Cell Bella

I had intended to show you some thrift gifts and the thrift outfit that makes me look like an elf this week (will do next week), but I had to show you what I look like in my $9.99 designer dress found at VV (see previous posts from this week).

Cute isn't it? You can't really tell but I'm wearing it with a gorgeous pair of Kenneth Cole Reaction boots, also dug up at Value Village. The pearl multi-tier chain is also thrift.

The hair cut is new too, $25 from my local gal.



Why am I posing in front of a mall kiosk with a Blackberry, you ask? Because I finally caved and bought my first mobile device EVER yesterday.

The price was very Grunge Queen. The Blackberry Curve (not the latest one but that's ok) was free. I had to sign up for a 3-year contact but there are no hidden fees with Virgin Mobile. Plus they waived the set up fee, gave me 100 free minutes every month for 3 years, the first month free, and threw in a $75 Mastercard gift card! And if the phone isn't doing it for me I can return it within 30 days (with the gift card, of course). I went to the Yorkdale mall kiosk and manager Paulo was great.

Now that I'm mobile I may be able to give you GQ updates in real time!

Ruth

I love this coat. It's a down-filled Hilary Radley I bought new maybe 5 years ago (on sale, natch). I'm bringing it to a local shopping centre with me thi, where I'm doing a shopping column. I'm hoping to find Ruth, a homeless person I've been seeing and chatting with for a year or so. I saw her a few weeks ago at the mall and she was wearing a yoga suit - no coat, scarf or mitts. I want to give Ruth the jacket, aling with some mitts and a cute dollar store toque with faux rhinestones on it. Maybe I'll find some dollar store socks for her along the way.

I keep bumping into Ruth. Sometimes she leaves town when she finds a job, but she always ends up back here. She's my age. She appears to have had a bad run. She's alone, too. If I see her I'm asking her out for a coffee.

I hope I find Ruth today.

Easy peasy holiday centrepiece

Sorry for the late post tonight. As I sit and do my holiday cards tonight I'm basking in the glow of this grungy-glam makeshift centrepiece.

I found these Williams Sonoma green pear-scented tea lights at my neighborhood dollar store (where I also got the cards). I plopped them on a silver tray I've had for years, picked up at a thrift store (silver trays are always in abundance for super cheap at places like Value Village), and voila, instant centrepiece.

Simple, elegant and all in five minutes - the Grunge Queen way! Now I must finish my cards. This week I'll also show some thrift gifts and a MISTAKE thrift outfit that is rather elf-like in its appearance! Goodnight!

Blue silk dress for holiday tea, $9.99

I rarely thrift shop when I'm feeling down. It usually means I'm in search of something to make me feel better, and truth be told it more often than not results in a horrible experience. If your Karma is off, thrift shop Karma just doesn't, well engage.

So yesterday, a very grey icky day, with a seasonal flu and a dash of seasonal stress thrown in, I headed to Value Village on the way home. I hadn't done a VV dig in a long time. I was pleasantly surprised to see the Danforth and Woodbine location (and all other VVs in the city) had had a little refresh - new paint, new signs, new changeroom doors.

Lo and behold, my thrifting Karma kicked in in spite of my blue mood: the very first thing I picked out was a 100 percent silk blue dress by Lauren Moffatt http://www.laurenmoffatt.net/ ... for $9.99!

Moffatt is known for her vintage inspired looks, and this boho chic frock really revved me up ... and fit me perfectly. Mint condition! I was wondering what I would wear to tea at the Windsor Arms Hotel with my beau -- now I have my dress!





















By the way, Value Village was uncharacteristically deadsville last night. I was told biz dies after Halloween and doesn't pick up for the new year - a great opportunity for us deal divas! Speaking of deals I was surpised this dress was $9.99, as 'good' dresses at this VV location tend to be $14.99. I saw a gorgeous wrap dress by Toronto designer Marc Foreman of the 'Bionic' label - it was $9.99 as well, where the Bionic dress I bought several years ago at the same location was $14.99.

Just goes to show the pricing gods aren't consistent even at good 'ole VV. This experience has made me want to shop VV more than I have been in the last 6 mos.

Trash tales: grey chair found but left there

Grunge Queen has been feeling a tad under the weather lately, and this grey chair spied in the trash the other day is not only a perfect embodiment of her mood of late, but very possibly an apt symbol for this very grey Monday afternoon we're experiencing in Toronto the good.

I would never dream of being critical of other peoples' decor choices - perhaps this was a very comfortable and beloved chair for someone, much like the much-maligned chair Fraser's Dad loved in the well-known sitcom, Frazer. But this one is definitely not my style. It's so big, it must have taken up half the living room. Still, I can appreciate that nod to good design in the curved underbelly of the chair. Maybe if the whole design was scaled down a little bit, and the poufiness deflated a bit, the chair would have been worthy of a GQ haul. As it is I left it there. Happy Monday to all you fellow garbage pickers out there!

Shoes in Little India ... maybe for moi?

While doing a shopping column today in Toronto's Little India, I saw these pink and blue paisley brocade (?) shoes in the window of a shop that was closed. Most shops in the area don't open until noon, some even 4 p.m., I discovered.

Wah. I want these shoes. They're not the typical beaded Indian shoes that aren't my style (like the ones sitting below them in the window). I can see myself wearing them for a special holiday function. I wonder if they're my size? They look pretty big. Think I'll have to go back one night after work. I hear a lot of the shops on the Gerrard St. East near Coxwell strip are open until 9 or 10 every night.

Party pics and partial outfit peek

On readers' request (see yesterday's post), here are the holiday party pics with a partial peek at my thrifty outfit.

They'll have to do until I can get better pics from another party in a few weeks.

You can't really see the outfit that well, just the strap and lower part of the purse, and the necklace poking out over the dress. I may change the jacket to a winter white brocade next time; we'll see!





This is a bit of a personal postscript as I have some room left, but it's so refreshing and satisfying to be dating a man who dresses really, like really, well. It's not just expensive clothes part; it's also his way of putting pieces together, with a scarf thrown over his shoulder for panache and some fab vintage cufflinks for quirky class. We both love and appreciate that about eachother. And we both have a thing for statement piece jackets - - except mine are from the thrift shop and his are from Neiman Marcus!!