In Search of Inspiration-vintage hair!

So, here at Thrift, we have been in search of inspiration--whether it be movies, photography, museums or even hair!! Recently, we came across these incredible black and white contemporary photos that reminded me of the vintage vixen Barbarella! The look is vampy, chic and incredibly sexy! I love the look and it inspired me to create some wonderful 50's 60's styles dresses that are one bit housewife housedress one bit sex kitten!! Here are those images of the hairstyles! Thoughts?? Opinions?!

Vintage and Retro the NEW Trend in Graphic Design

Thrift ABSOLUTELY loves it! We just read this incredibly interesting article in Smashing Magazine (a graphics related mag) about how Vintage and Retro stylings are the new it thang in the graphics world! HEHE (Everyone else is FINALLY catching up!)

Check the article out here: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/10/07/retro-and-vintage-in-modern-web-design/

Look out world he were come clad in vintage chic greatness!

xoxo

Team THRIFT

Vintage Chic for Baby

As many of you guys know, I (Jenny, the other half of THRIFT) am a mommy! I have a little girl name Bella and as the fashionable young chic mom that I am, I feel it is only proper that I dress my chica in great duds!

THRIFT can be bought on Etsy.com which is an incredible site for handmade goods to be sold on! You can be sure to always find the cutest vintage and handmade items for your kids on Etsy! THRIFT just loves the community on Etsy and the great items that can be found as well!

Not only do we love vintage street chic for us, but we love it for the little ones as well and after browsing Etsy for some inspiration today, we came up with some great items to showcase on today's THRIFT blog!

THRIFT UPDATE: As you know we are still working on our Summer 2009 line! As soon as we complete them and do our screen prints we will have pictures up! This summer we will be playing around with many different mediums and experimenting with many different styles. We are still hand made, hand painted and eco-friendly! Keep your eyes peeled for Chipped Red Polish as well! We will make sure to have some of our latest designs at our first launch party in Chicago!!

Enjoy the great pics :)! Comments?? Let us know what you think and what you'd like to hear more about!

Vintage Street Style

Thrift is all about the vintage stylings with just enough feminie sex appeal and a touch of street cred to make a girl feel extra spunky! We get inspired by vintage images and the beautiful street style we see in Chicago everyday! We are currently working on our Summer 2009 line and are hoping to bring you some funky pieces with a touch of sexy femininity this summer!

Keep checking back for more information on events we will be participating in with the Chipped Red Polish Crew as well as fashion shows we will be in! Just an FYI Thrift will be showcased at the UIC Fashion Show Friday April 3, 2009! So, please show us some love and check out the show!!

Images we are inspired by

We are Barbie Girls, In a Barbie World!

(Image courtesy of: nitrolicious.com)

I know I blogged on this before, but finally, the Barbie Mercedes Benz Fashion Show aired! Yes, it was amazing and yes, it brought back some nostalgia for us! I love, still love and will always love Barbie! I know as a feminist, many a woman would scorn me for this, but hey- I am a fashionista too!

Barbie always signified all things glamourous and fashion like for me! I can recall designing miniature garments and sewing them for my barbies at the ripe age of 7 with my first sewing machine! I can also remember my first fashion drawing kit and yes, it was a mattel Barbie Fashion Stencil Kit! Barbie instilled in me the love of fashion and I am amazed at the longevity of the brand!

The Barbie show was incredible and it definitely pulled in some great vintage stylings as well as some crazy off the wall contemporary outfits for 2009! I just loved the designs as well as the INCREDIBLE pink Louboutin pumps! The owners thank Barbie for developing the imagination in us for our love of fashion! You can see some great vintage and contemporary mixings in the line shown at the Mercedes Benz Fashion Show and you know THRIFT is all about mixing vintage and contemporary for a unique look!

Keep checking back for more fashion lovers!

Jenny

Thrift-for the good find!

Make us your friend on myspace.com/thegoodfind!

Envision, Believe, Create

Thrift is evolving and becoming so much more than Victoria and I have ever dreamed of. As we both have been working harder and harder to develop this line it has become like a child to both of us. We have envisioned great things and as we work on the line it is flourishing into such positive things.

As you all know, we consider THRIFT unique for a multitude of reasons, but one in particular strikes so many chords with the Chicago public and that is the fact that we are an eco-friendly line. We create recycled, reconstructed and hand painted garments from vintage shops and thrift stores into NEW and unique pieces!! What better way to ensure we don't leave a huge carbon footprint, then recycling what is already here into things you can use again and still look gorgeous in!?

As we are growing, we are directing ourselves and this line towards a positive standing. We believe in what we are doing and we love what we are doing and we hope you do to! As of late, we have been experimenting with unique screen printing and regular printing techniques using eco-friendly dyes and recycled all natural fabrics! We have just created some fun fabrics to use for accessories utilizing our THRIFT logo (see picture to left). This logo can also be found on some refurbished/recycled purses that are currently in the works! Our creativity is in overdrive guys and we are bringing you some great stuff!! Nothing is going to waste in our shop, we are even packaging and wrapping with recycled paper and fabric scraps!! So, definately take a look- see at our Esty Shop: http://www.thegoodfind.etsy.com/! Also, make us your friend on myspace: www.myspace.com/thegoodfind!

Keep your eyes peeled for some great new stuff!! Take care all!!

Thrift--

THRIFT HAS ARRIVED IN 2009!

Hey guys!

We at Thrift are incredibly excited and proud to announce our Spring 2009 Women's Fashion Line. We have been working really hard to create a line that is unique, fun and beautiful for all of the unique, fun and beautiful women out there. We hope our line gives you strength and pride and the power to walk tall.

