Thrifted
Filed in: Accessories, DIY, Fashion, Jewelry, Secondhand, Shopping
Almost every Saturday over the last few years have involved thrift shopping in one way or another. It´s one of my absolute favorite things to do. I love searching through piles and piles of crap for those few gems, and I love to find things I never would have thought of wearing otherwise. Today I got a pair of pants. I have two pairs of jeans that I wear, no pants. I mean, I have them, I just don´t wear them. When I spotted these on a sale rack for $2 I figured it was about time to give them a go. They were too short and had an awkward cut to them. I lengthened them, made them skinnier and folded up the hems. I realize this may take some time getting used to and I might end up altering them even more before I am satisfied, but I am still pleased to have found something that is so completely different from everything else I own.
I also got a few more bow ties to wear in my hair or on my wrist.
An odd necklace. Update: Due to help from a kind reader I have discovered that the necklace is from the Finnish designer Pentti Sarpaneva and is actually quite valuable!
And a chain belt with tassels. I might turn this into something else as I rarely wear belts like that.
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49 Comments
April 5th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
Great pants, I love the shape of them…and they look so cute rolled up!
April 5th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
I loooove your pants and what you did to them.I mean I am The pants girl.No skirts, please. And I would love to have the ones you got.
April 5th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
OMG these pants look gorgz on you. and for 2$!!!
*haven’t you thought opening an online store? you really have an amazing taste and you’re enough famous to give it a shot knowing beforehand that it won’t go bad! (actually i believe it would be a tremendous hit)
have a fab weekend :)
April 5th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
oh! and in case you didn’t notice my ’surprise’- i nominated you!!!
congratulations :P
April 5th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
I´m glad you guys like them!
Héloïse, actually, I have, but I think it would be a lot of work, especially with a full time job as well. In the future I might do something like that though. And thanks for the nomination!
April 5th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
maybe it’s the shoes, but I think you look much better than the new shot on Sartorialist. check it out.
and about the Ray Ban, I’m from China and I can tell you things cheap like that are probably inauthentic
April 5th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
That’s what’s so great about thrifting for me, it’s cheap to try new styles. This pants are hot!! btw.
April 5th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
I’ve always been SO curious about how you tie the bowties in your hair. It looks like a headband, but the one I have isn’t long enough to stretch around my whole head. Could you please teach me, since I have a new found OBSESSION for bows!! C: Thank you!
April 5th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
those pants are beautiful! and nice bow ties! those will add such a great pop of colour!
April 5th, 2008 at 9:09 pm
those bows are super cute.
April 5th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
Kjempefine bukser! Åå, loppemarkedsesongen er jo i gang for fullt, men jeg er litt for lat kjenner jeg… må hive ut noe før jeg kan kjøpe noe nytt.
April 5th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
You did an amazing job with those pants! They look very stylish. Were they originally a pair of granny-style pants before alterations? How is the fit in the back?
April 5th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
I like the bow ties.
April 5th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
…and the pants look good rolled up like that. Reminds me of this girl:
http://eurobrat.blogspot.com/2008/04/walking-on-sunshine.html
April 5th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
I think those pants would look great with a white button down shirt and two bow-tie(worn as actual bow-ties).
April 5th, 2008 at 11:45 pm
i’m a spazz at DIY, so i have to ask…how do you LENGTHEN pants??? i could learn so much from you…
April 6th, 2008 at 12:02 am
I am so envious of your thrift market shopping. England doesn’t have markets where you can pick up vintage pieces cheaply.
April 6th, 2008 at 12:21 am
the pants are fantastic, and the bows!! i love the bows!
April 6th, 2008 at 3:41 am
those pants look super comfortable!
April 6th, 2008 at 5:38 am
Ahh lovely pants! Wear them rolled up with loose white shirt, to recreate Alexander Wang…$2 wow.
April 6th, 2008 at 8:45 am
those pants look very similar to a recent photo from the sartorialist. Nice finds!
April 6th, 2008 at 8:46 am
those pants look very similar to some in a recent photo from the sartorialist. Nice finds!
April 6th, 2008 at 9:47 am
I like the bow ties as well! Those are great finds Agathe! That robotic necklace..i would cry if i found that, so cute! I just found this amazing thrift store here in texas! Most of the stuff i find i put for sale on my store but I do get greedy and keep some :/
April 6th, 2008 at 10:04 am
Love the pants actually…
April 6th, 2008 at 10:06 am
Great stuff! I found your blog via StyleMob and I love it!
April 6th, 2008 at 10:24 am
wow, great finds! My thrifting addiction is so bad now that I’m almost certain my wardrobe has doubled since the start of the year!
April 6th, 2008 at 10:33 am
Hello there,
I love your blog as well as your personal style, it is a great source of inspiration :) I just wanted to let you know I have feature your style and blog in my latest post
keep up the fantastic work
:)
April 6th, 2008 at 10:42 am
I love the bow ties and fringe belt, very fun elements. And a bow tie on the wrist you say…hm.
April 6th, 2008 at 11:01 am
Glamourbibliotekaren, før sto jeg opp kl. 8 hver lørdag i sesongen, men det har jeg blitt for gammel til! ;)
Sabrina, part of the problem with pants for me is how they look in the back, but these are actually not too bad!
M, it´s possible if they´re hemmed with a lot of extra fabric. It´s not unusual to be able to add a few centimeters if you just open the hem and sew it back in place where you want them. Since I am rolling up these I´m leaving them unhemmed.
Thanks for all of you comments!
