Searching for The Bottoms

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>> This will be a random tidbit nestled in amongst sun-drenched posts from Istanbul which I may be a little slow in getting up given that photo sorting out on my laptop that is threatening to break (shit fabric plasters are holding it together…) is a pointless task.  However I just wanted to use it as a selfish excuse to belatedly and officially (because if I type it on the blog, it is of course FAR more official than an in-person thank you…) thank Angie Johnson aka the friend I should have met LONG LONG time ago, for taking me around Montreal thrifting at a) St Eustache flea market (pics below)

just outside of the city and b) Value Village which might make some people roll their eyes like "Well…DUH…we all shop there…" but for me, of the UK where there isn't reallly an equivalent, it was a bit of a revelation.  I also just wanted to put a BIG FAT LINK in here to Angie's Flickr album of her wedding photos.  She married Tyson back in July and the whole affair was just a DIY, thrift, creative endeavour from the fabric bunting to her $5 wedding dress which of course makes me feel small and stupid for not thinking of all the little things that she incorporated into her special day.  There are 1,386 photos…YES, 1386…

So big fat link is here… in bold no less… Angie and Tyson's Lovely Lush Wedding…

I'm not even gonna post any here just because I can't even begin to select from 1,386 so I'll just leave you to click click click…

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The consequences of the flea market visit and the Value Village hunt unfortunately didn't score me a stuffed beaver coming home with me or a nice bit of furniture (honestly, the most painful thing about flea marketing abroad is the inability to buy homey things…).  Nay… instead I ALMOST hit my tenner outfit target with these outfits.  $10 for a total outfit is a bit optimistic so I was going for ¬£10 instead – at least the exchange isn't $2=¬£1 so the disparity isn't as great.  I therefore got a plaid jacket for $2.99, a shirt for $5, a knitted top for $2 and a pair of boots for $3… making $12.99 all together.  Except there were no bottoms in that mix and therefore not a complete outfit.  Booooooo…

Still, Value Village definitely had all the options available to do that outfit challenge QUITE easily, in contrast to charity shopping in London where outfit for a tenner is wishful thinking (shirt for a tenner perhaps?).  It needs some meticulous rail combing and I'm convinced I'm now going to have to make trips up to that particular branch if I'm ever there again or even if I'm just in that general geographic scope.  If only just to nab some form of bottoms just to prove my tenner-outfit point…

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(Worn with erm…some bottoms that don't fit in my tenner-outfit mould…some Heikki Salonen trousers…)

29 comments

  1. Inspiring photostream and your outfit is just fab again. I like how you combine the different silhouettes and the glencheck patterns all together.

  6. Some of my favourite clothes I own are Value Village finds! Most days I leave empty handed and worn out from looking through sooo many racks and finding nothing, but every once in awhile I find some amazing cardigans or shoes that make it all worth it. Maybe next time I go I will attempt your outfit challenge…

  8. I love everything about this. I was eyeing up that shirt from the previous post. Need to go montreal thrifting ASAP. Now to con someone into buying me a plane ticket …

  9. I’m also so, so glad we finally got to meet in a world other than the digital one…real life is so underrated sometimes!
    RE the wedding pics: It is ASTOUNDING and RIDICULOUS how many photos are taken at a wedding, but also pretty amazing…our photographers were great to work with so they made it easy…but still, it’s crazyness! And I even edited some out before posting…ack!

  12. Inspiring mix of checks, and the pants and boots are perfect! No need to apologise for the non-tenner-outfit!

  18. I reckon you’d be able to do the ¬£10 outfit in London as well but you’d probably have to hit a fair few charity shops, still not impossible though!
    This is a very interesting concept; I may have to give it a stab myself.
    I frequently manage to get bagfuls of attire from car boot sales in London for a song; so bargains are still out there to be had for rummage ready peeps.
    …xXx

  19. Calamityjem: I reckon I could do it if I omitted shoes…it’s always shoes where prices get hiked up…. I definitely wouldn’t be able to find these boots for the equivalent of ¬£1.50 in London…. I’ll have another London go though and maybe try with charity shops outside of London!

  23. This particular exhibition ‘Istanbul Contrast’ got its first opening in Paris last year and has now been expanded upon for a homecoming fit and apt in a year where Istanbul has been spotlighted as Europe’s city of culture in 2010.

  28. I reckon you’d be able to do the ¬£10 outfit in London as well but you’d probably have to hit a fair few charity shops, still not impossible though!

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