The Cutest Lil' Thrifter You Ever Did See!

Ladies and weirdo's....

Meet Tara. 

Tara Rouillard is one of the most talented thrifters living in Edmonton to date. The other day at work, she wore an outfit that had me saying "hot dog what a look!" (I did not actually say that)

Not only can she dress fab, she can organize the shit of a purse wall, lemme tell ya!

Everything she's wearing is from our beloved VV boutique on their infamous "Everything 50% Off Day" which I personally believe should be a national holiday. 

The one advantage that Tara has against me at the ravenous game of thrift and awe, is finding pants.

Being a 6'1 abominable snow monster, I have found the whole rifling through endless amounts of denim to find ONE pair of jeans that doesn't make me look like I'm clinging desperately to youth {in other words, ones that aren't too short,} has been proven a most aggravating task indeed, that's why when she showed me the incredible black denim high waisted pants, I wanted to strangle her.....

...In a nice way!

Sorry boy's, this is taked

 It's second-hand pants like these that make me feel like Fievel from An American Tail.

Somwhere..... out there.....

"You're not aloud to sing in your blog, Marlaena!"

Uh sorry bout that.... uh... myself?

Anyway, enough inner monologue, more about Tara

Tara is the very bright young woman with the vocabulary of a frat boy who manages The Tin Box on Whyte avenue. She loves star wars, chicken nuggets and Genesis (not just these things but it gives you an idea of who she is.)

You're f**king adorable! We get it!

When she's not found at TB or in the middle of winning a Mia Farrow look-alike-contest, you might find her at home with her sweetie and a good game of 'Restaurant City' or perhaps at Filthy's for karaoke Tuesday's, serenading us with her rendition of Never Ever by All Saints.

Beautiful lady but a bro at heart... or should I say brah?

That's all for now folks and remember: A killer high waisted pant and a red pixie cut will make you at least 46% cooler than everyone else in the universe.

-Marlaena a.k.a The Poor Little Thrift Girl

To answer your question, yes the hair is blue, more on that later

The cool police called and I'm under arrest! (they set me free after I made that joke)

 

Let's Thrift It! : The 80's (wait a second....)

"The 80's? Seriously, Marlaena? This isn't 2005, get with it!"

Okie doke there psycho.

Yes, the 80's. Yikes.

 Everyone now is moving on to the 90's and I'm definitely all for it, (I've been resurrecting my mom's old Dr. Martens for goodness sake!) Perhaps it's the pukey fluorescent hair or just all the Psychedelic Furs I've been listening to, I've been in an 80's vibe this week.

My beloved VV boutique is jam packed with crap from this beautifully twisted era and instead of fighting and trying to find as much newish stuff as we can, we accept (I apologize to those I offend, but have you seen some of the shit that's come out of that decade? Wowzers.)

Now since we can't show up to work looking like this...

Bless you, Cyndi.

...God knows I want to, all we have to do is simply, simplify and modernize!

Below you'll find a perfect example.

What a totally tubular look!

We have a pink graphic tee from divine, royal blue belt from vv, and the skirt is from the clothing swap I just hosted!

What we have here is what I like to call, "the well organized 80's color scheme." While there is a hefty amount of color, it's fairly easy to comprehend while the shape of the look is a less exaggerated version of the figures we saw hitting the runways in 1988.

Woah, that was a lot of fashion mumbo jumbo, even for me

Let's dumb it down a bit

Hmm.....

OMG!!!LYKE SOOO KEWT/HAWT!!!!

(man this generation loves K's and W's)

Yes, Kewl and Hawt is right..... jackass...

As much as I tried to fake my way into making a point out of this post, the truth is, there really isn't

I just wanted a reason to post this wicked outfit.

SUCKA!!!

Bye for now lovelies and remember: You can simplify any era and you can jack up a really useless post.

-Marlaena a.k.a The Poor Little Thrift Girl

YES!

Sometimes you just got to swap it up.

Sometimes, you really like getting things for free, better yet, clothing for free.

Why not your friend's old treasures?

Have yourself a clothing swap!

I hosted myself a charming lil' get together of some of the finest and most fashionable ladies in Edmonton. There was food, there was stale drink, there was laughter had by all!

Charming

Laid out oh so elegantly, like a well orangized dumpster.

Even my refreshments were thrifted! The wine was left over from my Christmas party, the pasta was "borrowed" from my parents and the oreo's and ritz crackers were found in a bargain bin at my local Shop-Easy!

Once the mood was set and the attractive people had arrived, the hunting began!

First pick!

Why did I post a pic of my gal pal pulling down her pants? Because I'm such a good friend.

Once we all had a good look, it was time to get creative

...and spiffy. Real spiffy.

Up first, we have Miss Hannah Brown who titled her look

"Nerd Pimp"

Catchphrase: "If you wanna role play, come this way,"

Rock on babe

Next we have a lovely little lady who had a LOT of fun with this look

Shona calls this..

"Nature Ballerina Teacher at Waldorf"

She's a real special lady...

