Tattered, Tagged and Treasured

Go With the Flow

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Cat) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:05:00 +0000

I am falling hard for awkward midi-lengths and long, flowy things. I feel like it's a good time to be feeling a little untethered.

Thrifted leather pencil skirt, top from Victoria's Secret Pink line, sheer cardigan thing Christmas gift (but came from Urban Outfitters), Jeffrey Campbell Lanas, jewelry mostly secondhand from swapping or tag sales.

Also super into things that don't quite match lately, like these grays that are technically neutrals mixed with these browns that are also neutrals but are kind of mismatchy together. Love that.

I guess I must have said something to myself that constituted fighting words. ;)

Back to prim and proper lady again.

Life has been busy, as usual. We expanded GCTS to include a Silver Package where my sister-in-law and I run the sales ourselves. (My mother-in-law is the boss at Gold Coast.) I don't expect too much business for Silver during the winter but we had a really great response from everyone and having the Silver Package available seems to have resulted in a few more calls for Gold Coast. Hurray! I also changed our notifications, redesigned the site, started the agonizing process of monetizing. All my back-end work happens here in the winter when there's time to think. This might be a good time to remind all of you who live in NY that you should get yourselves signed up for GCTS emails. You never know what you're going to find! :)

Tag Sale Haul - Vargas, Baby!

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Cat) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:23:00 +0000

We had a really great vintage sale yesterday for really great clients. And you know how lost, leftover things have a way of coming home with me. (Okay, it's because I buy them.) These pretties aren't actually Vargas girls, but they're awesome and they made Eric and me laugh:

By K.O. Munson, about whom you can read here.

What's not to love?

Lara found these and knew they had to go home with me. Thanks, Lara!

The homeowners were using these to store spare tips for their cue sticks. Also, check out the awesome new turquoise scarab I'm adding to my collection.

I waited until after most of the keys were sold before I bought these. But then I couldn't resist anymore. Also, I cannot reasonably be expected to turn down anything with an anchor on it. (Actually, this is a lie. I decided I didn't need a pin that said "Sailors have more fun" with an anchor on it.)

Awesome things that NOBODY wanted that found their way home with me.

And no sale would be complete if I wasn't on the lookout for things for friends, too:

Pyrex for the_sasha. Doilies and a weird shawl thing which I thought had awesome pattern and texture for my friend Stella. Stella likes anything with interesting fabric that is going to be thrown away because it is stained or too tiny for anyone else to use. She makes these awesome quilt things with them.

L.A.M.B. convertible dress

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Cat) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:29:00 +0000

I got this awesome dress on the Swap Market. Everything else secondhand or gifted with a total cost of about $25 or $30. What do you think? Is this dress a winner?

L.A.M.B. convertible dress; Isabella Fiore shoes; jewelry including Cartier,
Kenneth Jay Lane, cloisonne, Craft, Les Bernard

Plus this hand-tooled leather briefcase you've already seen.


Back to an open air closet in my new, temporary living space. Thanks for making me look so short, Dolly. Dolly is my mannequin.

The back!


In order from top: Craft, Les Bernard, unknown maker, Kenneth Jay Lane, cloisonne, unknown maker.

These Isabella Fiore pumps were a gift from a woman we did a tag sale for!

My dress, which came from the lovely @stealfinder of the @swapaholics, came with these adorable extras. I disregarded the directions for how to wear the dress because I liked it better this way, but it was nice to have them!

Obviously I'm obsessed with swapping. I'm going to a friend's swap in a few days. Wish me good finds!

Back to Black

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Cat) — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 23:50:00 +0000

Wearing my old Jeffrey Campbells, standing next to my new ones!

Y'all. It has been crazy around here. I went to Virginia for a retirement party. I worked Book Expo America. I celebrated my husband graduating from Law school. I went to a Slackers show. And, oh, yeah, I worked my bum off. More on all of that in future posts (and I can't wait to catch up on all of yours!). In the meantime, I HAD to find the time to show you my "new" bag...

My Erin Fetherstone for Target heart-shaped bag. At long last!

I've been assuring myself since the Erin Fetherstone for Target heart-shaped bag came out and sold out that some day I'd find it at a tag sale. And FINALLY it was true. I. Love. This. Bag. Is it a little bit uselessly shaped? Yes. Do I care? No.

The penguin bag hanging behind me is also a new acquisition.

I feel a little bit like Jack Skellington in these pants (in the best way).

Pants are from Lulus.com. Bag is (again) Erin Fetherstone for Target. You know the rest.

