One Project Stalled (Must Be a Sign)

Two blankets into my volunteer work (sewing baby blankets for Grady Hospital babies), my sewing machine broke. If this isn't annoying enough, I JUST got it serviced (I'm talking days ago) and I have to sew the hems on 33 blankets before February 8! I am brainstorming creative ways to get to the repair shop... which is only open from 9 to 5:30 and is located on the opposite side of town from my office. Ugh.

Anyway, since I was feeling crafty tonight, I'll pick up a little project I'd been putting off — putting new buttons on the Maggy London shirt dress I bought back in November at Last Chance (a local thrift store). 

Maggy London has been in the biz of making feminine and unique dresses for a few decades. A quick google search tells me the brand is still carried at the likes of Nordstrom — and there's a decent presence of ML dresses on resale sites like Etsy. Check out this Maggy London vintage secretary dress for sale on Etsy: 

S/M dress seen here for $22.

Oooh. And I love this funky/fem silk 80s one, too (also on Etsy). 

Size 12 Maggy London dress seen here for $48.

I think being able to wear my new-to-me Maggy London dress tomorrow is enough to make me forget about this sewing machine debacle for just a bit. 

The last bit of my 11/14 Last Chance finds

I am back on the interwebs! Pardon the interruption; the hubs and I have spent the last few days packing, moving and unpacking (our house sold — and we've relocated into an apartment). 

"A Life Fulfilled: Atlanta" will literally be "Atlanta" for a little while, as the apartment is in the Virginia-Highlands. The plan is to spend the next few months saving and house hunting — then we'll hopefully be back in Decatur in a jiffy.

Here's the last of what I found at Last Chance (Decatur) two weekends ago. Given it's nautical pattern (that's a black and white stripe), gold buckled belt and shoulder pads, I thought this Danny and Nicole dress would be a fun one to take home with me.

The details.

It's sad to see the yard that no longer belongs to us!

And an antiqued-looking shot for fun.

Dress: Danny and Nicole ($10 at Last Chance in Decatur)

Necklace: made at the Bead Shoppe in Avondale Estates (just a multi-shaped chain I made into a necklace) - $14

Shoes: Nine West platform pumps (via Ross) - $25

Luxe Shirt Dress - Goodies from the Weekend Part 4

I think this Maggy London dress (complete with shoulder pads) may be my favorite find from the weekend... but considering that I have to replace the buttons (one's missing), it may also be the most expensive.

Something about this pattern and the cut feels fancy. One of the gals shopping across the aisle from me at Last Chance said the pattern reminded her of Hermes. Now excuse me while I go sew on 9 new buttons so I can wear this thing out of the house!

New buttons: $8.50 at Hancock Fabricks

Dress: $7 (Maggy London via Last Chance Thrift in Decatur) + buttons ($8.50)

Shoes: Nine West patent and distressed leather platform pumps ($25 via Ross)

Taking Notes from Maegan (but in need of styling feedback) — Goodies from the Weekend Part 3

I took a page from the notes of Miz Love Maegan for this outfit (you must check out her blog if you want style inspiration...). 

Similar to Maegan's post here, this "dress" is actually a belted, longer dress. Except for in my case, it's a nightgown. When I saw the gown on the end of a rack at Last Chance (Decatur), I honestly thought it was a dress; then I realized it was next to a bunch of pajamas. Whoops. I didn't let that deter me from my mission of finding interesting items to add to my wardrobe.

 

Lace-trimmed night gown belted as a dress.

My attempt at cooler weather styling didn't work... I wish I had a knit that made sense for this "dress"

Posing mishap (i.e., trying to look cool made me look like I have no arms — not the look I was going for)

I realize this is a little bit more of a fashion risk but thought it would be fun to play. I can better visualize how to wear this when it's warm... I'm struggling a little with what jacket or knit to wear on my shoulders for a colder weather look. Is there a shoe that would be a better fit? Suggestions? The husband and the mom are not fans of the dress in general... what do you guys think? You can be honest since I paid less than $5...

Dress: $5 night gown from Last Chance (Decatur), belted (no tag)

Shoes: Carlos Santana via Ross ($25-ish)

Jacket: Lapis via Ross ($10-ish)

Necklace: gifted by Mb

Monochrome Legs (Goodies from the Weekend Part 2)

I posted on Saturday that the weekend was full of blog-worthy material.

I also posted this teaser snapshot of one of the many things I snagged over the weekend:

Here's the dress!

Trying on in the store. Ignore the boots and the hat (and the hair... and the face).

Monochrome tights and shoes inspired by What I Wore's Jessica (seen here and here).