Kristina came up with a truly unique look worthy of Bjork.

"80's Fish Mother"

Super pretty.

I'm not gonna lie, I actually like my look. So I'm simply calling it.

"Advanced"

I can pull off anything *punched in the face*

And the glamor didn't stop there!

This is what we call "the Sally Rand factor"

A seductress and a highlighter haired lady jesus

My favorite photo of the night?

Kristina's interpretation of the indestructible Lady Ga-Ga

Her coach, Tyra, taught her well.

I highly recommend throwing together one of these shindigs. You get free stuff and if you don't, you can get intoxicated and slip into a most wonderful food coma. There is literally no reason to complain!

I thank all those who made it out and I curse and banish the ones who didn't.

(I kid, I kid.)

Fair well for now wenches of style and remember: Food and free are two of greatest four letter F words! (They sooth the lack of the best four letter F-Word) Who wrote that?!

-Marlaena a.k.a The Poor Little Thrift Girl

My co-host for the evening.

It ain't easy being green.. (There I said it!)

Dying my hair a wicked color has been on my bucket list since December. Green was one of the first colors that came to mind and I thought

Why not?

 Hair is just hair. If I totally hate it, I can get it fixed no problem

It happened very spur of the moment when I impulsively bought the supplies and dropped by my friend's house uninvited.

 Needless to say, we got busy.

.

Makeover! 

 From just your average garbage bloomer wearing brunette...

lovely....

To a wicked blondish green person pretending to be a punk

RIGHT ON.

Ok, so it didn't turn out perfectly.

I still kind of dig it.

The "cool" one.

The one problem is that the bleach most definitely fried my hair and there is only so much that pantene pro-v conditioner can do.

Like I said before, I dig it, so I'm going to keep for about a week.

And yes, most people think it's a 'going blond' attempt gone horribly wrong.

I sported this hair with a more elegant look at my gig at Cha Island Tea.

You can't tell where my hair ends and the wall begins!

The dress is from divine and the shrug is form a clothing swap.

A songstress at her finest.

 

I'm going to call this look "Alien blond hippie fairy."

 

I guess the point is to just go for it sometimes.

Ta-ta lovelies and remember: going green includes a lot more peroxide than one would hope for.

-Marlaena a.k.a The Poor Little Thrift Girl

P.s. Blue... you're next...

Kim and Marlaena's Grand Ol' Shopping Spree!

The other day, my darling friend Kim and I had ourselves a lovely time at VV

Check it!

Here is Kim having herself a gander in the dress section! If you want to have a little hunt, just stay in your size, but if you want a giant scavenge, look in all the sizes! Things get misplaced and sizes end up in wrong sections, or you might find an extra small dress you could use a napkin!

The video below is me demonstrating proper thrifting technique 

Compelling stuff, kid.

Now I have to let you know, I would normally be a lot faster if I wasn't holding a camera. The point of this video was really to show not to linger too much. If it doesn't really impress you that much at first glance, it most likely isn't worth your time, especially if you aren't looking for anything in particular.

You also don't want to keep going back to the changing rooms. Look through all the sections that require removal of clothing first before moving on.

Let's have a look at the looks!

First up! We have Kim in a darling plaid/chekered skirt (buttons!) and lovely lace top

Work it.

Now, Kim and I have slightly different styles. Kim is simple, elegant and has a great sense of colors and patterns that really work well with her. I dress like a gogo dancing, drag queen/hippie housewife (only most of the time)

The fun thing about giant thrift stores is finding truly quirky items that you're not really sure you're going to do with.

Take the skirt below for example

Where am I?

It's a flippin' buttoned bubble skirt!

Unless some sort of club, cult, gang or a 60's all girl singing group is giving up their wardrobe, you won't really see the same of anything. That's the beauty of it! You can find something totally bizarre you're willing to take a chance on because it's cheap enough!

Next we have Kim in yet another great skirt! Check the price! Can you say "holla fo yo dollaaaaa?!"

You reply with "I can but I won't."

This would go great with the headband I got you for x-mas. Just sayin'.

So remember the dress I picked out from the super-special-awesome video from before?

Weeeeeeelll....

When I actually tried it on, I wasn't too impressed.

Well this does nothing for my calves. Also, what the fuck is the purpose of this string?

Sometimes when we have a certain expectation for something we like, we try and trick ourselves into thinking it's flattering. The simple fact is, if it doesn't look great with you standing normally in front of the mirror, it doesn't look that great and you'll never wear it.

*in french accent* Eh, what can you do?

Sure it's ten dollars, but still it adds up. If I spend ten bucks on a dress that don't feel totally great about, it's ten dollars less I can spend on other clothes and Vietnamese subs.

TRY THINGS ON! SO IMPORTANT!

Now that we're done our serious portion of this post, lets take a look at....

Marlaena's Funhouse of Hilarious Value Village Finds!

Yes, I'll admit, not everything we find at a vv is exactly stylish. 

