Tattered, Tagged and Treasured

Beefing Up Gold Coast Tag Sales Web Presence

alicatstrutsby@gmail.com (alicatstrut) — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:05:00 +0000

Something that's been preoccupying us in our down time over at Gold Coast Tag Sales has been making sure people - especially homeowners - get to our website and call us. This is a very personal, very in-person business, so we really need our unique approach to shine through. We've kept the website very simple because we like straight, simple professionalism without a lot of distracting bells and whistles.

We think a really great, really important way to expand our business is to connect with homeowners and secondhand shoppers outside the regular sale experience. With that in mind, keep an eye out for the new blog I'm going to be maintaining:

http://goldcoasttagsales.blogspot.com/

This blog will be directly connected to Gold Coast and will focus more exclusively on tag sales than my personal journey through them. I'd love to have you as a reader and, if you know anyone in the secondhand world who might enjoy it, please do direct them that way!

Signs of Life

alicatstrutsby@gmail.com (alicatstrut) — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 14:19:00 +0000

Spent yesterday at my M-I-L's house, doing shop talk. Hooray! Appointments are slowly picking up again. I go on as many appointments as I can so I can learn the finer points of the biz and familiarize myself with the homeowner and the stuff I'll be selling before the sale date. The appointments go much more quickly when there's two of us, too.

We also set up a Facebook group. Please do join if you're in the NYC/LI area because we hope to share important sale information when the membership grows large enough.

It wasn't all work and no play dull Ali, though. I took advantage of the superior light and change of scenery to photograph more inventory. (Yes, I consider that play.) Here's some quick outfit shots Eric took for me:

But I confess that half of this will end up for sale. I've become obsessed with wearing the things I'll be giving up shortly.

The Slow Season

alicatstrutsby@gmail.com (alicatstrut) — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 13:44:00 +0000

December through February is the heartbreakingly slow tag sale period during which all of us tag sale addicts feel itchy in our skin. There are less than 1/4 the amount of sales there are during the season and half of those are run by people with nothing to sell and nothing to do. We search craigslist and charity shops and fliers on bulletin boards for something - anything - resembling a sale. We are in desperate need of a fix.

We consider seeing all the friends and family we've been neglecting the rest of the year. We start going through our many piles and collections of Things in half-hearted attempts at organizing. We get terrified the season will Never arrive. We consider getting a "real job." We look for other stuff to do. To get us through.

Here's what I've been doing to get me through this dry spell:

1. Starting an etsy store for all the vintage jewelry, scarves, and findings I've amassed over the years.

2. Listing records on eBay. I'll probably expand to clothes and accessories that aren't vintage, but one thing at a time. Gotta keep it spread out enough to last.

3. Living on kaboodle.com and lookbook.nu. I post outfits, read everyone else's stuff, read all of the forums, everything and anything.

4. Joining other sites. I got a formspring, so head on over there and ask me stuff!

That's it, guys. Wish me a good sale or two to get me through the rest of the winter slump!

Getting Rid of Records on eBay

alicatstrutsby@gmail.com (alicatstrut) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 19:11:00 +0000

Over the years I've collected A LOT of records. I gave some away to pare down a while ago but I don't have a working turntable setup so I had to ask myself: "Why am I keeping all these records I can't listen to?" Being a tag sale regular is like having a disease... like those people on that Hoarders show. I'm trying to cure myself of that disease. Little by little, my record collection is going up on eBay. Here's a flickr slideshow of the records I listed today, including Blondie and The Ramones:

If you know anyone who's into vinyl, please do let them know this is all available on alicatstrut's eBay. The auctions start at 99 cents and they can help a crazy hoarder (that's me) out.

T, T & T, now with Etsy!

alicatstrutsby@gmail.com (alicatstrut) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 22:49:00 +0000

I have long had the problem of WAY too much stuff accumulating in my apartment. I'm using etsy to ease the load on some of the vintage. Check it out!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/alicatstrut

If you have an etsy shop, too, let me know! I'd love to check it out.

Elsewhere

alicatstrutsby@gmail.com (alicatstrut) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 19:47:00 +0000

So, I haven't been up to much on the blog front. I do most of my holiday shopping before Thanksgiving so I've been busy with that and I can't show any of that because people getting gifts read this. But I did score an awesome new garbage find!

