Obsessed Much?

I have a bad habit of buying a lot of one thing. Once I get started, it's very hard to stop until I have a million of them. A million pairs of shoes, a million coats, a million pairs of jeans, a million rings, etc. Hats are no exception. Much like capes, I've always loved hats. Until recently with the whole fedora craze, I felt like hats were a unique accessory that many people didn't really dabble in and thus the reason for me liking them more. Anyway, I've been on a hat buying frenzy lately so one day I decided to take pictures of them.

Here are the most recent purchases:

JCrew black faux-fur hat, Goodwill Chelsea, $15

Canvas stewardess-looking hat, H&M, $9.99

Green knit beanie, Salvation Army on 23rd, $1

The rest of these are ones I've had for awhile:

Vintage military envelope hat (this actually has someone's name written on the inside which is kind of creepy), Agape Thrift Store, Jasper, AL, $2.99

Straw bowler-shape hat, thrift store on Metropolitan, $5

Brown felted wool bowler, Arth NY, $45

Vintage tweed fedora, stole it from a friend, $0

Paul Smith brown felted fedora, Paul Smith sample sale, $15

Vintage brown felted hat, Buffalo Exchange NY, $8

Black vintage-y looking head thing that clips into your hair, Goodwill on 23rd, $2

Wow, I've gotten a lot of good deals.

Wikipedia is great.

welcome to the family

everyone say hello to my new bag.


suede/leather pleate tote, banana republic: $198 (orig. $260 x 30% off-- friends and family discount)

dolce & iwanna

should i? oh oh i really wanna... happy birthday to me, from me?


dolce and gabbana "tweed" bracelet watch: saks, $295

Sample Sales, the real reason why NY is awesome

It's once again time for sample sales galore. Here's where Crystal and I will be for the next two weeks:

Nov. 18-22. Tues.-Fri., 9 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sat., 9 a.m.-6 p.m.
Té Casan
260 Fifth Ave., at 28th St

Nov. 19-20 Wed.-Thurs., 10am-7pm
Dsquared2, Maison Martin Margiela, & Sophia Kokosalaki
220 W.19th St. (btwn. 7th & 8th Ave.) 10th Floor

Nov. 20-23. Thurs. & Fri., 8:30 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sat., noon-7 p.m.; Sun., noon-5 p.m.
Steven Alan
87 Franklin St., b/t Church & Broadway (212-219-3305)

Nov. 22 & 23. Sat. & Sun., 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Obedient Sons & Daughters
237 Lafayette St., b/t Prince & Spring Sts.

Nov. 29-Dec. 7. Mon.-Sun., 11 a.m.-7 p.m.
Rogan and Loomstate
91 Franklin St., b/t Broadway & Church St., behind the Rogan shop (646-827-7554)

Dec. 2-5, Tues.-Fri, 10 a.m.-6p.m.
Helmut Lang, Rag and Bone
261 W. 36th Street 2nd Fl., b/t 7th & 8th Ave.

It's hard to say no to apple...

all i keep thinking is... "this would be a great tax write off..."

wooly mammoth

the best thing about fall/winter in new york is that you can wear a massive amount of oversized wooly items and nobody will think you're homeless. so here are my 2 favorite recent wooly purchases:

olive wool oversized shorts: patrizia pepe, daffys, $30 (orig. $150)

this one i waited a whole week to buy,so i could use my special birthday discount:

navy oversized wool sweater jacket: anne klein designer label, loehmanns, (orig $1100 at stores, $279 at loehmanns), bought for $149

I want these, buy them for me

Chanel two-tone stockings, Sold out, $375 on eBay

Really expensive stockings. Yum. I wonder if it's possible to silkscreen a pair. Ideas, anyone?

Doodies and Donts - Pant Hems

People seem to overlook the importance of pant hems. They will spend lots of money to find a pair of pants or jeans that make their waist look flatter, ass look rounder, or thighs look thinner, but once the bottoms have been purchased, they forget about everything else. They fit great but the length is long and so what do they do? Roll em up!

Rolling is bad. Bad bad bad. Unless you are purposely going for a rolled-hem look with your pants/jeans (which must be done carefully and with taste), then it just looks sloppy. Pants rolled outwards remind me of college and hippies. Pants rolled inwards remind me of high school. Both looks are bad and should not be used unless you are temporarily wading in ponds, playing at the beach, or catching crawfish. Rolling up the hem inevitably lead to holes and frayed edges and both are hard to fix.

