How to… op shop like a (semi) professional!

My vintage and op shopping tips! Or – How to Op-Shop Like a Semi-Pro!

Ye Olde 2nd Hand Store.

Trawling through old clothes and knick nacks for hours on end in the search of the holy grail is fraught with obstacles and perils. Have you ever wondered why some people you know are constantly showing up with amazing “new” old clothes & jewelry and you can’t seem to find anything but moth eaten sweaters & bad 90’s art?

A little background on myself here: I used to be 100% obsessed with op-shopping (Thrifting for overseas viewers!). It was my 2nd job. While I was at my real job, I would be researching lists of all the 2nd hand stores in Perth, sometimes beyond, in preparation for my assaults.

I would compile lists of where I was going after work, where I was going on the weekend & where would statistically hold the best treasures in terms of either “being in a good suburb”, “being in a bad suburb so no one would have picked through already” & “multiple stores within small distances”.

At my peak I was bringing home bags full of amazing pieces that I still wear Today (many have also been re-donated) & receiving many, many compliments on my ever evolving wardrobe. Along with this I was also hearing a lot of complaints from friends & strangers that they never had any success & that I was “very lucky”.

One of my completely 2nd hand outfits, my Mother absolutely hated it. But I was an indie girl in love.

There is luck involved, of course. Even the best op-shopper isn’t going to find anything at a store if there is nothing to find.

However, the time & effort I dedicated to the art far outweighed the instances of luck. I was a machine!

Today I will help you up your ratio of “Totally sweet!” versus “Not so neat!” with my tried and true methods.

Without further ado, here are my fool proof tips on “Op Shopping like a Semi-Pro”:

1. Eat breakfast & Snack! – Think of op-shopping as a sport. You need energy to reach your goals and sustain you through the long day. Make sure you have a good breakfast!

Toast with honey, a banana & a cup of herbal tea or juice is what I would choose, but it’s up to you, just make sure it’s nutritious & filling!

As for snacks, I like to take an apple, sultanas (Farmland are my favourite hehe – they are the best sultana brand hands down!) a chocolate bar etc. It’s better to bring your own snack, that way you don’t get distracted by eating somewhere else and can focus on the task at hand! ;D

2. Wear suitable clothing & make-up – There’s nothing worse when you’re shopping than having on clothes that are annoying to take off and put back on all the time. Save the cute tights, lace up shoes, multi-layers & full face of makeup for another occasion. An op-shopping day calls for simple pony tail with little to no makeup. You don’t want it to end up all over the clothes!

Clothes wise your best bet is a simple skirt or easy to remove jeans (this means no spray on skinnies!) on the bottom. On warm days I’d wear a singlet or slip dress, cold days a hoodie (make sure it’s a zip up though, non zip hoodies are a pain to remove and put on continuously).

This can honestly be the difference between success and failure. Not many people can be bothered taking off and putting on difficult clothing a lot of times. Simplicity is key here as you want to be trying on as many potential pieces as possible.

3. Leave your bag/purse in the car. This obviously only applies if you drove to the location. I find it helpful in that you have both hands free to look at and carry items. My bag always gets in the way or ends up being too heavy after a period of time which makes me grumpy. I just keep my iPod in my pocket with my keys & when I am ready to purchase my items I get the assistant to hold them while I race out to get my purse. I find this really useful!

4. Listen to music – I have found this the single most helpful tool in staying focussed through a long day of trawling. I too am only human;) and when faced with a gigantic store full of racks – I get the urge to get out of there as quickly as possible. The thought of going through it all COMPLETELY overwhelms me. Listening to music is the key to this problem.

Make a big playlist of your favourite tunes on your iPod/discman/whatever, put it on shuffle & then get sifting! I guarantee you will have more success. You have your mind on the music while you look, so going through hundreds of unsuitable items doesn’t seem like a chore. BINGO!

5. Try the childrens section – TREASURE TROVE! Children come in all shapes and sizes and so do their second hand clothes! Most of us would benefit from a quick browse around the kiddies section. Cute retro tees, tight school blazers (Think Gossip Girl style) & other good things can be found here, I’ve even come across really cute skirts that the old dears working there thought were childrens but were womens sizing! Definitely worth a look.

6. Outer suburbs are a gold-mine – Young trendy things don’t often venture out into the “sticks” or outermost suburbs, this means that there is much more chance of finding a hidden gem! I’ve had success with small towns out of the city, lower class & outer suburbs. Don’t be put off by distance or perceived notions about a location, there are fabulous finds waiting for you!

7. Know your stores – This last tip is perhaps a little subjective and should be taken with a grain of salt. Some op-shops sell “new” clothing, along with recycled. I am not really interested in these, while they are wonderful for people who don’t have so much money, I find some stores have an overabundance of these “new” clothing pieces. Because of this I tend to steer clear of them, there is one such chain in Australia which does this & I don’t shop there often. I’m not sure if I should say! I’m sure you can figure it out on your travels!

