Thrift find!

I rarely hit the thrift shops anymore as all the little independent shops are disappearing and the chains like Goodwill have gone "upscale". Usually my best bet are estate & yard sales. But yesterday after a lovely afternoon of cooling off in the pool my friend Jeanne over for a visit & I had a few hours to kill before supper so off we went to a Goodwill.

Jeanne must be a lucky charm for me as whenever we go thrifting I find at least one AMAZING find. Once I found a vintage YSL Rive Gauche blouse balled up with a bunch of scarves for $2! time, a perfect condition 60s chartreuse swimsuit, the list goes on. This visit I wasn't hitting it, nothing catching my eye, prices all crazy. I happened to just waltz by the linen section (which I rarely do as lately all you find are cheap curtains and stained crappy tablecloths) when a pattern hit my eye. I of course ran my hands over it & found that it was vintage brand new barkcloth. Now intrigued I took it off the hanger & Jeanne & I stretched it out. At first I thought it was a sofa cover, then I realised it was a bedspread. Priced at $19.99. So my mind started racing wondering if I could use it somehow to cover the 60s sofa we have. Then it hit me, we had to dump the original cushions as they were disintegrating, and being lazy, we got a futon, I scored it with a box cutter so it would be an "L" shape & its very comfy. And this bedspread looked to be the same size as the futon. So I took a chance. With my Goodwill points, I only wound up paying $10 for it.

At first I left the bottom hem down...

Then decided to tuck it under so you could see those great mid-century slender legs. It's much more orange in reality, which I thought perfect since the original upholstery was a light orange. (Excuse the mess behind, I'm not in a good state of mind today to attend to details.)

So now my living room is truly a riot of pattern with my Picasso print drapes! Eh I love it, its interesting and besides barkcloth is such a workhorse, I have original 1940s drapes still in perfect condition and as bright as the day they were made! Oh and Jeanne? She found a HUGE Bally tote for $20, plus some cool scarves. Not too bad considering I wasn't expecting anything interesting!

XXX
Jet

The Thrift Store Came Through!

Well it came through this time, maybe they got too many complaints about the outrageous pricing? Although I still found shit clothing labeled as "designer" with prices to match, and old, chipped and crackled dishes priced outrageously. But we managed to ferret out some great stuff, first time in ages.

First up a stack of books, some for each of us, all between 50c & 99c, can't beat that. Especially as Gwensday found a book she can use for High School next year (advanced algebra -- ew I barely made it through regular algebra! Thank goodness she has her Dad's brain for numbers!) Can you guess which one is mine? Muahaha!

Hint: Mine is the second one from top, looks like a wickedly fun trashy novel composed of three stories by three different authors.

And now for Gwensday's picks...

New belt, unused.

Some CD's (No we don't censor her music or reading, she's always been independent and just as long as we discuss everything is much better than parents that monitor and deny -- they'll only go behind your back.)

Funky sneaks that zip on the side, brand new. She plans to draw all over them.

And this is what happened...

She wasted no time, the next morning she came down dressed and wearing these customized sneaks. She calls the red one the "murderous" sneaker because she accidentally got red paint on it, then just went for it. I told her the only thing you can murder with that is a cockroach! Now all her friends want her to paint theirs, I told her get a biz going!

Sjej

I found this one for her and she loved it!

She pans to use this more like an over-shirt/ jacket.

And now for my choices...

Not vintage, but a warm wool cardigan with the beading intact is fine with me.

Lightweight merino wool Breton style top. Love the pink!

I think Vix was infiltrating my brain when I came across this beauty. Fits perfect and will be nice and cool in summer. You can't see the sparkles sewn in, typical Indian dress with a riot of colour. Hey it'll go with whatever hair colour I have!

Another lightweight wool top. Its not black and white, its pink and brown, closer to the second pic.

I got rid of one of these years ago and was always sorry I did. Its a maxi denim dress. Fab in summer, or layered in winter.

Love the wash, looks almost new.

New slippers. They must have been rejects, never worn. I don't care,  I go through this type rather quickly (me bad, I'll wear them outside to sit on the porch!) so $3 is fine for me.

Lastly something I found for my husband. I call it his "cholo" shirt!

Who could resist those skulls?

Wild right? Its enormous, but will be good for tossing over a swimsuit or when you just want something lose and not sticking to your skin! (if the warmth ever comes to NY!)

Lastly, our niece was searching for a prom dress on a very limited budget. She's in St. Louis and I told her to try for vintage, but its expensive there. So I got her size, colour and style preference and, well this was the very first dress I laid my hands on!

The gown.

Sexy back!

Closeup of the front.

Closeup of the back.

She had wanted red or cobalt blue, halter or strapless, and when  I sent pics she loved it but was afraid of size. She was also worried about it being clingy, but this is heavier satin so it will skim instead of cling. I said it's our treat, if it fits and you love it, great. Otherwise maybe another friend would like it. She was so cute, didn't want us to spend money if it wouldn't work, but I put it to her like this "It was less than any tee shirt you've ever purchased. So try it." Might need minor alterations but they shouldn't cost much, and she'll definitely be the only beauty with this dress! It will also look beautiful with her hair and eyes. So I hope it works for her!

Oh one last little gadget. Can you guess what it is?

Its a knife and scissors sharpener! Very sharp and perfect since my utility sheers are always going dull. Not back for a buck!

Well that's it for this week. We had a busy weekend, on Sunday we went to pick up furniture that my great grandfather made. They have a rich history and deserve a post all their own, which I'll do later in the week.

Linking up with Lakota's Taa Daa Tuesday: http://faithhopeandcharityshopping.blogspot.comhttp://faithhopeandcharityshopping.blogspot.com

XXX
Jet