YSL "inspired" black leather purse is up at $65.00 or so on Ebay at the moment and I lost interest once it hit $50. If you scroll all the way down it actually reads "faux leather" (le gasp!) and I promised myself I would only buy real leather from now on (invest invest!). After all, it's a hard economy and we have to be diligent about where we invest money, no?
It's not like I can just stop spending, after all ;P
And if this pair of Guccis were in my size I can't guarantee I wouldn't pull out that credit card I've been hiding away...
Moschino is really what I'll have to shop when I get a real office position...$30
I'm not much of a vintage junkie, but I've been an avid Ebayer (on and off) for past three years because I like the price of buying preowned and because I don't see the point in paying full price for something I might only want for a season. Back in Finland I used to go to thrift stores where everyone rents their own stall and prices their own items so it was easy to find good deals. Here in Cali I find that Goodwill in certain nice neighborhoods is...alright (I liked the one in Menlo Park more than the one in Pasadena), and then there are stores like Buffalo Exchange which buy from you for a really cheap price (I've still sold there though, for the convenience) and then sell Forever 21-$5 prices. I think that if you're going to sell preowned the prices should be lower and quite honestly I don't know if those stores clean the clothes they receive but there's always a weird smell wafting out of their doors (which is why yobu has pretty much forbidden me to enter one except to donate or sell). I noticed at Buffalo Exchange they just price the items and throw them into a basket, which I'm assuming they just hang up on racks later on...?
...I lost my point, right, so I think Ebay has wider access, more members, and thus more options. Ebay has also recently begun a Green Campaign to educate the masses on the environmental benefits of buying preowned. If you check out the Green Team website you'll find that they've gathered nice logical examples of why you should buy/sell on Ebay, which include saving more energy than participating in Earth Hour btw. As Janie Van Roe pointed out in her post, this could open the doors to another group of people (namely people who want to be part of the trendy green movement but do not necessarily want to buy the overpriced eco-friendly fashion pieces) to become vintage-buyers as well. She raises the question of whether this new advertising tactic will affect consumer consciousness...?
Another blogger, Sapphire Whisperer is a fashion stylist and vintage lover, who believes that buying preowned only interests a certain group of people and the rest of us can only "dapple" in it. She states in her post that while she hearts the campaign, she finds it unlikely that anyone will become a vintage shopper for the sake of being green. Now I think that she has a point, that perhaps loving vintage is like loving antiques, where some of us enjoy revisiting classic styles and others see dead people sitting on antique chairs (from the movie "I Hate Valentine's Day"). Yobu is one of those people who (annoyingly enough) asks me funny questions like what if the clothes belong to dead people? or sick people? or the diseased? or dirty people? and if I want to buy him something thrifty from Ebay it has to be new with tag or he will gag. I find this terribly amusing, especially when you can obviously just wash/steam the piece yourself if you think others haven't done a good-enough job. However, given that I live with such a paranoid vintage-hater I can understand that the green movement is not going to attract hoards of people into the vintage scene.
However, this is what I also think; that "green people" (people who really want to make a difference and aren't just passively following a trend) already buy preowned and vintage, because they are "that kind of people". Those trend followers might buy a used cappuccino maker or a used car, but they likely not adorn themselves with vintage. It's sort of like I've managed to convince yobu that if I see an amazing vintage blazer he can totally wear it as long as he gets it dry cleaned first (he agreed that as long as it doesn't directly touch his skin it's not "gross" XD). Since ebay sells a lot other than clothing (i.e. jewelry, books) their mass campaign still makes sense. To get ordinary fashion buyers to purchase preowned would (I think) require a different tactic of advertising, where consumers would have to be informed of how these vintage pieces are cleaned (no bed bugs!) and they should probably feature some white-jacket scientists proving that vintage pieces are not "dirtier" than new pieces. For my opinion is that without removing the stigma of ew! someone used that already? now it has their germs!vintage shopping is not going to soar merely on the basis of saving money or being environmentally conscious.
What do you think? Which group do you belong to? Are you a What do you think? Which group do you belong to? Are you a vintage shopper?
I give you (a blogger) a digital Easter Basket and Hersheys gives Children's Miracle Network $10! I found this on Gouldylox Reviews and I would like to give a "basket" out to all bloggers who would like to participate in this charity.