From Blogger Pictures

Found in Seaford, NY.

We were on our way home from Eric's parents' house after a sale and there it was. It barely fit into the car. But, hey. We fit that coffin thing in, so this was gravy. Some good clothing loot from the sale, by the way, so expect some outfit pictures soon.

Also, before the wedding I wrote some content for Debt Free Saver and now we got it in publishable shape. Check out parts 1 and 2 here and here, respectively!

Pimping Kaboodle

alicatstrutsby@gmail.com (alicatstrut) — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 02:00:00 +0000

So. I pretty much live on Kaboodle these days. It's a really great way to get my shopping organized. Which means more advanced planning of my purchases and less big ticket impulse buys. Which means better bargaining. They've also got lots of little deals and promotions going on all the time. So I'm a Target holiday elf thingie this year. Go check it out.

October Goal Review + November Goals

alicatstrutsby@gmail.com (alicatstrut) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:01:00 +0000

So, October was my first month stating blog goals. I think perhaps there were too many goals which were a bit too large in scope for a blog I only post to four to ten times a month. Despite that, I did try to implement them.

I sneaked in the Swap Feature at the last possible moment and I only posted one item, but at least it's started. I posted twice with actual tag sale procedure/content. I tried out the asking more questions thing on one of them, but it was a bit stilted because I just tacked it on at the end. I need to work on ways of integrating them more naturally, but I think I still want to have something general at the end of each of those posts for people who are new to tag sales and might not know where to start.Any tips? I also posted more often, but not much more regularly. I may experiment with scheduling posts more, but I get antsy waiting for a post to be live when I've already written it, especially because then I might not be around to read and respond to comments right away.

Anyway, having the goals in mind has been great, I just think I need to take it slower and really do them well. So here goes November.

1. Post at least three outfit posts for the month. These are so much fun to do and people are always really responsive to these kinds of posts.

2. Find more bloggers to interact with. It's easy to find blogs I enjoy reading that are about clothes. It's much harder finding ones I really enjoy that are about tag sales and bargains. (I do love Yard Sale Bloodbath.) If you guys stumble upon any, I'd love it if you sent them my way.

3. Get more swappable stuff photographed. That's the most annoying part for me because it's all strewn about until I actually pull it together for swappingness.

That's it for November goals. November through January there's lots of tag sale boom and bargains to be had so I may be too busy experiencing them to introduce a ton of goals.

Available for Swap or Purchase

alicatstrutsby@gmail.com (alicatstrut) — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 15:37:00 +0000

So, having things regularly available for swap on an individual basis was one of my October goals. Check me out, sneaking it in under the wire.

So, how this works is if anyone wants them, they can offer up something else for trade, or make an offer, not including shipping, to buy them. For buying, Paypal only. For swapping, we can negotiate the semantics on an individual basis. As I post each new item, it will go in the same flickr set with older items, so you can always negotiate on several things at once later. Please ask any questions you might have before we agree to exchange items.

So, in honor of Halloween, monster green Steve Madden heels in size 7. They have a slash through the label, like they do at certain discount places. Slight scuffing near the toe (pictured). I'd love to trade them for something kinda similar, maybe a slightly lower heel, in the 7-8 range. But show me anything. I'm looking for something in the $30 range for them if you want to buy them.

Unexpected Finds

alicatstrutsby@gmail.com (alicatstrut) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:45:00 +0000

I was helping Ronnie upload pictures for our sale this weekend when I saw this bed and matching console table:

They're so steampunkable! And there are pink sheets on the bed, wtf. This is a reasonably small partial contents sale, so I was pretty shocked to find anything I liked in the pictures, but there you have it. The picture isn't even of the bed, it's of the Krasnyanskys. Anyway, I have no need for a bed because I just got a new one, but I hope someone awesome buys it.

What It's Like to Have a Tag Sale Consultation, Part 1: Appointments

alicatstrutsby@gmail.com (alicatstrut) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 22:58:00 +0000

We've noticed that a lot of our homeowners have no idea what to expect at almost every step of the process. This is why they need us, but this is also why we sometimes need to beat our brains out trying to convey (with indoor voices!) how irrational some of their requests and beliefs are. So, for those homeowners who like to do a little research before they hire a tag sale coordinator, here's how it works with us. Every tag sale company is different, but this should give you a general idea of what to expect from one.