The solution is: HEM YOUR PANTS! Before you add them to your wardrobe rotation, bring them to a dry cleaner or a tailor and spend an extra $10 to make them fit 100%. Here are things to consider before getting them hemmed:

1. What type of shoes are you going to be wearing them with? Flats? 1 inch heels? 3 inch heels? Boots? All pants must be designated a type of shoe because most won't work for both flats and heels. (skinny pants and ankle pants are the exception)

2. Once you have selected your type of shoe, bring them with you to the dry cleaner. There, you can try them on altogether while the tailor pins the the length.

3. How do you determine the length? This really depends on the type of bottom and the style in which it is cut. For most of my pants, I hem them just above the floor when looking at them from the back. I say skimming the floor will almost always be right. For men in slacks, I think it should be a little higher... about 1/2" above the ground.

4. What type of hem do you want? It's easiest to just have the tailor replicate the original hem style when getting your pants altered. Make sure they use a similar width cuff and thread color. If you want to change up the style of your hem, bring in a sample for the tailor to reference.

I know it's such a pain in the ass to get pants hemmed and even more annoying to think about having to spend MORE money on something you just dropped a ton of bucks on, but it will definitely be worth it. A cheap pair of pants that fit great all around will look 10x better than expensive pants that drag on the floor or float around your ankles.

I want these, buy them for me

Balenciaga, $530 on sale @ Yoox.com

oh and also...

the missoni bag was sold out the next morning when i went to buy it. shit.

fuck you, kelly wearstler is my hero.

so... im in the same boat as mich. i havent been buying anything that's been worth blogging about but i desperately still want to contribute to this piece of crap known as good finds. michelle just posted about her doodies and donts. this immediately made me think of my new design hero, kelly wearstler. shes this amazing interior designer that mastered this genre of design called hollywood regency (modernity meets old royalty) and is now a judge on the bravo show, Top Design.

however, all i hear from people who watch the show is how much they hate her fashion choices. and granted, there are some outfits that have been over the top and just outright ridiculous, but thats why i love her so! its about what looks good on HER and at least its interesting. (this makes me think ... to this day, i haven't seen anyone who could wear a black bra under a backless dress like Sarah Jessica Parker and not be a total crackwhore.)

ok so back to kelly wearstler, here are her outfits. you can decide for yourself:
sighhhhhh. i love her.

Doodies and Donts - Socks

Since the economy sucks and I still have no stable job, it has gotten increasingly difficult for me to go shopping and thus, post goodies on this here blog. Actually, I guess the point of this site is to post good deals... fabulous goodies for cheap. The things I have been buying are indeed fabulous but unfortunately not so cheap.

ANYWAY. The point is that this site is lacking fresh juice, so I've decided to add a Doodies and Donts section which will offer simple, everyday fashion advice for those that don't know better. Today's topic is Socks.

When in doubt, go for black.

I've spent a lot of time, seriously, thinking about when there would be an occasion where white socks would be okay but black socks would not. I could not think of a single instance, except maybe when we are talking about an exercise outfit, which doesn't concern me cause I don't exercise.

Anyway, nothing pains me more than to see a man wearing a nice suit with a great shirt and tie and... WHITE SOCKS. So gross. Never okay. If you are buying socks to wear with slacks, trousers, dark pants, dark jeans, you should just buy black socks. It's that easy. Once you feel comfortable with black socks, you can experiment with navy, dark grey, or dark colors with subtle prints. Once you graduate from there, you can play with contrasting colors like red or yellow... but note, most people cannot pull off this look so it's probably better not to try.

All of the above applies to women as well.

And just to clarify, we are talking about black dress socks. We are not talking about black Nike socks and we are not talking about black polyester molester man socks and and we are not talking about faded black socks with holes. If you are going to spend the time and money and effort to look good, make sure you don't kill it by reaching for the white.

I want this, buy it for me

I haven't posted anything in a long time. Uninspired I guess. Plus nothing really too worthy of posting. Recently was reminded of this lamp. It's simple and awesome and I think it's probably time for me to just get it.

Alexander Taylor Table Fold Lamp, £85

It's made out of a powder-coated sheet of aluminum and in addition to the black with red cord, it also comes in white with a red cord, yellow with a black cord, and burgundy with black cord.

completely unrelated but too awesome not to share

so... theres this amazing missoni bag on gilt groupe right now for $358. its originally $795. the sale ends tomorrow at midnight. i have a meeting with a new client at 330pm tomorrow. if my meeting goes well, im coming home and buying this bag. lets all keep our fingers crossed...

ju want it? ju got it

So things have been hectic. My dog, pencil, broke her leg 2 weeks ago so I've been doing nothing but tending to her every need. This means I've had little time, energy, or money to buy anything to post. I still don't.