We've had some awesome sales (some of my friends even came to one!) and here's some of the awesome stuff I bought at them:

Laurel & Hardy steins (and some books)

Jewelry and a very broken Madame Alexander doll

Lots of cameras

Still more jewelry

Lots more awesomeness to talk about (a friend even made me a T,T&T shirt!) but I wanted to jump in and end the posting drought.

Tag Sale Haul - Albertson

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Cat) — Wed, 18 May 2011 01:04:00 +0000

We did a sale for a friend of ours this weekend. She's the personal organizer we recommend any time someone can use a personal organizer and we've gotten a couple of great sales from her, too. I think she's just great and it was such a pleasure getting to meet the rest of her family. Her name is Alix and I'll be doing an interview with her at the Gold Coast blog sometime soon.

And here's some of what I bought at her sale!

A couple other things, too, so I'm sure they'll be popping up in upcoming outfit posts. How great is that tiger?

There were some very singular things at Alix's house, like this LV steamer trunk:

This Chanel bag that was a nice, different style from what you usually see:

Lots of designer shoes:

(I bought that red pair but I was also completely in love with the teal and red pair above them, by Sonia Rykiel. No prayer in hell of fitting into them, boo.)

It was a very busy day but Eric and I had a nice, slow day on Saturday, going around to other sales:

Still a little too early in the yard sale season to score anything good at any of them.

(I was making a terrible face, so you only get the outfit! Pretty much nothing you haven't seen before. The top is from one of Machete's $5 sales, gift from Hubbs. I usually cut the necks off of all of my ringers because they make me feel like I'm choking to death all day. The pants are from 80spurple.com, $39. I wear them pushed up like the model sometimes, too.)

EBEW - Floral Pants

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Cat) — Tue, 10 May 2011 22:41:00 +0000

Confession time: Every time I think about EBEW, I get that song by Ace of Base in my head. (Everyone, everywhere, Ace of Base is in your mind.) I'm confessing not only knowing that song, but knowing it well enough for it to get stuck in my head. The Sign was the first CD I ever received (simultaneously with CrazySexyCool). I liked cassette tapes (and my mom's 45s) just fine so I had quite the collection of terrible dance music bought for me by other people before I ever got around to buying my first CD. Also, everyone I knew listened to KTU until I got to high school and discovered this whole wide world of alternative music. I think it was basically illegal to listen to anything except KTU in southeastern Brooklyn in 1994.

So I'll probably be putting this bag up for trade because, uh, it's too tiny for me. I can't realistically fit even the most bare bones basic necessities in there. So maybe someone with a more minimalistic style can nab it and send me a tote or some new shoes or something.

You can't tell in these pictures but my pants (which are, in fact, pants) are completely see through. This has made them generally difficult to wear but I decided this was a good opportunity to challenge myself. But then I just copped out and stuck some black tights under them. Cheaterface.

When I was out of the house on appointments I wore the vest because visible bra straps probably don't make the best impression on potential clients. But I don't have a personal problem with visible bra straps, especially very thin ones, so I took the vest off when I got home. I'm scandalous that way.

Look. My pants are So Big.

I felt like making myself yellow. Also, I liked that my earrings were peaking out.

This dragon necklace (enter the dragon!) is the first piece of truly large jewelry I ever bought. It remains one of my favorites. The marcasite ring is by some designer or other, maybe Judith Jack.

Closeup of my pants and you still can't tell they're see through. Win. I've been wearing these shoes a lot. But usually with socks because I generally never leave time to paint my toenails. Do you guys do sandals and pumps with socks? I'd love it if you'd show me!

Oh, and I did a practice run of florals last week, so enjoy double the florals:

My Interview with Swap.com + Swap Links

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Cat) — Wed, 04 May 2011 17:02:00 +0000

Guys, this isn't a post about what I'm wearing or what stuff I'm buying. But it IS a post about one way I get awesome things for little amounts of money and also about how cool I am (haha).

You might have noticed I'm pretty obsessed with Swap.com. I guess they noticed someone might have to cart me off to the funny farm if they don't pretend like I'm a big deal, so they interviewed me for the Swap.com blog. Check it out. Comment on the site, my silly ramblings, what you think of reducing the amount of new things you purchase and consume, whatever strikes your fancy. You don't need to be a member of the site to comment on the blog so just get on over there and teach the site that, actually, I don't need to go to the funny farm at all.

But while we're at it: if you live in the US, why aren't you a member of the site? If you have any books, CDs, movies, TV shows, or video games that are sitting around collecting dust and you'd like to leverage them for new-to-you media, this site is a brilliant way to do it. It's kind of like renting, only you can keep the thing you get for as long as you like. It's often better and cheaper than selling things you don't want for money to buy things you do want. It's definitely cheaper than buying retail and it's definitely cheaper than buying secondhand in the major online markets.

