On Fridays, my friend Sarah and I often skip regular lunch and go to a thrift store instead.
Creatively, we call this "thrift lunch." She's written about this before.
This week, we went yesterday. Both of us had just finished writing long stories we'd worked on for what seemed like ages. We both felt drained, in need of a break. And there is something weirdly therapeutic about methocially sorting through racks of clothing, shelves of housewares, mountains of scarves and belts.
We started thrift lunch a few years ago when we both worked in Lincoln. We didn't know each other very well well then, but we both liked thrift stores. Our style is similar but not identical, we often wear the same size but we have different frames. These are good attributes for thrifting buddies.
We always started in the purse section. Then the tops and sweaters, then the skirts, then the shoes, then the housewares. We saved the jewelry and boutique items for last. We bought 1970s polyester tops, vintage shoes, Pyrex mixing bowls, countless Christmas decorations, and many, many vintage Coach bags.
We talked about mundane stuff -- weekend plans, work deadlines. We talked about bigger stuff, too. We became better friends.
She started working in Omaha, at the World-Herald, late last summer. I was still in Lincoln, sad to lose my thrifting friend. Six months later, I began working here, too. My very first week of work, thrift lunch returned.
At a Goodwill in Council Bluffs, we found brass bracelets, high-waisted red pants, a blazer with brass buttons. We talked each other into and out of assorted purchases. We returned to work high on our bargains. We again looked at the purses first, then the tops, then the skirts and shoes, housewares and jewelry.
This week we went to a Salvation Army. I found a bunch of great khaki skirts, all from the early 80s, two with pink Kleenex in the right pocket. They had to have belonged to the same person. Sarah suggested perhaps an elementary school librarian.
Next week, I shall look like a librarian all week long.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Friday, April 13, 2012
Esoteric Velvet
As I am new both to the Omaha World-Herald and to Omaha, I have spent the last couple of weeks meeting with cool people who are doing interesting stuff and who seem to know EVERYONE (Omaha is such a big small town). Yesterday morning, I met with Meghann Schense -- writer, photographer, web girl, stylist, wearer of very cute leather leggings, and creator of the website Esoteric Velvet.
Meghann and I spent almost two hours drinking coffee in her gorgeous downtown studio, looking through her enormous collection of vintage clothes (many of her pieces she rents out for photo shoots and special events), discussing her plans for a roadtrip and thrifting adventure throughout the western United States this summer, and talking about Esoteric Velvet, which she originally envisioned as an online magazine highlighting Omaha culture and style. A year later, EV has "really snowballed into its own sort of thing," she said. She's in the process of redesigning the site to include an online store and hopes to expand it into sort of a directory of Omaha fashion and culture venues and events, in addition to the photo-filled blog posts that have traditionally made up the bulk of EV's content. She has contributors and interns, and she told me she has learned A LOT about web site design.
I suspect Meghann and I will see a lot of each other in the future, and I'm looking forward to seeing what she's wearing next time I run into her, too. Thanks for a great morning, Meghann!
Meghann and I spent almost two hours drinking coffee in her gorgeous downtown studio, looking through her enormous collection of vintage clothes (many of her pieces she rents out for photo shoots and special events), discussing her plans for a roadtrip and thrifting adventure throughout the western United States this summer, and talking about Esoteric Velvet, which she originally envisioned as an online magazine highlighting Omaha culture and style. A year later, EV has "really snowballed into its own sort of thing," she said. She's in the process of redesigning the site to include an online store and hopes to expand it into sort of a directory of Omaha fashion and culture venues and events, in addition to the photo-filled blog posts that have traditionally made up the bulk of EV's content. She has contributors and interns, and she told me she has learned A LOT about web site design.
I suspect Meghann and I will see a lot of each other in the future, and I'm looking forward to seeing what she's wearing next time I run into her, too. Thanks for a great morning, Meghann!
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Stuff I own
I'm a follower of Omaha's own Retail Bitch, and while I always enjoy her blog, I'm especially enjoying her Stuff I Own series (today's post is about a sweater in her "perfect gray." Do you know what she's talking about? I do, and the only exact perfect gray shirt I've ever found is a worn-out tee that was my dad's when he was in college. It is so thin that you can actually see through the shoulders, so I wear it very sparingly these days, while always keeping an eye out for a replacement perfect gray top.)
But ANYWAY. It's interesting to see what other people really love, which pieces become wardrobe staples, what they were super excited to find but maybe haven't ever actually worn.
Some of my very, very favorites:
- Kate Szabone rose gold hoops (which I have worn almost every day since I received them for Christmas in 2010. Thanks, Sarah!)
- Levi's 535 skinnies (these fit so well and I have worn them so much that I'm on my fourth pair).