But the show must go on. I've decided to post things that i really really want, but just can't afford to buy right now. A wish list if you will. I've decided to save some money over the next few months and buy piece by piece instead of blowing my money on frivolous things like overpriced Moschino tops. These are the things that REALLY make me drool:

I've been in love with this lamp for months now. It's available at the MOMA store and every time i go there, i want to stuff it in a large duffel bag and walk out.
Bourgie Table Lamp by Kartell, $362

This is another item I've been eyeing for months. It's a trunk that serves as storage unit/coffee table/nice thing to stare at. Like the lamp, every time I see it I want to cradle it home. I just love the way it opens.Taka Trunk, Crate and Barrel, $499.

Here's something that's not very expensive, but I just haven't had the time to order it or convince Anthony to throw out all our ugly dishware. The octopus is my favorite:

Thomas Paul Sea Life Dinner Plates (set of 4 ), Velocity $36

Here's something I really have no space or use for, but would love to have just for the sake of having it. A jet black chandelier with dangling crystals.


Lolita Chandelier, Bombay Duck, $318

And the last one for today, an apothecary. I love pieces that have a million cubbies. It makes me want to collect teeth or hair so I can stick little samples of them in each one.

Apothecary cabinet, vintage, can range from $50-$1000

I know none of these things really match. But that's just what I like. I'd like to see some other peoples' wish lists...

Gold Digger

It has been a long time since the sis and I have posted anything. This is not because we have not been buying things, cause we definitely have. I don't know about Crystal, but for me, it's mostly because the things that I have been purchasing do not fall into the $1 category of money spending and I'm afraid my mom will read this and get mad at me for dropping a lot of cash on something even if it was a great deal. Also, I can't divulge all purchases or else everyone will know where I got everything and how much I spend on it.

ANYWAY.

Aside from the crazy spending, I got two goodies this past weekend. My friend took me to this flea market type thing on 25th street between 6th and 7th Ave. I just looked it up and it's called The Garage (it's located on two floors of an indoor parking garage) and is open on Saturdays and Sundays. This place is INSANE and is totally my new favorite place to go scouring for goodies. There are hundreds of booths set up, each completely covered with vintage items, from books to jewelry to clothing to furniture to artwork. It's amazing. Anyway, I think I could definitely spend hours in there just rummaging through stuff but unfortunately I got there late so I didn't have too much time. I was able to pick up the following beauties though:

Puslar clasp watch in gold. $5. The Garage, NY, NY.

Sharp elastic-band watch in gold. $5. The Garage, NY, NY.

I LOVE watches. The first one is nice cause I like wearing dainty watches as bracelets and I had recently lost the one I bought in Atlanta. The second one is great cause I've been in the market for a big metal man's watch but haven't been able to find something that will wrap around my wrist nicely. This one has the masculine cut but is still feminine and it fits great.

The pictures are kind of shitty cause my cell phone camera doesn't capture much detail.

i (love to)buy things.

so, seeing as im not the seamstress of the yin family, ive resorted to buying all my clothes extra large and keeping them extra large. extra large looks good on skinny and fits perfectly on fat. its pretty much a win win situation.

so when i say i love to buy things, i mean i REALLY LOVE to buy things. this past weekend/yesterday was no exception. mich and i finally made our way over to the barneys warehouse sale after much anticipation and excitement, and it was well worth it. afterwards we went to the intermix sale and that too was great heaps of fun. (and by heaps i mean boobs, mountainous boobs everywhere). between yesterday and the shopping excursion at loehmanns this past weekend, i racked up a good $800 on the old cc bill. the shame!

but heres a little sneak of what i have to show for it, and probably the only sneak i will post, since a) the stuff i bought from the sample sales are at the dry cleaners to remove random dirt marks and b) its all fall stuff that id like to keep hidden until the fall for when i do expose my new fits, i will be the envy of all fashionable bargain shoppers. yee ha!

this is a super baggy sweater/jacket that is cotton in the front and knit in the back. its fabulous but mich hates it cause as she states, "it either needs to be wide or it needs to be short, it cant be both". little does she know (or maybe she knows very well).... i love wide and short! (oh, but not in regards to men.)
marc by marc jacobs, loehmanns: $109.99

I like to (re)make things.