Making an appointment.
Our consultations are free, which is great for the homeowner, but which means we need at least a general idea what you have to make sure it's worth the trip to your house. If all you're selling is the sofa, be truthful about it. That's not enough for us to do a tag sale and you will not convince us to wait around all day to sell your one sofa, or even your six sofas. We can help you Craigslist it if you're really determined.

A lot of homeowners seem to think that if they can just get us there, they can convince us to do their sale. Let's think about this. Ronnie has to pay, at the bare minimum, one person to handle the money and one person to monitor traffic. Let's say your couch sells for $1,500. And that's reaching, by the way, no matter what you paid for it. Ronnie's non-negotiable commission is 25 percent. So she gets $375 and has to pay two people out of that. That's not realistic.

Appointment Schedule.
We do sales on weekends, with occasional Fridays or Mondays thrown in if there are community rules. So don't demand your appointment on a weekend. Ronnie is pretty flexible about meeting people and she will meet with people on a weekend if she doesn't have a sale, but expecting her to show up after a long day at a sale and get excited about your stuff is ridiculous. If you're moving, the best possible thing you can do for yourself is take a day off from work and really sort out what you're selling so you can show it. So show it on that day. Even if we can't take your sale, you've given yourself some time to mentally or physically sort through what needs to get packed and this will be really helpful when your closing date starts looming.

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Next: Showing your house to a prospective tag sale company

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Have any crazy stories about social gracelessness or thoughtlessness getting in the way of scheduling something with someone? I want to hear about it in the comments!

Gratuitous Wedding Photo Posting

alicatstrutsby@gmail.com (alicatstrut) — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 01:16:00 +0000

You guys are in luck, because my photographer is superfast and awesome and I have her photos already. And a couple of other people's, too!

First, as you may have already guessed, I'm not a conventional bride. On the upside, non-white non-weddingy dresses are way cheaper than white. We had a Victorian Masquerade theme and I'm happy to say people went all out for it.

Photo by Steph Flanders

I got the Metamorphose dress, secondhand but certainly never worn to a wedding, on the livejournal egl sales community for $65 shipped. The boots are from a shop in the West Village and they were a totally non-thrifty $79.99 but I so don't care because I love them and now I get to wear them whenever I want. The shirt you might recognize from Loehmann's Haul, Part 2. My underskirts were very old tag sale purchases. I don't remember what I paid any longer.

In the land of non-thrifty, I bought three complete outfits to wear to the wedding and it took me a long time to decide between them. But before I get too hard on myself, their total cost was under $300 including shoes and stuff.

The cake, made by Sasha was my wedding gift, but she's totally available for hire.

Photo by Steph Flanders

The ceremony, conducted by our friend, James Amodio, involved everything from candles to The Princess Bride; from physics to Rocky Horror.

Photo by Steph Flanders

The ballroom, where the reception was held, a.k.a. where we had our own private Slackers show.

Photo by Steph Flanders

In case you're wondering, the Slackers were very reasonable by wedding band standards and they're our favorite band in the whole world so they were well worth the large chunk of our budget they cost. (Total budget = $8,000, and we only overspent by about $20 including absolutely everything!!)

Me with our bartender and friend, Joi.

Photo by Steph Flanders

Two V.I.P.s, representing on the masquerade theme.

Photo by Steph Flanders

Me and Eric with Vic from the Slackers.

Photo by Steph Flanders

Isn't it cute how Eric looks like, no, babe, you aren't *with* Vic, you're with me?

A shot that shows how great Steph is. We're probably going to blow this up for our wall.

Photo by Steph Flanders.

And because I'm lazy and you guys apparently want to hurry up and see this stuff already...

Here's a guest link to my flickr set with all of Steph's pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/gp/98211982@N00/U05875

Here's a link to pictures from Kate:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kustomkitten/sets/72157608093458483/

Here's pictures from Michelle:
http://www.flickr.com/gp/98211982@N00/65C9ZL

Here's pictures from Joanna:
http://www.flickr.com/gp/98211982@N00/2s367j

Here's pictures from my sister/MOH:
http://www.flickr.com/gp/98211982@N00/V6EWuM

Enjoy!

