rm5 finds

Hope everyone had a great weekend. I can not believe that two months to go before 2011 ends. What a year! But before I go into details on 2011's journey, here I would like to share my purchases this month.

Besides 'one in, one out' rule, I have set that if any piece that requires any alteration, I would not purchase it. As for the price, not more than RM10. If it is way than RM10, surely that piece is an one of kind. Simple, straight forward and easy to follow.

So, back to my purchases...

Pleated skirt from a bundle shop in Ipoh, RM5

Knit sleeveless cardigan from Amcorp Mall, RM5

Beret from TPM, Shah Alam, RM5

Finding great stuff at very affordable price is the reason I love thrifting so much! Thrifting rules!

Have a good week ahead!

little hats and alphabets

The print of this dress is very cute, many little hats and alphabets. Ideally, I should have accessorized with a straw hat and a little suitcase. The whole school girl look would be complete, don't you think?

The look:
Vintage dress from Vintage Rockstar
Thrifted belt
Flat oxford shoes

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

not a fashion project

Hope everyone is doing well. Sorry that I have not been making any entries lately. There were so many distractions, mainly after work outings with fellow colleagues. Now, I hoping to post entry as usual.

As you all might know that I am in the middle of decorating my bedroom. The theme of my bedroom is romantic French style; which most of the furniture is in white or ivory colour with a touch of shabbiness or distressed look. This was my first attempt to paint my bed frame to achieve shabby or distressed look.

Bed frame

Items needed

I have been searching for paint instructions online and I purchased a book on painting on wood but I received a good tip from decorative artist of Creative Cottage, Mr. Zahir, on how to achieve this look easily. He advised me to use dry brush painting. Before going into how to paint such effect, you would need the following items for this project:

White paint (for wood)
Hard brush (preferably old brush)
Turpentine (to wash brush)
Plastic cover (optional to cover any items)

Before actual painting, I dipped the brush into the paint and then brushed off excessive paint either on the opening rim of the paint or on a piece of newspaper. At the same time, it gave you some practice before the actual painting.

The key of this technique is that the brush needs to be almost dry. And in my opinion, there is no need any particular experience painting to try to paint this effect. Furthermore, there is no hard and fast rule here as long as the shabbiness or distressed look is achieved.

Here is a sneak peek... What do you think?

a note on kl vintage festival

KL Vintage Festival was held on 22nd Oct at The Red Bungalow Gallery and Space, Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur. This was a great attempt to popularize vintage (if I may say so). I arrived at the festival in the evening. At that point, there was not many crowd. Perhaps it was dinner time. Good thing about small crowd is that one can browse through items easily and comfortably. There was good selection of vintage items from clothes to accessories and also to vintage children's bikes.

Hope there would be second KL Vintage Festival next year or soon. I believe there is room for improvement - perhaps there would be sessions on how-to or tips for vintage lovers or a silent auction or an auction of one of kind items from each participating stalls up for grabs. Some portion of the collected auction bids can be donated to a charity. These are just my humble opinion or thoughts...

On another note, hope everyone will have a great week ahead.

alice

Lately, the weather is a bit horrendous; it rains almost every evening. It was great seeing the sun this morning. Good opportunity to take photo outdoor. A good change for outfit post. This dress is a simple yet sweet dress. I love crochet embellishment on the collar and sleeves. When I put on this dress, I felt like I was Alice from Alice in Wonderland. Perhaps of its colour - pale blue?

The look:
Vintage dress from Bandung
Belt
Vintage brooch from etsy
Vintage brooch from Memory Lane, Ipoh
Vintage pumps from etsy

Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

hues of blue

I have made it through the week so far. One more days to go to the weekend. My habit of counting the days to the weekend is back. Still in super minimalist mood and just playing with colours. Hope these different hues of blue with burgundy and green work.

The look:
Turtleneck top
Vintage pants
Thrifted belt
Vintage pumps

inspiration

Trying to use polyvore to get inspirations for my room. This is my first attempt. I like shabby chic furniture or romantic French bedroom style and I am planning one or two DIY projects. Keeping my fingers crossed that these projects work out...

new books

new additions to my books collection

inside Audrey Hepburn, an elegant spirit

inside Vintage Singapore, souvenir from the recent past

Besides being a thriftaholic, I enjoy great bargains. The Big Bad Wolf books had a sale recently and I was there to check it out. At first, I wanted to go but then I changed my mind. And then I changed my mind again...