Well those are my 7 tips for optimal vintage & second hand clothes shopping! I hope you learned some things you didn’t know, and wish you luck on your ultimate vintage shopping quest…:D Let me know if you have any hints, tips or extras on this fun topic! xx

Further reading: List of op shops in Perth by suburb. Put your new skills to good use!

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Trip Photos

Coin-operated HIGH SECURITY PRISON VIEWING DEVICE. Paired with style epitome, this is my usual lazy fare. Skinny jeans, hoodie, k-mart shoes. Not terribly exciting, I used to dress way more crazy, tapered down to very bland, but I feel a re-emergence of interesting dressing brewing. Stay tuned!

Dead flag blues.

Kmart shoes – $5
Vintage blazer – $18
Jeans – $150
Princess Tina Tote – $80

Unwashed hair, no makeup & freezing cold winds ruining the picture – PRICELESS.

Well San Francisco IS big on free-love & hippies…I embraced it! Also I love my vintage jacket! Some one told me I looked like a band conductor, and I’m okay with that.

Saw a band at The Great American Music Hall. Such a sweet venue. Music was droning stoner rock, I nearly fell asleep! Also lost my hoodie at this place

Uploading more tmw! For now it’s 5:30am & I should really sink into sleep town.

A little known sleeping tip – another experiment!

Today I came across one of the most interesting sleeping theories I have in a while, it makes total sense to me so I am really excited to try it out.

Consume 150-250 calories of low-glycemic index foods in small quantities (low glycemic load) prior to bed. Morning fatigue and headache isn’t just from sleep debt or poor sleep. Low blood sugar following overnight fasting is often a contributing factor. Just prior to bed, have a small snack such as: a few sticks of celery with almond butter, a mandarin orange and 5-8 almonds, or plain low-fat (not fat-free) yoghurt and an apple. Ever wonder how you can sleep 8-10 hours and feel tired? This is part of the explanation. Make a pre-bed snack part of your nutritional program.

1-2 tablespoons of flaxseed oil (120-240 calories) can be used in combination with the above to further increase cell repair during sleep and thus decrease fatigue. It tastes like a mixture of cat urine and asparagus, so I recommend pinching your nose while consuming it — thanks Seth Roberts, PhD. for this tip — or using capsules.

This from Tim Ferriss over at 4 Hour Work Week I love the idea of it and I am going to start trying it. I often find myself really tired even when I have long sleeps, so this will be a really great thing to try. It will probably be hard to measure, but I will report back with my findings! *snooze*

Today I ate a vegan pizza from the freezer (sigh), it was so tasty. I’ve also issued myself with the “challenge” (I have a hard life sometimes) of going swimming every day in order to get a little exercise, vitamin d and some more freckles.

Last night we went to Nobu which is a Japanese restaurant part-owned by Robert De’niro (there is one in Melby too!). We were blessed with the presence of Dennis Quaid, flanked by faux full chested hussies & some other old boys. Someone called out “FREQUENCY IS MY FAVOURITE MOVIE”. That’s the only reason I knew we were dining with the stars.

Nobu is great food! Apple wontons? Yes.

Tonight we are going to a really cool bowling bar & maybe having a buffet dinner. Can’t complain xo

Things I love Thursday: Vegas Style!

Things I love Thursday is something that galadarling does over at her blog, it is very popular and one of my favourite weekly posts to read because of all the positivity it creates. You can very easily find about a million inspiring ideas for things to do to make your life that tiny bit more satisfying/fun/crazy/lovely/…!

In light of my current global positioning, I thought I’d inform the world of the things I love about Las Vague-s (No, I am probably not going to get over calling it that!) I thought I would hate it, but I actually kind of love it! So here we go:

* Beautiful scenery, the whole place is surrounded by these lovely red-purple-hazy huge moutains in all directions, it kind of feels like I am existing inside a huge crater.

It doesn’t look as great here as it does in person, but it will do!

* Dry heat! There is almost absolutely no humidity here. It is just dry, dry desert heat. And I love it! Given that I grew up in the Pilbara (Go to Perth, head North & inland for 2 days by car and you’re about there) it feels very natural to me and I am def. enjoying it.

* American institutions. I get excited whenever I see a Chuck-E-Cheese, Dairy Queen, Diners, Macys, Walmart etc etc. It’s amazing how bad they all are, amazingly GREAT! I think our house-mates tire of my continual exclaimation @ various signs. Oh heres a thing! I saw a gigantic sign Today advertising OPEN HEART SURGERY at a specific hospital. What! Hey folks, come on down and get your open heart surgery here, you know you want some! “Only in America..”

