A post long overdue: New Thrifting Territory...

My lovelies.... how you've been neglected....

PLEASE FORGIVE

thanks, where was I?

Oh yeah

Bailey and Marlaena's adventure to goodwill!

This is my "about to embark" face

Although, I have never really explored Goodwill, I've heard nothing but good things from fellow females.

You may be wondering "Marlaena, are you gonna let those bitches swipe all the goods?"

I reply "hell no!"

With vengeful thoughts in mind, we set off....

The one thing about this particular goodwill is that it was located in a neighborhood filled with a much older crowd aka: People who have tons of crap, want to get rid of it and have no clue what the actual value is, (a "huzzah" is hollered from Marlaena when thinking about exploiting senior citizens.) It's also in the middle of f**king nowhere so car-less hipsters can't easily get to it.

The other thing I noticed about goodwill is how much more cost efficient it was ($7 dresses? Mama like.) This was handy since this was a thrift I really needed to pull the reins on my spending.

This is what Bailey looks like when she pretends to shop.

Let's have a look at some FUN finds

Helloooooooo amazing pattern! Beautiful vintage color scheme!

Sparkle-tastic! Not gonna lie, I kinda regret not getting this...

WHERE ARE MY HANDS?

 Wouldn't you just love to wake up to this every morning?

OK, now for serious!

ahem...

Like I said before, I needed to be even more frugal than normal, this meant taking a very serious look at a. how unique the item is and b. is it actually worth the price

let the procrastination games begin!

All right, first up we have a tasty little white knit I feel like I have been looking for forever. For $5 dollars I can certainly get on board.

Next we have a green shirt dress I spent much time debating. It's a kind of item you feel like you've seen at every other thrift store. If you need to spend this much time thinking about it, it's probably not meant to be.

Last but not least we have a simple case of it not fitting quite perfectly...

Every tall person's nightmare: Sleeves...

BOOOOO- *gasp*ooooooo!....

Que Sera Sera...

Let's have a look at fellow blogger (Miss B of Living In The Past,) and friend to see the lighter side of this exploration.

Below we have a vintage red and white number that Bailey says is probably a lot older than it looks after looking at the price tag claiming it was made by the ladies garment union in old timey font. If that's not a giveaway, I don't know what is.

Then we have a "cute in theory but actually hideous" dress disguised by an adorable old lady sweater!

All in all, it was a very positive experience and I will definitely be going again but that probably won't be happening until the weather gets a bit better, (ETS is not to be trusted in these conditions.)

Ta-ta my pretties and remember: If you know anyone who is looking for a wife, my email address is below...

desperado_69_420@pleasedontletmediealone.com

Marlaena a.k.a The Poor Little Thrift Girl

P.s. Coming soon, we're going back to basics...

A Thrifted Adventure

Hey gang

While I'm in the middle of coming up with some truly cutting edge looks and all the amazing advice that goes along with it, I thought I would entertain you all with a story that happened to me not too long ago...

Ahem...

So this one time at my worshiping ground (VV,) I was having what I thought was a simple splurge...

 

How wrong was I?  You'll find out.

There I was, in the dressing room, filled with hope and wonder about the finds I had... found....

I tried on dress after dress and only found a few items I really like.

It's the last item of that run, was a long floral silk dress with sleeves I thought I could do something with but alas, nopers. Although it was kind of cute, it was far too tight

Not in a "good way" perverts

I attempted to take the dress off over my head but as soon as it reached my shoulders...

I got stuck.

I was trapped, capurted, SNARED I SAY! By this stupid, stupid, playboy mansion bedsheet!

I pulled and tugged at this thing for what felt like forever, my manly shoulders just wouldn't give!

I had to face it...

I needed help of the outside world.

I stepped out of my dressing room most likely looking like this..

SAVE ME FROM MY CHOICES!

 Just my luck, no one was too be found and the thought of running across a football field of a store did not appeal to me whatsoever.

 There I stood. Defeated and still chained. What on earth did I ever see in this awful dress anyways?!

