Let’s go thrift shopping in the Triangle

I’ve been honing my thrift shopping skills since fourth grade, when I used to pick through the boxes of a corner store thrift shop in Chicago looking for something trendy that I could afford with money I earned from doing household chores and from our regular summer lemonade stands.

In high school, we had about 50 minutes to leave campus and scarf down lunch somewhere (because eating in the cafeteria at a school that opens its campus at lunch was so uncool). During my freshman year, when I had yet to make friends with anyone who could drive, my friends and I would occasionally walk to the Rescue Mission and Bargain Box to shop instead of eat.

So I was a little disappointed in myself when my best friend asked me where the good thrift shops were around here. I told her about my personal favorite, Thrift World in Durham (pictured above). In Raleigh, I’ve been to the Goodwill on Hargett Street and Cause for Paws on South Saunders Street.

As for vintage shops, I’ve been to Time after Time on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill. Dolly’s Vintage in Durham’s Brightleaf Square. And Vintage Nation (anyone know if this place still open, BTW? It has looked closed the past couple times I’ve passed by) and Father & Son Antiques. I would recommend all of these places in a heartbeat as they are reasonably priced and have eclectic selections.

(I snagged this 101 Dalmations dress at Vintage Nation for $20 earlier this summer).

There’s also Everything But Grannies Panties in Durham, which I haven’t been to in years. It’s not the best place to snag clothes, but if you’re looking for some awesome kitsch and aren’t clausterphobic, then go get lost inside (although maybe it’s not open anymore either).

So please help me beef up my Triangle thrift shopping skills. Tell me all the thrift shops I must visit and why (do they have crazy kitsch, cheap retro clothes, more modern, trendy stuff?). And let me know which ones aren’t worth my time.

Fashion Blogging: Ruffled skirt spruces up outfit

Meet Masa Tanaka. I spotted her last week sitting with some friends at Cafe Helios in Raleigh’s Glenwood South district (which has become the unofficial local Tweeple hangout) sporting this well-layered outfit.

The N.C. State University student graduated last weekend and scored a sweet gift to her mom: A medium-length grey skirt trimmed with several layers of white ruffles. You’re probably thinking: Wait, that adorable chick is sporting a royal blue dress, not a skirt … Well, you’re half right.

Masa understands the fine art of layering. Under that cotton slip dress she scored from Urban Outfitters is the skirt her mom bought her. By wearing the skirt under the dress, she’s managed to add texture to an otherwise simple dress. And she didn’t stop there. She also paired the dress with skinny jeans and a long-sleeved, white cotton shirt, which helps add emphasis to the snowy layers in her skirt.

The red flats were the perfect finishing touch, providing a splash of color. “I just like colorful stuff,” Masa said, when I asked her why she went for the red shoes. “I try to be as colorful as possible.”

A final fun detail: Masa’s mom lives in Japan and came to Raleigh for her graduation last weekend. She brought the skirt from Japan, telling her daughter the ruffled skirts are all the rage over there. Masa just so happened to be wearing the skirt for the first time the day I spotted her.

This fashion show gives new meaning to “bag lady”

Need something to do with all those plastic grocery bags hanging out at your house now that you’ve ditched them in favor of reusable shopping bags? How about turning them into dresses? That’s what students at Meredith College and N.C. State University did Tuesday as part of an Earth Day fashion show.

The “Bag-out In Style” fashion show was thrown by the Whole Foods Market in Raleigh to celebrate it’s new no-plastic grocery bag policy, which went into effect yesterday.

The winner was Kristina Illiev, who weaved together white plastic bags to make the top of the dress and then made big, frilly flowers for the skirt.

So have you given up plastic bags yet? I sorta have. I bought several sturdy bags that I take grocery shopping with me. But I need to get in the habit of bringing them with me to all the stores I shop at.

Fashion Blogging: Don’t pinch me for not wearing green

Meet Brittany Bryan, she’s a Cary resident who has some guts. I spotted Brittany wearing this casual outfit Saturday afternoon at the St. Patrick’s Day celebration in downtown Raleigh’s Moore Square.

So what makes her so brave? Well, look closely, she’s not sporting a lick of green. I didn’t pinch her, but I had to ask how it was she came to such an event without even a dash of the color: “We went and watched the ACC games first,” she responded, “so I’m not wearing green.”

