Designer Jeans (with tags!) Spotted at Northlake Goodwill

Wear size 26, 27 or 28 jeans? Have a penchant for designer jeans but too broke to support your habit?

Run as fast as you can to the Northlake Goodwill (LaVista Road in Tucker - near 285). I found a whole rack of designer jeans yesterday... with. the. tags. still. on! It looks as though a high-end boutique went out of business and had to liquidate its inventory.

Many of the pairs were Adriano Goldschmied. These retail for $165-plus at Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus. Twenty-five bucks is a killer deal!

Sorry for the bad iPhone photo.

Premium denim at the Good-Willy for $25 (front of the store).

Too bad the vintage Halston blouse I found was a size 10 and smelled like a carton of Virginia Slims. Booo!

Goodwill Finds: 80s Vertical Striped Sweater Dress

click to enlarge.

One of my New Year's resolutions is encouraging more people to buy secondhand. There are SO many reasons to consider shopping your local Goodwill, Salvation Army or vintage boutique. 

• Cost (you're almost always going to pay less)
• Sustainability (what's more "green" than buying others' "recycled" clothing)
• There are good options! (I donate nice things to Goodwill, and others do, too — their discards can be your treasures — and many items are in nearly new condition)
• Uniqueness (more one of a kind, funky stuff than any women's — or men's — clothing shop you'll visit)
• THERE'S SERIOUS FUN IN THE HUNT!

Okay, more on that later.

For now, here's an example of what's waiting for you at your local secondhand shop. 

Secondhand find: teal/black, vertical-striped sweater dress (so soft!) - $5.89 at the Northlake (i.e., Tucker) Goodwill - no tag

Paired with: black leggings (Target), elastic/fake patent belt (Mercedes Bien in D.C.), Dolce Vita wish boots 

And if you REALLY want to see a great blog about secondhand clothes, check out "New Dress A Day," a blog dedicated to spending $365 (or less) on 365 days' worth of outfits. Marisa is a genius at finding neat thrift clothes and making them her own. Some need more work than others, and she takes "before" and "after" photos to show how she customizes each item to her style and taste. Phenom. I'm so inspired. (Thanks to Becca for sharing this blog with me!)

Cliff Bostock Digs My Creepy Packaging Find

Cliff Bostock, lover/reviewer of food (and sometimes all-things-ridiculous) found one of my iPhone Kroger snapshots rather intriguing. Cliff's posted a little diddly under the "bad packaging of the week" category on the Creative Loafing "Omnivore Atlanta" food blog. (See the silly post he wrote to accompany the photo here).

Mmm tasty, right?

Antico, Jr.

Antico Pizza Napoletana, you have my heart. And the owner's handsome-devil-dough-slinging son helps. :)

Son of Giovanni di Palma (purveyor of pizzas at Antico)

See my 'lil Antico review here. If you haven't been yet, go! I'm talking drop whatever you're doing and GO NOW!

Winter Shorts: Attempts 1 and 2

So, I've tried wearing my $24.99 H&M winter shorts twice now. The first time, I wasn't brave enough to venture out wearing them. The second time, I managed to wear them to a small gathering at a friend's house. 

Where: Playing "dress up" in the privacy of my own home

What: Potential casual night out outfit

The other components: black tights (Target), black Dolce Vita booties (now marked down to about $125), white Target tee, random black/white/grey slouchy sweater from Ross.

Where: Friend's place in Smyrna

What: Football-watching, casual "night-in" (cheering for Dan's team, the Cowboys)

The other components: argyle tights (Dillard's), grey slouch boots (from Steinmart, via my lovely friend Kate!), black elastic art deco belt (Salvation Army), H&M black tank, brown short sleeve cardi from Target

I must admit that wearing these shorts is a little stressful! I'm not usually one to wear shorts (even in the summer), nor show a lot of skin in no matter what I'm wearing. I think I'll feel more confident if I wear them with opaque black tights next time.

Winter Shorts: What's the Verdict?

Photo (and related article) from www.chicagonow.com - here

Winter shorts... love them or hate them? You know, those cuffed shorts (often wool, houndstooth, checkered, etc.) that you've been seeing a lot of lately.

I can't decide, but I'm leaning toward "love." I guess "leaning toward love" really means "like," but whatever...

I bought a black pair from H & M recently and am currently trying to decide how to wear them. Ideas?

Totally Fun NYE (Plus an Outfit Reveal)

Thanks to everyone who helped me figure out what to wear on New Year's Eve (gah, it was so tough!) . The sparkly off-white top and black skirt ended up being great choices for our little shindig — not to mention I'll eventually get to wear that purple vintage getup for another occasion (with a little tailoring in the top, of course).

Lovely party hostesses.

Fam part 1

Fam part 2 (gotta love 'em)

Miz Mego, looking fabulous.

• Sequined formal halter: Rimini (from the formalwear department at Gayfer's or Dilliars or something forever ago... had never worn it) - $40
  
• Black high-waisted pencil skirt from Express - $60
• (Not pictured) black tights (Target?) and the below Dolce Vita brand Wish Boots from Endless.com - $143 (with free shipping)
• (Kind of a splurge outfit for me, but the boots were my big purchase this winter)

Boots from Endless - now $136 (free shipping). They're even cuter with the tops folded/cuffed.

Also, thanks to Raging Burrito and Raging Taco (Decatur Square) for allowing us to host a party in their space again this year. We appreciate it, Laura and Scott!