Saturday, May 22, 2010

it's just in our blood

so i decided to do a little showing off. unfortunately most of our favorites from thrift stores, yard sales and antique shops are locked in a storage unit miles away. we have lots of finds from home decor, clothes for both of us and even things for our future children. i only included stuff for me in this post, all things found in utah. it is funny how feminine these all are, i used to be very very feminine. floral prints everywhere and anything sparkly. there is a lot of that still inside me, however i feel my style has headed more into a classier and simple direction. when wearing or using any of these items, i try to balance the femininity with more masculine styles (darker colors, sharper angles and stiffer fabrics). mixing things up is the best part. 

austrian earrings from the 1940's. the woman i bought these from has a yard sale every summer in orem. she has an english accent and knows a lot about her things. she has a love for antique costume jewelry and has collected A LOT over the years. the minute these sparkled before my eyes... i had to have them. they are more gorgeous in real life and i'm excited to pass them down.

i just love vintage suitcases. i found the one on the left at a vintage shop in salt lake. it happens to be my temple bag. the one on the right is from deseret industries in provo, utah. i paid $2.00 for it. on our cruise in february i used it for all my bathroom products and i'm not gonna lie, i felt like the cutest thing carrying it everywhere.
i have never bought a clutch anywhere other than a thrift store. 
i love both of these so much. they also came from deseret industries and were .50 each.
don't remember the price on this. from "decades" in salt lake. i love the birds and the gold chain. 
it is in perfect condition. wish i could have known its previous owner, i'm sure we would have gotten along.

oh the butterfly dress. the best part about this dress is that it fits perfectly and i didn't have to get it tailored. 
i feel very happy when i wear it. don't remember where i bought it but i do remember that it was $17.
i love belts. i rarely pay full price for a belt. belts can be ridiculously expensive. i have a lot of belts in lots of colors (except for these three brown), i like to get different textures to add visual interest to my outfits. the second is real snake skin. gross but pretty.
no definitely definitely not from a yard sale or thrift store. not even from an antique store. my girlfriends gave this jewelry box to me for my birthday years ago. even though it isn't antique, there are a lot of things inside that are. i absolutely love everything about it. i think they got it in the mall somewhere in a store that is not there anymore (i wanna say "bombay"?).
its where i keep all my jewelry except for necklaces and some dangly earrings. you can take out this top part and basically have the whole box to put stuff in. i keep bracelets and extra buttons (that come with clothes) and some other stuff in there. this is the type of thing that reminds me of old movies. maybe a scene with a little girl watching and admiring her mom as she gets ready and pulls fabulous jewelry out of this box to accessorize with :). a lot of my jewelry is from antique malls and flea markets. i just love being a girl. 
one thing i know about treasure hunting is that you shouldn't buy unless you absolutely love it. and if you ever see something that just tugs at your heart, you better grab it. 
or you will be very sad and most likely never see it again. :(

17 sweet thoughts:

{Layla} said...

antique shopping is my favorite past time. and i am not going to lie i am very envious of your bird clutch. anything vintage i love. anything with birds i love. what a fabulous combo.
i would just love the info/addy of the lady in orem who has a yard sale every year with vintage finds. that would be JUST lovely.
I went antique shopping yesterday (antiques in NYC are EXPENSIVE. BOO!). found the cutest brooches (which i collect, and wear) and the most adorable gold vintage locket necklace (which i have been wanting for the past couple of years and could never find). it's missing some stones--but it's old, so what do you expect, you know?
anyway just LOVE your vintage finds. happy hunting!

Nicky said...

I'm really sad I didn't know this about you last year! Man, I would have loved having a buddy to go to garage sales and thrift stores with! I love the jewelry you have! Hope all is well!

☂niki. said...

oooh this was such a fun post!! maybe even my favorite.

i love everything of course.

funny thing about that butterfly dress is i had one almost exactly like it but in pinks and reds. the skirt part was more straight and fitted without any pleats but the butterfly print was almost exactly the same. the sad thing is it didn't fit so i added it to my vintage line(called sheshefrock) i had a while back and sold it.

vintage treasures are so wonderful. everything about them...the price, the hunt, the uniqueness, and that fact that it was loved by someone before.

Megan Bleazard said...