Wedding Interference

alicatstrutsby@gmail.com (alicatstrut) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 11:58:00 +0000

So my wedding is in just a few days. I have been doing lots of bargaining in relation thereto, and soon you can expect a special series about the ways I did that on my friend's blog: Debt Free Saver. In the meantime, I've been very spendy, including a few totally extravagant (aka not at all thrifty) purchases which I'll share with you post-wedding.

A Couple of Secret Ways We Judge Homeowners

alicatstrutsby@gmail.com (alicatstrut) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:45:00 +0000

1. Do they offer us food? Although we're not at the level of regular guests, we do have a more personal, interdependent relationship with homeowners than many people performing services in their houses. Failing to offer us some kind of food and beverage doesn't mean we'll hate them, but offering us food definitely gives us an indication that they consider us human beings on equal footing with them. We're spending the day together, so a little politeness goes a long way.

2. Do they have good toilet paper? Frequently, we're using guest bathrooms or servants' bathrooms because they're on the first floor and don't have personal items in them. Not only do we secretly judge homeowners on how nice the amenities are, we take note of whether they use the same toilet paper for themselves. This isn't something we started doing consciously; it's something we started noticing over time and jokingly use as a litmus test. It's not perfect, but a lot of people who offer cheaper toilet paper to their servants subconsciously think of us as servants. And we deserve to be in a more partner-like relationship with our clients.

3. Do they understand the concepts of markets and trends? Good prospective homeowners understand that not everything they own is worth a zillion dollars and that, sometimes, timing is everything. They understand this and are realistic about getting their stuff sold. They also understand that it's about the big picture. Who cares if we sold the table for $20 less than they wanted to get when we sold the painting for $400 more than they thought they could get?

4. Do they leave us to do our job? If a homeowner interrupts one of us when we're going in for the kill on making a sale, or hovers over customers, we are thinking evil thoughts about them. They should fear for their safety. They have hired us to do this thing for them and we are better at it than they are. It's really hard watching someone say your stuff is crappy, or watching someone start to walk away from a sale. I know. But we need them to keep quiet and out of the way because we know our customers and, again, we're better at this than they are.

5. Do they understand why some things HAVE to be the homeowner's job? Some people get really overwhelmed by moving and freak out a little. That's okay, but once we point out why we can't possibly do certain things for them, like put away items that aren't for sale, if they don't understand right away, we expect a problem. Once a homeowner was mad that we sold his box of tea bags that he left out on the counter with all of the other things that were for sale. We aren't mind readers. We always stress repeatedly that anything not for sale needs to be put away. Needless to say, we're still judging this guy. I guess it's not a secret anymore. ;)

New for October--Talking Shop

alicatstrutsby@gmail.com (alicatstrut) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 04:20:00 +0000

So, Miss Debt Free Saver tagged me in this post about goals. I have lots of personal goals, but I haven't been focusing on blog-related goals recently. I'm getting married in a few days, so there hasn't been much time to think about anything else.

Anyway, Sasha's post did get me thinking about blog goals. Of course blogs should have these, implied or directly stated, so they have a direction in which to progress. Last month, my unofficial goal was to do something fun and easy that would direct more traffic to my blog and my friends' blogs. I ended up combining this with my never ending need to clean out my closet to make the September 2008 Swap. It was small, but it went really well and I had a ton of fun doing it. Big would have been really overwhelming my first time doing it in the blogosphere, so I really have nothing bad to say about the experience and I can't wait to show off my new stuff.

Some October goals:
1. Establish a new feature where I post some items I have available for swap on a regular basis. I plan for these to be smaller-scale and handled on an individual basis. Some will just be completely free except for shipping and some will be items I would like to swap for other items of equal value or usefulness. (Don't worry. If people are interested in doing another big swap, I'll still always be able to pull together enough new swapable clothes for it. But that's probably a topic for another month.)
2. Ask my readers more questions. I genuinely care what you guys think and I never remember to ask. It's silly not to encourage dialogue I want to be having.
3. Post more genuinely useful tag sale content. We're in the slower months of the tag sale business, and all the bank stuff going on isn't helping. That doesn't mean I can't produce useful content, though. I want to keep the interests of the blog broad, but I don't want to lose sight of the main basis for it.
4. Post more often and a bit more regularly. Sometimes I get behind and combine several post topics into one big, messy post. I'd like to start posting more often, with more manageable post sizes.