Swap.com has had some pretty high-profile plugs but I think it's entirely possible I'm the first person who actually uses the site - heavily - to fangirl out about it. I have completed nearly 900 successful trades on Swap.com. So let me tell you some stuff.

Costs. (Note: For the month of May, all transaction fees are waived, so now is the perfect time to give the site a try. Read a little more about it in "Incentives" below.) You pay for the cost of shipping your item to someone else and you pay a transaction fee of either 50-cents or $1 per completed trade for a maximum of $10 per month. You will be charged $1 for any transaction where you receive a PS3 game, an Xbox 360 game, a Wii game, a TV show or movie with three or more discs, and a CD set with four or more discs. Everything else is subject to the 50-cent fee. If you do more than $10 worth of trades in the month, good for you. You're saving even more money and will only be charged $10. You can target specific months to meet your cap and go on a trading spree or you can let the trades happen as they happen.

Benefits. The site lets you trade across media. You can turn that crummy book your mom gave you for your birthday five years ago into your new favorite CD. And it doesn't do this with credits. When you send something, you get something. The site uses three-way trades to broaden your trade possibilities for each given item, often with staggeringly high numbers of things to choose from, and always subject to change any time someone adds your item to their want list (or removes it). You can look through those things, or just add the things you already know you want to your want list and wait for them to become available. By magic.

Integrity of the system. Your trades are as good as the people sending you things and you don't have to accept trades from anyone who makes you uncomfortable. Swap.com relies on traders to give honest feedback and police themselves to satisfy most trades but, if your trade partner fails to send you anything (the slime!) and refuses to satisfy the trade, Swap.com will get you another copy of your item.

Machinations. If your idea of a good time is strategizing and observing nuances of a system to get the best advantage for yourself, this is entirely possible on this site.

Technology. There's an iPhone app with a bar code scanner. You can go on a scanning spree in a bookstore to say you want any of the zillions of things in the store. Or you can pull 50 books you own off your bookshelves and scan them directly to your have list and select their conditions as you go or do it all at once after your scanning spree is over.

Community. Also, I'm there, giving people a hard time in the forums. (And sometimes even helping.)

Incentive. Now for the best part. And by best part, I mean second best after the part where I'm there. All Swap.com trades are entirely transaction free for the month of May. You just pay for the actual shipping costs associated with sending your item. I like to think of this as a celebration of me: the first Swapper of the Month. But others might have different interpretations. Get on over there and give the site a try while there's no excuse not to. Contact me here, via my Swap.com profile, or via email (alicatstrutsbyATgmail.com) if you have any questions about how the site works, why it makes financial sense, or how to get the most out of swapping.

Extras. Oh, and for all the clothing-obsessed in ANY country, check out their partnership with the lovely ladies of The Swapaholics. They organize in-person clothing swaps all over the US and anyone in any country is free to get the word out about a swap they're having by listing it on the site.

Here are some pictures which include things I've gotten in swaps:

Buttons

TV Shows

Books and movies

Jeans

Boots

TV Shows

Striped dress, chunky jewelry, and my friend wearing the legwarmers I sent her

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Cat) — Wed, 04 May 2011 16:01:00 +0000

As you can see, I've become obsessed with this assortment of bangles and I'm completely abusing how easy they are to throw on and add weight to my outfits. They don't even get terribly in the way of computer heavy days. That's what I call brilliant.

Dress - Crazy Horse; Bag - Dolce & Gabanna; Cardigan - To the Maxx; Shoes - Steven by Steve Madden; Bangles - vintage Bakelite, wood, metal, all secondhand except JessLC chevron bracelet; Brooch - estate sale

And, yes, the bag again. It's such a perfect size and I love the versatility of the straps so I keep Not switching it out for another where I'm normally an every day or every few days bag switcher.

I bought this cardigan before my wedding to wear to my wedding. It served that purpose and is now useful in my wardrobe. One thing I wanted of my wedding clothes and accessories was for all of them to be useful to me subsequent to the wedding. So far, so good on that front!

I did add one new bracelet to the other hand. See? It's not all exactly the same! Haha.

I'm posting this picture for the funny. What the hell am I doing to my hair?

Later in the afternoon, I took off my chipping red nail polish and did some new nails. These nails are inspired entirely by one of the most awesome people I know and her many interesting posts about what she's doing to her nails. Especially this one: Adiel's polka dot nails. Thanks for the constant nail inspiration, girl!

