okay, this is crazy old news, but…

about six gazillion years ago (ok, really, like three years ago, back in ‘07), when i was living out in san francisco, i did an interview for a documentary on thrift town, a bay-area thrift store chain.

anyway, i was waxing nostalgic about thrift town today with pete (oh how i miss that place!!! AHHHH!!!), and decided to google around to see if anything ever came of the doc. and voila! i turned up the documentary in toto, on the ever amazing youtube! yay! it’s embedded above.

the documentary is called thrift town: get used. it’s only about 10 minutes long (so, really, a short). i make a small appearance at the beginning of the film, and then at about 6:27 i get a longer bit…where they show me shopping around the store (checkin’ out the clothes, shoes, and patterns, haha!) and i get a few seconds of face time just after that where i dork out and say some nice stuff about thrift town and thrifting in general.

[btw: the acid wash jumper dress and pink earrings i'm wearing in the documentary are thrift town finds. you can get a better look at the acid wash jumper here if ye are so inclined...]

when i can find the time (i have so little of it these days, what gives? *sigh*) maybe i will share some peeks into my books with you. cool?

perhaps they will inspire you somehow, even if it’s for something as simple as a clever color combination in the clothes you deign to wear or perhaps a personal touch you can maybe add to something you’re making (clothes or otherwise)? or maybe they can just fun to look at!? i think so!

most of the books in my library are craft, art, or fashion related. i am a book lover, a book addict. i especially love old books, and seek them out wherever i can: thrift stores, antique fairs, amazon, ebay, you name it. i love the old, sometimes forgotten tomes and styles of the past; old books are a lovely window into past styles, fads, and norms. so, so fascinating, no?

here’s a book i found at a thrift store this past week for one dollar: golden hands bargello.

looks like it’s from the 70s. for those who don’t know, bargello is a style of needlepoint embroidery, usually employing wool yarn, which is stitched to a canvas backing. you often see it adorning old pillows, ottomans, and the like, but it can and has been used to adorn clothing and accessories. decorator/ceramacist jonathan adler has famously used bargello on some of his pillow designs.

i love bargello for a bunch of reasons: it’s graphic, it’s textural, and there’s a lot of potential for colorplay. i love bargello best when it’s especially colorful…the more riotous the colors, the more i like it, as is my way! i have a small collection of bargello pillows, i would like to add to it over time, if time and money will allow!

anyway, here you go:

love this shot and all the pillows, immediately made me think of the interiors work of wary meyers (whom i LOVE):

love the bottom pattern here:

patchwork! yes!:

more patchwork, yes x2!:

this one is especially timely for me…i found a tiny little ottoman at a thrift this week that i want to restore/restyle/referb, and seeing this page (and the whole book, really!) totally makes me want to stitch up a little bargello topper for it!

fun, eh?

these clip-ons reminded me of little doilies:

handmade acrylic pins, part of a larger cache of oversized 80s acrylic jewelry i scored all at once (including MASSIVE earrings, not shown here):

ikat is one of my textile loves. and i have a thing for clutches, oh yes:

always a sucker for polka dots and le orange (natch):

almost fluorescent vintage slip. probably the greatest vintage slip i’ve unearthed as yet:

a lovely silk dress, originally from banana republic. giant orange flowers, oh yes! doesn’t fit my currently burgeoning pregnant bod, but will *hopefully* fit afterwards. i’m crossing my fingers and toes!:

you can find a few choice shots from our travels in my hawaii 2008 flickr set (should you be interested in that sort of thing. i know other people’s travel pics can be a major yawn!)

i allowed myself one official souvenir from hawaii: this handmade hawaiian quilted tote with a pineapple motif. in orange, NATCH. *grin* i bought it at the hawaiian quilt collection, an adorable little shop in downtown waikiki (on kalakaua avenue). the cute little old ladies who ran the shop told me the pineapple pattern represents “friendship or welcome”. a cheery meaning for my happy new bag.