Whew. In light of my second goal, do you guys have opinions about my posts? What do you really like seeing (and what could you do without)? Is there anything about tag sales you've been wondering about? Any new feature ideas? I really do appreciate you and I can handle all suggestions, compliments, advice and criticism related to the blog, publicly or privately.

Growing Up (Falling Down)--Outfit Post

alicatstrutsby@gmail.com (alicatstrut) — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 14:30:00 +0000

Ugly Shoes

Fetching silk/cashmere sweater dress, all-you-can-grab bag, about $0.30.
Jet Set white/navy bib tank, Mandee, $10.49.
Tripp belt, Trash & Vaudeville, $14.
Anne Klein burgundy OTK socks mentioned in this post, Filene's, $2.
Brown shoes (these are the ugliest shoes I own, but I kinda like that about them), TJMaxx, $6.
Ralph Lauren purse, tag sale in Muttontown, about $10.
Black velvet pearl necklace, Claire's 20 for $10 sale, $0.50.
Pair of black/metallic necklaces pictured in this post, tag sale in Lynbrook, $3.
Crystal/claw necklace, stolen from a good friend a long time ago, $0.
$46.29 in total.

I thought I'd capture another outfit today, but it's hot out again and that doesn't put me in a good outfit mood. We'll see!

Swap Update--General Claiming Can Be Done Now!

alicatstrutsby@gmail.com (alicatstrut) — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 03:59:00 +0000

Okay, guys, anyone who wants to can claim my stuff now:

My Swapables

I won't be staying awake to see if any new things get claimed, so please make sure to claim by commenting at the entry with the form so everyone can sort out what everyone else has claimed.

And you can check out other people's stuff, but I haven't asked them if they want to ship to people who aren't swapping, so negotiating offers is entirely up to them. Their items are here:
Adiel
Becka
Ellen & Sasha (They've got some new stuff up, too, so swappers should still be checking back.)

Shepharding in the Fall--Outfits

alicatstrutsby@gmail.com (alicatstrut) — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 20:14:00 +0000

***
Don't forget you can still be participating in the Swap! Up to date info here.
***

Summer, especially the end, is always a big drag for me. I hate being hot and sticky and I can only take off so much clothing before I'm not allowed out in polite society. Which makes the turn from summer to fall the absolute most best time in the whole world.

Transition Outfit

Cosmo shirt, part of the all-you-can-stuff grab bag, about $0.10.
Under shirt, Loehmann's, $1.
Skort, Mandee, $4.70.
Leopard tights, TJMaxx, $3.
Knee-highs, mentioned in this post, Filene's, $2.
Pink Chucks, TJMaxx, $19.99.
Heart necklace, tag sale, $0.50.
Lunch pail, garage sale, gift, $0.
$31.29 all together.

Fully Fall

Romeo & Juliet Couture dress pictured in this post, Loehmann's, $14.40.
Betsey Johnson tights, TJMaxx, $3.99.
Brown oxfords, TJMaxx, $29.99 (another shoe splurge!).
Pirate chain, tag sale, $4.
Steampunk clay bracelet, Queen of the Cat People, $0 (mentioned in this post).
$52.38 in total.

Everyone's September 2008 Swap Links

alicatstrutsby@gmail.com (alicatstrut) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 17:00:00 +0000

Okay, everyone, starting at 12:01AM Eastern Time on September 25th (that's tonight, for all of you late nighters), you can post your links to your swapped items. As soon as your link is posted, you are free to start claiming things at anyone else's link.

I don't know if I'll be awake that late, so you probably won't see mine until tomorrow morning. Happy hunting.

And, FYI, there is some interest in participating without posting items for swap. I have no problem with this as long as it's done after swappers get a chance to claim. It's totally up to you whether you want to send things to people who didn't swap, but I'm going to have open season on my stuff after us swappers all make our first claims. I'll announce when our claiming seems to have died down.

