Labels d'Thrifting 1-11-13

Labels I found Thrifting. Look at these fabrics and patterns. I love that old Marshall Field & Company label and embellished collar! The Brooks Bros. tie has gorillas swinging from gymnastics rings! I didn't buy anything, but enjoyed their labels and style. I love labels.

A Blogger's Delight! Jewelry from shopjami.com

 Elvie earrings & Elvie bangle bracelet with the
 Etta pendant necklace in Mint
www.shopjami.com
photo by Tonya Kehoe-Anderson


How PRETTY are these gold-plated pieces from Jami (shopjami.com)? I just love them and have been wearing them since I received them a few days ago from the designer's PR rep. This jewelry is now being featured in Lucky, InStyle and other huge popular fashion and style magazines. It was so serendipitous how I met the company rep, as he recognized me from my blog photo while my sidekick Spencer and I were picking up a little birthday cashmere cap (for moi) at Catherine's boutique (great source for cashmere!).


This classic Mint color goes beautifully with grey (my favorite combo), black and coral. It is one of those colors that just never goes out of style. Ever!
When I went to their website, I appreciated all of the color choices available and found I just have to have one of the Horn pendants as well. 

So trust me, I will get much better photos of these pieces soon. But here, below, they are as casually taken with my iPhone 4S.

Flying towards Spring! (Elvie bangle)

...the set.

Fashion Styling Mission: Curate Tina's Wardrobe (PHASE 1)

Tina is 30. Every morning, she looks at her closets (two large side-by-sides! Lucky girl.) and stares. And stares.

Her beloved is moving in soon and she knows she has to make some changes. Tina wants her closets to only hold "go-to" pieces that work for her. She is, like many of us, so dreadfully tired of not knowing what to wear in a jiffy.  A little background: I've known Tina for several years and she is a bright, bubbly, beautiful and accomplished woman and still, like many of us, she has found herself in a "clothes-rut." Can you relate? I know I sure can.

Her first step towards resolving this problem was simply to let me know. Initially, Tina asked me to come over and help her assemble some cute outfits. No problem! I showed up last Friday and we got right to work. We started with the first Phase. Phase 1 is probably the hardest one: going through the clothes piece-by-piece. This can be a tedious task, requiring the owner to let go of things and to be willing to try on clothes over and over. Clothes belonged, in Tina's case, in several categories:

1. Keep: The garment fits. It is something that looks good and fits well. It is in good shape. It conforms to her new vision of what she wants to wear. These items were tried on and got hung right back up.

2. Keep But Needs Repaired or Altered:  Many of her skirts fit well but were all an inch and a half too long. Her tailor will hem these up for just a few dollars a piece. Proportion is everything. So we made her a tailor and a cobbler pile.

3. Discard: Too worn, wrong color, does not fit into her new vision, time to give it new life by donating it to charity. This was a HUGE pile. She did not struggle at all with this pile. She recognized that she had gotten her money's worth and it was time to move on and hopefully help someone else out in the process. For other people, this is the sticking point: the hardest pile. Which is why I am there to help the client stay true to the vision.

4: Give To Her Sister: There were a few items she knew her sister would love (a couple of darling wrap-style dresses) and we set them aside.

5: Dress Up Bin: Tina hopes to have her niece and perhaps her own children play with the old bridesmaid dresses and accessories that she was keeping so we put them in a bin called "Dress-Up."

6. T-Shirt Quilt Bin: As a competitive athlete, Tina has amassed a lot of race and event tees. These tees are sentimental and she has a bin for the design portion of the tees in order to make a tee-shirt quilt in the future. The other tees that are perfectly good but not of sentimental value went to the charity pile. What a great idea to re-purpose those hard-earned tees! And a super sewing project for the cold winter ahead.

It took us about two hours to go through about 10 years worth of clothes. When I first arrived at Tina's house she showed me magazine pages she had placed in a folder. These were torn-out images of outfits and styles she liked. Wow! What a great help that was for me to see the direction she wanted to take this project. She is in a period of transition, like many of us experience, and wants her clothes to express where she is currently (professional, young-but-not-college-aged, modern, bubbly and hip). Quality fabrics and cuts, modern touches with layers, flattering, and comfortable describes her off-duty look.

I made a section dedicated to her work uniforms (she is a Fire Dept. Lt.), a section for skirts, blazers, dress shorts, dressy tops and casual tops. So, at the end of Phase 1, she could stick her hand in her closet and pull something out that she knows is good. Items that she knows fit her and that she likes. Once we had gone through it all, I discovered some real style gems. A black velvet blazer, a black fitted bustier, three or four nice jackets and much more.



