thrifty Fourteen.

Today I did something that it felt like I hadn't done in ages, I went on a proper thrift hunt (I know I did a bit of thrifting here, but it was very rushed). I decided to reward myself for all the work I've been doing lately and ducked into the local lifeline, and boy did I pick a time to go in! There was so many attractive items there all for a price I didn't mind paying (unfortunately, they didn't look so attractive on me). In the end I settled on 4 items, coming to a total of $14. This is a break down of each item (all photographs are before they have been ironed / washed):

White Lace Tank Top - $4.

I really do love lace (to see lace-featuring fashion I have collected on my tumblr, click here) and have admired similar tops like this for a while., although they had a much heavier price tag. Usually this heavier price tag puts me off purchasing it because I'm still not quite sure how to coordinate it. When I showed my mother, she agreed it was pretty but thought that it deserved to be worn over a cami. While I agree with this, I've yet to figure out a way to wear it over something with taken away from it's overall image (if you have any idea, please, really, please, share it with me!). I'm seriously tempted to wear it alone, or perhaps purchase one of those tube-like tops to wear under it.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that it is actually made in Australia by a brand called 'Fine Lines'. The only thing I can find through google is a lingerie brand, so I've no idea of what kind of store it is really from. The top itself is a 14 so hangs loose on me (which was something I wanted). It has a beautiful scalloped edge which really appealed to me.

Navy Tank Top - $2.

This tank top is from Portmans. A 'basic' singlet from their online store is priced at $25, so I'm assuming this would be a bit more new. I've often felt I have a lacking zone in my wardrobe - Top wise, I largely wear t-shirts or button up blouses / mens shirts and don't really have any 'dressy' tops - I feel this shirt will help me bridge that gap. This shirt was actually the first item that I picked up, and I was very happy with the fit. It's actually an 'xs', so I was surprised it fit me so comfortably.

While the neckline looks reasonably high (okay, it's no turtle neck but it's definitely no scoop neck), the gaps between the silver are actually see through as demonstrated below, making it a bit more interesting.

Yeah, the colouring in the above (webcam) photograph, I had to have my lamp on me so you could actually see the detail.

Jeans West Dress - $4.

I get a very 'western'(ish) feel from this dress, and was a particular fan of the crochet and the beads (they are, after all, the main centre piece of the dress). As you can see below the dress is quite short, so I may instead wear it tucked in to some pale blue denim shorts or with something underneath. I'm kicking myself for not buying cowboy(ish) boots when the opportunity presented itself, however, I think I'll wear them with the pair of boots also pictured below.

The above boots were from Payless and on sale for $19 earlier this year (or possibly late last year, I can't remember).

Cotton Blazer - $4.

This is easily my favourite purchase of the day. Not only is it a beautiful colour, it's comfy, has cute buttons and shoulder pads! I've already worn it out once over a plain black shirt + skirt (styled to look like a dress). I just adore everything about it!

14. Vaguely Victorian!

I went to the shops with my mother to get some groceries this morning and she had to stop at our local thriftstore to donate some items. We had a quick look inside because my mother wanted to buy some photo frames and I picked up these boots for only $10! (In fact, I didn't pay a cent for them because my mother offered to buy them as she was getting my sister something). They're from a brand called 'Pinet' / by 'Verona shoes' (it says both of these inside the shoe, so not quite sure what is what). They have leather uppers.

They strike me as very Victorian looking which is what attracted me to them (plus for some reason I can picture a Witch wearing them, haha). They are a bit scuffed and have some dirty marks on them but I think I'll be able to clean them up a bit. I'm kind of excited to pair them with something, although I'm not entirely sure what. At the moment I think they're either go over some tights or paired with a dress.