Denim nails with Sally Hansen nail strips

Remember my loot post where I mentioned that I bought some legwarmers specifically because I thought this girl I know on the internet would like them? Well, she didn't think I was nuts, she did like them, and here she is wearing them:

Ain't life awesome?

I mentioned in my last post that I had a big announcement for yesterday but that got delayed (like happens any time more than one person is involved in doing anything) so it's possible I will be bombarding you with So Freaking Many Posts today or tomorrow. I'm sorry and I hope you will still love me as much as I love you.

Go big or go home

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Cat) — Tue, 03 May 2011 04:02:00 +0000

I imagine other people only wear one statement piece or concept at a time but I like to pile them all right together in one look. Enter biggest floppy brim hat ever. Enter giant scarab. Enter zebra belt buckle. Enter big sunglasses. Enter pattern. Enter socks with wedges. Enter the dragon. That last one is a lie, and I really should have saved it for that necklace I have that actually has a dragon on it.


Hat: Cynthia Rowley. Sunglasses: Oliver Peoples.

This big, floppy hat was the happiest, most excited puppy at the pound (aka TJMaxx) so it followed me home and I made it a bed to sleep in. I've had a few of the straw/paper hats and they have disappointed me with their willingness to let the sun burn me so I'm pretty pleased with this giant (synthetic) wonderfulness. Now if people want to sit at cute little sidewalk cafes and talk about Goethe or penguins or some such thing I can say "yes, please" instead of "ow, my face."

Here's a closeup. You can even see my hat reflecting in my sunglasses. And I have totally managed to keep my wedding band facing front.

Necklace: Kenneth Jay Lane. Dress: UO. Wedges: Jeffrey Campbell. Bag: Dolce & Gabbana.

I am so in love with this necklace. I should wear it more.

I stole this belt from my MIL.

And just because we all know how cats love to creep in on pictures:

Im in ur pickchores messin up ure shotz

I wore this outfit on what was basically a country drive going from consultation appointment to appointment on Sunday. We were in Lake Success, Sayville, and some points between. Had a yummy early lunch/brunch at a place called Cafe Joelle and saw a couple of clients that had good enough stuff for us but no one was ready to book.

We have lots of business stuff to do tomorrow (or later today, actually) but I still have a big post full of lots of text (sorry!) planned and I'm going to need your input on it in order for it to turn out awesome. Get ready. :)

Say my name, sun shines through the rain

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Cat) — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 17:37:00 +0000

I wore this to appointments all day, then amped up the makeup and wore it to drinks with friends (celebrating a birthday) at Amsterdam 106. I'm not normally much of a bangle person (though I obviously own plenty of them!) but somehow the linen pants and beachy colors demanded many bangles. I really wanted to find my dark wood bangle and couldn't figure out where I put it. I think it would have been that little something extra.

The top is by Japanese brand Aoyama Itchome and the shorts are another one of my Forever 21 Japan Relief purchases. This was not intentional but I like it.

There's my JessLC chevron bracelet in a detail shot. Hooray! Also, wood, Bakelite, metal. Wouldn't it be nice if my wedding band was facing forward so you could see it? Devil's in the details and all. I had originally intended this outfit a bit more monochromatic:

But the top has a big cutout in the back right where the band of my bra hits. So I tossed the other on top.

Outfit details

Aoyama Itchome top, from a tag sale - $8
Forever 21 beige linen shorts - $15.80
asos socks - about $5
Armand Basi sandals, hand-me-downs - $0
necklace, tag sale - $12
Dolce & Gabbana bag, gift - $0
JessLC bracelet, with a nice discount code - $36
assorted bangles, various tag and estate sales - about $10 total
Cartier Love bracelet, inherited

Do you get dressed up just to hang out with friends like I do? I don't think it's necessary all the time, every time, but I do like to use my clothes to say I care.

F21 Jumpsuit & D&G Bag

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Cat) — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 01:55:00 +0000

I've been trying to find the time to get my hair cut by one of my Kaboodle friends but I never get a sizable enough chunk of time to head into the city to do it. So I cut it myself to hopefully hold me over until next month when I probably still won't be able to make the time. Le sigh.

I don't know if you can tell, but I'm wearing the bracelet I posted in my JessLC contest look. I didn't win the contest but, thanks to all of you, I did make the top ten and Jess generously gave me a discount code. I've worn it like three days straight. Also, unprompted, my six-year-old niece was making all of us paper airplanes and then she made a paper chevron instead. Awesome.

I bought this jumpsuit during the F21 for Japan relief thing. I actually wanted to do something more personal (like ship clothes to the people there) but it seemed like they weren't really ready for anything but basic subsistence yet, so I did this stupidly small, slightly selfish thing instead. I am, as always, helpless to the pull of things with pockets. I took out the hideous belt this came with and I'll probably remove the belt loops, too, because they're enormously wide and unnecessary but I just hid them under the scarf for today. I might also experiment with turning it into a one-shoulder style top.