I really want to go shopping with you someday! :)

michael. mindy. dane. said...

cute stuff. someone needs to teach me how to shop at d.i., i guess. when i go there, all i find is crap. we went to savers for our halloween costumes this year, and i was remember how a lot of people find cool stuff there, so i was looking at stuff other than clothes, but i didn't find anything cool. anyway, thanks for sharing this fun stuff!

trudy...{and jamo} said...

oh my, i LOVE those earrings!
and your suitcases.
you are so cool.
you inspire me to "thrift". i am getting more into it.
love ya!

trudy...{and jamo} said...

and i LOVE your gold bracelet! ah!

Ms. Green Eyes said...

So many pretty things. I am a horrible thrift shopper. I never find great things like you have. Maybe I need to try a little harder. And I bet that jewelry box is from Bombay. I used to get things there. They went out of business about 3 years ago. Very pretty. :)

Husbands 2 say few is few said...

I love everything in this post and I believe I have admired it at some point in the last year-ish that I've known you. I wish there was a store that had the contents of your closet cause I would shop there.. ALOT.

Alix said...

UMMMM HELLO!!!!!! I LOVE everything in your jewelry box including the jewelry box! Your finds are A-MAZING! I am so bad at getting motivated enough to go garage sale-ing and thrifting. But, whenever you tell me your finds I'm always like, WHAT THE HECK! I have been missing out! I am glad you are having a good time New Mexico! I miss you lots girl!

Chelsea said...

can I have one of everything please?

such gorgeous accesories. i love them all.

kaysi van dyke fox said...

ok, seriously?!?!?! ahhhh brittany i NEED to go shopping with you, i LOVE all of your stuff!! you always dress so perfectly put together!! you & olivia palermo are my style icons!!! seriously though, you should be famous!! :) so i have a novel to write you and i will tomorrow because i am soo sooo tied! i just had to write a little comment about how i am lusting over your jewelry box!! ill be back tomorrow! :)

David and Shalynna said...

Love all of it. I want to own those suitcases. I love that you admit that you felt so cute using it. I would have to!

So, I don't know if I've showed you my cream rose earrings that I got at a garage sale. They were originally clip ons. I loved that about them because it just added to their charm, but they killed my ears. I noticed that when you wore those earrings to my house that one time you took them off after like five minutes- they probably killed yours too! I ended up making mine into regular earrings so I could get much more use out of them. I know it would probably kill you to alter them, but just thought I'd let you know that I get much more use out of mine now that they don't squeeze my poor little earlobes blue. :)

I know I'm a bad friend and I haven't emailed you yet. Family is still in town. I think about you often and I promise to write soon. Say hi to Grant for us.

David and Shalynna said...

Oh and I love what you said about an old movie and a girl watching her mom put on her jewelry. That is so sweet! I hope someday you and I have daughters that will watch us put on our jewelry and then when we leave the room they'll pretend to be us. :)

preston. shawnee. cohen. said...

Okay, I LOOOOVE everything you posted Britt! It's all so beautiful. I love the earrings, and all the jewelry in your jewelry box. Such fun accessories. And your temple bag (actually both bags) are so so so cute... I really can't believe you got the one for $2! makes me want to find one! I still want to go to that store "decades" it sounds so cute. I wish we could go together. And seriously, why did we never go to d.i. together???
We miss you guys! I'm glad things are going well with Grant's work, and that you are enjoying new mexico more than you thought.
And responding to the last comment you left on my blog, yes I remember that video of the little boy singing mickey mouse....... he is SO SO cute hahahaha. And yes the dress I wore on mothers day was the dress I was telling you about that I was trying to find a cardigan for. Since it ended up being my "mother's day" dress I didn't even wear it on the cruise and just wore a black dress and black pencil skirt I've had for years. But I spiced it up with a flower so it worked out fine. Anyway I think we should talk on the phone soon.... if you want to. I know sometimes the phone isn't the funnest option. Wish we could hang out and miss you tons :)

Steph said...

Way cute stuff Britt! I hope you are enjoying the hot weather and your new adventures. I have to say that the HOT weather down there is something I really miss. Hope you guys are doing great and loving life! Love you!

angela hardison said...

wow, i loved seeing this. you have a ton of great finds. that butterfly dress is beautiful.

and i think you maybe already told me this - but that vintage suitcase is so much like the one i found! i love it. long lost twin suitcases.