- A giant, sheer, pink, red, blue and black scarf with a subtle feather pattern. I don't know the brand, and I don't remember the name of the boutique where I bought it, but I have worn it about a hundred times in the past year.
- A vintage porcelain and seed bead cuff that I got a thrift store when I was in college. I've only worn this a few times, but just looking at it makes me happy.
- My very very favorite vintage Coach bag, purchased at a second-hand store for $15 five years ago (that's it in the photo, against the backdrop of the giant oft-worn scarf -- I needed something to cover up my messy cubicle!) I have carried this bag with jeans and cowboy boots, with heels and slim ankle-length pants, with just about every dress in my closet. It's the perfect size (about 12 inches wide and 8 inches deep), a great color, and it's in good shape -- but not so good that I feel as though using it will ruin it.
What are your favorite things in your wardrobe? What do you wear the most? What are you saving for a special occasion?
Monday, April 9, 2012
On short hair
In my previous blog post, I didn't really introduce myself.
I am the new nightlife and fashion reporter at the Omaha World-Herald. I started a week ago today. Before working here, I worked in marketing for a little over three years. Before that, I was a reporter at two different newspapers for a total of just under six years. My last journalism job also involved blogging, but I haven't written a blog word since. I enjoy running and thrifting, and I'm currently rapidly expanding my collection of brass bracelets.
I also have very short hair. This becomes relevant in a moment.
So this morning, I began the day in one of my very favorite ways, which is drinking coffee while reading celebrity gossip blogs. And the top story of the day nearly across the board was Anne Hathaway's ultra-short new haircut.
If you have not seen her hair, here's a NY Daily News story (which also includes an amazing quote from Hathaway's publicist unrelated to her hair).
The photos in the NY Daily News are pretty much like the photos in all the stories about Hathaway's haircut: a photo of her on the red carpet, all gigantic smiles and long, bouncy-looking waves, juxtaposed against a photo of her emerging from a nightclub in a peacoat with the collar popped and her hand shielding her short hair-framed face from the cameras.
The implication is why on earth would she do such a thing? (The answer is because she will play a starving prostitute who sells her hair in the upcoming movie adaption of Les Miserables).
A haircut that drastic IS, well, drastic. It's weird to look in the mirror and to be surprised that your hair is gone. And Anne Hathaway has really, really nice hair.
But she is still Anne Hathaway. Slap some lipstick on that giant mouth, add some mascara and she's still going to look like Anne Hathaway.
I bristle a bit at short hair digs. I do not have beautiful thick, glossy, wavy hair. I have fine dark-blonde hair with tons of cowlicks. It takes a really really long time to make it look luscious and bouncy instead of scraggly and frizzy. (And if I'm honest with myself, I never looks particularly luscious or bouncy, even on the very very best of days).
So probably seven years ago, I cut it off. Really short. Rosemary's Baby short.
And I like it. It doesn't look much different than it did when I wore it in a ponytail (to hide the aforementioned scraggliness/frizziness), I don't spend a bunch of time (seriously, long hair when you don't have amazing hair requires hours each week) messing around with something that never turns out as well as I'd hoped. It looks mostly normal even after a short bike commute. And without a frame lackluster hair, you can really see my face. I like my face.
I get the occasional have-you-ever-considered-growing-your-hair-long questions, and I usually respond with some combination of the reasons listed in the above paragraph. I always say, honestly, I believe I look a lot better with short hair than long. I think Michelle Williams does, too, and I'm glad to have her as an unofficial celebrity short hair ambassdor.
That's not to say that everyone does. And if I had Anne Hathaway's hair, I don't know that I would choose to chop it off, even for a movie. But I'm interested to see what she does with it, how she styles it on the red carpet, what she says about her experience as a pixie haired girl, and how the long hair loving celebrity gossip sites respond. I'm watching you, Anne.
I am the new nightlife and fashion reporter at the Omaha World-Herald. I started a week ago today. Before working here, I worked in marketing for a little over three years. Before that, I was a reporter at two different newspapers for a total of just under six years. My last journalism job also involved blogging, but I haven't written a blog word since. I enjoy running and thrifting, and I'm currently rapidly expanding my collection of brass bracelets.
I also have very short hair. This becomes relevant in a moment.
So this morning, I began the day in one of my very favorite ways, which is drinking coffee while reading celebrity gossip blogs. And the top story of the day nearly across the board was Anne Hathaway's ultra-short new haircut.
If you have not seen her hair, here's a NY Daily News story (which also includes an amazing quote from Hathaway's publicist unrelated to her hair).
The photos in the NY Daily News are pretty much like the photos in all the stories about Hathaway's haircut: a photo of her on the red carpet, all gigantic smiles and long, bouncy-looking waves, juxtaposed against a photo of her emerging from a nightclub in a peacoat with the collar popped and her hand shielding her short hair-framed face from the cameras.
