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FROM: eBay, Etsy, et al.

Do you apologize for your outfits? (and a very cute miniskirt!)

5:19 PM, August 20 2009 by Jennifer Romolini
15743065_00_b.jpegIn college in the '90s, two of my friends attended what they thought was a casual party wearing J.Crew roll-neck sweaters, pegged oversized jeans and some version of Timberland hiking boots. When they arrived, they realized that it was more of a classy soiree--girls were done up in dresses and pearls and the boys wore blazers and nice shoes. My friends spent the rest of the night feeling like lumberjack wildebeests, enduring snotty girl stares, futilely hitting on guys, and explaining awkwardly to everyone they met, "We didn't know it was dressy!" I have made them tell me this story one hundred times.


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FROM: eBay, Etsy, et al.

What kind of shopper are you?

3:28 PM, August 04 2009 by Jennifer Romolini
clueless.jpgThis is a situation that happens often, especially around this time of year: I'm at, like, a wedding or something, meeting complete strangers. They find out I work for Lucky and say something lovely, complimentary and good natured such as, "You must be such a good shopper! I'd love to go shopping with you." And I immediately feel...terrible. Like I've been caught in some huge lie, like I'm the fraudiest fraudster in Fraudtown.

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FROM: eBay, Etsy, et al.

Do your clothes have an expiration date?

11:32 AM, July 27 2009 by Jennifer Romolini
83975433.jpgOne of my major problems with the idea of "shopping your closet" (a fashion strategy/catchphrase that's been floating around since we entered the recession) is: I don't really want to. This is not because I'm spoiled and need new things constantly, but more because once I'm done with a piece of clothing, I'm done. I always believed this meant that I'm terrible shopper (and then kind of felt like a loser), but lately I'm not so sure. Each time our lifestyles change or we get a little older or gain or lose weight--all fairly frequent occurrences--the way we use our wardrobes changes too. For example, I just donated a bunch of my sundresses (too young) pencil skirts (too tight) and button downs (too career lady). All of these were perfectly good, practically trend-proof clothes, but they weren't "me" anymore.
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FROM: eBay, Etsy, et al.

A tiny rant about online vintage

6:51 PM, July 21 2009 by Jennifer Romolini
modcloth shirt 7/21I wanted to write a post today about deeply cool vintage finds, but instead I became very frustrated. It's bad enough that we vintage buyers take a huge risk when we purchase online, but my major complaint/pet peeve/madness about second-hand interweb sellers is how they leave merchandise up on their sites THAT IS ALREADY GONE. It's torture. Imagine if you walked into a shop, saw something in your size that you absolutely loved and then, when you were about to put down your cold, hard cash, were told, "No, not for you!" Almost all of my favorite and completely cherished online boutiques are guilty of this practice (take ModCloth, its entire vintage inventory* is currently sold out!) and I don't really understand why it's done. Is it to show me what great stuff you once had? I know! I want to buy from you! If anyone out there has an explanation for this peculiar clothes-you-can't-buy custom, you can have my firstborn kid. OK. Not really, but my eternal gratitude for sure.
*Case in point: This adorable embroidered shirt which I would've totally, TOTALLY bought.  
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FROM: eBay, Etsy, et al.

Are denim dresses ever OK?

5:03 PM, July 08 2009 by Jennifer Romolini
Thumbnail image for LotImg224.jpg281659376_tp.jpgI keep hearing all of these positive stories (by fashion people I respect) about the coolness of denim dresses and I keep thinking, "No way, really?" I don't know why, but a one-piece jeans outfit fills me with a particular type of terror. It's as if I'd put one on and suddenly become back-in-the-day Britney and I'd look over at my husband and he'd be wearing head-to-toe stone wash, and it would all be scary, in a "Naughty Girls Need Love Too" 3405_1.jpgway. However, when I poke around a bit, 37479275.jpgand open my frightened little mind, I notice there are some very good-looking DDs to be had. Like this button-up style, which would be great with flat sandals, or this dark-wash jumper-ish look, which is '70s-Three's Company cute, or how about a corset version? Is that too 2001 Brit-Brit? I just don't know.
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FROM: eBay, Etsy, et al.

J'Adore....

