{Photo by Cameron ♥}

Thrifting Tips

Time To Go Thrifting! by pirateandlilac featuring crop tops

Wildfox Couture crop top, 74 CAD / Punk t shirt, 28 CAD / River Island fringe shirt, 34 CAD / Rachel Zoe pleated jeans, 185 CAD / Dorothy Perkins skinny jeans, 44 CAD / Crafted ripped jeans, 62 CAD / Yves Saint Laurent leopard shoes, 775 CAD / Studded shoes / Converse white shoes, 44 CAD

11. Dress for Thrifting
The styles above are my 3 styling choices for ideal thrifting outfits. Here is my checklist for what makes the perfect thrift outfit:
Is it comfortable?
Are the colours dark enough that if I'm routing through dusty bins of clothing it wont show? (I tend to stay away from very light colours, and wear clothes that I don't mind getting a bit dusty)
Am I wearing close-toed shoes? (I've worn the occasional sandle while thrift shopping, but after having toes crushed from hurried shoppers and straps snapped while in the middle of a heavy lifting adventure, I definitely recommend against it!)
Are my clothes season appropriate, but lightweight? (I tend to carry a light hoody or cardigan in my car for going in and out of stores in the winter time, but I hate having a big puffy coat in my way while I'm shopping!)
Is my purse of appropriate size? (So many times I've gotten annoyed at how large my purse is while I'm thrift shopping. Many times it takes up half of my basket, which means less clothing for me to try on in the change room! Not fun!)

12. Carry Cash
I rarely carry cash on me, but for many small thrift spots, it is a must! Of course many Salvation Army stores and the like take cards, but sometime on your travel you may run across a tiny hole-in-the-wall-cash-only shop and kick yourself for not having more bills on you! This is also a great way to establish a budget if you have a knack for picking up a ton of items you don't necessarily need. If you are planning to attend a flea market or auction, they sometimes run on a cash only basis as well.

Giveaway Reminders!

Don't forget to enter our 3 giveaways by September 21st @ 6PM PST! We're giving away an Essie Polish prize pack, a 5 Class Card c/o Bikram Yoga Vancouver, and a free medium ad space for September!

After many weeks of trial and error, Cameron + I finally feel like we have this paleo thing down a bit better. At first we made the usual errors of only eating chicken + salad for almost every meal, but eventually we started branching out + trying new recipes / websites / books / vegetables / meats. My sister also ordered Practical Paleo for me as a present! I can't wait for it to arrive! :)

After a week of eating, drinking, laughing, + eating in the sun it's time to reboot + get our systems back in working order! My stomach is definitely ready to get back to paleo eats! We're also bringing back our weight loss / weigh gain trackers which you will see every Wednesday. As for keeping up with bikram yoga + paleo eating, we've started a seperate blog Pranayama Blogging to highlight those catagories exclusively. I will be touching base on my weight loss a little bit on Wednesdays, but everything in depth will be on PB.



Created by MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Counter

I've long been in love with Alexander McQueen's work, so with Sarah Burton now at the helm I was anxious to see what direction she would go with her designs. Once again, I am in love with almost every piece! Curses! Here is a few of my most loved items. (Yes I thrift most of my clothing and accessories, but that includes consignment stores! A girl has got to dream big! You never know when you'll come across something magnificent thrifting!) Have you seen Gaga wearing Mcqueen in Vogue's September issue?

alexander mcqueen: a few favourites

Skulls, skulls, and more skulls! You'd think I'd be sick of them as a motif by now, but no... I still love it!
Do you have any favourites from this season's line? Post comments below, on facebook, or twitter.

Don't forget to enter our Current Giveaways before September 21st, 2012!!

Wow, what a great vacation! Cameron + I just arrived back from Alberta a few days ago, refreshed, inspired, and of course happy to see Pirate! Having a place to go with family to relax for a week is such a blessing, and I am so thankful for the amazing people that are in my life. We stayed up until 2am the night before we left getting our pleasure craft licenses, and you better believe we took full advantage (even during a windy day when the chop had me getting 5 feet of air... and the bruises to prove it...)! I haven't had that much fun and relaxation in a long long time. Of course there were a few rough nights sleep wise, but having insomnia does that to you sometimes. Luckily I could sleep in!!

