Olive Oil boho skirt

When I was in grade 9 I had an outfit I loved: a long thin straight plaid skirt; a white blouse with a yoked neck and a brooch at the neck; and oversize navy cardi; and black granny boots.

My Mom called it my Olive Oil look, in honour of Popeye's stick-thin straight-skirt toting chick. She still talks about that outfit.

That was 20 years ago but I've updated the look to make it more boho. While searching for the cocktail dress I never found, I dug up this fab long black wool skirt - with buttons down the front and pink detailing - after trying on practically every dress at I Miss You Vintage in Toronto. It was under $30.

I paired it here with my Anthropologie scarf; a wool JCrew thrifted blazer (under $10); a cashmere sweater bought for $40 at an end-of-the-line sale, and my new shoe booties.
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Olive Oil, I have definitely missed you

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New room

Here are some pretty decorative details from my bedroom makeover - which morphed out of a fall closet cleanup over the weekend.

My uber pricey lampshade from Anthropologie looks even more boho girly with some of my thrift store pearls and retro crystal-like baubles laced across the top.

The lamp base, by the way, was picked up at Value Village my first year in Toronto. Call me lazy but the pricetag - $5.99 - is still on it! It's one of my fave lamps.


Showing my bedroom may be a wee bit personal - the Victorian in me is cringing - but he the decor mags do it don't they?

I ended up moving a different pic over the bed as my makeshift headboard didn't provide a lot of contrast.

You may be able to tell that I'm in pared down mode. It feels good to declutter and get rid of stuff that's piled up and clogged my life.

I think, especially with the juvenile folk-like painting, that the look is sort of peasant-y.

The blanket at the bottom of the bed I bought at an end of the line retail store - it was $20 and I've seen the exact same one for $60+ in other stores. Dag is now kneading it to death.

On the wall: a vintage wool Holt Renfrew blazer I've had since high school.

The brass bed: bought with small portion of my scholarship money while doing graduate work in Ottawa - for a mere $125.

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Garage sale booty

Doesn't grunge-queen look happy? That's 'cos she and her garage sale pals went trolling at the first garage sale of the season in the area that looked worthwhile - an apartment garage sale just up the way ....

Three hours later after visiting each and every table/groundsheet, I emerged with some great deals - all for the price of the scarf I'm wearing here bought at the new Anthropologie store the other day!

I bought so much stuff I can't possibly share it all with you today, so here are my costume jewellery finds and some tips for what to look for while garage-saleing for baubles ....


Sarah Coventry pin for 50 cents!

Sarah Coventry costume jewellery has been around since 1950 or so and is quite collectible.

This pin has "Sarah Cov" and a copyright symbol on the back, indicating it's from the 1960s. Pieces from different eras will have different versions of the Sarah Coventry name on them, "Coventry" being the oldest.

Not sure how much this is worth but if you see anything with a name on the back - even Avon as celebs like Liz Taylor would put their names to designs - I'd nab it.

This is a circa 1960s retro tiered necklace that's so interesting my eyes were drawn to it immediately. No marks or signatures but I can tell it's retro/older by the string and the clasp.

The black plastic (?) circles are worn slightly but I love that, and the little brass (?) beads inside jangle when I walk ... wore it to dinner last night and felt quite boho-chic.

Look for old clasps, string connecting the beads and interesting designs such as this.

These rings aren't old but they were too yummy to leave behind - the gold and red one and purple stones were used, only $3 for the two. The others were new, leftovers from a gal's Ebay selling venture and only $5 each for sterling silver and semi-precious stones.

You can tell a ring is silver by looking inside the band - most will have "92.5" or "925" stamped on the inside, meaning it's 92.5 % silver. If it's Mexican silver it'll have "Mexico" stamped on it, which means it has slightly less silver than 925.

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Anthropologie find & get the look

Yesterday I visited Canada's first Anthropologie shop in the new Shops at Don Mills in Toronto.

Needless to say the store's boho beachy chic look is lovely, and very much meshes with my aesthetic.

I couldn't resist this orange (yes, it's now a trend colour in my living space) transparent lamp shade.

Price?

Let's just say this grunge-queen could have bought a whole bunch of second-hand lamp shades ... but none such as this I must admit.

But some of the Anthropologie wares are a bit dear for what they are ... for example over $3000 for an "antique" chair covered in patchwork?


You can get the Anthropologie look the grunge-queen way. Sure I bought my $88 lamp, but you also know, dear reader, that most of my apartment is from the thrift store or the trash.






Can't afford the lamp shade with cut out felt birdies on it?

I found this crafty chic lampshade on a pottery lamp base at a garage sale for $5.















Handcrafted dishes too dear?

This handcrafted and painted wood bowl by Baribocraft (1960s? Quebec company) was a $1.99 at my local thrift shop, Stretch Thrift.



It's not a patchwork pillow such as the kind Anthropologie sells, but it does have that bohemian look doesn't it?

$1.99 at Value Village.






Antique patchwork chair beyond your budget?

This chair was from the trash. The boho Baroque pillow was $5 and the silk fabric that's folded over the seat was maybe $40.

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