The implication is why on earth would she do such a thing? (The answer is because she will play a starving prostitute who sells her hair in the upcoming movie adaption of Les Miserables).
A haircut that drastic IS, well, drastic. It's weird to look in the mirror and to be surprised that your hair is gone. And Anne Hathaway has really, really nice hair.
But she is still Anne Hathaway. Slap some lipstick on that giant mouth, add some mascara and she's still going to look like Anne Hathaway.
I bristle a bit at short hair digs. I do not have beautiful thick, glossy, wavy hair. I have fine dark-blonde hair with tons of cowlicks. It takes a really really long time to make it look luscious and bouncy instead of scraggly and frizzy. (And if I'm honest with myself, I never looks particularly luscious or bouncy, even on the very very best of days).
So probably seven years ago, I cut it off. Really short. Rosemary's Baby short.
And I like it. It doesn't look much different than it did when I wore it in a ponytail (to hide the aforementioned scraggliness/frizziness), I don't spend a bunch of time (seriously, long hair when you don't have amazing hair requires hours each week) messing around with something that never turns out as well as I'd hoped. It looks mostly normal even after a short bike commute. And without a frame lackluster hair, you can really see my face. I like my face.
I get the occasional have-you-ever-considered-growing-your-hair-long questions, and I usually respond with some combination of the reasons listed in the above paragraph. I always say, honestly, I believe I look a lot better with short hair than long. I think Michelle Williams does, too, and I'm glad to have her as an unofficial celebrity short hair ambassdor.
That's not to say that everyone does. And if I had Anne Hathaway's hair, I don't know that I would choose to chop it off, even for a movie. But I'm interested to see what she does with it, how she styles it on the red carpet, what she says about her experience as a pixie haired girl, and how the long hair loving celebrity gossip sites respond. I'm watching you, Anne.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Wine + fashion at Brix
I hadn't really considered before last night whether whatever wine I happened to be drinking matched what I was wearing. Then last night, my friend (and now co-worker, too!) Sarah Baker-Hansen and I went to a wine and fashion show at Brix at Village Pointe.
The shindig was Brix president and general manager Dan Matuszek's brainchild, and it was super clever. He divided the wines and the clothes into categories -- bright and bubbly, crisp and clean, bold classics, etc.
He got a bunch of retailers from Village Pointe on board to provide the fashions, constructed a 40-foot runway in the middle of the retail side of Brix, and then sent a pretty Brix employee down the runway holding a couple bottles of wine that fit the theme.
Up next came the models, wearing summer apparel from Banana Republic, White House/Black Market, Chicos and other Village Pointe shops, which fit the same theme.
For example, the "the crisp and clean" wines included a pinot grigio, and the among the coordinating outfits was a structured blue button-down, red jeans, and a simple clutch. "Light and flirty" combos included rosé and a short full skirt, summery top and sandals. (I think the outfit above fell into the sweet and sassy category.) All together, dozens of outfits were featured.
Meanwhile, guests milled about, sampling the wines featured in the show, as well as fruit, cheese and chocolate. After the show, the models mingled, too, giving guests a close-up look at their outfits (Sarah was intrigued by a pair of white shorts; I coveted a gray and neon yellow silk top).
The shindig was Brix president and general manager Dan Matuszek's brainchild, and it was super clever. He divided the wines and the clothes into categories -- bright and bubbly, crisp and clean, bold classics, etc.
He got a bunch of retailers from Village Pointe on board to provide the fashions, constructed a 40-foot runway in the middle of the retail side of Brix, and then sent a pretty Brix employee down the runway holding a couple bottles of wine that fit the theme.
Up next came the models, wearing summer apparel from Banana Republic, White House/Black Market, Chicos and other Village Pointe shops, which fit the same theme.
For example, the "the crisp and clean" wines included a pinot grigio, and the among the coordinating outfits was a structured blue button-down, red jeans, and a simple clutch. "Light and flirty" combos included rosé and a short full skirt, summery top and sandals. (I think the outfit above fell into the sweet and sassy category.) All together, dozens of outfits were featured.
Meanwhile, guests milled about, sampling the wines featured in the show, as well as fruit, cheese and chocolate. After the show, the models mingled, too, giving guests a close-up look at their outfits (Sarah was intrigued by a pair of white shorts; I coveted a gray and neon yellow silk top).
Sadly, I didn't write down the name of the delicious white wine I tried afterwards, but on a beautiful spring night, it felt right to drink something light and a little bit sweet, and I can see how it would pair perfectly with new white shorts and a simple silk top.
(P.S. Thank you Sarah Baker-Hansen for taking the photos!)
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)