One of my favorite pass times (is that one word or two or hyphenated?) is to buy thrift/vintage store clothing and remake them into new and amazing things. Unfortunately I have not been very good in the past about documenting my work, both the before and the after. So now I will use this blog as a place to put pictures of my work.

Here's what I just finished today. Before:

Navy silk dropwaist dress. $1. Last Chance Thrift Store, Atlanta, GA.

This dress was on sale for $1 because the center back zipper was caught in the fabric. With a little force, I was able to get it free without damaging the silk. I bought this dress with the intent of just shortening the sleeves and wearing the rest as is, but when I tried it on, there was not much of a shape to the dress and the front was just too flat. The pleated skirt at the bottom was also too long to be flattering. So anyway, I decided to cut it up and this is the final result:


With the sleeves coming out of the waist, this is my nod to Comme des Garçons top. Not that I'm even trying to compare myself to the greatness that is CdG, but yeah, anyway.

It is meant to be worn with the sleeves tied at the waist, like you would tie a jacket around your waist (not that I am promoting doing this AT ALL because it is NOT OKAY to do it).

While making this, I've decided that I'm possibly the worst sewer ever... just one step away from rethinking my career as a fashion designer.

michelles got blood, ive got tears

a terrible terrible thing happened this past weekend. this is where good finds meets bad luck. as i was overly excited to have my recently purchased hamburglar join me in bed, i overscrubbed the poor thing in an attempted washing "incident". not considering the delicate threads and fabric of this 20 year old toy, i thought it would be a great idea to use tide detergent and a toothbrush to give him a bath in the bathroom sink. i ended up tearing through most of his neck, while stuffing bursted out like guts. whether it was pms or the reinactment of a terrible childhood memory of washing my bear "Brownie", i started bawling like a baby. heres what poor hamburglar looked like after his bath:

a half hour later, with the help of anthony, i managed to collect myself off the bathroom floor and search for a new doll on ebay. i instantly found one and "bought it now". his face didnt look the same and he definitely wasnt in the same plump condition, but i desperately needed to fill the emotional void so i went for it.

he arrived today and hes faded and floppy. hes no substitute for his brother and his face is ten times creepier, but i think i love him anyway. he didnt come with a cape like his brother, so they'll have to share. here they are, reunited and it feels so hood:


as you see in the above close up, i managed to leave the old one (right) facedown on the dirty windowsill to dry and now he resembles an auto mechanic.

hamburglar #2, ebay: $4.00 + $4.50 shipping = $8.50

Flip it real good

Crystal and I dream of one day starting a furniture flipping business. Between the two of us, we have found and redone so many beautiful pieces of furniture. I guess until the day we actually have real working space, we'll just do one or two at a time for ourselves.

After becoming increasingly annoyed with my apt, I've decided that I'm going to make my room a more pleasant and homey place to live. I want it to be my retreat from the crazy city. So now I am determined to paint, clean, organize, decorate, and rearrange my room. I went to Junk yesterday to see if I could find any inspiring goodies, and this is what I got:

Old school wooden chair with crazy front legs. $10. Junk, Brooklyn, NY.

This guy had a tear in the plastic ugly upholstery and was dirty and scratched up. I gave him a facelift:

I painted the wood parts over in white and I sewed two pieces of upholstery fabric I had (one pinkish/orange, one bluish/green) to redo the seat portion. I am still trying to decide if I want to paint something in the little square on the back of the chair.

In the midst of staple gunning the new fabric onto the seat, I had an accident. Two actually. The first time I slapped the back of my hand down on upward facing staples and it bled like a mofo. The second time, I was screwing the seat back in and I guess I must have scraped it against something because the wound opened up again. Needless to say, there are splotches of blood on the seat of my chair. Blood and tears man, blood and tears.

I'm back I'm back

Time to start posting all the crazy shenanigans I bought on my trip. We might as well start with my favorite: shoes. I have lots. I bought more. It's out of control.

Navy woven leather flats. $2.79. Thrift Town, Memphis, TN.

Black open-toe lace-up flats. $0 (it was buy 1 get 1 free with the above pair). Thrift Town, Memphis, TN.

Brown woven leather flats. $1.99. Americas Thrift Store, Jasper, AL.

Camel flat oxfords. $2.99. Last Chance Thrift Store, Atlanta, GA.

Burgandy patent croc lace-up booties. $5.99. Goodwill, Memphis, TN.

Those last two pairs of shoes make me so so so happy. Yay!!!!!!!!!