HERSHEY’S BETTER BASKET BLOG HOP RULES
Copy and paste these rules to your blog post.
Create a blog post giving a virtual Easter Basket to another blogger – you can give as many Virtual Baskets as you want.
Link back to person who gave you an Easter Basket.
Let each person you are giving a Virtual Easter Basket know you have given them a Basket.
Leave your link at BetterBasket.info/BlogHop comment section. You can also find the official rules of this #betterbasket blog hop, and more information about Better Basket with Hershey’s there.
Hershey’s is donating $10 per each blog participating to the Better Basket Blog Hop to Children’s Miracle Network (up to total of $5,000 by blog posts written by April 4th, 2010).
Please note that only one blog post by each blog URL will count towards the donation.
1. Thank the blogger who gave you the award. (haha! thank you~~~)
2. Put the award on your blog (check)
3. Link the person who nominated you. (sidebar --->)
4. Share 7 ‘interesting’ facts about yourself.
5. Nominate 7 other bloggers and notify them
7 "Interesting" Facts About Me: 1. I don't think anyone can tell that I'm half-Caucasian 2. I have three nationalities so three passports 3. When I was a toddler I got really sick once so they had to shave half of my head in order to give me a shot, which is why my hairline is not even (one side is higher than the other) 4. At home (or with family) even though I could speak other languages (like English or Finnish) I've always preferred speaking Mandarin, and outside even though I can often speak Mandarin I prefer speaking English. 5. I don't know if I'm ADD or if I just get bored easily but it's difficult for me to watch a movie or a TV show without doing something else or at least thinking about something else. 6. Since I've become more serious about English language I haven't been able to read a book or any piece of text without circling, underlining, boxing, color coding or at least editing mistakes. Even leisure reading requires a pencil and I'm more than happy to edit essays for my friends. 7. I have this strange habit of comforting myself when I go to a restroom (stall) where I find it profoundly relieving that I am finally alone (in privacy) and before I have time to think I ask myself Are you OK? How are you feeling? and then I think about the answer haha. This has been very useful at work where my boss can really get me down.
I read all of your blogs on an almost daily basis and they're wonderful distractions! I hope you'll pass on the award along with the Hershey's Easter basket for charity!
Aaah. If only I could win a good pair of khakis (to roll up) this spring and a pair of leather loafers to make walking less of a chore. I'm also bidding on a black belt & more tights~~~
All of the items above are either new, or have been used once. They are all in mint condition. As a winner, you will receive a Nine West studded black "messenger" style purse, a gold headband, silver/gray/black bangle, black lace fingerless gloves, Korean cream white pearl flower ring, and a carved ring featuring "CK" letters. All rings are large sizes, which is why they are new. + Beautyfix 2x Cosmetic Bags NIP
This giveaway is only open to bloggers for the prerequisite to this giveaway is that all contestants blog about this giveaway!
"Be My Friend" - Giveaway
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So this is the "かわいい" giveaway set (compared to the previous one) and is open to all followers. You will receive a pink pouch ID holder + pencil case (Korean), a furry green and white coin pouch (Japanese), a mirror (Chinese), the colorful necklace (Hong Kong), and a letter set by (I think) Masami Tsuda (creator of i.e. Kare Kano - manga). Basically the trick to this giveaway is that the more you comment on my blog the more entries you will have! I will be updating this page with a list of participants and number of "ticket entries" as often as I can. If you participated in the previous giveaway you may also participate in this giveaway.
INTERNATIONAL: I am interested in reading blogs by people from other countries as long as they're in a language I can read, which means they have to be in English or Finnish (I should follow one in Japanese to practice!), so I wholeheartedly welcome internationals to read my blog as well! I created this with the plan of going international anyhow~! Therefore both "giveaways" will be open worldwide.
To Participate... 1. Comment with your name & the giveaway of your choice
2. Follow me publicly 3. Link to the blog post where you mentioned this giveaway.
4. Fan me on "Networked Blogs" Facebook application for an extra entry
5. For an extra entry place a picture link to this giveaway on your blog sidebar.
Giveaways will end when there are at least 20 participants!
In response to this prompt on what it means to be a girl (in terms of physical maintenance) and whether your beauty routines have to do with your own philosophy or impressing someone else (i.e. a man).