the shop was filled with lots of supremely lovely bags of various and sundry shapes and sizes, as well as gorgeous pillow covers, kitchen accessories, and full-sized quilts, all in beautiful vivid color pairings. i was in heaven, i wanted to buy absolutely everything i saw!…and i also believe i was also the youngest gal in the shop! guess these sorts of things aren’t appealing to the youth of today! har har. anyway, i do believe that i am now obsessed with hawaiian quilting…it’s something i am raring to try sooner rather than later, giving it my own spin somehow…

i managed to do a little thrifting whilst on vacation, too!

here be the motherload of 80s enamel earrings! thrifted in kailua, oahu, hawaii:

only 50 cents per pair. whatta steal!

glitter dot blouse, thrifted in kailua, oahu, hawaii:

silky vintage floral blouse, made in hawaii! thrifted @ the savers in kahului, maui:

vintage japanese-made mugs:

an adorable local that was standing nearby when i was checking out told peter and i that these japanese made mugs were a give-away gift at a local hawaiian savings bank.

an orla kiely wool sweater!

i saw it from afar…and had a feeling it was something good. i mean, HELLO, it has orange polka dots on gray, people!! you KNOW how i feel about orange and gray (if you’ve been lingering about for a while, anyway!). a peep at the tag confirmed my good luck. YAY!

a sleeveless turtleneck knit shell with a PIXEL print (omg!)…

a simple red-orange wool cardi:

and a mustard-colored drop-waist tunic…

it doesn’t look like much, but i loved the color. and i figured this would fit over my ever growing belly, and would be cute over slim/skinny jeans or leggings or whatever, plus, with a cowl of mine over the neck…one of many layers to keep me warm here in chilly SF.

one of my top thrift finds of all time: an eley kishimoto shift dress with a white and red-orange print. when i stumbled across it, my jaw actually, factually dropped and then i felt like i was high for about a good hour afterwards. thank you, o great thrift gods!

this dress is part of my incentive to get back in shape post-bebe!

a sweet summery sundress:

zipper-detailed alligator textured 80s pumps:

orangey-brown vintage boots:

the perfect replacement for this now dead but dearly loved pair i thrifted in manhattan several years ago. also, a fine and MUCH CHEAPER substitute for this pair of loeffler randall beauties i was coveting. again! thank you muchly, thrift gods! i’m forever reverent to you!

(a big cone of red-orange yarn, for one dollar, 99 cents.)

(some super simple black leather oxfords…uh, natch.)

off to make some zucchini cheddar bread. because i don’t just sew, knit, crochet and write…i also bake.

i’m obsessed with these funny handmade earrings. they’re made of polymer clay, i believe, and are iridescent teal. i found them just after the holidays in san jose, california at a goodwill while visiting a friend/co-worker who lives in that area.

they were the kind of thing i liked enough to buy, but later i found myself wearing all the time…like had turned to deep, deep love. i’m wearing them in this recent wardrobe_remix photo.

some handmade symmography (string art) in a lovely spattering of purples. handmade in the 1970s (according to the hand-scrawled script on the back).

i have a soft spot in my heart for handmade things that get donated to the thrifts. i feel a compulsion to buy them and love them, knowing how much effort went into making them.

the crocheted potholder was from vintage clothing and homewares store, and the orange and green one was from one of the thrifts we stopped at.

a vintage yellow and orange mug that happened to match the salt and pepper shakers, thrifted.

this uten.silo was my christmas gift from the husband! i’ve been wanting one for years, and was really pleased to receive it. for those not in the know, the uten.silo is a design classic that was conceived in 1969 by designer dorothee becker, and is made for making sense of your stuff, whatever that might be. very mid-century mod…the way i like many my things, and perfect for our home with it’s bright lipstick red color. it’s hanging in our hallway, and will be put to used to corral some of our small clutter (keys, wallets, and much, much more). a lasting gift that will remain classic and useful for years.

thank you, baby!