The brooch I already had, but I picked up the dress during my visit to Last Chance Decatur (FYI - you can print coupons from their site). I knew right away that I wanted to accessorize it with my new-ish burgundy tights and the same-color platform sandals.

The dress has big buttons down the back (fun!) and is unfortunately too short to wear to work. I'm excited about it for an eventual night out or date night though.

Dress: Liz Claiborne (circa early 90's — it has shoulder pads) $8 at Last Chance (Decatur)

Shoes: gifted

Brooch: $2 or $3 at Goodwill

Tights: $10 at Macy's

Saturday Adventure: Weekend Goodies Part I

One of my favorite people (Megan) agreed to do a little secondhand shopping and eating with me on Saturday (pho post later).

I reviewed a list of local secondhand and consignment shops before deciding with Megan that a stop by the Loehmann's Plaza Plato's Closet would be convenient on the way to lunch — not to mention I hadn't set foot in a Plato's in three or four years.

And now I remember why.

Sure, Plato's closet has plenty of denim, trendy tops and cute shoes, but its offerings didn't speak to me as much as I'd hoped. Regardless, Megan and I spent about half an hour trying on just okay various tops, bottoms and dresses.

Plato's doesn't do consignment; instead, they take inventory from walk-ins, process it and decide what to keep, pay the customer for what they want to sell — then give back the rest. At one point, Megan said something to the effect of, "Now that I'm seeing the quality of what's in here, it's kind of shocking that I've had friends have 75 percent of their stuff rejected here."

Lots of denim, including men's...

and women's

Lots of cute shoes upon first glance (mostly trendy, inexpensive shoes)

Megan tried on a dress and a few pairs of jeans. She did end up with a great pair of 7 for All Mankind jeans for $18 (they looked barely worn). Some of the brands we tried on included Old Navy, American Eagle, Vigoss, See Thru Soul and Paper. Inventory at Plato's ranges from items originally from Target to originally from Neiman's.

Despite the 10 pairs of jeans and three tops I tried on, I only purchased a cocktail ring and some peacock feather earrings. Jeans are not currently my friend. Sigh.

I felt like Goldilocks (this cardi was too small — and these jeans were too short). Jeans were by See Thru Soul, cardigan is Merona (Target)

And this top, while the pattern was cute, was too unflattering. Top is Marimekko for Anthropologie. Jeans are Vigoss.

These $18 7 For All Mankind jeans were a fit for Megan.

My purchases: a red accent ring with gold flecks and some peacock feather earrings.

I ran into a former colleague who looked cute from head-to-toe so I photographed her, too (hi, Monica!)

Plato's Closet PROS:

• When available, they keep original tags on items to see how much you could have paid in another store
• A large selection of denim
• Reasonable prices
• Options for both men and women
• Good inventory organization

CONS:

• Styles cater to more "juniors" looks (i.e., there isn't a range of attire or much mature attire — it's mostly teenager casual-looking); to be fair, I suppose juniors are their target demographic
• The majority of the shoes are the cheap PVC type you buy from Forever 21 and Charlotte Russe

(Shout out to Sarah Beth Lewis, a cool employee we met at Plato's who's also a blogger, new Atlantan and aspiring chef. Check out here stuff here.)

After lunch and bidding farewell to Megan, I felt empowered to swing by an old favorite. "Maybe they will have something I can get excited about," I thought to myself. And so I parked myself in the lot of Last Chance in Decatur. Sadly, it had been way too long since I'd perused the aisles of this location of the thrift store chain.

And I wasn't disappointed.

I grabbed dress after dress, a cap-sleeve blazer and some jeans to try on. I also met two fabulous ladies (hello Tammy and Stephanie!) who were finding some great items of their own.

I thought Tammy looked so cute in this red sweater (at Last Chance: Decatur) so I asked if I could take her picture for the old blog. Cute!

I had high hopes for this vintage dress — it was a no go though.

I did snag this Riders khaki cap-sleeve blazer (feels new) for $7. More items from my Last Chance visit to be posted this week.

Of the eight items I tried on, I kept five (and one pair of jeans I rejected were perfect to the cute mom-of-two trying on clothes next to me). Stay tuned as I post more items from the weekend. I bought enough for nearly a week's worth of outfit posts.

Lessons from Saturday's shopping:

• My style (or lack thereof) is too eccentric for the Plato's Closets of the world; I'm much more comfortable at Goodwill or Last Chance
• Fellow thrifters are fabulous and encouraging
• My bottom half is growing at a faster rate than the other half. I need to stick to flattering dresses and avoid jeans for now. Argh.