I threw some outfits together very quickly before I left to inspire her and show her she has most of what she needs already! She was thrilled with what I put together. Her black Gap (I recommend these) leggings looked amazing under several dresses and tops. Her soft striped B&W infinity scarf went with so many outfits and was like the cherry on top!
At one point in the mirror, Tina squealed and smiled and instantly saw herself in a whole new way. She started to put things together herself and it was in her words,"life-changing."

I left with a list in my tote bag of garments that Tina needs to fill in gaps.  I will type up this list and send links to possible ideas (personal shopping) for her to consider on her own time. For Tina, we are looking at a few cashmere sweaters (these always go on sale in Dec and Jan) and some patterned leggings and some brown Frye boots.
This way she can budget out her needs as she sees fit while adding quality garments that fit into her new 30's.

Seeing the joy on Tina's face and her newfound enthusiasm was the most rewarding part of my session with her. Sometimes, we all just need someone to help guide us and sort things out. I know that my strength is in curating (whether in art, design, interior design, clothing) and editing. We worked together and also had a lot of fun.

So just what happens in Phase 2? We will go through her shoes and accessories. This is the stage where I come back over and we photograph Tina in some outfits (daytime, date night, going out etc) for reference. I will download them and send them to her in files so she can just look at them and either replicate them or use them for inspiration.

Remember that clutter is emotionally draining and an organized closet is a gift to yourself. I am continually organizing mine because I too, have to keep this in mind. I just feel better when I know that I have what I need, and what I have I like and looks great. I will leave you with this thought: if it is on sale but you don't need it, it doesn't fit well or isn't flattering- you have my permission to give it to charity (Crowded Closet in Iowa City is my charity of choice). It will probably make you feel better. Baby steps!

Bonus Photo:

Ladies Who Lunch

Getting to go to the TJ Maxx with Heather and I is kind of like hoping to win the lottery. You really want to, you think it would be super fun and everyone would be totally jealous if it came true! (Just play along). Here are 13 reasons why a day off with us is the most fun anyone could actually ever have.

1. Heather wears her pirate skull scarf AND locates Nelly's Apple Bottom Parfum in about 5 nanoseconds after entering the store. Good thing they have this brand on lock-down.

Double up on Ed Hardy Deodorant anti-stank solids for her two husbands (SJM and David always get matching personal hygiene items. Natch.

I dangled this sandalwood soap-onna-rope above her head so as to mesmerize her and to hypnotize her into buying me lunch. I was hungry for pho soup and it was only 9:35am. "You will get verrrrry generous....."

This forest scented soap had something addictive added to it because it kinda turned my friend into a fiend. "SNNNNOOOORRRTTT. Oh let's look at dresses. Snnnnnoooort."

 I can only keep one eye fully open as I breathe it in....feels so good. But I'm kinda gettin' 'leepy.

This should fit. It is hanging in the 14-16 part of the rounder rack. But it says size 2. Well, *where* it is hanging supersedes any dumb ol' size tag sewn in the garment, right? Goody!

 These are vegan?! 

Hip Hip Hooray. Ho. Hey. Ho. 

Heather struggles here to reconcile her love for the old south labels and Civil War  pickled egg treats with how gross the picked eggs must surely taste. I said I would eat them. I love pickled food. She said that they would only be a click above eating them out of a bar jar where some TB-encrusted trucker arm had been fishing around for pickled eggs about a million times. Sure, I replied, these would be more sanitary. No one bought them. I was sorely tempted however we realized it was 5 min to 11 and we needed to meet another pal for lunch. No eggs for me.

Melissa and Heather did not know I was taking this photo at the time. But they will know after they read this blog post. I am not drinking anything until I get my avacado boba tea! (see below)

A delicious vietnamese treat! Avacado boba tea with tapiocas!

Shrimp Pho. Insanely good. 

Before we left the restaurant, I treated Heather to an arm (gel pen) tattoo! It is of a "suicide tooth" - we made a pact at lunch that before we got left at a county nursing home when we are 100 years old we would craft a suicide tooth to sneak in and chomp as they wheel us through the door. Kind of like the astronaut's cyanide capsules. This tattoo is about 5 inches high. After lunch, she had to go to the vets office. So that was probably awesome for them to see. I told her I can draw it again if she ever wants it on there permanently. (Who wouldn't, right?)