Thrifting finds

I wanted to do a whole post to debut some of the awesome things I found at Value Village two weeks ago. I found all of these on one trip! I am going to run by there again on Monday because they are having a 50% off sale, and I have had such great luck with finding items that fit me! Also, I butchered the last vintage bed sheet that I bought to sew with, and I'm itching to try this skirt pattern, so I need to pick up another one of those too.

Anyways, on to the goods:
Blue thick jersey elastic waisted skirt with pockets! $5


Paired with: white tank from target, cardigan from target, and a huge green bow that I made. I also got this same skirt in a pinky red, you saw it the other day.

Stretchy polyester mixed media dress, so comfy, and fits me perfectly: $10


Paired with: mustard cardigan from target. I will pick a different cardigan next time, I don't think this looks very good together.

And, the find of the day, for only $3:

Cotton ruffly dress with pockets:


AAAAHHH, right? So awesome. So comfy. So ruffly. And it's 100% cotton, a calico-ish material, so it will wear really well in the hotter months as well. For only three bucks, I couldn't even believe it. All I had to do was remove the elastic from the casings in the sleeve ends, because it was a little too tight. I plan on putting in slightly longer pieces of elastic but for now it looked fine without.

I paired it with a brooch that I found for $1 at a farmer's market, and a braided belt from Target. In the summer I'll wear it with some fake leather gladiator like sandals, for now it's the boots that I wear nearly every day :).

If you were thinking that thrift stores aren't for you because you'll never find anything that fits... I say go for it anyways. Go try stuff on. You'll be so amazed!

Also, Gabby over at Corazones Rojos put together a great video of her thrifting, it's definitely worth a watch if you're wondering how to get started with adding thrifted items to your wardrobe!

I'll be your role model, baby

If I lived anywhere near, or ever had a reason to visit NYC, I would get myself post haste to Re/Dress NYC, which is a purported plus sized vintage shopping mecca. I haven't ever been, but I will one day.

Currently, they are having a model search, looking for a size 18-or-larger model to grace their ads. I think I may enter! I mean, I've been taking pictures of my outfits and holding forth about how awesome it is to be fat and fashionable over at fatshionista.livejournal.com for some time now. I certainly have enough pictures to choose from to satisfy the 2 jpeg requirement, and enough words to write the essay!

*note: I will not be using the above picture in my submission :)

Haircut: sometimes a new thing isn't a good idea :)

So, I got my haircut yesterday. And I don't like it. And I'm sad. I look like a Romulan, as Bob so kindly pointed out (thanks hun!).

We decided on a modified bowl cut, since I like having bangs... but I am not super pleased with it. I'm giving myself a few weeks to grow into it, and if I still don't like it my lovely stylist Rachel said to come back and we'll change it (though to what, I'm unsure... part of why I don't like it is because I feel like the sides and front are just too short, and time is the only thing's gonna fix that).

Enough whining, here's the evidence:


O RLY?



Side view:


And outfit for the day:


Details:
Cardigan: Target xxl, years back
Shirt: Old Navy xxl
Tank (under): old navy xl, years back
Skirt: Thrifted recently, Value Village, marked a 2xpetite
Boots: Miz Mooz Marissa boots, size 10 (these run a whole size small, I usually wear an 11)
Brooch: from Therapy, a boutique in Mountain View, CA
Haircut and "I'm not so sure about it" face: me

A DIY knockoff of a dress I can't afford

Etsy is a wonderful place, full of awesome designers whose work I just drool over. One such recent designer is Stephanie Bezaire. I am in absolute love with this summery confection:



And I will own it one day. But until that day, I hacked together a similar dress from a sales post (over at fatshionista.livejournal.com, every friday is sales post day and I've picked up some marvelous stuff there).

Total cost of this dress: $5

It came to me nearly ankle length, with in-seam pockets and fraying smocking at the top. It was also about 6 inches too big in the chest and waist. It is made of the softest old rayon blend that feels like cashmere, literally, I've never felt anything like it (that's what she said!). Anyways, here is my effort:



Closeup of bow:


From farther away:


Cardiganized:


I used the extra fabric from shortening the hem to make the bow. The bow is attached with safety pins so I can use it to accessorize other outfits.

All in all, I'm super pleased with it.

Emboldened by my success with this project, I decided to try to make a sundress from a vintage bed sheet this past weekend. It didn't go so well. More on that later.

So much for Frugal February.

I was really trying to not buy any clothes for the month of February. The fact that I failed at this only 8 days in may indicate that my shopping "habit" is worse that I thought.

Here's what I caved on:

This lace overlay shift dress is so precious, I hope it fits over my hips:


From my wishlist post earlier:

I mean, come on, chambray + ruffles + high waisted? How could I not buy this?

Trying out a different cardigan silhouette, inspired by the lovely Olive:


Be on the lookout for OOTDs and reviews of these items! Plus, my other eShakti dress came in the mail today, so I will be trying that on and reviewing it shortly!

Today's OOTD, brought to you by Polyvore

Today is national Wear Red day, the sign in our apartment elevator tells me.  So, I thought I'd wear red.  But then I didn't get a picture of it (yet), so I thought I'd play around with Polyvore to give you all an idea of what I have on today.  Other than my mantle of unbridled scorn, that is.