Below we have a couple of skirts (yes their skirts) most likely from the sluts 'r' us collection

A very little amount of team spirit on the left and "man I feel like a cold one if she's drinking one too," on the right

Now we something we foolishly believe is just a lavenderish gray boring shirt 

Meh..

Oh.. It's so much more...

It's a fucking onsie!

Sweet beard of christ...

I weep for humanity. 

It's from the Kardashian collection from bebe. Might explain why they wanted to rape my wallet of 24.99!

(Not gonna lie, if it was five bucks, I would have totally gotten it)

Last but certainly not least, is a necklace I adored simply because it's so weird.

You can bend it into any shape you can imagine!

Fake harmonica holder

Snake.

I got a dress, a skirt, a t-shirt a vest, a cardigan, a scarf and a belt all for 43.99 (lil' pricey)

If the day couldn't get any better,  I ran into one of my dearest friends Hannah!

Well this is awkward. Oh wait, I actually like you. Nevermind, girlfriend!

Hannah is quite the VV Boutique extraordinaire herself, so I asked her for some wise words and she replied in italic writing with...


"Try it on! It can be hard to find original stuff when you are a bigger girl, but thrifting can be a great alternative to plus size shopping. "

She's nice to look at but she misses peoples parties.....  hint hint Hannah...

"Know your style. Value village isn't going to show you what is hip. You have to go out and hunt."

"Have fun. It's only fashion."

Well said amiga, well said. (If she starts a blog I', f**ked)

Hope you enjoyed this adventure and remember: Try new things, try things on and never trust a Kardashian with fashion tips.

-Marlaena a.k.a, The Poor Little Thrift Girl.

(On a side note, I died my hair green. Just thought I would rip that band aid off quickly.)

We're calling it "Romantic Grunge"

A thrifty inspiration: Inner awkward 14 year old.

While scrambling to get ready for work this morning, I noticed a little number that has been neglected for quite sometime. A red dress from Forever 21 I bought on my 14th birthday.

It was one of my favorites. The scarlet red is an absolute killer color. The oriental inspired pattern at the hem that disappears near the waist is divine, (although, at the time my scrawny young self was probably thinking more along the lines of "Wow! This dress makes me look like I have boobs!")

That is does little one. That it does....

While I reminisced, I was trying to figure out what to wear it with.

Then I thought "Why not recreate Lil' Marlaena?"

And that I did. I paired the dress with a patterned shirt from Urban Outfitters I got on sale for five dollars (time travel high five, Marlaena!)

Keeee-ute!

Many variations of this look was essentially my uniform at the time.

I loved The Beatles, I loved daydreaming and I loved not wearing what everyone else was wearing.

Though it has been updated (Black tights, brown boots and lack of gross black eyeliner that I thought looked 60's chic,) it still has the same feel. Carefree and youthful.

You can thrift everything, even your past. (shit that's deep)

Why not look to your sweet young self, whoever she may be. A nerd, a jock, a hippie or a crackwhore!

(Maybe not the last one)

Every phase we go through, gives us the style we have today. You have to go through a lot looks to find out what works for you and if you're finding yourself stuck, why not look back?

I've always considered myself a fashionista, though I think I'm a little more sophisticated now than I was back then don't you think?

      The old Marlaena on the left, the new and slightly improved Marlaena on the right     

 

Have fun! It's so stressful having to look professional all the time, let go and be a kid every now and then! Remember pretties: It's ok to look back, as long as it's not crack!

-Marlaena a.k.a The Poor Little Thrift Girl.

Let's Thrift It! : A night on the town.

Is it possible to thrift a fabulous evening look?

Fuck yes.

The proof is below.

I spent the evening by myself at Wunderbar, drinking a tall glass of ice water, reading vue weekly and enjoying some local stand up comedy. I know what most of you are thinking, "Marlaena, who gives rat's ass?" I reply "How rude."

Why yes I am getting into public speaking

Though my "night on the town" wasn't as glamorous as others, it was still fun, cheap and damn I looked fab. When in doubt, killer vintage dress and simple cardigan. If you're feeling super rad, shit load of bangles and leopard print scarf.

Seductive? No. Fashionable? Quite. Grocery shopping? Something I have to to do.

A vintage dress- no wait, a BLACK vintage dress- no wait....

A black and gold floral vintage dress, is a staple in every woman's wardrobe.

(k, that might be pushing it)

You get the point, if you don't already have a vintage cocktail dress, take the time to find one.

It'll fit you like a glove, you won't ever show up wearing the same thing as someone else and it's something you can truly treasure. 

The cardigan you can hunt for at VV. Shouldn't be that hard.

Anywho, my pretties, though this post was short I believe I made my point.

Au revoir, dear ones and remember, you can thrift a great evening look without looking like a lady of the evening

-Marlaena a.k.a The Poor Little Thrift Girl

P.s. I've started straightening my hair and it makes me look like a bitch (in a good way)

Hoorah for bitch hair!

Don't bring this one home to ma'