casa de kaloi

Thrifty Style: tribute to George and more (wannabe)FRENCH-NESS

So first things first: I’m kind of maybe? changing the name of the Thrifted series to Thrifted Style. While probably 85% of my wardrobe comes from thrift stores, I do every so often score really sweet deals on brand-new items, and I want to share those, too. Case in point: my Bensimon shoes that came in the mail like… an hour ago. I’ve been obsessed with Bensimons since I read about them on A Cup of Jo and have been scheming ways to get my hands on a pair of them. They’re usually $55, which just seemed a little crazy to me (especially since I have no way of knowing if they’ll last a long time or give up after a few measly months like OTHER SHOES) (TOMS). I found a site that had a gray pair for $28, so after quickly looking up my European shoe size (40. That sounds so much bigger than 9.), I snagged them. Now Sean’s obsessed and wants his own, and I secretly really want to get some for Jasper, as well. But $55? For toddler shoes? Shit must be off the hook.

They of course have a million adorable cute colors, but I’m happy with my gray ones. For now.

I also found this short-sleeved denim shirt the other day for approximately $2 at one of my favorite thrifting spots. It’s the kind of shirt I usually wouldn’t look at twice, because it’s just not really my thing…. but Kim and I have been scheming a George Harrison and Bob Dylan-themed photo session for a while now. It occurred to me this morning that I could ALSO wear it tonight, when I watch the first of the two-part George Harrison documentary that’s coming on. PS: I’ve never been so happy that my sister has HBO.

I almost don’t even want to mention what’s on my legs, because I don’t know what to call them. They were sold to me as jeggings, but these things are so loose that they’re basically the JEANS (read: not. jeggings.) that I wear every day. I bought them very hastily on my way to shoot a baby shower one day, because I was having one of Those Days where everything you own sucks and I was miserable about it, and I’ve pretty much regretted the purchase ever since. But you see.. I say that, and I still wear them 3 out of 7 days a week. What. Why.

I can’t at all predict if I’ll blog in the next few days. I expect to be totally mid-breakdown tomorrow (until the GH documentary concludes), and after that is GeekGirlCon. SO UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN… (probably Monday).

10/5/11

Thrifted: Cutie McCuter Cuterstein

So, Jasper and I went a-thrifting the other day. While my finds were minimal (I did find an amazing pink button-up shirt that trips me out, because I didn’t realize I could be so into shirts that button up), Jasper absolutely racked up. I realize that most clothing for boys either has stripes, robots, dinosaurs, or some combination thereof, but these stripes… these stripes were just too cute to pass up:

Pretty awesome $1 spent, no? In fact, I think it may have been more like sixty cents.

09/5/11

Thrifted: when the thrift store gods are good…

…they’re real good.

This dress! I love this dress. In fact, I would even say I fucking love this dress. It was around $5 and is the best dress in the world. It is so great that I actually was bitten by five mosquitos (on my back, between two fingers, on my leg, on my knee, and on my elbow) while taking these photos, but I was all, it’s worth it! This dress!

You could say, style-wise, I’m at a bit of a crossroads. I don’t want to drastically change the way I dress, but I do feel like some of my more transparent items of clothing may have seen their heyday come and go. I’m always trying to find a balance between hippie and …hip? I guess? And I think this dress goes well with that.

It is a little tent-esque, which is something I usually avoid, but it’s not so bad that I feel like I’m actually wearing a tent. Right now you can catch me wearing this weekly, and more often than not two or three times a week. It’s just that… wonderful.

Also, do you like my new ink on my right arm? My two-year-old tattoo artist did it.

07/28/11

Thrifted & recycled: I’ve had this shirt for half a decade

The shirt I’m wearing today wasn’t thrifted — I bought it at a head shop in 2005 or so for probably $15-$20. The kicker is that I never really wore it until last summer. I think this had everything to do with being shy (it’s almost backless) and nothing to do with the shirt itself, because I’ve always loved it. When I DID wear it back then, I always wore a t-shirt or tank top underneath. Siiiiiiiigh.