There go my Jeffrey Campbell wedges in action again. It really is ridiculous how comfortable they are.

The bag is D&G, by the way. My mother-in-law asked me if I wanted it and somehow I fell deeply, immediately in love. It's so big. And white. And has handles AND a strap. Could there be a better beginning to a love story?

Price and source details posted on lookbook.

Welcome to my living room

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Cat) — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 19:17:00 +0000

I've been meaning to show off my new table in its new home. I've had it for almost a week now, after all. I got distracted by sorting through things to trade on Swap.com for Earth Day. You are about to see so many pictures of things and stories about the things in the pictures your eyes might glaze over. Remember I warned you.

Say "hi" to Arsenic. She loves the loveseats and loves when I want to work from them instead of my desk or bed. The space is small so I'm really happy to have a table that looks interesting without taking up too much visual space. I'm loving the contrast between the contemporary and the traditional. And, bonus, this table (which is actually a side table) is high enough that we can eat dinner at it. Behind the couch you can see a bunch of stuff that I'm still working on: a Moroccan-style pendant which I wanted so badly but can't seem to find the perfect place for, the stick of a stick lamp that needs some jazzing up, my bar with mess all over it waiting to get put back under the bar (the doors of which are presently waiting to be reattached), and my record cabinet with stereo crap on top (which presently lacks speakers, making it kind of useless).

A wider view. Boy do I love my table. I do still want a mirrored piece somewhere in my apartment but this table is going to tide me over for a while. Here's another angle so you can get a better idea of the space:

And the many things in it. Here are some tighter shots:

And here are some stories.

I got this guy in the basement of a house in Old Westbury. He was hiding behind some cheap florists' vases. He whispered in a serpentine little lisp that I would be taking him home with me. I didn't argue. We had the exact same figurine at one of our recent sales (in Cold Spring Harbor) but that one didn't talk to me so he lives with someone else now. Behind him is a prop doll that I got from an eBay seller about eight or nine years ago. This guy had a lot of truly amazing prop dolls and I wish I could find him again because I feel like I need something with three heads in my life. Next to him is a teapot in the shape of a black-face clown on all fours. I'm interested in weird, old things even and especially if they're kind of racist. I like to acknowledge uglier times in an uglier world and find a kind of beauty in the fact that they're no longer appropriate.

I love the majesty and strength of horses. It's difficult for me not to buy every horse I see. I feel the same way about lions, too. I don't remember where I got this horse, but I think it was on the South Shore. I like his colors and the way he looks worn. The gargoyle drawing was done by the son of someone we did a sale for in Plainview. I just love the weirdness of it, and also that it was framed long and narrow. I don't like to put out a lot of personal pictures (I prefer them in photo albums or on the internet) but I put this one of my nieces out because my nieces are cute and I liked the frame (a Christmas gift from my sister-in-law). I put it here because I like the implication that the mama tiger is protecting my favorite little cubs. They're hanging out on "The Dictionary of Costumes" which was a birthday gift from a close friend a bunch of years ago.

This is a fully functioning camera that's about the length of my pinky finger. What's not to love? I got it at a sale we did in East Setauket. Surrounded by my Mikasa glasses (which you'll often see on television shows and in films when wealthy people are having dinner parties because they are pretty good dupes of the Waterford Omega stemware).

These cameras are from all over the place. I like Brownies, especially, but I go for anything that has an interesting, dated look. I don't care if the cameras are in working order because I just think they're interesting to look at, so I can usually get them pretty inexpensively (not that they sell for much either way). The peacock came from a sale in Plainview. Behind her is an old aluminum water canteen. Not the sort of thing I would usually be drawn toward but it had a weird little inscription and it's from the Girl Scouts.

I got this ugly-pretty bird thing in TJMaxx for $3 during Christmas clearance. Technically an ornament but I like her out all year long. Ugly-pretty plays a big role in my style, in general, so she's kind of like my mascot.

These sterling candlesticks are an inheritance from Eric's grandparents. They had toppers but one of them was broken and it's impossible to find someone who will re-solder silver nowadays so we dispensed with them. I'm terrible with polishing silver but, luckily for me, I enjoy the battered, aged look letting them stay tarnished provides.

