Photos! Photos! Photos!

  As the launch of Unthrifted nears, I thought we should talk a bit about selling online. The info that I include here will also be available under "Create Great Listings" on Unthrifted.com.

Photos! Photos! Photos!

Photography of your items is SUPER important. Unclear photos or those lacking detail might make a buyer say, “buh-bye.” Here are some of our tips for the best shots:

·         Work it: Use a live model, namely YOU! We want to see your style and how the item looks on a real person. It enables the buyer to see the scale of the item and understand how it would fit into their life.  If you’re not quite feeling like Gisele (but who does, really?), transform your nearest friend into your muse!

Workin' it 

·         Variety is the spice of life: Take photos of your item from different angles. Typically this would include: front full length, back, side, front close-up, detail view, etc. Detail photos could include a close-up of buttons, print, or the fabric, as these can look quite different from far away.  Give the buyer the “full picture” (pun intended).

Detail view

·        Keep it simple:  Use a solid/monochromatic background for most of your photos. You don’t want a busy background to take away from your fabulous piece. Let it shine!

Lush green grass=great background!

·         Don’t keep it simple: After you take some photos with a simple background, strike your best pose with a distinctive background to give it that cool fashion blog feel. Why not try that industrial building, interesting staircase, or sunlit field?

·         Maximize: upload all 5 photos. Our philosophy is: the more photos, the better. This way, the buyer truly understands what your item has to offer!

·         Beware of the flash: Photos taken with the flash on can sometimes appear washed out. Try taking some photos without a flash and compare to ones with a flash. Which one represents the item’s color most accurately?

With Flash=Washed out black!

Ok, sometimes you need a flash...

·         A tag is worth a thousand words: Including a photo of the item’s tag is important for Vintage. This confirms to the buyer that the item has truly reached vintage status (20 to 100 years old).

Tag View is also a good detail view!

Hope you find this helpful and please post any questions!

Unthrifted to launch soon!!!

I can't tell you how excited I am for Unthrifted to finally (almost) be a usable website. It's been over a year and a half of work, but it's been SO worth it. My dream is for Unthrifted to become not only an engaging resale site, but a place for real people to discuss fashion (style + dialogue=Stylogue!). What we choose to wear is something we do every single day, why not have fun with it?

Furniture Rehab

Well folks, turns out my love of thriftiness does not just apply to clothes. Nick and I decided to check out one of our favorite thrift stores for some furniture.  We wanted to find a bedside table we could fix up. No luck there but we wound up taking home 3 chairs! First we found these two guys:

These were in great condition and for $15 each, how could we pass them up? They just needed a little makeover; some sanding and a few coats of paint did the trick!
Below is a shot of the original paint color on the left and the new paint color on the right. Love a little Bird's Egg blue :)

Doesn't the chair on the right look brighter and more modern? I think so :)

Our third chair is my favorite. I fell in love with this one. Yes, you have to look beyond it's facade and it'll require more of an extreme makeover. Here she is:

We took this chair for an estimate to get repaired and reupholstered. It's not exactly cheap to do all that, man I need to learn how to reupholster on my own! We're still trying to decide on a fabric, below is a "dream fabric," because white is just not gonna work with 2 adorable cats running around.

I'll keep you posted on the yellow chair, we're thinking of doing a charcoal gray...

I couldn't just mention our kitties without including a picture of them now could I?

Chester

Riley

Vintage Fur Capelet

I found this little gem while thrifting the other day. I really don't think there's a better feeling than finding a diamond in the rough, especially at a "can't leave without it" price. After a little TLC (had a few rips), he is looking good as new. He even has little arm loops to keep you attached to the little guy. You may be wondering why I'm referring to my fur as a male. Well because it's totally not a female fur, duh!

Anywho, if you feel like putting on your fancypants, you could wear it over a preppy button down like I am above. I'm digging buttoning my shirts all the way and putting a pretty almost-choker necklace on over it. Kinda like having a fancy collar on.

If downtown is more your taste you could always throw it over a white tee with some skinny jeans and booties or even some flares for a more boho look.

Fashion Focus Chicago

I had SO been looking forward to attending my first fashion show! For those of you not in the loop, last week was Fashion Focus Chicago. My super stylish BFF Jill and I went to "The Art of Fashion" show on Friday. Ten different local designers were featured. We managed to get a pretty good spot and had a great view of the show!

Outside the tent

Boris Powell

Lara Miller, lots of colorful knitwear

Zamrie, our favorite, sophisticated looks with pretty prints

Zamrie

Zamrie

Zamrie

Zamrie

I hate to sound like such a critic, but here goes. This was no NY fashion week. Sure, I've never been to NY fashion week (nor London, Paris, or Milan), but I definitely check out what comes down those runways via photos and blogs. I'll just say I was a bit disappointed with some of the designs. I love Chicago and I think the style here is just different...maybe it's because of the weather we have to put up with!

Chanel

My new polish: Peridot by Chanel. Not for the faint of heart, this yellow/gold/green metallic shade is dazzling! Peridot also happens to be my birthstone :) What do you think?

Fashion!!!

     College was an entirely eye opening experience. Though I was still in Indiana, I was exposed to people from all over the U.S., even all over the world. Of course there were those coeds who rolled out of bed and wore their sweats to class, lucky if they brushed their teeth.  There were also girls who I considered much more stylish than I. I recall one lovely brunette who wore a silk scarf as a headband and a maxi jean skirt. I was in awe and purchased my own jean maxi immediately.
     I think that jean maxi was a turning point. I stopped shopping at Abercrombie and soon learned about Forever 21, my fashion savior. We had to drive for a good hour to get to the nearest Forever 21, but it was so worth it. I would stock up on as much as I could. Farewell khakis, hello cute skirts, tops, and dresses!
     It wasn't always smooth sailing. My friends and I went through a dressing phase that you might call "skanky frat hoodrat". I don't know if college girls still wear tight flared black pants to frat parties, but that was pretty much ALL we wore! When paired with a tight, sometimes midriff baring top and some chunky boots, you were ready to rock.
     I eventually grew out of dressing like I belonged on a street corner (okay it wasn't THAT bad). I started devouring Harper's Bazaar and InStyle magazines.  I emulated looks I saw in those pages, using my much less expensive resources.
    I remember one of my favorite outfits mixed brown and black. I had previously considered it fashion law that one should NEVER pair black with brown or black with navy blue. This outfit consisted of a black turtleneck sweater, black miniskirt, black suede knee high boots, brown boho belt tied low on my waist, and brown handbag with some gold jewelry. I felt so chic in this look. At long last, I was learning that individuality is a wonderful thing.