Our cold snap was short lived, and today saw our temperatures soaring back into the upper 80's with humidity to boot. Next week will be cooler, but still warm-ish in the day, downright chilly at night. I'm a reasonably stylish woman, but I have no clue how to dress for this sort of rollercoaster. Obviously, layering helps. Colour palette is quite another matter as almost nothing seems to work for me this time of year. I have plenty of Autumn clothing in appropriate colours-but they're all woolen. Gasp-I broke a sweat just typing the word.
I don't like to labour over clothing selection. A typical morning has me grab something clean that isn't too wrinkled, and I get dressed. I
do get dressed each day as I couldn't conduct classes in a bathrobe. I'm not judging anyone that does-just pointing out that I mentally feel more prepared when I'm showered, dressed, and ready to tackle the day. But that's me. I've never been a sportswear sort of woman. This morning, I could not put together something to wear for anything. I was only taking Danny for his flu vaccine at the pharmacy-hardly an occasion to worry about wardrobe, but I wanted to look halfway decent as it is my day off as well. I just have tried a dozen combinations of shirts and skirts before finally selecting these, still not thrilled with the overall effect. Then, I brushed my teeth and managed to spit toothpaste all over my blouse. After all that fuss getting dressed, I wasn't going there again, so I dabbed it off as best I could, arranged the bow so it was less noticeable, and got the hell out of the house. Some days, you're only going to look so good.
Outfit Particulars:
1970's polyester blouse (Russ Togs, I think) Goodwill
1970's Fire Islander Polyester double knit skirt-Goodwill
Belt-Goodwill
Shoes-K Mart
Handbag-Thrift World
Earrings-Liz Claiborne (I think I bought them at Von Maur years ago)
1970's Polyester jacket-Thrift World
We did a bit of thrifting, and generally speaking, it was kind of a dud. I found a cache of old lady purses at the Goodwill for $1.99 each, and another (like I need more) robe and bed jacket. That was about it. I've been noticing the stores are putting out stuff that really ought to be thrown away. I mean filthy clothes that look like they were sitting in an abandoned house getting mould and water damaged, and things you wouldn't want to touch, much less buy. Thrift World has been especially bad lately, and they think they can slap a high price tag on any old polyester piece from the 70's, call it "vintage" and sell it for $15.00 or more. Sigh. That's fine if you are going to clean it, fix the tears, repair the hems-but otherwise, that is just silly. People think they're going to make a million dollars selling something just because it is old.
I may not know everything there is to know about vintage clothing, but I know my way around 70's polyester
http://thepolyesterwilderness.blogspot.com/ and I know you don't pay that kind of money for it. Polyester is typically on the stain resistant side, so if you find something that looks reasonably clean but has a stain, odds are you won't get it out (as someone else already tried). Oxy booster is good, but it has limitations.
Is the price of more recent vintage going up where you live, or are our yokels just trying to cash in on a trend without really understanding it?
Well, the outfit looks pretty good to me, even if you weren't in love with it. I have tried - and failed - to spot the toothpaste mark, so you're OK, I doubt anyone saw it!
ReplyDeleteYes, the inflated prices for so-called vintage in charity shops is a phenomenon here too. Not in all of them, it's true; but there doesn't seem to be any distinction between pieces which are good quality and condition, or a decent label, and items which should probably just go straight in the bin, or be priced at next-to-nothing, just to see if they can find a home other than landfill...
I do find it really annoying when whoever does the pricing doesn't appear to take condition into account. You just can't charge inflated prices for torn, stained, shabby pieces. And the fact that I can go in the same shop weeks after week, and see the same items on the rail, seems to prove the point - no one will buy them at that price, whereas someone might take a chance if they were really cheap. xxx
Darl, our thrift shops have been obscenely overpriced for a few years, but just recently I've gotten lucky and picked up some reasonablely priced goodies. But this exhorbitant pricing of 70's polyester is hilarious. And, our thrift shops like to pop all the vintage and/or slightly old looking stuff under the banner "Ab Fab" for some reason. As in the show Absolutely Fabulous, I suppose. Who knows?!
ReplyDeleteYou brown and deep red (or is that birgundy) combination is giving me the horn, baby!
XXX