* Shopping, of course. The shopping in Vegas is pretty good, the malls are amazing. I haven’t bought too much on my trip though because it is just so overwhelming! Also I don’t have a particularly willing shopping partner most of the time! ;(

* Being foreign. A lot of people think I am English, sometimes Canadian. It’s fun, I like being the outcast!

* Shows. I’ve been to only 2 shows so far, a magician called Lance Burton – SO GOOD!!! Everyone loved it, it was amazing! & Zumanity, which is an erotic version of Cirque Du Soleil, also good. Plan to see heaps more but we will see how we go!

So these are the things I love about being away, there is more probably! Like eating good food, the cool people I’ve met & Mario Kart!

Feel free to participate if you wish, it’s a nice feeling to make a little list of things in life that are great right now, instead of thinking of the things that suck as most people usually do (myself included)!

Stumble It!

Online Shopping Picks; Fluffyco & Last Callout for Fred Flare Order

My next purchase is going to be this gorgeous blue coloured “dutch birds tee from fluffyco, which is a San Francisco based label & also the brand that my Carnivore Tee is.

This is my other favourite, it’s called the “Bird of Prey” hoodie. And I think it is just great! The birds wings spread to mimic a spine, so awesome.

I am not sure if I will get it yet though, I do have a lot of hoodies! What do you think?

!!!! !!!! !!!! I loooove this necklace by Princess Tina, found on the Keith & Lottie website! (Great website by the way and you should definitely check it out if you are unfamiliar with this wonderful Perth store).

I don’t know if I should get this as well, maybe I can just get the brooch version, I think I am far more likely to wear this:

Yes I think I will get this one! When I have the money, of course! Eeep! So lovely

Alright, so one friend got back to me about the Fred Flare order I’m going to be doing. If any other people who know me want in, then chop chop! Get movin. And let me know by Friday latest mwa!

So what do you think of my online lusts? Let me know! x

Recurring dreams trying to tell me something .. (?!)

For as long as I can remember (well the past 5 years at least) I’ve had a recurring dream. It takes place in any of the educational institutions that have housed me. The basic one is that I am meant to be graduating from high school, but am failing terribly at English (a requirement to graduate) because I didn’t turn in some assignments, skipped class & didn’t do any homework.

I’m always really upset because I know I am good at English (it was one of my better subjects in school irl) but too apathetic to care until I know I am going to be held back. The dream usually ends with me knowing I screwed it up and can’t pass.

Last night I had a variation on the theme. I was in primary school and was in Year 7, I had missed half the school year due to being in America (funny that!) and everyone was preparing to announce the best student of the year. I was nominated but knew I had no chance, I felt very bitter towards the other classmates/nominees.

I know what this dream means, and I always have. I did well enough in my Tertiary Entrance Exam to get into any course I would have wanted. I chose Psychology, not having any clue what I wanted to do with my life at that point. Psychology kinda ruined me! I ended up dropping out after 2 years of deferring, not going to class, doing papers on the day after they were due and just being uninterested in the subject matter.

I know I could be doing more with myself, so much more. I know I could succeed at studying with high marks if I committed myself to something. I just haven’t.

I want to do exams! I want to prove my worth!

And my brain is trying to tell me that I need to take some course of action.

I’m just not sure what that course of action is..

Quick health / eating tips!

I wanted to share / remember a few things that I have NOT been doing for a while, but in the past few days have remembered or discovered.

(Quick disclaimer, I would never post anything I thought was dangerous or that I wouldn’t do myself, however I am not a medical professional so all advice written is to be taken at your own discretion, thx!)

Bananas! Wonderfood? Yes!

Bananas…

a) contain less water than most fruits, that means they are more nutritionally dense – this is good! They can keep you going for quite a while which is why they are great to eat half an hour before exercising, or when you first wake up, which is what I do.

b) halt the salt (cravings)! Often when you get the urge to eat 20 packets of BBQ chips, all your body is really yelling at you for is some potassium. Bananas are an EXCELLENT source of potassium and it has been proven that eating one can cure these cravings. Amazing!

If you include a banana as part of your daily diet , it can even reduce the likelihood of you getting salt cravings in the first place. And as we know, chips, savoury biscuits and other salt laden foods don’t just give us the salt, they are full of other things we really don’t want lurking around in our systems wreaking havoc on our well being.

c) fight anxiety & depression! Personally this is one of the main uses for bananas other than a tasty, nutritious snack that impresses me. I used to eat a large banana daily as part of my overall plan of staying happy & stress free. I feel like it worked, but I haven’t been doing it for a while and I need to start again!

Bananas contain tryptophan, which is the precursor to serotonin (brain chemical which is responsible for happiness & a feeling of well being) so it’s actually science that they help you stave off the blues! For more food-science ideas check out my article on wheatgerm and what it can do for you! Actually yet to try this one myself as health-stores are few and far between in the land of the “free”.

