Thrift Thrift HOORAY!

Its only right that I do this long-time coming post as April just arrived! This month, a year ago, I wrote my first blog post about festival attire. As that time has come again, this post will not only be about festival attire but how you can achieve a cute and unique look through THRIFTING!

Last year's post:

As discussed in my very first blog, many of the go-to festival looks include things like mid-drift tops, dresses, shorts, jewelry, hats, sandals.....pretty much anything Bohemian, I think you get the point. But the real point here is that although there are so many new cute trends and styles currently in stores, so many of these styles can be found for half the price or more in local thrift stores. Thrift stores have some real gems. Particularly for those people who want more unique looks. 

Part of the trick is finding the right thrift store, true. I would use yelp for this in addition to being open about having to try a few before you find the perfect item. Thrifting can sometimes be frustrating when you go to the store looking for something in particular. 9 times out of 10 they won't have EXACTLY what you're looking for. However, if you start with an open mind, you will find some amazing pieces!

Thrift stores have so many Bohemian styled clothing. In addition, these stores can be used to find items which you can use for DIY projects, making them even more unique. Finally, some of these stores have the best jewelry. You can find unique but bold items that will constantly have people asking you where you got them. 

This first look was a lucky find when I stopped in my 3rd thrift store of the day...yes third. Keep trying. I found this at ASSISTANCELEAGUETHRIFTSHOP in Long Beach, Ca. On this particular occasion I wasn't looking for anything in specific, allowing me to happen upon this by chance. 

The color and beading detail immediately grabbed my attention. I really liked the fact that NOTHING in my closet looks like this and though there is a traditional quality to the style, the cut of the top looks quite modern. Due to the slits on the side and the short length, this top required something underneath. I didn't want to wear pants because I felt that they would take away from the top. I had these tan shorts in my closet that I rarely wear but happened to be perfect under this top. The mustard color of the top steered me towards brown accents, leading me to go with these brown booties. I needed a light jacket to go with it and felt that this rugged, over-sized, looking jean-styled button down I had would add perfectly to the unique look. An example of how pairing certain different styled items can add to a great original look. 

The next look has been a long time coming in that I actually bought this long white dress during the same trip in which I bought the previous item and at the same store. Again, this piece was not something that I went in looking for. But the possibilities... it was love at first sight. 

I had this dress for about 8 months before I wore it simply because I could never come up with an outfit I liked enough to wear it. It wasn't until I took a recent trip to Santa Barbara that I thought enough is enough! I packed the dress, unsure if I would actually be able to wear it. I happened to be in a WORLDHOUSEMARKET shopping with my mom when I happened upon this beautiful robe! Yes, I said robe. Obviously I have no issue with wearing items as unintended. It isn't the first time and won't be the last! The unique print and colors were the perfect match to add to this long white dress. The cool tones in the robe brought out the more angelic quality of this dress. These types of robes/moomoos/jackets can be found EVERYWHERE, but certainly at thrift stores. Thrift stores would most likely have some very unique ones too. This necklace, similar to the dress, I've had for months but never knew what was best to wear it with. I found this amazing piece in a little Turkish shop in Columbus, Ohio called KARAVAN on vacation this past summer. The detail and turquoise in the chocker went amazingly with this Bohemian look and definitely made this look stand out all the more. One of the best ways to create a unique look is through unique accessories. You can even start here. Find a bold or different looking piece and use that to build a look. 

 

Lastly, I wanted to show how you can find a shirt you love at a thrift store and utilize it to make a trendy look. The triangle cutout in the front of shirts is a very popular trend right now. In my last look, I took this Jurassic Park shirt I bought from UNIVERSALSTUDIOS, and cut it in this same way. I started with a black felt marker and decided how much of the shirt I wanted to cut out. I drew a triangle starting from the neckline of the shirt, meeting at a point near my stomach. Then I carefully cut this out. The next step is deciding how to wear the shirt. Depending on where you are headed, you may choose different things to wear under this shirt. Anything will work, from a cami, to a bandeau, to a bathing suit or cute bra (This could be a great option for a festival look). As shown, I chose to wear a mid drift halter top that I had already. I liked how the lace detail looked with the shirt's design. I wanted a more striking color bottom to go with the top and found this maroon skirt way way way in the back of my closet. Along with a matching bold lip and this gold choker from ALDO, it pulled everything together. Point is, don't underestimate the things you can put together yourself, for a lot less money!

Stand out! Create your own unique look for the festivals this summer!

XOXO,

PoeSoPosh

Holiday Attire

My favorite season has always been Winter for a couple of reasons. 1) Winter fashion is by far the best of any season. 2) I enjoy (California) cold weather. 3) All of my favorite holidays fall around this time. Halloween, Christmas, and New Years are my favorite holidays. Besides spending time with friends and family, I love planning my attire and getting dressed up for each of these days.

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Although most days when I dress up feel like Halloween due to my love for creating characters with my outfits, Halloween allows me to push the boundaries even more and utilize my creativity. In my eyes, Halloween is a major event and my Halloween outfit is something that I think about all throughout the year. I attempt to avoid the typical, cliche outfits like the plague. You won't ever see me dressed as say, a cat or a Disney princess (no offense). I enjoy coming up with a unique idea and then putting my own spin on it, where I am able to make at least half of the costume by hand. Some of my favorite costumes in the past include the following:

Voodoo doll 2014; Medusa 2015

For the past few Halloweens, I've been in love with the idea of executing an Ursula costume.

