That’s right, not only are we of S&D on our way back to the top (or, you know, just back), but since we last saw each other I’ve moved south to Virginia, where the trees are green, the sun shines, and I lock myself in my room for days trying to make up stories.
Here in Virginia, I can’t hop a quick train to H&M and buy three dollar earrings or walk down the street for some hot yellow nailpolish. No, no. Here, I spend most of my time shuffling through piles at the Salvation Army, browsing used book stores, or meandering the internet. Here are some of the goods I’ve acquired since my move.
ONE: Coronet Super 12 Typewriter
Oh, yes, pretty as a blueberry in two shades of blue, and only $7 at Goodwill. Do I write on it? Good question. Once in awhile I sit down and type: “This is my typewriter!!! I’m writing on my typewriter!” It’s more of a mascot.
TWO: Ray Fenwick’s HI Postcards
Alright, so I won these babies from Ray himself and they are perfect for sending loved ones greetings from my new locale (or else I have to use the ones that say “Mr. Jefferson’s Virginia” in weird italic script). There are thirty different postcards, most of which are completely and wonderfully strange, such as this one, which is basically a visual representation of the written content of my postcards:
THREE: Short Story Anthologies!
Oh yes, oh yes, you should be reading short stories. Short stories recently earn coveted accolades from the Pulitzer and Oprah. And also, I am writing them and one day I will publish them, and then someone will have to buy them. Here some anthologies that could potentially knock your socks off:
The Scribner Anthology of Contemporary Short Fiction ($15) With fifty short stories from 1970 on, this is one of the cheapest anthologies you’ll find. It includes some of my favorites, including Donald Barthelme’s “The School,” Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl,” and Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried.”
The Art of the Story: An International Anthology of Contemporary Short Stories
“Unlike the novel, a short story may be, for all purposes, essential.” –Jorge Luis Borges
American Short Story Masterpieces ($7) 
Too poor? Check out this website for classic short stories in the public domain (FREE TO READ! FREE!). READ THESE: Truman Capote’s “A Christmas Memory” (ah, last paragraph… so beautiful!), John Updike’s “A&P,” Kurt Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron,” or Toni Cade Bambara’s “The Lesson.”
FOUR: Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
Wait, you haven’t heard of Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros? Oh, yes, no one has. It is only me over here, playing the CD
FIVE: Pirate Glass
ONE DOLLAR. That’s the great thing about thrift stores! Now, go to your local Goodwill or Salvation Army and buy something crazy, like a mug with a panda on it.
That’s it for now! We’re getting organized behind the scenes and will have plenty of fun arriving in the coming weeks!
I am an impecunious, penurious, parsimonious (dictionary-reading) fashion-fiend. It helps that my sense of style is, er, a little off the norm, but I got everything in this picture (combined!!!) FOR LESS THAN FIFTEEN DOLLARS. That is the art of thrift store shopping, and also the reason that when someone shows me their really “cheap” $20 bag I just think, “Oh.”
TIPS!
Go to Salvation Armies and other charity-run thrift stores. Yes, it does help to go thrifting in a cool-town (ie Brooklyn), but I’ve found lots of success in towns with populations in the higher age range. That’s how you find things like a part-striped, part-solid, zipped-pocket T-shirt for ONE dollar. The elderly have a sick sense of style and get rid of stuff they once wore in the 80s. They don’t know what’s cool, so they price everything low. For example, I recently happened into Hendersonville, North Carolina. It is one hour south of Ashville, has a big retirement community, and TONS of thrift stores (really!).
Go to ethnically diverse areas. You will find new styles you would never find at GAP.
Find a place to exchange your stuff. The other day I went to a store called Buffalo Exchange in Manhattan (there are also stores in Brooklyn, Chicago, etc). They’ll look through your stuff you buy pieces from you. You’ll get 30% of their selling price in cash or 50% in-store credit. The Buffalo Exchange is pretty hipster and picky (ie I brought 20 things and they took 3 — but I got a bright blue & orange button down in exchange!), so I recommend bringing a bunch of stuff and also calling ahead to see if their are particular things they really need or don’t need. They usually buy only for whatever season it happens to be. They’ll take some stuff from H&M (but price it low), things that are weirdly vintage, and a lot of stuff from other labels like Anthropologie or Urban Outfitters. It’s a good way to clean out your closet.
Go shopping in your closet. Or your mom’s closet. Girl Scout shirts from age 10 become hip T-shirts and what your mom wore in college, if she still has it, is probably cool again.
YES, you can buy prescription glasses online. YES, they are INEXPENSIVE. YES, they are REAL. YES, MOST of them are made for old ladies/men. But, NO, not ALL of them!