April 6th, 2008 at 11:32 am
How funny that after a day of shopping in Stockholm, I come home to check your blog and low and behold, you are wearing a pair of pants that look almost exactly like the pair I bought today! (mine are high waisted) However, mine caused, uhm, slightly more damage to my bank balance unfortunately. I don’t think there is a thrift shop in all of Stockholm where you can get clothes for as little as 2 dollars, everything seems more along the lines of ‘vintage’ stores rather than ‘thrift.’ Sigh. So how did you make them skinnier? Did you have to undo the seam on the outer leg, inner leg??
April 6th, 2008 at 11:44 am
Mel, I´m afraid I don´t have the patience to do it properly, so I sewed them on the inner leg and will iron the seam in place. I might do the same on the outer leg. I was afraid to do too much because of the crease. I am going to Stockholm in a couple of weeks and while I expect the secondhand shops to be more expensive, I am also hoping to find some real gems! Any tips?
April 6th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
oh my god. i just came across ur blog… u look exactly like a turkish model, ece sükan. esp when she has the bangs. she was on the sartorialist lately:
http://bp0.blogger.com/_qjpwnPW4c1o/R_DiymQgb7I/AAAAAAAADL8/uLxi-PTKq9Y/s1600-h/Givweb.jpg
and shes into vintage clothing.
April 6th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Whoa, those were a great find for only $2! I love the bows,recently I went out and bought five little bow clips for my hair. Lately I’ve been so obsessed with their overt girly-ness. It would be coolio if you linked me on your page.
April 6th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Sherry, I forgot to answer your question! The red one I have worn a few times is elastic so it fits perfectly. The ones I got today arent, but I´m thinking of just sewing in an elastic ribbon so that I can wear them in my hair and also make them more comfortable.
April 6th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
When I saw the necklace I immediately thought of the Finnish jewelry designer Pentti Sarpaneva who worked with bronze creations in the 60’s and 70’s. I’m Finnish and my mother has a load of those, they’re pretty cool. Of course there’s lots of stuff in the same style but just in case & for fun check if there’s any marks on the pendant. Here’s some more info on the bronze designs of the era: http://www.modernsilver.com/Bronzeage.html
April 6th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Ahh, thanks a million for the link and the info! I was thinking it must be from that era and that it might be a designer piece due to the construction and the smart little details. I hadn´t checked for any marks until now, but all I can find is one that says Bronze Finland. Now I will investigate a little more. :)
April 6th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
You´re right by the way, at least if the chain and the construction of it is proof enough, this is Pentti Sarpaneva!
April 6th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Couldn’t resist to do some research and seems like your necklace indeed is a bronze Sarpaneva worth $150! So congrats for a great thrift find! :) I found a similar one for sale on http://www.effie-graa.com -> click “Pendants” and scroll downwards, there’s the exact same one.
April 6th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Thanks so much! When you left he first comment I was actually searching through online shops to find out more, but since I have no clue about jewelry design from that era I had really no idea what to look for. So you info was just what I needed!
April 6th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Great finds! The pants look really good on you :)
April 6th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
The pants look similar to the latest shot on Sartorialist. I like you in pants. I would like to see you wear them more often! Skinny jeans look great on you, too, but there are so many more styles of jeans and pants to explore!
April 6th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Hey, I have that finnish necklace too! I’ve never seen it anywhere else, and then it suddenly shows up in my favourite blog! I inherited it from my mother, I had no idea what it was worth. And now I realize I don’t really know where it is atm. Please, please, don’t tell me it’s gone. I suddenly feel very attatched to it. I wore it alot this fall, but it’s sneaked off and hid somewhere now.
April 6th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
i’ma big fan of modernist and scandinavian jewellery and also recognised it as Pentti Sarpaneva-i’ve got a few pieces of his and they’re real conversation starters when i wear them!
April 7th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
i really love scandinavian jewelry, particularly mid centruy… it’s gorgeous.
i can’t wait to get myself to a flea market! i’ve never been to one in europe!
April 8th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
I love the fit of those pants on you & think your use of bow ties are absolutely ingenious! I use neck ties as head scarves, but never thought of using the bows as well. And on the wrist? Such a feminine touch! Hope you don’t mind me “borrowing” that idea :-)
Kenya
VB
April 9th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
åå. rosetterna!
var hittade du dom?
April 11th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Just wanted to pop back in answer to your question re: second hand in Stockholm. Like I said it tends to be expensive, but…the major chain is Myrorna, they’re all over, but my favorite one is at Adolf Fredriks Kyrkogata 5-7. They tend to have cool housewares too. The other major chain is Stockholm Stadsmission (http://www.hitta.se/SearchPink.aspx?vad=stockholm+stadsmission&var=)
Yet another chain, with outrageous prices but a good selection is Beyond Retro, and they have a large store very centrally located in a complex called Souk a few doors down from Ahlens City on Drottninggatan. There are of course a bunch of independent places too, such as Judits (http://www.judits.se/judits.html)
which is a great little place. And if you are in that area (sodermalm) check out Bondegatan, there are a bunch of cute little stores there. Hmm, I guess a more comprehensive view can be had here: http://www.hitta.se/SearchPink.aspx?vad=Second+Hand&var=stockholm
Oh!! And I love Sivletto, adorable 1950s rockabilly thing they do: http://www.sivletto.com. Good luck!
April 15th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
You could use the belt as a necklace…
April 15th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Mel, thank you so much!
Diya, that´s exactly what I´ve turned it into! :)