The Gift of Thrift: Christmas

Tonight I gave a "Shopping on a Shoestring" talk to a lovely group of ladies who are part of a professional women's group associated with the local chapter of Dress For Success, a charity that helps clothe women who are preparing to enter the workforce.The theme: holiday shopping. Natch, the topic of thrift came up. I brought a little tickle trunk of thrifted gift goodies to show during my talk, including this HUGE hardcover coffee table book on...

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What I got at the vintage bling sale yesterday

This was the scene yesterday at the third semi-annual Toronto Vintage Costume Jewellery Club Show & Sale, a group I am part of. I wasn't selling but I did pop in to take a gander. It was a busy day and I did the entire round of close to 30 tables.Now, you know I'm in clear out mode. So my mission: find one special piece and spend only what was in my pocket, $40.Here I am at the sale. I'm looking pretty happy - and not just because I'm wearing...

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Toronto Costume Vintage Jewellery Club Show & Sale - TODAY

I was eye-balling this piece at the spring Toronto Vintage Costume Jewellery Club Show & Sale but didn't get it, alas. Well the doors opened at 10 a.m. today for the fall show, at Leaside Memorial Gardens, 1078 Millwood Rd. in Toronto. I'm still feeling under the weather with a bad cold and sinus infection, but I'm hopping on a bus soon and hope to be there around noon to take a gander and visit with some of my bling lovin' pals. If you're thinking...

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Talula Babaton blazer a la thrift

Thrifted Talula Babaton blazer and thrifted Guess jeans.Eeps. I thrifted this Canadian Made cotton-Lycra blazer by Talula Babaton ages ago but put it in the sell/give away pile as it was an XS and a wee bit too tight for me (but, evermore a thrifter, I HAD to buy it as it was just a few bucks and I'm addicted to boho-looking statement piece blazers!).  But I think I've lost a bit of weight 'cos I was rifling through my closet in search of another...

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Mini makeover

For a fresh new look without lugging around furniture, settle on a rough theme/colour scheme and change up the lamps, chairs, pillows and decorative accessories to match the mood and tone. I haven't been doing anything much to my apartment lately in the way of rearranging as life has been busy; but I've learned that you can create a whole new look without moving large pieces of furniture around - it's the semi-lazy Grunge Queen way, remember? But...

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Fave Shop: Continuum Modern Vintage

Continuum Modern Vintage is one of my absolute fave vintage type shops. (It's where the shoes from yesterday's post came from). Owner Daina Liepa is celebrating a year in biz and I just came back from her anniversary fete.Daina has such a great eye. She roams estate sales and antique auctions and finds the most beautiful and distinctive items in impeccable condition: a vintage porcelain Tiffany's box; white Limoges china; a gorgeous retro teak hutch.What...

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Vintage shoes, never worn, my man bought me

Ah, le romanace. I'm not getting X-rated here, trust me: but I am showing off my sexy 'new' shoes my British mannie bought for me at one of my fave vinatage-esque shops (the latter of which I'll tell you about tomorrow) when he was visiting me a few weeks ago.A pilot, he's now in Spain slumbering away through his birthday, so let this pic of my legs and the shoes serve as a little B-day pressie over the seas, tee hee.But they are pretty sexy, aren't...

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Get wise to Weiss, and vintage costume jewellery knockoffs

As you may know, I'm a lover of vintage (particularly 1970s) costume jewellery and am a member (however fleeting) of the Toronto Vintage Costume Jewellery Club (which is having its semi-annual Show & Sale in exactly one week; see details here).This brooch and clip-on earring set is def not my style. My friend Matt gave it to me to research for him and possibly sell. The name on the back is "Weiss", a highly collectible name for vintage bling...

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Maybe I really AM the Grunge Queen!