This ivory figurine came from my mother-in-law. When I first met her I didn't want to incorporate any oriental decor into my living space and oriental is her favorite design element. She wore me down. I embrace the oriental. How I got there was by noticing how good it looked with Gothic and Victorian decor, which I already loved. Eric always loved this piece and she gave it to us to commemorate her imperial dominance over my psyche. ;) Next to her are an old bobble head doll (from the same sale in Old Westbury where the armored dragon whispered to me) and a Waterford vase. Behind them is a percussive instrument (I've forgotten the name) from a sale in Massapequa. I love the grain in the wood so we keep it out.

This peculiar little doll came from a sale in East Williston. It's probably obvious why she came home with me. Like with many things, nobody else wanted her. I'm constantly amazed by the things nobody else wants. She hangs out in this Orrefors bowl, looking sad and lonely and small.

I love about this etched Orrefors decanter that the artist gave this woman AWESOME abs. This one is a signed piece. The market on Orrefors signed by the artist is in the toilet so I got her for a song. I love nudes but this is the first and only one I have because I don't come across many that are quite right for my space and still affordable.

Another piece of Orrefors signed by the artist. I found this piece conceptually brilliant. Decanters have a natural, almost obvious feline curve and this is a great acknowledgment of that. Cloisonne vase from my mother-in-law. I like yellows as a minor color in the room because they don't overwhelm the blue-greens and burgundy-pinks and wood tones.

This is a tree topper. Another lost thing that found its way to me. I love the way her pathos is so beautifully conveyed with no facial features whatsoever. I love her texture, too. From a sale in Massapequa.

I bought the frog at a sale we did in Melville. The vase belonged to my mother-in-law but she replaced it with something else and I nabbed the vase.

And if that wasn't enough to look at, never fear, I posted a recent outfit at my kaboodle blogazine.

We need a resurrection

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Cat) — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 15:20:00 +0000

If you were ever a little fashion punk (like I was) you remember countless hours hand piercing your clothing with pyramids, or hand sewing patches on your jackets. Or trading your Billy Idol button for a Stiff Little Fingers button. Or wrapping your feet in tape because your Grinders Just. Would. Not. Wear. In. I've been identifying with my roots lately. I always liked punk fashion as The Great Equalizer. It never mattered that I got my tights at a discount store or saved for my boots forever because that's exactly what every other punk was emulating even when they were spending $800 on an outfit without blinking an eye. I loved that like you cannot believe. A whole subculture of fashion that was completely accessible to me, a place I could blend and be comfortable. I veered away from that as I started to have my own income and started to be more okay with me and the people around me. But I'm feeling some of the beauty in going back to roots. So, inspired by a post about a button maker I read on K, here's my punk jacket.

Front and back:

As you can see, I kept it kind of simple for a punk. Mainly because my outfits were kind of outlandish and because I had to walk through a kind of difficult neighborhood everyday and I didn't want anyone to hassle me because they thought I was in a gang. (This was a real concern for me where I grew up. I was walking home from the subway with some of my nerdy friends and some people actually thought we were trying to infringe on their turf. Try reasoning with young gang members trying to establish their toughness.) I don't know what I'm doing here:

Getting ready to do the "Thriller" dance, maybe? Oh, and while I have your rapt attention as I do the not quite Thriller pose, does anyone in NYC or who is NY-accessible want to buy this pretty table?

It has some general wear from daily use but plenty of life left. Originally asking $200 including delivery to anyone in NYC/on LI but offers are welcome, especially if you'll come get it yourself (in Seaford, NY). Will otherwise be disposed of on Friday. alicatstrutsby@gmail.com for offers or requests for details.

Goethe and other loot

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Cat) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 02:13:00 +0000

Home from a very successful sale, about to turn in early but here's what I got!

A pair of pants by Supply & Demand and a top by What Comes Around Goes Around:

Books:

The Goethe books are two in a three-book collection but I just really liked them. Looks like I need to learn some German. And by some I mean a lot.

I also got a cute little table I'll get around to showing you once I clean it up good. Here I am during the course of the sale:

As you can probably tell, there's nothing left in this room. Pretty much all of the rooms looked like this by the end of the day. That's what I call awesome. Hope everyone else had a lovely weekend!

The Land of Milk and Honey

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Cat) — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 04:02:00 +0000

I've been meaning to wear this crazy dress.

I remember when I brought it home. Hubbs made those eyes - the ones that say it's time to cart me off to the funny farm. What can I say, though? I love it.

And did I mention it has pockets? Is there anything on the planet NOT made better by pockets? This whole outfit cost me $30. $1 for the dress, $14 for the necklace (by Napier but even jewelers ask me if it's gold!), $15 for the Furla bag, the shoes were free hand-me-downs from a cousin.

Anyone else like over-the-top patterns?

