Monday, January 31, 2011

Preparing for the future!

Today is HUGE!!! I will be signing the documents needed to seal My Chic Thrift's partnership with UCP thrift Stores! This relationship is vital to MCT!!! Can't wait to report on the progress of the this collaboration and all the cool things I will be doing with thrift store products! Stay tuned to see what a "thrift store champion "is all about!

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Thrift Store Champion

Meet the Thrift Store Champion
Fashionistas Rave:  Hobo Chic!!!
I’ve been a fashion stylist for over 20 years! My pleasure comes from helping a typical “fashion-confused” damsel find the right thing to wear at a price she can afford!  After styling hundreds of fashion/ model test shoots – I’ve come to one conclusion: Just because you might be pretty, tall, skinny and rich doesn’t necessarily mean you automatically inherit the “fashion gene” or the “style gene.”  It just means more clothes will fit you! The true work of the fashion stylist is to take any body shape and each person’s own fashion sense and meld “tried and true fashion” so that women feel beautiful as they represent themselves through their clothing choice – or my choice for them!

I grew up eating and drinking in the flavors and taste of Vogue and Mademoiselle. I grew up not being able to leave my house unless I had some Bonnie Bell Lip smacker in my pocket and my hair perfectly feathered. I swore allegiance to Sergio Valente and wanted to name my daughter Liz after the great Claiborne.  I normally wore one of kind handmade long dresses made by my aunt Eva.  It was the 70’s so anything was possible!! She could sew like no one’s business and had a great imagination for pattern free sewing.  My sisters and I looked a million bucks!!  On the contrary, we didn’t have money for fancy department store clothes but you wouldn’t have known it!  It was the start to understanding that being thrifty or shopping thrift didn’t mean a lack of fashion!  My aunt Leoni was a fashion forward maverick, who would travel to Europe to purchase the inventory for her women’s fashion boutique in the 70’s!  If I was lucky – my mom would leave me with her.  I would then get to listen to her (stories) telling me where and when she found this “elegant, ready to wear” sweater and watch her as she finessed a sale to a woman who probably couldn’t afford it but NOW needed to have it! 

My mother always dressed elegantly, even when she was in the kitchen.  Her aprons reflected her style and grace, and of course she always wore the right earrings to match!  You see –money and style don’t always go hand in hand.  Money helps, but without style and elegance –you have nothing.(a mess!)
Do you need lots of money to spend a fortune to develop a style?  No – of course not!  If your developed style seems to demand pricey clothing wouldn’t you like to find the right stuff at a great price, without spending too much money?  You can shop your true style by THRIFTING!
Ahhh –Thrifting!  Just saying it gives me joy!  You know the perfect thing you always wanted is out there waiting to be bought at a price that does it no justice. The perfect leather jacket, the fedora that once was worn by a real cool cat, could be yours – if you go to the right thrift store on the right day!  A true thrift store champion wakes up knowing that there is someone else out there who has your same taste, and if they love you –they will give it away so that you can buy it at two thirds the cost of what they paid for it!!  A true thriftier knows this treasure hunt is going to take time so you better drink a “red bull“ or “coffee it up” because this kind of shopping is not for the weak or uninspired!
The worst that could happen is, you go shopping and don’t spend all your money but what you did spend money on was the best bargain ever!  It can be so much fun to find the perfect “little black dress” that you know no one at the party will have because your dress is from the 1960’s.  It has lasted so long because it was so well made!  It’s a classic cut that every current hot designer would love to copy this year but you’re wearing the original before it’s released!
I call this fashion style “HOBO CHIC”! You’re only a “HOBO” in the sense that you are wearing a great find that you barely pay for and “CHIC” because you’re ahead of your time by re-winding or RE-FINDING a style!  You knew where to get and how to wear your updated classic.  Be the only one standing out! It cost you nothing but the treasure hunt was priceless!!
Any “Hobo chic” champions want to join in on this treasure hunt?