As you can see, another shopper, my stuffed animals, and I all look fabulous in our wayfarers (not Ray-Ban, but who can tell?! and with the prescription and everything they were actually less than $35). And, yes, they ARE uglypretty, and that is the beauty of them. (They are also IN: just go to St. Mark’s Place in Manhattan RIGHT NOW.) They also have a rich and exciting history of stardom (well, the Ray-Bans). (Also there is a cool chameleon video involving Ray-Bans posted on SwissMiss right now, but apparently the chameleon doesn’t really change colors like that. SAD FACE.)
Anyway, here is how to get your own awesome PRESCRIPTION (!!!) Wayfarers.
(1) Go to Glassy Eyes’ blog. He will convince you, as he convinced me, that online prescription glasses are not a farce. (The glassy eye blogger is also cool, as evidenced by his kindly response to my probably late-night email asking him where-oh-where the cool glasses were.) He will also give you the full instructions on how to get your prescription written down (yes, you do need to go to the eye doctor!) and how to fill the information in online and how get frame measurements etc. A note on frame measurements: They aren’t really important for the Wayfarers unless you have an abnormally gigantic head (you know, like Elaine in that episode of Seinfeld where the bird flies into it) because Wayfarers are so hipster and bohemian that they don’t really have to fit right. They are a lot larger than my regular glasses.
(2) Go to THIS PAGE on Opitcal 4 Less and order the glasses. You will never find these glasses if you SEARCH for them any regular way because on Optical 4 Less they are called “Freeways.” (If you don’t like the “Freeways” (or Wayfarers, as I like to call them) check out Glassy Eye and click on some of his great links. There really aren’t ONLY old lady glasses. There are also a lot of nice traditional glasses in all sorts of frame styles that I am sure I would wear if I were a normal person.)
(3) Get your glasess (and plastic case and cleaning cloth, which are included!). They apparently come ALL THE WAY! from Hong Kong. Wear them, preferabbly with a dainty, girly outfit for a perfect and semi-ironic contrast to the thick-black-rimmed-glasses geek persona eminating from your totally cool glasses.
So, Tricia just completed her AMAZING series on poster artists (see all the poster party posts here! scroll!). I’m not just saying they’re amazing because they’re on Stickers & Donuts. They actually ARE amazing. From the posters, to the interviews, to Tricia’s hysterical pop-references (if you only looked at the pictures seriously go back and read the posts!) — I loved every bit of it! In fact, I was jealous of the superiority of Tricia’s interviews to some of my recent posts. (A pink laptop bag? Come on Maria, you can do better than that in the midst of poster interviews! Although, it is a pretty sweet bag…)
That being said, I love all of these artists and am going to squish on into the fun with my two cents (slash 142 dollars).
There was one small problem with Tricia’s posts. She made me want to purchase A MILLION PRINTS! After a little research, I soon learned that I COULD own a poster from each artist for less than $145 (plus shipping & framing, see the receipt I invented below). As you can see from the image above (posters not to scale, frames from my favorite free stock photography site), this is a really good deal. If you have a new apartment, you might want to consider decking-out your place in these guys.
Below are the EIGHT poster-party prints I choose simply to prove that you can own art, and it can be lovely, and it can not cost you hundreds of dollars! Go, look! (more…)
Luckily, fashion is a season ahead, so when you get to the sales racks, you’ll find in-season merchandise!
If you head over to Target these days, you might find some of the Fall 2008 Richard Chai fashions for cheaper than the regular Target cheap. I love that ruffle-front shirt (far right), which is now $16.
Major sales in the design world this week, some of them super-amazing and ending today (McSweeney’s!!!).
Have a WONDERFUL three day weekend and make sure to visit Tricia’s amazing school supply posts before you do your Labor Day shopping!
Subtle Circle offers the kind of cool randomness I tend to enjoy, with updated collections of various kinds of arts from prints to t-shirts to — well, you can see for yourself with the list above.
Right now they’re offering four wilderness prints for $20 from the Wilderness Collection (see below).
And previously they’ve offered buttons, badges, and T-shirts (in The Cold Collection and The Beer and Skittles Collection) but they’re young, so more (I imagine) is to come.
Mostly, though, I enjoy their watercolor-inspired web-site, which is a refreshing change from all of the cold, hard type you see everywhere else (er, like here).
The awesomely designed T-shirts over at Threadless are on super-sale until Sunday. Get ‘em while they’re hot (er, $10). Those Threadless Prints I was writing about are also on sale — $5 off — and there are new ones, too!
Tinyshowcase.com helps real people with real budgets (yay) own real art (even if it is sometimes kind of tiny). (more…)
Pretty little bowtie rings in bright retro colors ($4.50, 31 Corn Lane). Maybe spice up a sundress?
