Look at the tag, I say

When thrifting, I follow these rules: feel the fabric, look for colour, style and tag, in that order. An item has to be in a colour and style that rocks on me, but if it's a crap fabric, I won't touch it. If all those points are met, I take a peep at the tag, and my thrifting spidey senses are normally rewarded.

I'm never disappointed when I find the gorg microfibre dresses made by Toronto label Bionic Women. New, these frocks sell for $150 and up, a price I can't afford even though I love the make.

Used, I have found them from $9.99-$19.99, screaming deals for locally made wrap dresses with simple yet exquisite styling. Here I am in warmer days in one of my faves, with a fake tan.

Here's another one, this time with white legs.

I can't find the pic of my sis in the Bionic Women dress I bought for her. But the black dress pictured above is one she bought for herself while thrifting with me.

I feel partly guilty, partly jazzed when I find well-made locally-produced clothing in the thrift shop, as I know I should be supporting these micro designers by buying new. But the fact is, I often can't afford it (ok I did buy ONE Bionic dress new, at 50 percent off. No pic though). Can anyone relate?

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Ugliest, most perplexing thrift shop find to date

It may not be the most disturbing of thrift shop finds - creepy porcelain clown figurines, a raccoon head fur hat, underwear, and retro electronic sex devices beat this one out by far in the ICK department - but I must say that this plastic stool, replete with faux plastic roses and unexplainable plastic overlay, sure ranks number one for the ugliest of decor pieces I've spotted in a thrift shop to date. It was $6.99 - a deal! - at Canadian Thrift.

It got worse, if you can believe it: there was a little switch on the bottom. Yup, if you plugged the stool in, parts of it (behind the roses, perhaps?) lit up - who knows? Perhaps it vibrated too. A love stool? 

What was disturbing, though, was strolling along Queen St West this past weekend and finding the exact same stool in a moth-ball smelling junk shop.

I pride myself on being a style diplomatico, but I have to wonder: who, in his or her right mind, would have made something like this? Worse still, who would have bought and actually proudly displayed this in a living room? I'm not sure I want to picture that living room, go there in my head.

What's the freakiest, ugliest or most disturbing item you've seen while thrifting?

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Wool trench, Goodwill

It's been raining like crazy this spring - good thing I have a warm wool trench to get me through! I found this deep blue wool trench by Evan Picone at Goodwill for less than 10 bucks. I love it. Every time I wear it - which is frequent these days - I feel like I'm in France.

I'm wearing it here with thrifted suede booties made in Italy ($14.99); this funky round leather purse made in Vancouver and found at Value Village for $12.99; vintage blue shades made in Italy found in a vintage shop; and my Anthropologie scarf - bought new but so worth it based on the compliments I get every time I wear it!

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I wanna be a cowgirl

Well, you always see me tired, at the end of the day, with circles under my eyes, but I had to show you the cowgirl  earrings I bought for $2 on the way home - yeehaw!

I never wear earrings anymore, really. Perhaps it was because I recently interviewed a gal who is part of a Cowgirl Choir in Toronto - but hipster cowgirl style has been on my mind of late.

They're silver and super light - see? A horseshoe, horse head and saddle dangling from - you guessed it! - a cowgirl hat to boot!

I have no idea what era they're from but I'm guessing 1990s - just seems to fit, in my opin.

Have you ever thrifted something that made you rethink a style choice (in my case, earrings) that you thought was long past?

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Hipster nuts n' bolts pendant necklace - really

When I first saw this pendant necklace in the case at Goodwill, I thought, "Oh, that reminds me a bit of a Raphael", a Toronto-based jewelllery designer who was big in the 1970s and whose pieces are quite collectible.

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Well of course I knew it wasn't a Raphael - his look is very distinctive and I'll show you the pendant I have by him sometime - but this piece is similar in tone as it has a rough-hewn, industrial look to it.

More so than I thought 'cos when I took a closer look I saw that it was made of screws and bolt-type thing-a-ma-jigs. It's actually really well made, and a statement piece to boot!

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Sexy orange skirt (thrifted) inspires 100% thrifted outfit

Now that Blogger is working again, somewhat at least (it looks like they have deleted comments from Wednesday), I am going to show you today's outfit, 100 percent thrifted (excuse bad, flat hair).

It all began with the tight sexy Femme Carriere skirt I thrifted at Goodwill for $4.99. I typically look straight as Olive Oil in this style of skirt but this one actually makes me look like I have some curves.

The grey microfibre top by luxury retailer Holt Renfew was thrifted for a few dollars. Matt & Nat orange (vegan) handbag, thrifted for maybe five dollars. Shoes by Gerard Darel, found at a ten dollar sale at a local consignment shop. Blazer (tag cut out) a few bucks, and disco "Wonder Woman" belt found at a vintage store for $15 - def the most expensive thing here.

Even the ring was thrifted - 50 cents - as was the necklace (can't see it so I'll show you later).

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1980s necklace that will present a fun challenge!

I've admitted that I find 1980s plastic bib style necklaces oddly attractive, and that even though I am drawn to them I have mixed feelings about wearing them. Ditto for this 1980s necklace with painted blue, yellow, peach and gold detail, $4.99 at Canadian Thrift.

Not sure what I'll do with it but I'll try to snap a pic when I figure it out!

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