Category Archives: What I Wear

Two More Tops

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A few days ago we went to Castlemaine to meet some friends for lunch. We had a couple of other things to do and still had a bit of time to kill so I popped into one of my favourite op shops.

I came away with 2 tops. The first one is a favourite shade of green so was difficult to resist. I have no idea of any details about it as there are no labels. No brand, size, composition or washing instructions but it fitted beautifully and I love it.

The second is a simple fitted grey tshirt from Country Road. I like the idea of a plain top as it will go with some of the patterned bottoms that I have. It will also be useful as an extra layer in cooler weather. Something that does double-duty is a perfect addition to the wardrobe.

Frighteningly Fruitful

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There are plenty of posts on this blog about bargains I have scored at op shops (thrift shops). However, sometimes I ponder how easy it is to not only find a surprise bargain but actually to go shopping with something specific in mind and find it secondhand. There is so much secondhand stuff yet so many people seem to still be consuming and buying new things at unprecedented levels.

A couple of days ago we were in a medium-sized town near where we live. There are at least 4 op shops and GMan decided to begin his hunt for some champagne flutes. These are not for us but for the local film society. He was hoping to source 12 glasses and was not particularly concerned if they were not absolutely identical.

Anyway, the first shop he tried yielded 7 suitable glasses and her found another 5 at the next shop he tried. They were all 50c each so for the princely sum of $6 we are able to give a dozen champane flutes to the film society to use.

Last week I picked up this cute tank top which will be perfect for hot days. A bargain at $2.50. I have white shorts but felt that it would look better with black shorts.

My last pair of black shorts were worn out and discarded last summer after about 12 years of wear. At the first shop I was idly glanced at the racks and spotted a pair of black shorts that turned out to be my size and look as though they have been barely worn. $5 and I now have exactly the addition to my wardrobe that I needed.

There is so much quality secondhand clothing and household goods available that I would encourage anyone to consider taking a look at secondhand goods through a variety of sources before rushing out to buy something new. You will be saving things potentially ending up in landfill, almost certainly be saving money and the planet.

Change It Up

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I had been contemplating the destiny of this shirt for a while. It is a black linen one that I made and has cute ladybird buttons. I really only wore it with my ‘ladybird’ pants – a pair of red cotton drill trousers with large black spots. They were good while they lasted but have since been moved on from my wardrobe.

I had decided to change the buttons to black ones to make the shirt more wearable with other outfits. However, yesterday I picked up a pair of lovely black and white patterned trousers at the op shop which solidified my plans for the shirt.

After a quick search of my buttons collection I found some that I knew would work perfectly.

Here is the complete outfit which I am really pleased with.

Blue is Best

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I generally stick to a relatively small palette of colours when choosing my clothes. Black, white, navy and grey are the neutrals I wear. I like strong colours with a blue undertone and my favourites are cobalt blue and cherry red along with almost any other shade of blue as well as emerald green.

It is clear that I am not alone in sticking to a narrow range of colours.

This is my elder granddaughter yesterday on her 17th birthday. She was excited to be wearing her new blue dress out to dinner.

Coincidentally, a photo popped up in my Facebook memories a couple of days ago. It was a blue dress I had made for her 8th birthday gift in 2015.

This photo of her wearing it was taken about 15 months later.

Her high school formal is early next year and the dress she has chosen is blue, of course. In fact, her motto could almost be, “Any colour, as long as it is blue”.

Starting Afresh

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Revamping our walk-in wardrobe was not an absolute priority but rather a by-product of the pantry extension. Our wardrobe is now about half of the original size but we are very confident that it offers more than enough space for our needs.

Once the new wall and cornices were installed, the next stage was to repaint the entire space. It is now white which I feel provides a clean, bright backdrop to the clothes.

We had removed all of the shelves and hanging rails before the renovations and are planning to install a more functional modular system which fits our needs. We are going to check out the components next month as the business is located on the other side of Melbourne from us and is not that easy to access. I expect it will be 2025 before we actually install the new shelving and rails.

In the meantime, we have moved some of our clothes and shoes back into the space.

There are plenty of off-season clothes, coats and jackets still in another wardrobe as well as shoes, hats and bags. Of course, I also have tops and underwear folded in drawers. However, this is a pared down selection of what GMan and I mostly wear. I will be interested to see how often I actually need to go to the other clothes.

When I look at this small hanging rail of clothes it is really easy to see why I have consistently remarked that my food is more important to me than my clothes when asked about our plans for the pantry and wardrobe.

Some Sewing

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In my last post I promised that I would share a bit more about the French-themed event.

It was a film night at Maldon Golden Movies, our local community film society, where there was a screening of the 2021 film, Delicious. While GMan and I had actually seen it previously, it was fun to have the hall set up cabaret-style and provide some French-inspired nibbles including galettes and quiches from the local bakery.

I did not manage to get a photo in my full French outfit but this photo shows the navy trousers, Breton top and shoes that I teamed with the red beret which I shared previously. It drew many comments but the interesting thing is that apart from the beret, they are simply regular clothes from my wardrobe. I actually picked up the trousers and top in op shops late last year and have both become some of the most worn items in my wardrobe.

