The Wild Horses

This post is in dedication and support of the Japan Relief Fund via Chictopia ~ "Wear Red Wear Hope"

I found this shirt weeks ago at my local Out of the Closet for a dollar. And I knew it was really cool. But, um..."how do I wear this thing"? I didn't know quite what to pair it with. Until Tanya and I started playing around with midi and maxi skirt lengths for spring.

When we threw this bright red, pleated skirt over the shirt and tucked it high on the waist, the vintage, 60's, polyester took on a whole new life!

 I added a skinny, copper and silver belt, and some Steve Madden, nude gladiator heels.

 And it suddenly looked really current!

So I high stepped it with my horsey shirt and swingy skirt.

Cause deep down, don't we all just love a pretty pony?

Love, 

Noa B

Blouse: 1960's Vintage, via thrift

Belt: Urban Outfitters

Heels: Steve Madden

Skirt: Vintage, via thrift

From rags to riches, my clothing exchange faves!

I heart clothing exchanges! As I've always said, one woman's thrash is another woman's treasure. (And no, I'm not speaking about men.)

And treasure is right! I ended up with a brilliant assortment of bits and pieces at our recent one, including shoes, clothing, and accessories.

One of my treasured items? This adorable little shrug sweater. It kind of goes of with everything! And it's one of those things that I would have never purchased myself (we all get in style ruts) but was something my closet was obviously lacking.

Not to be outdone is this awesome necklace I also traded up for...

 So pretty, and so easy to take from casual to dressy.

The magical thrifted item that pulled it all together? These 80's, high waisted silk trousers! A little gift from my partner here at SHS. (Thanks, Noa!)

Girls, seriously, clean out your closets, and get your best friends involved. If your friends love fashion as much as you do, there's bound to be some fabulous trade offs!

Love,

Tanya D and Noa B

Purse: Chloe--gift from a loving husband

Shoes: Steve Madden

Pants: Jada, via thrift

Shrug: via trade

Necklace: via trade

Tank: H&M

Springtime stripes

Here at Secondhand Star we love following and blogging about trend reports. They're a great way to stay current when you're not able to shop the ready-to-wear market. One of our favorite constants for this spring was stripes. Another was brights and the color red.

So here they are, like peanut butter and jelly.

 

Enter the red and white striped shorts with the classic Lacoste logo. (Notice the tiny alligator down below)? Found while on a local thrifting jaunt, these babies are straight out of the 80's.

 

I loved the pleats and the candy striper color, but I didn't think they'd be super wearable until I began to notice that red, white, cream, and porter shorts were all popping up for spring!

 Adding the wide, red, vintage belt gave them some structure.

And I loved those little double pleats!

 You know how sometimes clothing just makes you feel like you're in a film still?

 Well these shorts along with the perfect, silk, cap sleeve blouse had that effect on me.

 And I felt like a 50's ingenue out sunning.

And of course what ensemble would be complete without the right shoes...?

 

And earrings?

One of the most enjoyable things about styling vintage clothing is that you never quite know what you'll find and how it will sync up with the rest of your wardrobe. Until I got hold of this blouse and belt, these shorts just sat around in my closet. But once the right piece came across my path, they were ready to rock!

So I guess the moral is, keep hunting and always have your eyes open for the next thing. It just might snap the life into that odd little garment you've been saving.

Love, 

Noa B

Blouse: Banana republic via thrift

Belt: Vintage via thrift

Shorts: Vintage Lacoste via thrift

Shoes: Hego's

Earrings: H&M

Vintage Stanley Platos/Martin Ross

On a recent day away from shooting, I visited my beautiful partner's bungalow to work on some upcoming plots, plans, and schemes... (And boy do we have some good ones coming your way)!

We're always challenging ourselves to be creative with fashion and reconstruction, but on the odd day off my uniform, (when not going out or shooting on set) is usually a dark pair of flared jeans and something cottony. Like this simple, black tank top.

But even the humblest tank can rock if it's married to a really good jacket. (And good jewelry never hurt either). In any case, I fell in love with this blazer the moment I laid eyes on it.

I found this vintage Stanley Platos/Martin Ross number on Manhattan's Upper East Side at the Housing Works thrift store on 90th and 2nd Avenue. Always a fan of 80's designers, I was particularly excited to come across this little number. With it's vented sides, detachable lapel, and rounded shoulder pads, it was right up my alley.

For those unfamiliar, a little background:

"Stanley Platos – Martin Ross was a 7th Avenue manufacturer of high-end cocktail and evening dresses. Stanley Platos worked for Givenchy and Valentino before starting his own design house in 1982. Clients included Mary Tylor Moore, Linda Evans, and Ethel Kennedy. The dresses were sold in high-end department stores and specialty boutiques. Platos died in 1991 at age 44."

There's something lovely, and poignant about this simple epitaph. A designer of note on 7th Ave who dressed stars, created lovely items for the public, and then suddenly went out of the world, perhaps a bit too soon. Suddenly this jacket is so much more to me than the sum of its parts.

I love coming across these little gems. The history and stories associated with them remind me of why I went to fashion school in the first place. As I sat down to write our weekly SHS to-do list, I mulled over a life that was, and the one I live now. 

Enjoy every moment to the fullest.

