I've been inspired lately from Fashion Steel NYC and A Pair and A Spare. Fashion Steele NYC is a fun vintage shopping blog and A Spare and A Pair is full of fabulous DIY projects. Fashion Steele's Monroe Steele is all about vintage finds. Well, my favorite fashion era is actually right now - I am on the post-apocalyptic, drapey, oversize styling kick so I've never been inclined to wear vintage clothing. However, Steele's spectacular vintage/thrift fashion finds are so superbly priced that I couldn't help doing a little hunting of my own. A Pair and A Spare's Geneva, her eye for style and fashion art is so amazing, her DIY tutorials are the best I've seen. So these ladies sparked an idea :)
My style is very modern so I knew I wouldn't be wearing any vintage pieces I found as is. But since the clothing I like is in my opinion terribly overpriced (jersey, oversize, zero tailoring and you're charging $500 for harem pants? Forget about it.) I decided to cut, sew and basically craft the vintage pieces I find into my signature modern style.
While there are some spectacular vintage and antique clothing stores in Seattle, I decided to go the less expensive route. Who's interested in cutting up a $70 fur? Not I. So I lowered the bar and went to Value Village. Not sure if this thrift chain made it to the east coast but its pretty amazing in there. It's a crafty girl's dream and the clothing is mainly from the 70s and 80s - you won't find anything older than that. Since clothing is between $2-$10 (yes all of it and this place is huge!), I was in alteration heaven.
Part I of my thrifting adventure:
So I am sold. Vintage shopping + fabulous DIY = more precious signature pieces for my Tiny Closet.
Visit again soon for Part II of my thrifting adventure! And if you ever find yourself feeling uncreative or plain bored with your Tiny Closet, check out Monroe and Geneva's blogs. These girls will kickstart your creative fashion butt!