I made 8 white tablecloths from 2 sets of good quality cotton sheets which I sourced from the local op shop. These are bound to see numerous uses in the future as the format of the evening was very well received.

Hemmed, pressed and ready to go.

Tables set and patrons ready to enjoy the movie.

For a Cause

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There are many very worthwhile causes and charities and I expect many of us have our particular favourites which are close to our heart. There are equally as many ways to support them.

Frocktober is a month-long fundraising campaign for the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation. Ovarian cancer is a particularly lethal gynaecological cancer for which there is no screening test. It is often only diagnosed in the late stages and has an extremely poor survival rate.

So, when a friend invited me to a Frocktober High Tea, I did not hesitate.

As well as raising fund for much needed research we enjoyed a fabulous spread of beautiful home-made delights and a fun afternoon of conversation with a group of about 40 local women.

Thanks to everyone who made the afternoon a success.

For the past few days I have been debating about my choice of frock as the weather has been extremely variable – it is spring in Victoria, after all. I finally opted for this bias cut sleeveless cotton frock with a lightweight cardigan. It is difficult to go wrong with classic black and white spots. This was its first outing as I had bought it about 3 weeks ago in a local op shop for $8. The frock is super comfortable and easy to wear and I am sure I will have plenty more opportunities to wear it as the weather warms up.

If you would like to support the work of the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation, you can donate here.

A Wish List

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Numerous posts have mentioned some of my various op shop finds. In fact, in my last post GMan went with a specific goal in mind and found exactly what he was looking for. Sometimes you can be lucky. More often than not, you have to be patient if you have a specific item in mind.

Most of my op shopping for clothes is generally just good luck. Having a relatively streamlined wardrobe means that I know exactly what I have and can quickly identify something that will work with existing pieces. This method has generally stood me in good stead and I have very rarely made an unwise choice.

Excessive shopping can happen when op shopping just as it can if you are choosing brand-new items from retail outlets.

It is almost 5 years since I made a rather brave declaration that I was not going to buy any brand-new clothing for 5 years. Have I succeeded? Almost. I bought this navy dress to wear to my niece’s wedding in early 2021. It was massively reduced in price to $21 and I have worn it many times, including today. It was cold and we were headed to Ballarat so I added this warm scarf which I picked up when op shopping last week. I had really thought that it may not get an airing until next autumn but the weather today dictated otherwise.

During the afore-mentioned 5 years, my circumstances have altered considerably. I have retired from full-time work and relocated from south-east Queensland to regional Victoria. While most of my existing clothes will continue to be worn there will be some rebalancing of seasonal items required.

So, I have decided to take a leaf out of the book of my dear late friend, Mimi, who was a dedicated and successful op shopper with what appeared to be a knack for finding the perfect item. However, it was quite clear that she shopped intentionally and with purpose. I have begun creating a list of gaps I have identified in my wardrobe so that I do not wander aimlessly or feel overwhelmed when entering an op shop.

Some of the things I am searching for are:

Slim fitted trousers in both black and navy
Hip/thigh length winter coat
Navy cardigan
Dark blue slim fit jeans
Small backpack style handbag

My other criteria is to search by colour, fabric and pattern.

Colour – red, navy, blue, white, black, grey, emerald green
Fabric – natural fibres – cotton, linen, wool
Pattern – plain, spots, stripes

I will let you know how I go with this new strategy.

Shopping for Summer

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We went into an op shop when we were out and about on Thursday as GMan was looking for a Pyrex casserole dish. He found this one which was marked as $5 but as a bonus there was 50% off all glass and kitchenware so $2.50 was an absolute bargain.

Meanwhile I thought I would cast a quick look over the clothes to see if anything caught my eye. I was in luck as I found three pieces – a top, a dress and a scarf.

The top is perfect in every respect. It fits perfectly, a pretty colour and 100% linen fabric. Additionally, I love the scoop neckline and interesting bias-cut rolled collar.

The dress is crinkle cotton and will be perfect for hot summer days. The bias-cut and frill on the lining add interest to an otherwise very simple dress. I lifted it at the shoulders as I almost always have to do with dresses and it now is ready to wear.

The final item is not for summer but I could not resist this pretty ombre blue scarf. I am sure it will get plenty of wear but I think it will go perfectly with my navy winter dress.

Matching Accessories

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You probably remember my recent post from a couple of weeks ago where I showed you the shoes I bought to wear to a family wedding later this month.

Well, I decided I also needed a handbag and thought a matching bag would be good, however, my younger daughter pointed out that it may be difficult to match the colour so I was prepared to compromise with a metallic finish of some colour.

Anyway, earlier this week we were in a suburban shopping precinct in Melbourne as we were stocking up on a number of pantry items. Once that was done, I wandered into a couple of op shops in the area. The first two didn’t yield anything much at all in the way of bags. The third one was a different story. I had rather optimistically taken the shoes with me so that I could check the colour if I happened to find something suitable.

This was the result. A bag in perfect condition with no marks or signs of wear which matches my shoes perfectly. It was $7. I am beyond thrilled.