My First EBEW - The Maxi

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Cat) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 18:19:00 +0000

I'm a big fan of the maxi. It makes me feel extra youthful because I lived in them in the 90s when I was extra youthful. Not that I feel like a shriveled up old hag now. That's crazy talk.

So I was having issues today. It turns out I will suffer for my boots because I have icky blister mess on my heels from trying to wear them in. (Like ya do.) So I wanted to wear these cute flats but my ankles were having none of that. So that's only how I would have worn this outfit in a world where I don't suffer for my boots.

So then I put on my husband's boots. Or, rather, I put my feet in them and pretended they were on. And then the mustard vest didn't work so I put on my crazy cat vest. As much as I love this crazy cat vest I wore it this way in protest. I also briefly tried this maxi with another maxi over it, which necessitated yet another pair of shoes. But how I'm really wearing it today is like this:

Thank goodness I have nowhere to go so I don't have to figure out what shoes won't hurt my feet today.

Check me out in some other maxis here:

blue and red
black and white
green and floral
black and pastel

Recent Loot in My Life

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Cat) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 03:48:00 +0000

A friend of mine who watches all of those "American Pickers" types of shows likes hearing about this world from the inside. So this post is dedicated to him!

We had a sale in Nesconset this weekend. Insane amounts of gold jewelry and good thing, too, because how you get to Nesconset is you take the Northern State to the end and then you keep going for a while. And the community was gated and nothing turns off people who love being anonymous like having their license plates written down.

Here's the things I bought at this sale. Some awesome books:

Some movies:

Carl Perkins! The Last Waltz! Two vests and a rabbit fur coat:

Yes. I know that that cat vest is nutso. Leather pants, and other stuff:

Hopefully, I'll be able to get the hanger imprints out. That fuzzy, crazy-patterned thing is actually legwarmers that I bought for someone I know on the internet who wears lots of legwarmers. It's possible this someone will think I'm a crazy person and not want to give me her address but they were a dollar so what the heck (is what I said). This amazing bag:

I've become obsessed with drawstring bags somehow. I don't know when this happened. Maybe I've always been obsessed with them. Maybe the Renaissance book made me think of it.

There haven't been a lot of yard sales yet, but here are some things I got at some other sales this season:

I know. I needed another camera like I needed a hole in the head. But let me distract you with the cookie cutters. Aren't they cute and sweet? Both for $1. I also went to a sale with a bunch of taxidermy animals. These people were committing highway robbery and they had already sold almost everything in the house before anyone was even let in (which is not fair play) but there was plenty of taxidermy and it was all very well done. These people conducting the sale were weird so I felt odd taking pictures but I did manage one:

There was a fox dressed as Robin Hood which it took all of my willpower not to buy. Good thing Hubbs was there to say "nay." The stuffed animals were the only things that were actually reasonably priced but they weren't so reasonably priced I was allowed to get one.

The JessLC Contest - Please Do Me A Favor & Vote For Me!

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Cat) — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 21:36:00 +0000

Please head on over to Makeunder My Life and (preferably) vote for me (!) for the contest so I can win pretty jewelry. To enter a vote for me you need to visit MML and enter "Ali C. – Tattered, Tagged and Treasured" in the comments. Thanks!

Two looks, one necklace

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Cat) — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 23:50:00 +0000

So I got this awesome necklace that I'm in love with from Atlantis Dry Goods. I have an awful lot of fairly large necklaces and this one fits right in, don't you think?

I like that I can flip the top section inward or outward and give it a different look.

(on Enstyle)

I'm also in love with this belt with penguins on it but I won't be affording anything like that until the Hubbs is free and clear of Law school and making money that we can throw on the bed and roll around in.

Remember that time I showed you my boots chillin' in the freezer? Well, they were full of bags of water turning into ice. That was supposed to make them magically bigger but really just made them wonderfully cold. What DID make my boots magically bigger was putting them in a bathtub with hot water. The internet told me to put them on my feet and put them in hot water and walk around in them until they dried but I was having none of that. I put some nice, sturdy shoe stretcher thingies in there, made with the wet, pushed the shoe stretchers in a little more firmly, and left them to dry. Magic cheatingness of the very best kind! I don't need to suffer to show how hardcore I am.

I love how clean my tub looks there. (It wasn't.)

A Spring Look with JessLC Jewelry

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Cat) — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 18:15:00 +0000

I've been reading MakeunderMyLife for a little while now and I thought I'd participate in Jess's design your look contest.

I felt like neutrals and simple were the best way to really highlight the jewelry and let it shine through so here you have it:

Sources: Rodarte for Opening Ceremony hat, Alexander Wang dress, satchel, Prada bootie, JessLC bracelet and necklace.