So there you have it.. eat bananas to be happy, to improve your overall wellbeing, to stop eating so many naughty savoury snacks & most importantly, for enjoyment!

Extra credit for high achievers: Just found THIS really great site for some extra info that even I didn’t know! Worth a look.

The other thing I wanted to mention is that:

Avocado, nectarine & roasted cashew salad is freakin AMAZING. Best thing I have ever tasted imo.

Please replicate and invite me around to feast. I will love you always!

And to round it off, here is an excellent cover of Disco 2000, originally by Pulp, done here by Nick Cave. I enjoy it!

Haight Street Vintage Shopping Love!

Yesterday I visited here and entered possibly the best second hand / overall best store I have ever been into! It was called “The Wasteland” and I am in love.

Picture a huge warehouse sized store, filled with hundreds of vintage tees, skirts, dresses, shoes, etc etc! They also sell some non-vintage stuff but it’s primarily goods of the unique, covetable variety!

I picked up two really really cute skirts and an AMAZING jackety blazer! I didn’t have enough time to properly trawl the racks Yesterday and I want to go back Today, but I’m kind of scared to catch a taxi there on my own as it’s a bit far from my hotel. Also there are heaps of homeless people and punks in that area and I am a small lass.

Hopefully we will go back in the next couple days! I REALLY want to post photos but can’t atm

I got a pair of J-Brand jeans & some really cute tees too!

Cutie cute cute. Reminds me of the Frosty Flakes tige-y hee.

Carnivorous animals tee. Controversy!

I like SF a lot. I had an amazing tofu scramble for breakfast Yesterday. Oh my yum.

Yet to see the bridge but will soon! Eek! x Anyone been to San Fran before? Thoughts?

Love love

San Francisco Pt.1 – Initial Impressions

Flew into SF Today! Ah! I still hate flying oh so much… takeoff makes me real anxious and I dislike that feeling when the plane turns off the engines just before descent and it kind of feels like the plane is about to fall out of the sky – erk.

A strange taximan with the eyes of Jarad Leto picked us up.. we drove thru the ghetto of SF, I saw a double decker train, the Golden Gate Bridge which my travelling friend was unenthusiastic about, “animal relief area”.

Ghetto, Earth, bad vegetarian. That’s all.

San Francisco!

If I had a heart, I’d leave it here…

Today my travel partner and I are leaving our temporary desert home and catapulting through the sky in search of the coastal haven of San Fran.

I hate flying, however I am ever so slowly adjusting to the feeling of definite doom lovingly referred to as “take off” and sometimes “landing”. After our last adventure in the skies involving turbulence hitting just as the plane is doing its “Hey guys I’m banking at a 90 degree angle!” thing, Czech-screamers behind us and me curling up in a ball, sweating and shaking… I’m looking forward to this little jaunt less than I should be.

Leaving at 4.55pm & arriving at 6:30pm makes for a tiny trip, so I should be okay! It’s a small price to pay for the extravaganza of vegan restaurants/cafes, soothing seas and apparently good shopping – I hope!

For those of you who know me, namely myself, will notice that my style of writing changes given the number of mood-altering beverages that have entered my person the previous night. I’m not hungover, more a window to clear thought has been opened up. I wonder if anyone else experiences this…

Last few days have been shit. I don’t want to talk about it, but some shit things have happened and I feel depressed. I miss home and my few friends there. I want a dog. There are no animals in Vegas, I’ve seen like 1 bird and 2 dogs in 3 weeks.

Last night there was a party for Greg, the guy who organised the house we are staying at and the co-owner of the company Jay works for Leggo Poker. It was his 21st! It’s crazy how I’ve been drinking and going to bars for 6 years, and here is this guy who is about 300% more together than me and is totally the Dad of the house, and he went to his first bar last night.. so weird.

Anyway the party was at The Palms hotel in the celebrity suite, which is where the MTV awards are held. The suite was cool. There was about 50 guys there so at one point some went down and recruited a ‘hens night’ troupe of girls! Ha. No one talked to the girls though until about 10 drinks in, such is the way of internet poker players I guess!

There was a STRIPPER POLE (!!) in the shower, with a frosted glass window facing the lounge area of the suite… but with the press of a button, the frosted glass magically melts away & you can see into the shower! Good times. The hens night girls ended up doing some strip dances on the pole… I’ll leave it at that!

Played Blackjack downstairs and we won $700 haha! I am so pro at that game I have also had a little lady luck with roulette, as I usually do

Everyone we are staying with in the house are really nice. There is a canadian, an irishman, 3 americans and us (2 australians!) so it’s really diverse and lots to talk about.

I feel really unhealthy and am trying to rectify this, but it is difficult with 24 hour Krispy Kremes nearby

I am off to get ready to fly away!

Farewell, I will update with San Francisco fun & hopefully my purchases! My camera is working again so I’ll post more snaps in a few days. x