OOTD: 2/6/10 by neffbot featuring Old Navy dresses

The items in the set listed on polyvore are not indicative of the real items in the set.  Here are the real items:

Dress: Old Navy 1x
Boots: Target "kady" boots, sold out awhile back, size 11
Cardigan: Target merona xxl
Brooch (not shown):

The polyvore thing seems clunky.  I'll bring you a real OOTD really featuring me shortly!

ETA:

Here's what I actually looked like:




I think Polyvore makes outfits look a little more curated and interesting. When I see them on, they still look awesome and so do I :), but it just looks like a person wearing clothes rather than the tableau that polyvore creates. Hmmm. I will probably do more of these!

Go see me over at the January Fatshionista recap!

Christina included me in her January Fatshion Recap over at Musings of a Fatshionista! Clicky for not just my fatshuns, but other awesome fatshuns.

Menswear-inspired oxford heels, and outfits containing them.

I saw these delicious menswear-inspired oxford heels on the sale rack at my local shoestore, and had to possess them. I call them my victorian witch shoes.

Once I got them home, I was unsure how to wear them. Here are a few outfits that I paired them with:



Details:
Dress: Old Navy 1X
Cardigan: Kersh xl
Brooch: A gift (for myself)
Knee socks: EG Smith black "over the knee", bought from Monster on Ballard Ave in Seattle (she's great!)
Shoes: Pikolinos size 11 (or, umm, 42?)

Here are some detail shots of the shoes:




And now an outfit that does not include a dress! Prepare yourself for the shock.





Details:
White tank/shirt: Old Navy xxl, years ago
Unseen tank under: Old navy xl, years ago
Jeans: Torrid zcav skinny jeans, size 22
Cardigan: actually a dark green, Target xxl, recent
Necklace: a copper book, gift from Bob on our wedding day
Shoes: Pikolinos size 11(42)

Wish list: Nautical and not-so-nautical from eShakti

I have such a love affair with the *idea* of eShakti, and the look of their clothing. Truly interesting prints and styling, totally customizable from the sleeves to the length to the measurements, and availability in plus sizes too? I'll take it! I love the modcloth-meets-anthropologie-but-cheaper sensibility to it all.

But, I say the *idea* of eShakti because I've ordered from them before and, with all online retailers, you can never be sure of the fit and fall, the feel of the fabric, or the customer service experience you will have.

That said, I agree with Christina over at Musings of a Fatshionista and am REALLY loving what they are doing with their new Nautical collection, and just with their new spring dresses in general!

Here are some of the pieces that are on my wish list:

1) How awesome is chambray right now?




2) Love the 50's housewife meets rodeo (in a good way) look:




3) My mom and I used to make much less stylish versions of these, with christmas fabric, marbles, and plastic beads. This one is much cuter:



4) So cute and strappy, and great for any shape from apple to pear to "rectangular with bumps" :)


5) Beige tweedtastic:


And the final one, which is no longer on my wish list because I ordered it:



I'll post pictures of it when it comes, provided it fits, which is always a concern with eShakti!

OOTD and a review of Jibrionline.etsy.com

I lusted after the Jibri high-waisted skirt for months. MONTHS! When Jasmine, the sassy lady behind Jibri, had a 50% off sale after Thanksgiving, I made my move and ordered it in black.



Unfortunately, I had eaten alot on Thanksgiving (thanks rooms and bunches :) and so, when measuring myself to order it custom-sized (which is at no additional cost!), I was a few inches bigger than I normally am :). So, when it came in, it was actually too big and I ended up needing to get it altered. But this was my fault, not Jasmine's!

I can't measure!

Details:
Shirt: From the recent seattle fats clothing swap, and is super soft! Unsure of size/brand
Brooch: from my broochified post, the Knitting Mill in Chattanooga, TN
Boots: I will do a separate post about these; miz mooz size 10, AWESOME boots.

A side view:


The black doesn't really show the structure of the skirt, the etsy post shows it better. It has pockets too! Really, really deep in-seam pockets.

Overall, I feel excited about the skirt, but also I think I hyped it up in my mind a little too much, so I'm also a little disappointed.

Good things:
- Really great structure and shape
- Awesomely versatile
- Pockets!
- custom sized at no extra charge
- Jasmine is a delight to work with and got the skirt out to me really quickly considering the huge volume of orders she had from her black friday sale

Things I would change:
- The waistband wrinkles horizontally after sitting in the skirt. Because it is so wide and cumberbundish, it looks great standing but after sitting in the skirt the wrinkles just won't go away and it looks sloppy. This is probably also due to my belly rolls. I may put interfacing/stiffening fabric in the waistband to keep it from wrinkling.
- The fabric kind of feels strange. I think this is just my own personal thing. Don't get me wrong, the fabric is substantial and not transparent but it is just a weird weight to still wrinkle so easily. The hang of it almost makes me feel like I am wearing a costume skirt rather than a real skirt. I don't really have a recommendation on what other kind of fabric to use though. I'm not verbalizing very well.

Overall, I would recommend this skirt because it is custom-sized for no additional cost, it has a great shape, and it is super versatile - but with the caveat that I'm not sure it will become the weekly wardrobe staple that I was hoping it would be due to the wrinkling and weird fabric weight. But Jasmine is great and it is really awesome to work with designers that are nice and pleasant people on top of providing a great product!

Has anyone else ordered the Jibri high-waisted skirt? What have been your experiences?