08 December 2010

I {heart}... fashion

(Quick note: My fever is going down and I'm no longer a shaking nervous wreck hiding in fear from purple Christmas elves — thanks so much for everyone's concern and prayers while I was sick!)

Okay, guys. You probably know by now I'm a total fashion bug. My walls are plastered with cutouts from fashion magazines (including an alarming array of Karlie Kloss photos, who happens to be one of my role models), my closet is filled with both modern and vintage artifacts, I wear semi-outlandish things to school. You've all seen my epic outfits. Usually I don't wear things quite as crazy as this, but I do occasionally make exceptions. Namely for hilarious photo shoots with friends. It makes me cringe to wear something that I know looks hideous. Even when I wear sweatpants to school I make sure I have a nice shirt or something. It's my own personal brand of OCD. Obsessive Fashion Disorder. Make fun of me all you like.

Anyway, here are two of my favorite things related to fashion.

1. Polyvore
I recently discovered Polyvore and I think I'm in love. Basically you can put together collages digitally of really epic clothes and such. This is what I do with magazines, so it makes me happy not to have to cut up my Vogues.

Want a peek? Here are two I've made today.

travel in style




2. Goodwill.
Gasp! Scream! Faint! Gasp, scream, and faint simultaneously! Yep. Goodwill. That place for homeless people. That's where I do about half my shopping.

Let me explain. I am not a wealthy person. My family is not rolling in cash. We live in a pretty small house, but we get by. We do, however, live among extremely wealthy people. I'm not kidding; I say where I live and people start frisking me for hundred-dollar bills (well, maybe that's an exaggeration, but they do glare at me with a certain amount of suspicion before I add that we are not among the richer people of the area).

And all these wealthy people have vast amounts of clothes. They shop at high-end stores just for the heck of it. So their closets get filled up with stuff they never wear. If you've seen Confessions of a Shopaholic (which by the way is a very epic chick flick which every female on the planet ought to see), imagine Rebecca's closet pre-auction. So these wealthy people hire personal organizers to help them sort through their clothes so they can go buy more. It's kind of disturbing if you think about it. But hey, I'm not complaining — because guess where all those clothes go? That's right. Goodwill.

Thus, our local Goodwill is small, but it's a treasure trove of high-end and high-fashion clothing. Lots of my friends go there. Even Hannah, who claimed that Goodwill creeped her out and didn't want to set foot in the store, agreed that this Goodwill is like a mini high fashion mall. Most, if not all, of the clothes are in new or very good condition, and the percentage of yucky ugly clothes is surprisingly low. There's not only a lot of runway stuff, there's also good stocks of American Eagle, Abercrombie, and the like.

Remember how I was raving about this BCBG Max Azria vest? Well, over the weekend I found another BDBG jewel. It's a loosely knit pink sweater with a neat off-the-shoulder draped neck and the most epic bell sleeves you will ever see. But I found something else even awesomer on that same day. A pair of jeans. Not just any jeans.

These jeans are from 7 For All Mankind and they are the most comfortable things ever. They feel like sweatpants on the inside, they're so soft. And they fit me just right.

Normally, these jeans are $200. Two hundred smackers. Phwee! Guess how much I got them for?

$10. Ten dollars. And the sweater was $5. So I got approximately $350's worth for $15.

See why I love Goodwill?

(Note: I'm not epically brand-obsessed, don't worry. I just have this thing about quality. And I know which brands fit me well, so I seek them out. And now I will be seeking out a whole lot more of 7 For All Mankinds.)

20 comments:

  1. I adore fashion as well...I could spend hours and hours browsing fashion blogs, flipping through fashion magazines...gah, I love it. I've only been to Goodwill once, but I really should go again...I suppose you'll never know what treasures you'll find :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I adore fashion as well! I get butterflies in my stomach when I purchase pieces of clothing; and then get home and rip the tags off and put them on. It's a really, really, good feeling.

    Our Goodwill is the exact opposite of yours (Unfortunately)...ours is apprently the place where fat elderly people drop off their clothes....ick. Wanna trade Goodwills?

    No, but I am all for going to one...just not ours!