Our whole week was basically spent eating, on the lake, or doing dishes! I did sneak in a Bikram yoga session outside, which was a new experience, and I had to get my standing bow on the dock! :)

I love my family dearly, but I am also happy to be home. I feel ready to take on this weeks post with new enthusiasm and inspiration. Thank you all for being so patient during our week off, I promise it will pay off! We have a lot of giveaways ending mid September, so be sure to check out our Giveaway Update and sign on before it's too late!!

On our trip in to the cabin, we had to stop in Vulcan for some photos!







How was your week? Comment below, facebook, or twitter

Pirate has decided that considering she is in the title of my blog, she should have her own cat-agory. I will happily oblige, so Saturdays will now be dubbed "Caturday" and devoted to the cutest little furry monster that has taken over my heart and my house! :)


Being a ham for the camera!

Photo by Cameron ♥

Photo by Cameron ♥

{Photo by Christopher}

9. Buy Only What You Love!!
This used to be a really hard rule for me to follow, but as my budget has gotten tighter, my choices in thrift stores are definitely getting pickier. I know it's annoying lugging a million things to the dressing room with you, but if you have a chance, try on as many things as you can. Fit should be a very important factor when narrowing down your choices. If it fits well, is in good condition, and you can HONESTLY put it into your wardrobe and wear it with multiple outfits, then keep it with you as a consideration. If it does not meet those standards, or you're not in love with it, just leave it. There are so many thrift stores, and I promise you'll kick yourself if it sits in your closet for months unworn.

10. Keep An Open Mind
My favourite finds are sometimes a bit odd by themselves, but when put cohesively in an outfit look fantastic! Keep an eye out for one of a kind vintage items that you know will work well with what you already have. Did you find a dress with an amazing pattern, but you'd rather wear it as a skirt? A few snips with some scissors, some elastic, and a sewing machine, and you've got yourself a new fabulous one of a kind item!

Thrifting Rescue 101

{Photo via Honestlywtf}

Updating Old Pieces
There are many times I've gone through my closet and found something that may still fit, but is a few years old and maybe just completely off trend. Sometimes the item is just really boring, or I haven't found a way to incorporate it into my wardrobe. For items like this, I recommend a little out of the box thinking. Here's what I do to update pieces and get my DIY brainstorm on:

1. Take a photo of the item and print it out multiple times. Sometimes I only take a photo of the front if I don't think I'll be doing much to the back, or vice versa. Also if I assume I'll be dying it a different colour, I'll print the photo in greyscale so I can colour over it in pencil crayon and imagine the possibilities! (Use both sides and try to recycle your paper!!)
2. Go through magazines and your favourite blogs and gather inspiration of your favourite looks that incorporate the type of item you took a photo of (if you took a photo of a maxi skirt, look for styles with maxi skirts).
3. Use the photos of your item and the inspiration you collected to think of ways to make your item appear more current. Consider dying it a different colour, distressing or fixing, taking in or letting out, adding accessories like studs, buttons, or sequins, bleaching, taking off sleeves or adding sleeves, cutting length off or rehemming, etc. Be creative and go wild! I promise there's usually a way to achieve what you want, it just takes some thinking and a bit of research, but you can easily save many items this way that would otherwise sit in the back of your closet. I'm working on a DIY with a few mini skirts I just don't wear anymore. Stay tuned!!

I'm so sorry for the unintentional hiatus of P+L and Pranayama Blogging. Life was getting pretty intense there for a bit, so I needed the week to sort it all out. Things are starting to settle down again, phew! Thanks for being patient readers, and welcome to a more consistant Pirate+Lilac!

Colour Me Coral; Polyvore Sets

Is there a colour that no matter what it is (clothing, shoes, jewelry, etc) you love it as long as it's that colour? Post a comment below, on twitter, or on facebook!

It's been a trying couple of weeks in the house. Lots of strange mishaps and odd occurences, so let's just say I'm happy July is over! I'll be amping up the posting next week. Pirate has been sick, and I drop everything for my family, so she's been my priority. She's back to her happy kitty self now (YAY!!!) so I can start shifting my focus back to the blog and our shop opening which I've pushed until August 9th! Thanks for your patience readers, and don't forget to enter our great giveaways featured in the last post!

Have you visited our new yoga-centric blog Pranayama Blogging?

Until tomorrow...