I very happily brought it out today and paired it with this fantastic skirt I scooped up for around a dollar. I usually get rid of clothing after a few years if I’m not wearing it that often, but I’ve always hung on to this one. I’m pretty pleased that I did — this outfit is going to get me through many a ninety-seven degree summer day:

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PS: like the air conditioning unit? I thought it was oh-so-glam.

06/1/11

Thrifted: get a shirt like Che’s for less than $2

So, Sean is currently changing his clothing up a little bit. This is welcome, oh-so-welcome, because as I’ve mentioned before, he tends to “rock” the holes-all-over-my-cut-off-shorts and t-shirt-I’ve-worn-for-days look. I’m not saying it doesn’t work for him, because it does. I’m also not saying he doesn’t look nice sometimes, because he fairly frequently spruces up. What I AM saying is that the holes in his jeans and the same four t-shirts have finally gotten to HIM, which means things are changing.

He’s going all thrift store with it — I think he might spring for fancy jeans, because he has an incredibly difficult time finding jeans that fit him that aren’t expensive, but everything else is thrift store 101. I love this because it means I also get to go thrifting. You know, under the guise of helping out. Even though I spend all of my time in the junior’s (yep), women’s, and kid’s sections.

Moving on! When he found this shirt he was all “Should I?” and my immediate response was a very emphatic YES. I do not whatsoever attempt to hide my infatuation with a certain Argentine revolutionary who is no longer with us, and this shirt reminded me of him. So much so that when Sean jokingly put his black hat on his head backwards, I didn’t hesitate to snap a shot or twenty.

He did this pose all on his own:
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And then tried to be cool by flipping his sunglasses down..and he dropped them.
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Sean actually practices Buddhism. Just sharing!
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05/13/11

Thrifted: toddler outfit under $3

Hi, my new favorite shirt for Jasper:

I thought thrifting for Jasper would becoming increasingly difficult as he ages, but to my VERY happy surprise, it’s the opposite. As he gets larger and can fit into a wider spectrum of styles, it seems like thrift stores are OVER-FLOWING with clothes for him! This shirt was around $.60 (that’s CENTS) since the store was having a sale (I love sales on thrifted items. OHMYGOSH), and the pants were…I can’t really remember, but maybe 1.99? I’m positive they couldn’t have been more than that, and were probably less.

SO. CUTE.

04/14/11

thrifted: a perfect dress

I’ve been kind of slacking on this feature, and blogging in general, because I…just haven’t wanted to? But I have a renewed interest, and am happy to continue. I expect this blog to stay alive as long as it’s fun and I enjoy it, and also as long as I feel like documenting Jasper’s life, which is what most of it’s for anyway. It’s crazy fun to look back through the archives and see how we’ve all grown.

Onward! First, ignore the blackish haze at the bottom — my tripod is broken, so I had my 5d propped up on a point and shoot, and didn’t realize the very top of it was showing up. Oh well! Second, I’ve noticed that I basically hold my breath when I take these photos. I don’t know why, but it’s SUPER obvious in this set. Third, I clearly suck at hiding the remote. Fourth, my hair is in a crazy state today and really needs to be brushed/tamed.

OH, this dress! This dress is perfect, perfect, perfect. I don’t think I’ve ever put something on and then immediately been able to use the word “ethereal” to describe how it makes me feel, but I can now. My ONE problem is that the top is pretty see-through, so I have to get some kind of slip or something, or just figure it out. I’m not the biggest fan of slips because this dress will clearly be a warm weather-only kind of thing, and I will want as few layers on me as possible when the warm weather finally rolls back around. We’ll see. It was $9 online, and I’m so happy with it I would have easily paid double that, but I’m glad I didn’t have to.

The black dress is the newest thing, I think, and it was NINETY-NINE CENTS, so I had to swoop it up. Because..it’s 99 cents. 99. Cents. The green sweater was also $7 or so, I can’t remember for sure, and I love it. It’s super comfy and cozy, and surprisingly warm since it’s short sleeved.

The end!

02/2/11

thrifted: let’s pretend we’re in Hawai’i!

So, as plenty of you know, Sean’s dad’s family is Hawaiian, hence the “Kaloi” in the “Casa de Kaloi.” This is a fact that I use for various things, like a cool last name, an excuse to visit the islands, and a reason to buy ridiculously floral and fabbbbulous clothing from thrift stores. I’m paying homage, guys!