Adiel
http://www.itsbecauseithinktoomuch.com/2008/09/clothing-swap_24.html

Ali
http://www.tatteredtaggedtreasured.com/2008/09/my-swapables.html

Becka
http://flickr.com/photos/beckarules

Ellen & Sasha
http://debtfreesaver.wordpress.com/2008/09/25/our-swap-items/

My Swapables!

alicatstrutsby@gmail.com (alicatstrut) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 16:00:00 +0000

First of all, for all claiming, please comment below with the following information:
--Email (Paypal email if you want your stuff shipped)
--Whether you want to pick your clothes up in person or have them shipped
--Items claimed

Shipping is going to be MUCH cheaper on combined shipping than if you just added the shipping prices for the items together. (Items ship from around 11366, Fresh Meadows, NY.) So claim lots of stuff!

Okay, you can view the whole set here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/alicatstrut/sets/72157607436208460/

But below are small versions of them all (which you can click for size/condition and shipping). You can go ahead and ask any questions here or there, but please do all claiming back here because I can't assume everyone has a flickr.

Smoke-free, but I have two cats and they get on EVERYTHING. Don't claim anything you aren't willing to clean if you're allergic.

Sizes range from girls and boys 6X/8 to womens XL, maybe 2X on a few of the things marked XL.

Swap Update--Can Everyone Be Done Photographing Swap Items By September 25th?

alicatstrutsby@gmail.com (alicatstrut) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 21:36:00 +0000

Okay, guys, I'm about done photographing my items. So far, there are 72 items and probably about 20 to go. Then I just have to get down the sizing and condition info and I'm ready to go. I know Becka is all ready to go and just waiting on all of us. Unless I hear that someone needs an extension to get it done, we can all post them on Thursday, September 25th and post our links in a post I'll create on the 24th so we can all find each other's swap stuff.

As soon as you post on the 25th, you can start claiming anyone else's posted stuff. If you missed out on the initial sign-up period and want to join the swap, you can go ahead and start collecting stuff you have for swap and follow the directions in this post. As long as you can be ready sometime on or around the 25th, you can still join.

What You Need to Include About Your Items
--Location (City, State)
--Cost to ship (cost can obviously be waived for anyone with whom you're swapping in person)
--Size and condition

You're welcome to include other information, like a numbering system, but that's totally up to you.

I've found that people are hesitant to claim things at first because they don't want to be greedy. That's fine, but I wholly encourage you to be greedy. If one person claims several things from one person, it's just easier for the person to send them. After the first claiming period dies down a bit, I'll do a reminder post so we can all go back and claim any items that we were more on the fence about.

Recent Purchases--And You Know What That Means

alicatstrutsby@gmail.com (alicatstrut) — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:00:00 +0000

Okay, guys, so I totally have this one-in-one-out rule now. In a minute you're going to see all the new stuff I got. But all this new stuff means I had to go through my closets and bookshelves and nooks and crannies and pick out things to get rid of. And here's how I'm going to do that.

Internet Clothing Swap!
I want to organize one. And that means I need you and all the people you know to find out about this and consider entering the swap.

How It's Going to Work
Sign up in the comments, here, with the following information:
-Blog Name/Flickr Name/LJ Name/Where ever you choose to host your swap pictures
-Email address
-Estimated number of items available for swap
-Who referred you here (if I don't already know you)
-Location (you can be approximate, I just need an idea of where people are likely to ship things from, or whether they want to meet in person to do the swapping)

We aren't going to be doing this as an even swap; we're doing an everybody-in-everybody-claim-whatever swap, so you will need to be prepared to ship things to people (let's try to keep the fees as low as possible, please) unless they live near you and you want to trade in person. A few of my NYC-area friends have already expressed interest, so I think we'll definitely do a meet-up here.

What You Should Be Doing to Prepare
Start photographing your swapables. Because shipping money may be changing hands and we want to be as safe as possible, please include a note with your Blog Name (or whatever) and T, T & T September 2008 Swap HANDWRITTEN and visible in EACH swap picture. Photograph the stuff however you want, in a pile, styled, whatever, but pictures where people can actually see the stuff do better.

***Edit***
Some people are confused about the whole handwritten note business. This is what I mean:

I just want us all to have SOMETHING that proves these pictures are specifically for this swap and aren't just pulled randomly from somewhere. It doesn't need to be fancy or crisply clear.
***/Edit***

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Now on to my new stuffs!

Okay, I spent way too much money on this tote ($23.99 at Daffy's) but I love it so.