Update: You can vote now through April 18th, here:

Mixing my favorite loves

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Cat) — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 18:36:00 +0000

Yesterday I went out to lunch with my good Kaboodle friend lavabunny.

Good thing I've mastered the one-handed shot. We first met in real life at the Kaboodle meetup and it was great fun getting to hang one-on-one. We went to a cute place lavabunny picked, Rocking Horse Cafe, which had the important distinction of not caring if we sat there for hours.
Also I sat next to pretty flowers.

After that we went on a mini journey through Chelsea working on a project I made up for myself. I asked one of the people at my second favorite site, Swap.com, to send me some stickers to put up around NYC and he did! I'm a street team!

Yeah, it was kind of a windy day yesterday, so hair fail. I love this face:

I didn't wear my jumping shoes (and probably couldn't jump very high, anyway) but luckily my partner in crime did.

Naturally, when you walk around the city brandishing a camera like a maniac, you run into other characters. This guy is so sad he hasn't joined Swap.com yet:

I let him keep a sticker and he felt better.

The title of this picture is a reference to a private joke in the Swap.com forums:

Just to be clear: I'm not being compensated to tell anyone I love these sites. I do this exclusively because I love them and recommend them based on personal use.

Here's some detail shots on what I wore to lunch:

You can befriend me on Kaboodle here and on Swap.com here. :)

God gave rock and roll to you

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Cat) — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 00:19:00 +0000

I felt like wearing black lipstick today. This whole outfit grew out of my desire to wear black lipstick like the distraught young goth I used to be many moons ago. It's by Illamasqua in case you were wondering, gentle reader. I didn't have Illamasqua many moons ago.

I was given the shoes by an awesome cousin. They're not my usual style but they're very well made and I'm digging them. She paid 500-something bucks for them and never really wore them so someone should get some use out of them and that someone is currently me.

I found this dress in a smelly room in a smelly old house while out hunting at other people's tag sales for jewelry to buy. It's one of about three things in the house that didn't smell and it's like they were all left there just for me! So now I have them.

The vest is something I felt rabidly excited about and had to have almost the minute I saw it. I was in the middle of saving and buying for my wedding and shouldn't have been buying yellow and pink cashmere vests but, well, I did buy this one. Let the flogging begin.

I used to have a very large area rug in this room and it covered up that tape mess that a previous tenant left which I can't for the life of me seem to remove. Anyone know how to remove tape gunk left by previous tenants from hardwood?

Here's my shoes (and another pair!) in bed:

And here's my shoes in the freezer:

It's been that kind of day here. Pricing and wherefrom details on lookbook:

The Battle Call

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Cat) — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 04:37:00 +0000

I'm posting this from my newly acquired MacBook Pro! I'm in love. I am losing out on sleep doing the internet until late in the evening from the comfort of my bed. This is what's known as an inalienable human right. And also this is what's known as exaggeration.

I've been doing a lot of rearranging of the apartment. Just little things, mostly. The dress form used to be behind the loveseats and I moved one of the loveseats out of the main living room area and made a new area next to the bookshelves. I want to show you this with pictures but it's a big ol' mess over there so I'm just going to wave my hands and show you the parts that are all right. Like my new Staffordshire lions making friends with my foo dogs:

And my new and improved usual corner:

And also I show you my fist of fury:

It represents rising up.

Hubbs was holding out on me

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Cat) — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 00:27:00 +0000

I was throwing something in the garbage and I found this intriguing empty container inside. I pulled it out and called Hubbs to ask wtf was he doing hiding possible delicious from me.

And it turned out that, actually, he was hiding MEGA DELICIOUS FROM ME!!! He volunteered to go straight to the grocery store from work to pick me up one of my own as contrition. (And, really, because he wanted to get another for himself.)

He called me from the store and I chose Sea Salt Caramel. Amazing. And full of an insanely large amount of fat in a small amount of foodstuffs. It's right up there with Nutella on the fat scale. But so very worth every bite. The Sea Salt Caramel tastes warm and comforting and cold and refreshing ALL AT THE SAME TIME. And I'm a big fan of these containers. Totally keeping them and putting stuff in them.

Enstyle on Facebook!

noreply@blogger.com (Ali Cat) — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 14:00:00 +0000

In December I got tagged to join enstyle, a street fashion community operating entirely within Facebook. It has officially launched!

Check out their promo video (I'm somewhere around second 49 or 50) on YouTube and join if clothes are your thing!

And I'd love it if you help get the community warmed up by heading over to enstyle on Facebook and "liking" some looks. This way you don't have to head all the way to Lookbook every time you want to love on me, haha. ;)