With Love,

Noa B

Blazer: Stanley Platos/Martin Ross, via Housing Works, NYC

Tank top: H&M

Necklace: Israel, silver, ceramic and leather, (a gift from a discerning mother)!

Denim: Earnest Sewn, via Housing Works, NYC

"Safari Chic" meets "Greased Lighting"

Here at SHS our mission has been to explore the art of fashionable thrifting and vintage hunting. But we also love to mix all things thrift with a few things "new".

Tanya found this blousey, safari shirt at the vintage store, and I fell in love with the retro print the minute she popped it on.

The question was... how do we update this thing...?

The solution? Simple! Some modern, high-waisted pants, of course.

 

These new American Apparel Riding Pants served not only to update the tunic style drape, but also featured a high waist which is great for tying options...

 We left the length in the back, to create a "coat and tails" effect...

And added these Sam Edelman clogs and some rockin', 80's style hoops to polish it all off. 

So there you have it. A little "Grease" meets Safari chic. Oh, and yes, this top was on the $1 rack. Gotta love it!

Love, 

Noa B and Tanya D

Shirt: Via Thrift

Earrings: Boutique, Abbot Kinney

Leggings: American Apparel

Clogs: Sam Edelman

Tea Dye & A Girl Party

SHS lovers! Have you heard about clothing exchanges? Tanya has been doing them for years and writing tutorials about them on November Grey.  If you're one of Tanya's nearest and dearest, chances are you have not been able to escape these twice yearly rituals. (Not to mention, she constantly makes everyone dress up for any type of party she's throwing!)

Recently, we hosted one of these babies together at my pad - with a new, Secondhand Star twist, of course!

(How cute is Tanya's baby sister, Leah?)

This adorable crochet tank was a beloved thrift store find of Tanya's that accidentally got stained with dark clothing in the wash.

So we decided that not only would we be trading and exchanging clothing and accessories with our elected and selected fashion elite, but we'd also do some mending, boot scuff shining, and item salvage dying as well!

In the case of this top, since it was already stained with blue, we figured why not even it out? We used a RIT dye bath on the stove top and let it soak for about an hour. This method created a soft, watercolor-y finish, but here are some tips for other dyes. In most cases, there are three methods for at-home dyeing:

1: Bleach baths: to get pesky stains out of white garments or drastically alter something from dark to light. (check out last week's post here.)

2: Tea dyeing: which involves using hot, brewed tea to create sepia tones. This can be done using black teas that have steeped for the better part of an hour. Once the tea bath is dark, you can soak the items in a pot, letting it all boil together on the stove top.

3: Fabric dyeing--on the stove top, the microwave, or the washing machine.

Tips for general dyeing:

To create an all-over, even finish, use a double pack of RIT dye and add the powder to a warm, small sized laundry bath. Let the cycle take its course and don't worry. During the rinse cycle the machine will wash out all the remaining color leaving no stains on its interior.

To create a watercolor or tye-dye finish, (like we did down here) swirl the garment on the stove top to create uneven layers of color.

For smaller items and more intense color, microwave a plastic bowl with double parts dye and single parts water. This is great for dyeing ribbons, accessories, gloves, etc...

A few hours later we went from this...

...to this!

And we LOVE this new twist on classic crochet. The hand dye process turned it a denim hue, which we have yet to see on crochet currently anywhere else, making it a Secondhand Star original piece!

We mixed it up with baggy tweeds, a shiny coat and studded heels.

 We added my signature, huge, silver earrings, bangles, and an antique ring...

 

 To make it evening casual, for a dinner out.

Do yourselves a favor and clean out your closet, then throw one of these parties of your own. We promise it will be one of the best nights ever.

Go to How to Host a Clothing Exchange for more deets.

Love, 
Noa B. and Tanya D.

Shoes: NYLA

Bag: Le Sak

Bangles: Swap Party

Crochet top: Swap Party

Earrings: Olvera Street, downtown LA

Jacket: Diane Von Furstenburg

Ring: Vintage, Israel 1960's

Glamorously Gold

It's been cool and mild in LA, but last week the sun just poured out and we hit a record, nearly 90 degrees! It seemed like the perfect time to pull out this micro-mini we recently found via thrift for, (you guessed it) a dollar!

There's something really beautiful about taking a shimmery, sexy bottom and pairing it with something a little rough.

This button down shirt had a thin, muslin-meets-linen finish to the fabric. It looked so pretty next to what we'd normally deem a "night out" skirt that we wanted to pair it up for a casual, but sexy daytime look.

The mini has a shimmery, gold thread finish, so we added gold bangles and a vintage purse, that just popped in the afternoon light.

We were en route to a shop Tanya discovered that always carries great jewelry, right on Abbot Kinney, when she decided to grab this gorgeous little purse that had hand sewn golden bead appliques!

It was just the right fit to contain a new pair of earrings or a little bracelet, should we stumble across something magical! (And a good shopping rule to keep from overspending is to take a tiny purse. Whatever fits in it, you can buy!)

That's all you need with a monochromatic look sometimes--one spot of print or color in your accessory...

And you're gorgeous!

Now, off to shop for some bling!

Love,

Noa B and Tanya D

Shirt: Vintage $1

Bagles: Vintage

Purse: Vintage

Skirt: Erin Featherston for Target - found thrift $1