However, every year I come to the conclusion that Ursula may be a bit more than I can handle. Maybe some day! Therefore, this year, I decided to go with a different Disney villain. What I loved most about this particular villain is that it is not typical for females to dress up in this costume. I thought about how I could turn the classic Jafar costume into a flattering costume for a female.

When attempting to have your own spin on a certain costume, first start with the most important parts of the costume. the features that are most distinctive and tell other people who or what this costume is. For Jafar, these things where his hat, his cape, his belt/sash, and his accessories (staff). Typically, these parts of the costume are the parts that you will want to make yourself if possible. This is where your creativity can come into play. When thinking about the best way to create these pieces, you will also want to ask yourself, "how will these parts best fit on me?" For example, I wanted the costume to be more girly, so instead of pants, I decided to go with a long skirt that showed some leg. I completed this with the same red belt/sash seen in the classic Jafar costume in order to keep the look as genuine as possible.

The most important characteristic of this costume was probably the hat. There were many directions I could have gone with this. I looked on the internet for different ways other people have attempted to make this hat. I decided to start by cutting the shape of the hat out of a sheet of soft black fabric from MICHAEL'S. I then found gold strips of fabric, a red feather, and red jewels from MICHAEL'S as well to create the details in the hat. In order to secure the hat on my head, I tied a piece of thick black ribbon to each side of the hat and tied it in the back of my head. I bought red fabric from JOANNE'S and cut it into strips. I tucked the strips of fabric into the ribbon on each side of my head and let it hang down to my shoulders, completing the hat. I took another strip of red fabric and wrapped it around my waist at the top of my skirt to create the red belt/sash that Jafar has. For this look, any black top will do. I wanted something that went well with the Arabian look of the outfit but also made the look more girly. This top is something I already had in my closet, bought from WINDSOR.

One of the other important features of the look was the cape. In all honesty, the cape is so simple that I should have made it from black and red fabric myself, having red on the inside and black on the outside. However, I started this costume much later than usual due to being busy with school and got lazy. I found this cape at PARTY CITY I also decided to go without Jafar's staff. I was really disappointed about this because it is such an important detail but I didn't want to buy the staff from somewhere.  Also,  making the staff myself would have been extremely time-consuming. I added a gold choker to the look, one I already owned, found at ALDO. Red jewels were found at MICHAEL'S as well. This completed my Halloween 2016 Jafar costume.

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My next favorite holiday is Christmas

I was extremely sick when I packed to come home for Christmas and will honestly say I didn't have a whole lot of options. My Christmas outfit was one of those outfits put together at the last minute. I've had this black and white collared top for months and have never felt right wearing it. I found it at H&M. It had some charm to it and it happened to be in my suitcase so I thought it would be a good place to start. My only options to pair with the top were pretty much jeans. All except for this long black skirt i unintentionally threw in my bag. The length of the skirt adds elegance to anything I wear it with. I felt that the elegant look would pair well with the charm of the top. The red lips are a crucial Christmas accessory that I find myself drawn to every year. It also added some color to the look which was much needed. I imagine that without the red I'd look like I was going to a funeral. Lastly, I wanted to add some jewelry to the look. With the high neck collar, a necklace wasn't an option. I was looking through my silver jewelry when I came upon a silver pair of glasses I found a few weeks ago at URBAN OUTFITTERS. I liked the way that the quirkiness of the glasses seemed to temper down how dressy the rest of the outfit was. The look even gave me a therapist/librarian vibe which of course i LOVED and felt wholesome enough to wear on Christmas day. :))

 
What better than a Santa hat to add a bit more color?

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My third favorite holiday is New Years Eve. Theres just something about this holiday that acts to connect us all and yet feels very personal at the same time. I love wringing in this time of year by going out and celebrating and ringing in the new year in high spirits. This time of year is most often depicted by golds, silvers, and anything shimmery. I don't typically dress in these styles but love to fill these shoes for this holiday. As I utilized a gold look last year, I decided to start with the fact that I'd be using silver this year. I found this green velvet dress from JLUXLABEL during black Friday and wasn't entirely sure i wanted it for New Years. However, I ended up going with this dress because of the unique material, atypical New Years eve color, and the style of the dress. As far as sticking with silver accessories, I won't lie. I pretty knew off the back that gold accessories would probably have worked best to bring out the color of the dress but i was pretty stubborn. I love the silver/rhinestone choker look that is so popular right now.  However, i wanted to do my own thing with it while still preserving the look. I found this jeweled choker at WINDSOR and loved the unique look. The tricky part about this was finding accessories to match. I felt that it was important to find shoes that matched well with the necklace in order to help it tie into the dress. I found these jeweled shoes from VISION SHOES that seemed to work really well. Everything seemed to come together really well but I couldn't quite put my finger on what I felt was missing. I typically would find a great purse to tie into the look, but I wanted to try something different this time. I stumbled upon these crystal garters from WINDSOR and felt that the thigh split in the dress would do nicely to showcase the garter belt. Lastly, I love adding this black faux fur coat to dressy looks to add some elegance. It tied very nicely with the look. 

With Valentine's Day as the next major holiday coming up, what outfit ideas do you have??

XOXO,

PoeSoPosh