Tuesday, October 25, 2011

My Day at the Vintage Market: Fab Finds!

































I am obsessed with a treasure hunt. There is nothing wrong with a merchandised store, but it is finding a diamond in the ruff that really gets me going. Lucky for me, New York City is FULL of vintage markets. Once a year, there is a massive affair at the Metropolitan Pavillion in Chelsea, and it is A-mazing.

I headed over with my girlfriends Allison and Jackie to find something fabulous. There was a $20 entrance fee (I got a discounted pass) which is totally nuts. I actually paid to go shop, you know the sale must be good.

Styled by yours truly, Allison looked amazing in her rabbit vest. It was the maiden voyage for this great piece. Very in this season. I threw on my new Sandro hat and leather jacket, both purchased at a consignment store. Notice the black cat suit underneath. This was quite strategic. I planned on trying on a lot of stuff with no dressing room and instead of being naked in the middle of the pavilion, I put everything on OVER this look. How genius!
How nuts is this? I look like an over-sized blue sheep. This is great for a "fat" day because no body can see a damn thing. Prada designed this for 2011 and they must have been on some sort of hallucinogen when they did it. Thank you for drugs because this is awesome. It called to me from the other side of the pavilion. There was no way you could miss this from a million miles away.....

And then there were gold chains. Lots of them. The truth is that although I loved all of them, they were WAY overpriced. Since I have been doing this for so long, I am pretty aware of what things are worth. Even though I may love something, I always question the price tag. I am not made of money here! And even if I was, I would still ask, "Is this worth the price?". These chains are something that you can find any suburban Salvation Army for $5 to $10. They were selling them for between $80 and $125! I couldn't do it. Talk about a mark up.

After hours of picking through tons of vintage wares, I only walked away with two pieces. Needless to say, I was not pleased. I went there to spend my hard earned cash! If I am going to pay a cover charge to shop, I am going to shop damn it. I do LOVE my gold belt with tassel. It is adjustable so I can wear it around my waist or on my hips. At $55, I will say I think it was a bit overpriced, but I loved it. I also think my mind was a bit frazzled because everything seemed to be so expensive so 55 bucks seemed cheap. Even stylists who question price tags get confused:) I also got this leopard scarf which was definitely vintage because it smelled old. I am half kidding. I think it will look fabulous with a large, crystal vintage broach. Now I just need to buy one. It is a great indoor/outdoor accessory.

It may have been a less successful shopping trip then I had hoped, but all in all, it was definitely worth the time. I love treasure hunting!!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

A Stylist Cleans Out Her Closet

Holy what? It looks like a bomb went off in my closet. Very scary. When you spend all of your time in other people's closets, sometimes your own gets completely out of control. It is not a good sales pitch for new clients, so I decided it was time to fix the crazy.

Honestly, one of the biggest reasons to clean out your closet is because half the time you forget what you own. This is not my problem. I have a huge brain in reference to memorizing not only my own wardrobe, but my client's as well. I also got super lucky and found an apartment with a walk in closet, not normal in NYC. This unfortunately means that I can continue to fill it up and fill it up and fill it up..... That is not always a good thing for anyone.




































I made a strong decision to eliminate all of my "cheaper" clothing. I am 32 and work with people that have amazing clothes, I must fit the profile. It was time to brand my own style as sassier, classier and super designer fabulous. Out with (some) of the old, in with the new!

Cleaning out your closet is all about re-trying on your wardrobe to make sure you still love it. Obviously there are pieces that need to go at first glance, but then there is the "maybe" pile. Sometimes this requires a second eye (that is why I have a job), but what does a stylist do who is suppose to be an expert? Well, I bring over my friend who is also very fashionable because everybody needs a second opinion!

This fur vest is no old piece. In fact, it still has a tag on it. I have been searching high and low for the perfect fur vest with the perfect price tag and 2 long years later, I found it. $180 by Adrienne Landau at Century 21. I am in love.

After four and a half long hours, my closet was finally done. Three garbage bags and three shopping bags later, my soul was cleansed. My lucky friend Jackie walked away with the three shopping bags full of clothes, shoes and jewelry. I felt it was my good deed for the month. One man's trash (or in this case, cute stuff), is another lovely ladies treasure. Lucky girl. The rest was sent to Salvation Army. Anything that was good enough for consignment was given to Jackie. I figured making a few bucks from my old pieces wasn't as good as seeing my friend wearing it:)

Clean and in order, my closet not only looks amazing, I feel amazing. I am actually back to wearing everything I own and now I know exactly what I need to "fill in the holes" of my wardrobe. Now I have a small shopping list (at least in my world) and I am focused..... Until I find something amazing that I have to have. Oops:)