... so I said to myself when I came home one day recently, only to find that my sweetums had bought me this romantic gift: a string mop, bucket, and cleaner to clean my floors!Now don't get me wrong: I used to have a mop, long ago when I would spend entire weekends cleaning my pad. Then I got a life. The mop got old and I chucked it; the bucket - who knows where it ended up? Perhaps it's buried in my storage unit, pining away for the lost mop -...

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Thrift blogger kudos for me n' my thrift bloggin' pals

100 percent thrifted outfit: American Eagle Outfitters blazer, MEXX top, Bongo Jeans, dollar store belt, and leather ankle booties.Takin' a trip down memory lane with my style blogger shot from last winter. I'm feeling pretty stylish as Alex Deeds, creator of the website Associate Degree, an educational website, recently compiled a list of the Top-50-blogs-for-yard-sale-aficionados, and guess what? Yours truly was number one for the Top Style Blogs...

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Hair cuts, hi & low

Excuse the crap Blackberry photo, but it's all I had with me to snap my new do, $25.I've been growing my mop for months and months from its uber short style, and yesterday reached the boiling point: my hair was truly looking like a mop, with no shape, too much hair, and an icky texture (probably helped along by icky dollar store shampoo).So my amazing hairdresser gave me what I asked for: a shorter blunt cut, tapered at the front and shorter at the...

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Pop Up Shop on Queen East until December 31

It's not listed, there's no phone number, and nata a website. But I CAN tell you the shop is called craisy's; it's located at 888 Queen St. East, just where Leslieville meets Riverside in Toronto; and it's open until December 31.The shop carries mostly fair trade imports from Peru, Mexico and so on. The wool and jewellery rocks, though you can pick up sea salts, kid's stuff and other accessories.This wool Al Paca beret: a mere $15.The real oak leaf...

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Diane & Veronica's Excellent Thrifting Adventure at my fave shops!

They went. They thrifted. They conquered.It was a tale of epic proportions: Diane (left), a Grunge Queen reader, and her best pal, Veronica. Both dedicated thrifters. The former, in search of a fun day she could treat her best pal to, but unsure of where to go. The latter, a gal from-out-of-town, entrusting her best pal to organize An Excellent Adventure.That's where the Grunge Queen came in. Enlisted by Diane to suggest a number of thrift shops...

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Can a bohemian clutter bug live with a streamlined contemporary?

I've spent most of the weekend relaxing and tidying my apartment - no energy to do a full-on re-org, alas, but sometimes you can get the FEEL of a re-org by just rejigging the elements on a console, as I have here.The urge to de-clutter and purge myself of all my STUFF is still going strong, helped along by life's little events - falling in love with someone overseas - and that fact that said beau is a contemporary style kinda dude: minimal clutter...

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Forgive me readers; here's what's coming

Dear readers, it has been a crazy busy emotional time for me, so please please forgive me for not posting every day; for not yet responding to your comments and thanking lovely new followers! That will come in a day or two, but at the moment I'm just so so bagged. This pic has nothing to do with this post, btw, other than to say it was taken yesterday while doing a shopping column - that and I'm wearing a thrifted wool sweater from Paris and thrifted...

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That's MY kind of centrepiece!

Sorry I've been MIA this past week - I've never gone this long without a post, except, perhaps, when I was in England recently. I've had a house guest - from England, gee coincidence? - for two glorious weeks so have been pretty bust between working, visiting, seeing family, going out, etc. Anyway, back to regular Grunge Queen programming.When we were home visiting my fam last weekend, I snapped a pic of this centrepiece that has slowly been...

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Retro Irving Posluns jacket: don't be green with envy

This is another Stretch Thrift gem, a retro Irving Posluns jacket that was under $20. It's a Kelly green plush, almost suede-like coat, with faux fur flip up collar and trim at the cuffs. Adorable eh?I don't know much about the designer other than that he was a well-known Toronto coat designer. I showed this coat to local designer Franco Mirabelli and he told me Posluns was big in the scene in the 1960s and 70s.My sister loves the coat so well she's...

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