    By the way, Confessions of a Shopaholic RULES (I have that movie!) and still to this day when I shop I ALWAYS think, "Do I need this?!" =)

    Glad your fever has gone down and I am still keeping you in my prayers, friend! =)

    ReplyDelete
  3. P.S. Ok, so I just noticed I copied what Carlotta said (I adore fashion as well)...I promise, I didn't see that she put that until I published my comment! =)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Haha, luckyyyyyyyyyyy! Our goodwill is where people go to get stuff for costumes, if they ever go at all.

    OMG, don't tell me you think those oufits from the "Hey, Soul Sister" post are outlandish! That's, like, what I wear on a daily basis... except for Elrania's red brocade shirt and the furry hat.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm a total fashion freak too. I have clothes, jewelery, hats, shoes, and I try to look my best at home too. I'm still on the look out for a peacoat though, any ideas where I can find one cheap online?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Haha, I LOVE fashion too =)

    I live in Bermuda and UNFORTUNATELY we don't have a Goodwill store, but I wish we did!!

    P.S. Do you have Skype? It'd be awesome if we could chat sometime:-)

    Hope you have a blessed

    ReplyDelete
  7. I find fashion very interesting. =) My favorite clothing store is Salvation Army.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm fashion obsessed, too. Goodwill stores are superb! :) Even though they're not my favorite place (I prefer Aeropostale or Forever 21), I've found great stuff there.

    Blessings, Olivia! Lovely blog you have, I'm following you!

    ~Lulu~

    ReplyDelete
  9. I am a TOTAL fashion freak if im wearing something ugly i feel awkward the whole day!!!
    I LOVE GOOD WILL! You can get things that are usually 100$ for like 10$ its awesome and there are REALLY good things :P
    I go to the local good will in Mill Creek ALL THE TIME!! :) I got some amazing shirts!!
    Glad your feeling better!!
    ~Flamestorm

    ReplyDelete
  10. i love polyvore, goodwill and confessions of a shopaholic, too! :) i don't go to goodwill that often, but when i do i always find something awesome for super cheap!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Briony Katie-
    Old Navy has them for pretty cheap, and Lands End has them for pretty low prices, although you have to layer the girl's sizes with a sweater if you actually want to keep warm. Also look at dELiA*s.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Obessive Fashion Disorder hahahah I love it!

    I too suffer from it! I LOVE wearing cute outfits to school! When I wear (gasp!) t-shirts or sweatpants to school (which I gotta admit happens very rarely, unless it is exams) a bunch of my friends go "Oh my gosh you're wearing a t-shirt!" it is so funny!

    What can I say, I love clothes! I have been on Polyvore, but never actually sat down and spent time on it....maybe I should!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Fashion's not my strong point, although I do love to dress up. It's hard to find clothes that actually fit me nicely because I'm skinny and short. I love shopping at thrift stores, but I've never been to Goodwill.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Ha! I love Shopaholic...such a funny movie.

    Goodwill (and most second hand stores) are awesome! Gotta love wonderful stuff cheap:D

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oohhh, cool! I LOOVE Goodwill too..I am now wearing an outfit totally out of Goodwill finds. :) "For All Mankind" is worth THAT much?? Gosh, I had no idea--I have a pair of that brand of jeans!! And I just recently got some A & F jeans for seven bucks...purty good. :)

    ~Lucia

    ReplyDelete
  16. I love fashion, too! I swear, if someone gave me $1,000 to go shopping for clothes/shoes/etc, I'd be EXTREMELY happy (and shocked).

    ReplyDelete
  17. OH MY GOSH Confessions of a Shopaholic is my all time favorite movie! polyvore sounds awesome. Wow your goodwill sounds amazing! and you got some really awesome deals! I haven't been to a goodwill but i really want to! i am gonna try to find one in a wealthy area:). I can relate... fashion is amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Oh and have you heard of the fashion/beauty community on youtube. you should check it out Blair (juicystar07) is one out of thousands of beauty/ fashion geeks! WARNING watching these videos will get addicting. but you should check it out on youtube. it's pretty awesome:)

    ReplyDelete
  19. OH my family LOVES goodwill! My mom calls it the GW Boutique! Cheap and if you're willing to dig a little you can find some great stuff! It's also great if you need some sewing fabric! <3 the fashion!
    Tessa Brooke

    ReplyDelete
  20. I'm glad you're feeling better.

    Maybe I should check out Goodwill. I hate clothes shopping, but would like some nice things to wear. :) I think I'm the opposite of you when it comes to fashion hehe.

    ReplyDelete

because comments = ❤

read about