The first dress is one of my new-to-me new favorite things EVER. I’ve worn it a few times since it’s been cold, but I really, really look forward to wearing it at least once a week once it’s warm. It’s perfect. It’s a great color, a great fit, a great Great. I got it online, so it barely scrapes by at $9.99 (umm..I obviously don’t count shipping in this. Ha! Totally failed to mention that.)

The second was a really random Salvation Army (I think) purchase. I’ve always been a little iffy about it, and it’s really more shirt than dress, though I think I paired it with leggings last summer. I’m kind of surprised it even fit me last summer, since I was nursing into July, and it’s pretty small…I’m thinking I probably didn’t wear it until after, because, to be totally blunt, there’s no way breastfeeding breasts would fit in it.

I’m totally on the hunt for more floral stuff. TOTALLY. ALOHA, Seanny.

When you type Hawaiian are you supposed to include the apostrophe like you do in Hawai’i? I know I could ask Sean, but I can also ask everyone!

PS: Here’s the blog post on White Rabbit Studios. featuring photos from the birth I shot almost two weeks ago. I just really, really wanted to share it, as the experience was quite magical for me. More photos will also be on Offbeat Mama later today.

01/18/11

thrifted: two for one under $7

So, something I used to do when I first started seriously shopping secondhand was buying nearly every single thing I could think that I might ever want to wear. I did this mostly because I felt like I wasn’t successful if I didn’t leave with something, and that I could make anything work. I was totally, hopelessly wrong on both accounts. Having said that, every so often I do completely luck out and stumble into a store that has four or five items of clothing that I actually adore (and that fit!), and even more rarely, different items can work for one another.

Such is this case with today’s thrifted: two sweaters, one skirt = two outfits! Plus, it’s two outfits for under $7—the shirts were each $1.98, and the skirt was $2.98. WIN.

When I first bought these three items, I thought this sweater would go much better with the skirt. Having seen it in photos, I think the other one actually does. I’ll still wear this one with it (and with other stuff, obvs.), but it’s funny what photos do!

SWIRLY SKIRT!

The blue sweater is longer than the green one, so I can tuck it in — IF I want to. I hate tucking stuff in. Probably will never tuck this sweater in ever again.

Also, to address comments:

“Online thrift store” = Ebay, 10 times out of 10. I don’t consider anything on Etsy akin to a thrift store, mostly because the prices are usually much higher than what you’ll find locally, and Etsy tends to be vintage secondhand, which is (almost) always more expensive. I’m pretty picky with it comes to Ebay, because people will sell anything on there, and you have to work to find sellers that you trust, those with good ratings and feedback and solid items. I’d love to tell you who my favorites are, but…they both have items that fit me really well, and that I love, and…it’s bidding! So if more people know about them, the prices go higher, and I can’t get the stuff I want. I think that’s fair. Right? Honestly, just search for what you’re looking for, find items you like, and follow the sellers. That’s what I do every time I visit the site, I’m always finding new people.

Dressing your self with style — I don’t consider myself a person who has a concrete sense of style. I’ve never paid much attention to what is and isn’t trendy, and I usually just wear what I want to. The first time I remember someone commenting on this was when I was fourteen or so, a freshman or sophomore, and a girl was all “Stephanie, you’re the only person in the world who could wear plaid pants and a black-and-white striped shirt.” I didn’t (and still don’t) consider what I was wearing that day as something that was really that out there, and compared to some stuff I’ve put on, it’s not. I think the key is to just feel confident in what you’re wearing, regardless of what your style is. For me? I can’t pull off fancy stuff or pantsuits to save my LIFE. I feel totally out of my skin if something is super nice or if it has a jacket that goes with it, basically. I’m also extraordinarily picky about jeans, I don’t like sweatshirts, and don’t like to wear vests. I love bold colors and crazy patterns, and have no problem mixing several patterns together at once. I don’t have an incredibly loud personality, as in I’m not loud and screechy, so I think being a little more mellow personality-wise complements the loud clothing that I wear sometimes. I think.

