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I'm a voracious thrifter, music aficionado, heathen, and owner of a 1984 Westfalia Vanagon. I'm a writer and a designer, but mostly just a secret cat lady. Vanagon Champion is about all of these things with a little bit of thrifty goodness and old-fashioned magic for good measure. Learn more about me here.
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Category Archives: closet catalog (what I wore)
$5 Thrifty Thursday: The Charlie Brown Crop Top
Alright. I finally changed the header to $5 Thrifty Thursdays. With prices going up I think we'll have more fun if it's $5 and under, you know?
This week I had some good thrifting karma come my way. I suspect that some stylish and incredibly awesome grandma recently passed away. Said grandma just so happened to be exactly my size in the 70s. Said grandma also donated all of her mint condition 70s clothing to Thrift Town before she left us, leaving me with the thrift haul of the century.
I promise I'm not being morbid! I went to Thrift Town yesterday to find an ENTIRE RACK of 70s clothing ALL the same size and in the same wonderful condition. That never happens. Ever.
Anyway, needless to say, I picked up a few treasures that day, including this crop top for $3.99. I call it the Charlie Brown crop top because I find it bears a wee bit of a resemblance to Charlie's signature shirt.
Paired with my high-waisted pants and Blowfish Garrens, this outfit pretty much sums up my summer aesthetic. 70s all day every day. Yes ma'am. You betcha.
Such a good thrifting find. It's perfectly comfortable, lightweight, and lovely for summer.
On a side note, I THINK I decided to go with these Warby Parkers. Thank you so so very much to all of you who voted and gave me feedback! You are all champions in my book!
Lastly, you will not believe what miss Ami of Little Miss Lovely found recently on her thrifting excursions. This purse right here MIGHT just be the most fantastic purse I've ever laid eyes on.
See what I mean? It's black damask velvet with an insanely gorgeous gold seashell clasp and it was only $5! Eep! The reason why I thrift 3 times a week right there, ladies and gentleman. See her blog post about it here. Also, I've said it before and I'll say it again--if you're not following Ami then you MUST! Her abandoned houses + vintage outfit photos are to die for.
Happy thrifting to you! And as always, if you have a thrifty find that was $5 or under, send it my way and I'll feature it here next week!
A $4 Thrifty Thursday: My addiction to vintage dresses
Welcome to yet another $2 Thrifty Thursday. Except today is a $4 Thrifty Thursday seeing as I couldn't find anything excellent under $2 this week. So really, I just need to change this to $5 Thrift Thursday because everything I find is at least $5 or under. But I digress.
This week's find is a fantastically semi-grandma but not so semi-grandma vintage dress. I couldn't really tell what decade it was from, but any time I find a thrifted piece that I don't have to alter I snatch it right up and praise the heavens that I can wash it and wear it.
Because this piece was pretty grandma-stylee, I paired it up with my Garrens to sass things up a bit. The colors of this dress are splendid indeed.
But...I must confess. While I was looking in my closet trying to figure out how to style it, I couldn't help but notice the complete explosion of vintage dresses in my closet. I can't help it, ok? It's a raging addiction that really ought to be checked.
I love the details of this dress. The little clear buttons are my favorite. And doesn't that hibiscus (is that a hibiscus?) scream resort grandma in the 80s? I'll be a resort grandma any time. Especially if this guy will come serenade me by the pool while I read my Reader's Digest.
Lastly, I find that I must apologize yet again for the endless use of this background for outfit posts. But here's the thing. I live downtown--people milling around everywhere, dog walkers in abundance, etc. And now that the pool is open, anywhere near my condo is swarming with people. Am I shy? Yes. Do I look like an idiot doing outfit posts? Absolutely. What are your secrets for not feeling a dummy in public? Is there really any getting over it? Help a shy, hermit cat lady out.
Of course, I wasn't the only one with thrifty glory this week. Chrissy from Tiny Little Happies found this stunning carafe for $2.99. It is beautiful--just look at those retro stars. 50s glory, yes please!
Check out her post about it here and send her some blog lovin. She's a gem!
Did you find anything for $5 or under thrifting this week? Or any week? I want to see it and feature it here! Send it on over and we'll bask in your thrifting glory.
Happy thrifting!
$2 Thrifty Thursday: the return of project restyle!
Boy oh boy I sure do love restyling thrifty finds. Remember good old Project Restyle? It's been awhile since I did one, but once I found this $1 dress at the Desert Industries in Portland I couldn't resist. ONE DOLLAR! ONE! A singular dollar!
The only thing was, this $1 wunderkind was in straight up muumuu land.
But the pattern was too adorable to pass up, and I knew that with a little vision and some good lovin' this muumuu could be something pretty great for summer. A take in here and a snip and hem there and bam. I had myself a new $1 sun dress!
The material is incredibly light and comfortable, so I wanted to keep the styling casual. A cardi for the freezing office and my corduroy mustard Toms were just the ticket for a warm and casual day at the office. Or a completely failed jump shot.
Not bad for $1, right? I swear there is nothing better than a good restyle. And it only took me 20 minutes! My sewing prowess is slowly but surely improving.
To see my other restyles from Project Restyle, click here!
Someone else had some awesome luck thrifting and restyling--Karen from the lovely Zazazu found this killer light fixture for a mere $2.98! Yes! She added a nice coat of red paint and put that baby in her kitchen.
Restyling is where it's at. Karen also has a gorgeous Etsy shop with some incredible vintage lovelies, so head on over and check it out!
What did you find thrifting this week? If you found an incredible thrifted find for $5 or less, send it here and I'll feature it next week!
