Mucho Shopping and Crazy Ladies

I'm sorry! I've been having a real lazy week and basically trying to relax, so I'm going to make it up to you with a huge post :P. There wasn't much fashion involved, until Friday: it was a double-shopping day! My mom didn't have to work, so in the morning we went to a somewhat nearby mall, the Burlington Mall. When I got back, me and my friend Tina went to a thrift store and combed it extremely thoroughly. It was worth the musty scent (my hands smelled funny afterwards) because I found some amazing stuff. In the upstairs yogurt-smelling (I really don't know why) area where everything is 75% off, I was attracted to a long black tuxedo jacket with fringe (!) on the shoulders. I tried it on and though it was rather big on me being a size 40, I still fell in love. I checked the tag and what brand was it but Sonia Rykiel! Ooh, designer! It was marked as $60 (told you thrift stores in my town are overpriced...) so the sale price was $15. As an added bonus the lady at the counter said it was marked as part of a set so she actually charged $12.50.

Also included in this outfit was an impulse mall purchase at a store I entered to laugh at, with no intention of buying anything. The store was Ruehl No. 925 which is the exact same thing as Abercrombie/Hollister, except it costs even more. For example, Hollister has $40 basic jeans, Abercrombie has $70 basic jeans, and Ruehl has $100 basic jeans. Just what we need. Except some of their ripped washes were quite good... but $100/$110 for glorified Abercrombie? Hellz to the no. Anyway, in the sale section I spotted a pair of white distressed denim shorts, and to my surprise one of the two pairs was about my size and was marked down from $70 (obscene!) to $20. I had to buy, even as my fellow shoppers gave my AA black lamé leggings odd looks (but I get that a lot... and I think it's pretty funny.)



Thrifted Sonia Rykiel jacket. AA tank top. Ruehl shorts. Doc Martens boots.

I also checked out the newly opened Zara. I had been somewhat disappointed by the overpriced merchandise at the Newbury St. location, and according to Eunice this one was supposed to have only the more business-y clothes, but I was pleasantly surprised to find large sales racks. I grabbed several pairs of white skinny jeans. The two pairs were too tight/see-through/trashy, so I tried to third to discover they were actually flares. They were extraordinarily long and but they fit. I didn't like them at first but my mom sure did and offered to buy them as they were only $15. How could I say no? My mom then shocked me by buying a $58 blouse—usually she shops at Marshalls!

The sweater (and it sure made me sweat on a day like today...) was from another new store to that mall called Martin+Osa. I vaguely remembered reading about it on Fashionista but couldn't remember why as it wasn't a particularly fashion-forward store. I eventually remembered it was because it was owned by American Eagle, here's the post. But it was a very nice store—the staff was attentive and even offered water bottles and took our clothes to the (very nice) dressing rooms as we picked them out. The clothing was generic to the max but I did find this Italian merino wool (whatever that means...) sweater for $30 on sale, and my mom found the most amazing, flattering jeans, on which she shocked me again by dropping $80 and then paying for length and waist alteration. Wide-legged jeans look so good on people with bigger hips. (coincidentally, why are all wide-legged jeans so freakin' long? My mom is 5'8" with relatively long legs and they still were obscenely long. I actually have the same problem with these white jeans—even with four-inch heels I could hear their pristine whiteness scraping the filthy ground).

The hat I found in the thrift store for $8, and Tina tied this random ribbon hanging on a rack around it.



Martin+Osa sweater. Zara jeans. Thrifted hat. Shoes from 8th grade.

Also at Zara, I found a pair of high-waisted jeans, but they were totally hoochie-mama as Eunice would say. But I still liked them, and I need high-waisted jeans, and they were $15, so I had to get them. I felt they needed a brightly colored shirt so I dug up an old Paramore t-shirt (from before Misery Business was a huge hit).


Paramore t-shirt. Zara jeans. Steve Madden oxford heels.

I also got oatmeal-colored knit tights at Nordstrom and skinny jeans at Hollister (hey, they fit me and were on sale!), where I initially went to try on men's jeans, which looked pretty good cuffed but I refuse to pay $50. At the thrift store I got a huge silk scarf and this fur headband I have plans to wear sort of like this headband, except way better.

But the important question! Haggling at thrift stores: okay or not? Personally I think there's nothing wrong with it as long as you aren't asking for an outrageously cheap price and you think the original item is overpriced—I haggled the headband which was way overpriced at $10 (considering the fur seemed to be polyester), then Tina tried to haggle down the price for this gigantic cardigan thing which was cute when belted. Then this quite dumpy-looking lady who had been hovering nearby remarked, "How can you do that? It's just so rude! So much of the stuff here is on sale already!" I tried not to snort (from laughter, of course) at the lady, but it was somewhat embarrassing for Tina to be reprimanded by a perfect stranger so she decided to put the cardigan back. As we went to leave, the lady looked at us and immediately began talking to the lady behind the register, who owned the store. "That is so offensive! Isn't that so offensive!?" crazy lady exclaimed to the cashier. She muttered "Yes, I suppose it's a little offensive." I laughed derisively as we left, which was probably not the best thing to do but I couldn't really come up with a comeback. I really don't think there's anything wrong with haggling, but do other people feel differently (don't worry, I won't call you a crazy lady if you do!).

Edit: Just to clear things up, the shop was not a charity shop.