Lucky for her, it’s hard to chide her for the offense because the outfit she put together instead is so stylish. She scored her T-shirt from Urban Outfitters, one of my favorite stores. It says: “Anything war can do, peace can do better.” She turned a business blazer casual by sporting it with jeans and a T-shirt. She thinks she got the waist-length jacket from Ann Taylor. She scored her black beaded necklace from Express.

And finally, she finished off the whole outfit with these red patent leather flats, which were the first thing I spotted on her as she walked across Moore Square.

I did want to be sure to include something green in my St. Patrick’s Day edition of fashion blogging, so I’m showing you these awesome suede moccasin loafers.

 I spotted these on a woman who attended Saturday’s Shred-it event in Raleigh’s Bedford neighborhood. Unfortunately, I have misplaced the piece of paper that has her name on it. All I remember is that she bought these Bolo shoes about a year ago after seeing them in a catalog. This particular pair was all sold out, however, so she snagged these from onlineshoes.com. I gave the woman my card, so if you’re reading this please post your name in the comments section of my blog so I can give you props!

Is this Mickey Mouse?

Or just someone with unusual hair?

I spotted this woman Sunday afternoon at Cup A Joe on Hillsborough Street in Raleigh. It rocks that she boldly wears this hairstyle, but I couldn’t help think of Disney’s favorite mouse when I saw her.

Fashion Blogging: A trip to India

This week I thought I would display some fashions from India. Here are some pics I snapped Saturday during India Fest 2008 at the J.S. Dorton Arena at the N.C. State Fairgrounds.

The event was sponsored by the Nuv Yug Cultural Organization and featured a fashion show exhibiting attire for brides and grooms for different areas of India.

Fashion Blogging: When food becomes clothing

It’s fun having an article of clothing that turns heads or sparks conversation. For Raleigh resident Mike Bank, that means donning this M&M hoodie. He almost always receives comments about the unusual jacket, which he bought at Funky Rags off Capital Boulevard in Raleigh.

When I saw him sporting it Thursday at Churchill’s in Raleigh’s Five Points neighborhood, I had to ask him about it. Mike seemed a little shy, but he did say he liked it because “it just stood out.”

The deal was sealed when he saw that the hood zipped all the way up to turn him into a red M&M.

Update: Ginny picks the glasses that no one seems to like

Wow, so I asked you all to guess which glasses I picked and only one person guessed right.

I picked these (which were letter ‘G’ on the previous post).

Are these really that bad? It’s hard to tell from the picture, but they match my hair color perfectly.

Ginny gets glasses

I’ve needed glasses for a while. I can’t read the signs hanging in grocery stores telling me what aisle the rice is in. I can’t read street signs from far away, making finding new places difficult. And it’s tough to spot hot guys across a crowded bar when I have to squint. So today I got glasses.

Can you guess which ones I picked?

A. B.
C. D.

E. F.

G. H.

For the record, I wasn’t seriously considering some of these. The ones I picked should arrive in two weeks.

Fashion Blogging: If you don’t know what chartreuse is, you’re missing out

While driving through the parking deck at Crabtree Valley Mall yesterday, I spotted 17-year-old Katelin Gragg walking into the mall. You couldn’t miss her in the dark garage because she was glowing in her chartreuse slip. But alas, I couldn’t just get out of the car to photograph her for my fashion blog, so her cute outfit slipped out of my life.

Lucky for me, I spotted her inside and she agreed to be photographed wearing this vibrant chartreuse-colored, chiffon slip over a black turtle neck sweater: “I just had to add color,” the Hickory, N.C. resident said of the slip, which she scored from Urban Outfitters.

Turns out a lot of the men in my life aren’t familiar with chartreuse. I thought the green-yellow color was well-known, but apparently not. A few weeks ago, I took my surrogate father to every shoe store in The Streets at Southpoint in search of a pair of chartreuse-colored flats. He had no idea what we were looking for until I likened it to lime green. (We found a perfect pair of Steve Maddens, BTW, but they didn’t have them in my size and I can’t find them on his Website).

Then yesterday, while at the mall with one of my guy friends, he admitted he had never heard of the color. He even asked me to spell the word, which I think threw him off even more. I made a $1 bet that the sales clerk in J. Crew would know of the color, but he didn’t. Out of four clerks in the store, two knew what I was talking about. I’m not clear on whether I won or lost that bet, but he hasn’t asked for his dollar yet.

Apparently there are a few variations of chartreuse, according to the always trusty Wikipedia, read about it here, if you’re so inclined. Or just take my word for it, chartreuse is hot and you should try adding some of it to your wardrobe this spring.

So you tell me, have you ever heard of this color?