I went back in my dressing room and faced myself in the mirror

 I had but one choice

AAAAAAAHH!!

I grabbed the bloody thing and ripped it off myself with a mighty force no dress could withstand.

I tore it off and had to pay the price

14.99

UUUUUCCCCKKK

 I took what little dignity I had left, got dressed and went to the front till with my terrible decisions and other cute finds.

When I got there, the cashier looked at me with confused look on her face

"Oh, honey, this is all ripped, are you sure you want to buy it?"

"I tore it off my person ma'am, it's my responsibility to pay for it,"

She laughed at me, I laughed awkwardly

The end.

Well it's been fun, sharing with you my tragedy. Au revoir sweet children of mine and remember: sometimes embarrassing stories can be justified if you right a blog about it later

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

Swingers Do It Best!

Little fact about the poor little thrift girl: She's a Lindy Hopper

Other facts: A lot of her friends are lindy hoppers and also quite fashionable.

Last Saturday, I thought it would be fun for everyone to dance the night away in their best thrifted duds!

Let's have a look!

Down below we have the lovely lil' couple John and Julie!
Julie is a jedi master of swing. John is a super nice guy.

No kiss for this broad.

Julie wears a beautiful red top borrowed from her mother, (who makes the best cake,) and kickin' skirt hand made by the very talented dancer Lisa Capser. John wears a beautiful pinstripe suit jacket (kudos on the color,) and a wicked polka dot tie also from a thrift store in Victoria.

John, if you're reading this, I will steal this jacket from you one day. Just thought you should know.

Now that's one couple you'd want to 'swing' with! Sick of that pun yet? Didn't think so!

Well, well, well, if it isn't Miss Kimberlee! Wearing the darling skirt she bought on our VV run!

Well played, Kim...

One of my favorite dancers in our humble Edmonton scene, the amazing Krystal!

Not only can she swing out like nobodies business, she can rock an amazing dress from goodwill!

Work the dance floor and the runway all in on night.

She also sported the 'Mad Love' barrettes I got her for Christmas. Shucks...

Her lovely beau Gary rocked a dapper on a doller kind of look that evening.

Nice bow tie Gary! Where'dja geddit? (from me! Tee hee!)

Yes, yes, yes I'm a fabulous gift giver but enough about me and the extraordinary human being that I am, Gary is also awesome because not only was wearing a stellar bow tie, he was also wearing...

THE ELUSIVE THRIFTED PANTS THAT ACTUALLY FIT

Grrrrr...

Moving on...

The newbies that night were the always lovely Kristina and Marlee

Not only is what their wearing frugal friendly, they have blonde pixie cuts, a leopard print scarf and a glitter bow. In other words: inarguably better than you. Never quit, ladies.

A fellow female fashion blogger and lover of all things vintage, the undefeatable Miss B from Living In The Past. She brought her game in the form of a craze-amazing faux fur coat and an awe inspiring vintage coach bag

20 bucks eh? What a bitch...

Yummy...

Surprisingly, my beautiful man friend Andrew who kicked out a positively fine ass suede coat and killer dance shoes from VV! Zut Alors!

He can dip you like a dream and fight a bear. Just sayin' is all.

Last but certainly not least, we have one of Lindy Hop's most favorite couples, Read and Sierra!

Sierra enjoys Dancing, science and wrestling wolves. Read also likes dancing, engineering and being rescued by Sierra from wolves.

Read wants you... to start shopping cost efficiently.

Sierra wears a grey skirt from VV *cough* that I picked for her *cough*, a top from a vintage store in Victoria and her Mother's wedding jewelery, Read wears a dress shirt and belt from VV and his grandfathers cuff links.

Now lemme ask you...

Would you care to give swing a try?

Click here for more info about dance events and classes!

Thanks for reading lords and ladies of the internets and remember: It don't mean a thing if ain't got a sale sticker on it. ALSO LINDY HOP IS SUPERIOR TO ALL OTHER DANCES!

Was that bias? oops....

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

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.