I am glad that I changed my mind at the last minute because I came across few good books. Purchased a book on Audrey Hepburn, my style icon and a book on vintage Singapore. I have not read the book on Audrey Hepburn yet but I have been browsing through book; the black and white photos of her are just so lovely.

The book on Vintage Singapore is a cool book. It covers on dining collection, childhood collection, style collection and home collection. What I like about this book is that it is fulled of great colourful photos. A very interesting book.

On another note, how was your Monday? Good? Hope you will have a good week ahead.

kl vintage festival

KL Vintage Festival sounds like a cool event. It will take place on 22nd Oct, from 11 am to 11.30 pm (wow! 12-hour vintage shopping!). Where? The Red Bungalow Gallery & Space, 153, Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur. Mark the date!

Have a great weekend.

desert rose

I miss sewing and at this point my sewing machine is packed and stored else. Most of the time, I would alter the length of vintage dresses or skirts. But for certain pieces, I have decided to maintain its original length. Just like this vintage dress. The dress just screamed 70s. What is missing? Most probably Farrah Fawcett's wavy hair?

The look:
Vintage dress
Thrifted belt
Vintage pumps

in my head at the moment

Print shoot: http://www.nipponpaint.com.hk/eng/inspiration/fengshui.php

Print shoot: http://www.colorcombos.com/color-schemes-1.html

What colour should I paint my wall? Where to put my newly purchased dresser and cabinet? What about my curtains? All these questions are in my head at the moment. Oh boy, decorating a room is not an easy task. I have been searching and googling to look for ideas. Whilst doing my research, I came across these two websites which I think they are informative and useful. So many things to do. Maybe I should work on inspiration board first and take it from there... hhmm...

pin hole effect

Experimented my digital camera's features for outfit shoot today. I would like to get vintage effect but I do not have Photoshop programme. Sigh. I used pin hole effect instead and it appears almost like vintage effect but not quite there yet. I still prefer vintage effect...

The look:
Vintage dress
Thrifted belt
Oxford heels

Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

interesting finds

Salvation's Army thrift store is always on my to-go list every time I return to my hometown. At times, I would be lucky and could find things that I would like to get and then, there would be times, that I would not be so lucky.

Well, I am not too sure whether this time, I am lucky or not lucky. Purchased two items from the store; crochet shawl and tiffin carrier.

In time to ensemble fall look, good timing?

Nice display item

Have a good weekend!

one in, one out

What is inside this package? Can you guess?

Ta daa... Tan oxford heels that I have been searching high and low. And now the search is over! My shoes collection is almost complete. Just two or three pairs of shoes in different designs or styles. Mostly vintage inspired shoes... two-tone shoes, 40s style peep-toe shoes and Mary Jane shoes.

With this new purchase and new idea 'one in, one out' , now I have to figure out which shoes to let go and post them on chic4less. Hmm... this is a tough one.

repeat, restyle, reborn

Lately I tend to wear 'old' vintage pieces. Mainly because I have packed and stored unworn vintage pieces elsewhere and some of them have not been altered before the move. This may not be a bad thing because I could try to restyle repeat pieces to create different looks. Click here to check out how I styled this top previously.

The look:
Vintage top
Pants
Oxford heels
Vintage belt

from vintage clothes to vintage furniture...

Whilst I was in Ipoh last weekend, I was lucky to discover a new place that sells and buys second hand and vintage furniture. As I am in the middle of moving and settling, it would be good to check out what they have in store... some vintage furniture caught my eyes but I purchased two pieces for my new room..

Vintage dresser and cabinet

Vintage metal typist desk

Before purchasing these lovely vintage furniture pieces, I was not so excited to make over my new room but now, I have started to plan the make over; colour of the walls, curtain etc. Tough and stressful work. But I believe, once the make over is done, I would be satisfied with the outcome (keeping my fingers crossed).

Blue stool from Second Charm

What do you think of this little blue stool to go with the typist desk?