3:57 PM, July 06 2009 by Jennifer Romolini
274752679_o.jpg
Thumbnail image for fc5b_1_sbl.JPG.jpegThough I'm normally not much of a label person, I have a  huge soft spot for vintage designer accessories. I love old, even slightly beat up pieces by Gucci, YSL, sometimes Chanel, and especially Dior. They just feel very glamorous to me in a way that's from-the-past chic, but not show-offy. Searching around eBay just today, I found these fantastic-weird sunglasses, a pretty and feminine makeup bag, this ultra-fashiony heavy-hardware necklace, a sleek black purse, and one fold-over clutch, which I'd pair with a silky, bright-red sundress and feel like the most sophisticated lady in all the land.

P.S. Serious question: If I bought and wore one of those J'Adore Dior t-shirts would it be cool and retro and like an early '90s supermodel or would I look like a jerk? I can't always tell if something is too soon...


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FROM: eBay, Etsy, et al.

Etsy: Seaweed art is so much more beautiful than you'd think

4:42 PM, June 25 2009 by Jennifer Romolini
il_430xN.59070225.jpgil_430xN.53369652.jpgI don't know what's come over me, but I have become completely obsessed with everything from Alga Net, an Etsy store that uses over 150  species of algae, seaweed and kelp to create delicate, ethereal, just really pretty works of art.

Check it out: I'm thinking these could be unique additions to all kinds of rooms, and, going along with what we talked about last week, they could also make great, affordable gifts. (Or, wait. Would it be weird to give someone framed seaweed as a present? I guess it depends on the friend. Some people I know would definitely dig this a lot.)
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FROM: eBay, Etsy, et al.

How often do you fail with online vintage?

10:51 AM, June 16 2009 by Jennifer Romolini
Thumbnail image for 633772890298313750-44-G.jpgI do approximately 85 percent of my shopping online, mostly with vintage stuff. This is not only because I'm amazingly lazy (editor-in-chief Kim France once referred to me as a slug and she was not wrong), but because there's a vast and interesting fashion inventory available on the Web that I can't always find on land. However, we all know this kind of shopping has its risks--items are one of a kind and usually not returnable, and if something doesn't work, you're basically stuck. For example, I would very very much like to own this awesome-looking jumpsuit (from my favorite online vintage shop, The Urban Collection), but it has the potential to be a colossal fail. Though knowing my measurements helps, there's a very real chance that it could make me look like a Goth, sausaged Barbara Eden in I Dream of Jeannie. How often do you take these gambles? And how often do you fail? (I'm about 5:1, successes vs. epic disasters, btw.) 
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FROM: eBay, Etsy, et al.

Help! I've fallen into a rut and I can't get out!

3:04 PM, June 10 2009 by Jennifer Romolini
P1010613.jpgReaders, I think I'm in a fashion rut. I have yet to solve summer!BTgKNOg!2k~$(KGrHgoH-EIEjlLl09!jBKIzE3u7lQ~~_2.JPG 2009's great riddles (jumpsuits, fedoras, denim vests), nor can I fully get behind (heh) some its scarier offerings (short shorts, boyfriend jeans). And so I'm escaping to all vintage, all of the time, which is not necessarily good. My closet is filled with polka dot scarves, bold floral prints, starry blouses from a past season Kate Moss/Top Shop DSC_955.JPGline that do not fit (you were right, Deelee!), old-timey bags and wacky Mrs. Roper jewelry. Can a wardrobe be too fun? Too filled with unique pieces from eBay? Right now I want more than anything to be sitting in this vintage Chloe outfit wearing vintageferrb.jpg '70s sunglasses and carrying this vintage Ferragamo bag (by the way, I'd be sitting in my just-bought vintage bar stools which look exactly like these). Yes, current fashion will always be derivative, but I wonder if I'm living too much in the past? Is there a "vintage overkill" line no chic woman should ever cross? 'Cause, man, if there is one, I fear I passed it miles ago.
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FROM: eBay, Etsy, et al.

Cute, affordable dresses save me from the monster

11:11 AM, June 02 2009 by Jennifer Romolini
Jeepers-Creepers-2-on-VHS-Reviewed-Two-II-Second-Sequel-Horror-Movie-Film-Scary-Psycho-Maniac.jpgSometimes, for no real reason I can discern, I wake up in the morning and feel as though I am too fat to live. It's as if my body dysmorphic, bad-permed, 15-year-old self has come back from the dead, armed with a vendetta to eat my brain. The whole enterprise is terrifying and lasts sometimes an entire morning, basically until I find something cute to wear (like one of these amazing dresses from Voodoo Couture Vintage--check them out here, here, and here), recognize that I am not living in an opposite-land Shallow Hal-ian nightmare, and appreciate what I have. Are you ever briefly visited by embarrassing, regressive, "I feel fat" monsters? If so, how do you fight back? 

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