$2, $2, $2, $6.99 for the three-pack, $1, $0.75, $2, respectively! All from Filene's. I've worn both of the brown pairs and they're super comfy and awesome.

This is the all-you-can-stuff-in-a-bag loot. I ended up with two very stuffed bags, $20 total. Some of the stuff had stains, so I have to see about my cleaning skills or figure out how to recon them. (I'm not always a model shopper. Sometimes I get too excited by the shape of something and forget to check it over.)

That's all of the clothes. Not that it wasn't a ton and all. But I also went to a friend's very well-established book swap.

I left with those two suitcases carefully stuffed full of books and returned with what you see there and here:

Of course I'm excited about the books, but I'm superexcited about the sudden windfall that the TiVo equals. Now I don't need to get a new cable box for the living room. I can tell Amazon to just send things to my TiVo. I can't wait until this TiVo learns all about me and wants to be my best friend. So, I came home with a fair amount less than I went with. And that is good!

Don't worry, even with the books putting me ahead in the one-in-one-out rule, I still have a TON of clothing to swap!

Bargain Outfit Shots

alicatstrutsby@gmail.com (alicatstrut) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:25:00 +0000

Versatility

It translated well from shopping to playing DDR with friends.
Chanel sunglasses from this post, about $45.
Gucci watch, birthday gift from Ronnie, $0.
Sterling heart necklace from this post, about $10.
Target bag mentioned in this post, $10.
Colorblock dress by Double Zero, part of an all you can stuff bag at a sale in Kensington, about 10 cents.
Purple footless tights from Target, on clearance for like $4.
Calvin Klein sneakers, gift from a homeowner who worked for the brand, $0.
$69.10.

Class & Lara's Birthday Lunch

Cropped hoodie from Mandee, $3.70.
Dress from Target, $12.99.
Belt, was the wrapping on one of my bridal shower gifts, $0.
Necklace from an old sale, I think in Great Neck, about $3.
Earrings from the clearance section of a random mall store in Richmond, $2.
Jeans, Buffalo, somewhere on the South Shore, about $4.
Shoes, not pictured (leopard print, high top style), from Love My Shoes, $5.99.
$31.68.

Copy Cat Strut

alicatstrutsby@gmail.com (alicatstrut) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 20:31:00 +0000

In an effort to show that, yeah, I really do wear all this crap I acquire from all over and, yeah, you can get great finds that look good at great prices, I'm going to try to show more pictures of me in the things I find, all jumbled together the way I really wear them. These pictures will usually be in my apartment because I'm not schlepping my ginormous camera all around the city just to take pictures of myself. So, if you're wondering, "Is her place really THAT messy all the time?" the answer is "Yes." Our garbage is always full, our crap is always all over the place, we're always 20 loads behind on the laundry. Eric and I frequently think of our apartment as that place we use to get ready for all the stuff we're going to go do. Sometimes I try to make the place neater to keep other people from running away in terror but, well, that's not really how we live.

Anyway, here's me, in an outfit, in the entryway of my apartment:

The boy&girl necklace is a Target One Spot copy of a Patricia Field, $1.
The cardigan, inspired by Adiel (It's Because I Think Too Much), is a secondhand gift by Rena Lange, $0.
The polo-style shirt is actually Aeropostale (I can find something I'd wear in every store in the universe) hand-me-down from my sister, $0.
The shorts are the same ones pictured in Loehmann's Haul, Part 2, $13.49.
The shoes were a splurge at Love My Shoes, $25. (Way more than I would usually spend on one pair. And I loved them so much I bought them on clearance in black for $10.)

That's, count it, $39.49 for my whole outfit.

Recent Purchases

alicatstrutsby@gmail.com (alicatstrut) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 15:42:00 +0000

New jewelry (from the same sale at which I got the acorn necklace in Part of a New Breed):

And recent creepy kitschy purchases:

For Fishy! He loves it! They usually charge retarded prices for these things, like $25-$60. I got this one at Petsmart for $12.99. If I ever feel like hooking it up to a pump, it's a bubbler. I have no idea why this was so much cheaper; it looks like the same quality as every other fish tank decoration thingie. Anyway, that's why we shop around, right?

Yeah. The best part about this thing is it's not supposed to be creepy. But it SO is.