My morning routine is very simple. I wake up forty minutes before it's time to go, brush my teeth, wash my face, apply my routine cosmetics (can be found on the "about me" page), sometimes straighten my hair, dress, and then drag yobu out of bed so he can drive me. I don't do make up or complicated hairstyles in the morning and at the moment I'm thinking of ways to reduce the amount of time I stand around thinking what am I going to wear?. I just would rather sleep.
I do pluck my eyebrows as regularly as I can remember to, I do try to do my nails on a weekly basis because they break otherwise (I have soft nails), I do my toe nails because I don't like my toes and it helps that they're painted, I shave when I shower, and I use various products for my hair as my hair can be quite problematic (maybe a post on this in the future). I haven't gotten a facial in a while, but I plan on it as soon as I come to more money, so it's not so much that I don't want to as that I can't afford to at the moment. I'm not interested in manicures or pedicures as much, because I am well aware of the damage I do my nails on a daily basis so unless I suddenly become as rich as Richy Rich it's not likely that I can sustain a manicure. Therefore any facials, massages, acupuncture...these are all luxuries I want for me and I prefer them over expensive hair cuts (my last hair cut was $4 and I trimmed it myself just the other day) and other beauty treatments. I think when I'm older and wealthier I can revisit those categories and decide if I want to try them.
As for what I do for yobu...well, the line for what I do for me (and my self-esteem) and what I do to please him can get a little blurry. I think shaving regularly is something I do for him, because when I lived alone I only shaved when my legs would show. Since I've been with him I've worked harder on improving my skin, and I say that I buy products so that he can use them as well (he's an actor/model so he worries about breakouts too), but really I enjoy the results of using Clarisonic brush on my face, various scrubs, and the zit-zapper thing we got not-so-recently. Makeup is something I don't think I wear for him so much as I wear for the people around me, either because they all wear make up (and I know they will!) or because of random girls who wear make up (like heavy make up in a club), in an effort to measure up. Dressing up is something I definitely started doing more because of yobu, I think whenever I had a crush on a guy who I would see I would dress up more for him to notice, so living with a crush means having to dress up more often. It makes me feel more confident, putting effort into what I wear that is, but something like dressing cute instead of "professional" or cool is definitely his influence. Maybe because my ego is not that big to begin with (code for self-esteem issues) I have a more difficult time figuring out what's for me and what's for others because a large percentage of me feeling good is based on feedback from others (terrible, I know) so if you're happy with me, I'm happy with me.
Surprisingly enough this only applies to my outlook, not so much my character, so I can take you not liking my personality or me for me, but if you hate my hairstyle then I'm going to start questioning it as well.
What about you? What do you do that only girls do and why do you do it?
Edit: I read that Jessica Simpson has a new reality TV show called The Price of Beauty and I will be following it to comment on it from now on. :D
Sheer-ish floral black leggings from Topshop. I like how it's toned down, not amazingly floral or lace or whatever. Just dark as leggings ought to be.
White lace. I want to buy white lace since I lost my shirt from winter in Heathrow T-T
JCREW: Loose crop pants. I have crop pants that are sort of loose but I want this kind. I like the outfit.
JCREW: High-waist crop pants! in black! I am officially hunting for new black pants now....High waist only :D
ZARA: The brown pants! I have one pair of brown and its flared. Not happy. Need more brown.
ZARA: Trench! I haven't decided if I'm going to buy a khaki trench this Spring. I have a grayish for my nude coat and then I have a black trench so I might pass on this..
A few other trends I plan on passing on include the striped jacket/blazer because I prefer the nautical uniform look from last spring, to be honest, and the khaki/brown shorts because I prefer tweed (which I saw Gap has~). I realized I already have leather wooden clogs from years back (Italian, in light brown with fringe) so I don't need to purchase any. I recently purchased a white lace blouse, which I told yobu I would sell, but now I'm having second thoughts so...we'll see. I saw a good in one in the store yesterday too but I'm not sure I'm brave enough for complete sheerness or the bulkiness layering might result in. As I've mentioned previously, I might skip out on the denim shirt trend because I just don't see myself wearing...blue like that. I've owned quite a few military jackets in the past, and they've never stayed with me past two seasons so I don't think that I'll be buying another one unless I see one I must have. The last time that happened it was Ralph Lauren (denim too!) but I passed because of the price.
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