Getting distracted/not having stores to shop at — Where I live is HORRIBLE for secondhand stores. Having said that, the bulk (80% of so) of what I buy still comes from them. I think it’s the kind of thing that takes knowing in general what you want to wear, and having the patience to find it. We tend to make an event of it, and will visit two or three stores in a day, just to keep the momentum going. Ashley and Andy also go to estate sales, which is something I really want to get into. You can usually look those up in your local paper or online.

IN short: I think the keys are to be confident and to challenge yourself a little bit. If you don’t have a style, invent one! Mine could, for the sake of easiness, be termed “hodgepodge.” Literal definition? “A confused mixture.”

Perfect.

01/11/11

thrifted: is this green or blue?

I remember hanging with Ashley this time last year, I think discussing a wedding we had coming up (coincidentally, I think we’re shooting one this weekend that is on the same day as the one from 2010. Different folks, of course), and she told me that her New Year’s resolution/goal was to only buy clothes that were $10 or less, and to make most of that vintage/thrifted/second-hand. I thought this was rad, especially when she went on to say that it wasn’t so much her New Year’s resolution as it was just her new goal.

At the time I was still breastfeeding tons, and definitely didn’t feel quite my “self” when it came to dressing — I pretty much just wore whatever was easiest to breastfeed in. I didn’t realize how much I didn’t like doing this until Jasper weaned, and it was like all of the sudden (well, a week or two later), I became a new version of my self. I wasn’t quite the same as before I had Jasper, but I wasn’t radically different. This probably also coincides with aging in general (I turn twenty-six in January! 26! Wow.), and kind of beginning to come into my own as an adult, finally.

I’ve always been a bit of a late bloomer.

I’ve always loved thrift stores and vintage shop, more for the thrill of never knowing quite what you’ll find, and 75% of Jasper’s clothes are second (or third, fourth, probably fifth) hand. I started to get into the idea of making MY wardrobe majority second-hand in October, and have been slowly (ever so slowly) amassing a collection of clothes. I’ve been cycling out stuff that I never wear, and cycling in things that I do.

I ran into some issues: for me, the two biggest problems I always have when shopping second-hand are that I either get things that really, really don’t fit me, or I get things that I think I’ll wear and I never do. Also, I’ve found that if I have to say out loud “I wonder if I would really wear this?” the answer is that I most likely never will. It’s also not worth it to get something because it’s cheap if you’re never going to wear it — when I was still nursing I would habitually buy a bunch of truly ugly, faded, and gross shirts because they were $2 each and I thought it didn’t matter anyway. I was wrong (for me!).

I always shy away from blogs that feature “what I wore” or whatever, mostly because I don’t spend tons of money on each item of clothing and honestly feel that I usually can’t relate, but now that my closet is roughly 50% second-hand and this is growing, I want to share some of it! I’ve adopted Ashley’s goal of not buying anything over $10, unless it’s truly spectacular (that dress I’m wearing in the holiday party photo was $16 at a vintage shop in Portland, but soooo worth it), or it’s a fancy/special occasion. I also have to keep in mind that buying 10 things for $10 each is the same as buying one fancy thing for $100, and while I’m getting a good deal for the 10 things, it’s still spending $100, and that’s a lot.

This particular dress was $9 at an online second-hand shop, and I’m wearing it with tights and boots that I’ve had for a few years. Oh! Another note. For me, the hardest things to find second-hand are jeans and shoes. I have yet to even come close to mastering this. It’s also somewhat hazardous to shop online unless you really know your measurements, which I don’t. I’ve bought more than one dress thinking it would fit great because it said “SIZE S” and once it arrives, it’s still kind of large. Luckily, I know a seamstress or two who would probably fix it up, but the size difference between my body and the dresses usually isn’t too bad.

Without further ado, my green (or blue? In person I think it’s green, in photos it looks blue) dress:

This is my favorite mug to drink coffee from. Mostly because it says “Green tea is groovy.”

This dress is actually a tad too big for me, but I’m also smaller now than I have been in a good bit of time. So I’m adjusting. Luckily, I still like it this size.

This is after I pinched the back together a little — you can really see a difference.

01/4/11