We had a great time last night during our photoshoot. Of course, as there always is, there were some crazy shenanigans that went on when things didn't work out as planned, BUT Victoria and I worked through it, just like we always do and created beauty in the process.

Lady's and gents take a look at our full Spring 2009 Line at: www.myspace.com/thegoodfind and feel free to purchase garments at http://www.thegoodfind.etsy.com/!

Stay tuned for more!!!

Keeping Vintage Fashion Eco-Friendly

As I was doing some trend research for the upcoming seasons I came across some great ideas for the upcoming seasons. The best of all these ideas was the idea of “Conservation Couture”. Conservation Couture can be seen in vintage work wear, eco-friendly and repurposeful products. As we all know, Mother Earth definitely needs some loving and we at Thrift think we are helping out with our creations.

As Thrift continues its search for vintage finds to reconstruct into great unique and contemporary items, a thought always comes across our minds as designers. Why are we creating this? Of course, we are doing this because these are items that we have been looking for, BUT I think I would like to say we are doing it to serve a higher purpose. By reconstructing vintage garments we are doing our part to keep our Earth green and happy!

Thrift is basically repurposing the vintage garments we find by recreating them into new styles of clothing that can be used again. We are not generating waste by manufacturing new items and we keep the recycling process going by only creating one of kind pieces that are never mass produced. This keeps the integrity and exclusivity of the line while keeping the line eco-friendly!

Thrift is constantly searching out more vintage items to reconstruct and add to the line!
Keep an eye out for our Spring 2009 line to be premiered in a little over a week! Make us your friend on myspace at: www.myspace.com/thegoodfind OR find your own one of a kind good find that is eco-friendly and o’ so chic at: http://www.thegoodfind.etsy.com/!

Till we talk again my friends!

Team Thrift

An Homage to the Late Stephen Sprouse

So, as I was catching up on some issues of magazines that I am months behind on, I found myself flipping through Harpers Bazaar from October. I stumbled across a full spread layout of a fully nude (except for some strategically placed LV bags) Marc Jacobs and I gasped... No, not because Marc looked great in his hot new buff bod, but because of the strategically placed LV bag.

There it was- the re-released Stephen Sprouse creation LV “It-Bag” (Being released in conjunction of the Sprouse retrospective at Deitch Projects). Now, of course I can’t afford the hefty price tag of the bag, but a girl can dream, right? BUT, here is really why I gasped over the Sprouse bag: The fact that once again the merging of art and fashion has come around full circle.

The idea behind this bag is the same idea that is behind Thrift!! Fashion meets Girl, Fashion Meets Art, Art meets Girl……I think that this is an incredible never ending cycle that really proves fashion is a form of art. Any designer can attest to that!

Stephen Sprouse infiltrated high fashion with street style, graffiti and art. He was a man years ahead of his time. He merged a love for luxury with a passion for art (including music as art here too!). Many of the designs he was known for were rooted in the graffiti found in the subways of New York in the 80’s. He utilized silk screening to create day glo graffiti on beautifully made garments.

Victoria and I are working in this same direction. We want to bring back street cred to fashion and give it a little spunk using hand painted techniques on the garments. We are creating these gorgeous handmade pieces for women just like us. We are bringing the art back into fashion and giving you Thrifters one of a kind pieces you can’t find anywhere else! Stay tune for more!!

Check us out at: www.myspace.com/thegoodfind

Buy at: http://www.thegoodfind.etsy.com/

Check out the newly launched Sprouse website at: http://welovesprouse.com/#/en_GB/sprouse-s-nyc

Let The Paint Be Your Shadow

Here at Thrift we've been working hard on the new spring line Nikki has been experimenting with new textures and painting techniques to come up with some rad looking designs. I hope you're ready for some out of the box ideas and some unique pieces to wear! Keep checking back for updates on the spring line!

NEW SPRING 2009 LINE- THRIFT

My musings on our Spring '09 line.....

So, what I have realized over the past month or so is the fact that part of starting a company involves the ideas of evolution and adaptation. Not just as a person or a team, but also in the vision of what you hope to create. Many companies change over the course of their existence as they find their own vision and niches. Over the last few months as Thrift has been evolving in the minds of me and Victoria, we have seen a slight change in the direction of our designs. We are still a hand reconstructed vintage clothing line, but we have realized we want to stand out. As we have been designing, Victoria and I have asked ourselves "who are we?" "what is thrift?" But, most importantly, "What do the Thrifters like me and you really want?"

We have realized that we are 2 unique women looking for great feminine pieces with a funky appeal at a really good price! Just like many of YOU out there! Thrift is what you, as well as we, have been looking for! A special shop with one a kind garments that you KNOW no one else will have. All of them at GREAT prices too!

As Thrift has found its calling, we are proud to announce our Spring '09 Line. It is the culmination of "Girl Meets Art". Each of the pieces that will be showcased are hand reconstructed pieces of wearable art. We are showcasing great spring colors with some not so ordinary spring colors such as: teal, pale yellow, purples, light pink, magentas, blue, white and hues of greens. Each piece was lovingly created with 2 hands, 2 hearts and a soulful vision.

This season we have brought in Nikki Berna as a featured artist to collaborate on our line. She is an incredible artist with the ability to create one of a kind painted detailing on our garments with the use of raw objects and unconventional techniques. Her extraordinary patterned painted creations combined with our very feminine appeal will definately leave you guys wanting more! Keep checking our etsy: www.thegoodfind.etsy.com and our blog for more!! Stay tuned thrifters!