Scrub a dub dub

It’s no secret manufacturer’s like to unneccessarily put “Dry Clean” on practically everything they make, even items that can do just as well wet cleaned at home. However, nobody likes second guessing what they ought to be doing with that perfect outfit. 

Personally my general perception of dry-cleaning is not only is it expensive, sometimes it doesn’t even clean the garment! Literally once I brought a suit home and it looked pressed, but didn’t smell fresh at all. I ended up hand laundering in cold water and realizd that was much more effective and have been bucking dry cleaning ever since. Not to mention having my stuff thrown in with goodness-knows who else’s dirty laundry isn’t terribly appealing.

Thankfully the Laundress has just put up an comprehensive guide to cleaning, drying, ironing and even storing your precious garments. All well-organized by fabric type and in a printer-friendly version. Tack this one up next to your washing machine, girls!

Because spending less on dry cleaning means more clothes in your closet!

Filed under: Fashion, Home

Vintage Fashion

Lately, I’ve been getting into vintage after discovering that:

1) Vintage sizing tends to run small (i.e. clothes tend to run small, watches tend to fit smaller wrists, etc).

2) Great quality vintage can have. Heck, if it hasn’t broken down in 20+ years, it may just have a good chance of lasting for another 20. That said, unless you are very talented at repair/upcycle work, broken down, torn vintage just isn’t pretty. Be picky.

3) Amazingly unique designs you cannot find today in a mall.

Some recommends:

Vintage Fashion Guild – great online website with a huge database of vintage designers and examples of vintage labels. Cuz fakes aren’t cool.

Shopping for Vintage by Funmi Odulate- Gorgeously illustrated, easy to read book on vintage designers. Has an exhaustive, international lists of places to buy vintage. Literally.

Etsy Vintage – Really great, reasonable prices for vintage goods. Unlike that overpriced antique shop with musty smells.

Check these out:

Vintage Marcasite Brooch in Sterling

Art Nouveau Carved Elephant Ivory Bangle (pre-ban)

Filed under: Shopping Tip , ivory, reading, resources, sterling, vintage

Secret Anthro Sale Starts Tomorrow!

I got the following tantalizing snippet in my email inbox today. Apparently there will be an expanded sale starting March 16th in the Anthro stores. Clicking on the invite just brought me to the Store Locator page on their website below:

Would love to hear comments on any spectacular finds!

Update: I did a quick run to the store and found out the following:

- Any items on sale in the store will also be on sale online. Keep in mind though that sometimes there are online exclusive items and items which are specific to the store alone.

- Sale items were not just relegated to the sale room but were in the general display areas as well

- If you are looking for a specific item, definitely ask a sales associate even if you don’t see it on the floor. Apparently if there are too few of an item to display on the floor and it’s not a sale item, sometimes they are stored in the backroom.

Happy Shopping!

Filed under: Shopping Tip , Anthroplogie, sale

Shopping Guide: Knowing what Fabrics to Splurge On

I absolutely hate spending money on clothing that ends up pilling, hardening, or otherwise ending up in my charity donation bin over time. So here’s a few pointers:

1) Always check the tag so you know what the content of the fabric is.

2) Fabrics from nature are worthwhile, manmade (blends or otherwise) are usually not.

Items to spend good money on:

100% Cashmere – must be amazingly soft to the touch. High quality cashmere does not pill and can be handwashed. See The Laundress website for full instructional video. I’m obsessed with their Wool and Cashmere Shampoo.

100% Merino Wool – unlike plain “wool,” merino wool is typically of higher quality and does not itch. If it feels scratchy, do NOT buy it.

100% Cotton – Nothing breathes like cotton and has so much versatility. Cold water wash only! Mercerized or Pima cotton is even better. If you want stretch, get cotton blended with at least 5% Spandex/Lycra.

Cotton/Cashmere Blends or Cotton/Silk Blends- typically are lower on the cashmere or silk side of things, but feel fabulous.

100% Silk - Should feel super smooth to the touch and have a bit of a sheen to it. Watch for snags before you bring it home.

Items to avoid or spend only loose change on:

Wool/Acrylic Blends – will pill after time with washing and start looking old.

Angora Blends – Cheap way for manufacturer to create a “fluffy” looking sweater. Bad ones will shed like animal hair on you in the store. Good ones will pill slightly.

100% Acrylic - hardens over time with washing.

Silk/Nylon Blends – easily pills and snags. Buy 100% silk or silk/cotton blend instead if possible.

Polyester/Rayon/I don’t even know what this ?!@ is - Then why are you buying it?

Filed under: Fashion, Shopping Tip

Elsa’s Story = Best Jam Ever!

In a totally random way, I came across Elsa’s Story. I guess you could call it a gourmet food brand from Israel with various items like snack bites, jams etc.

I got a jar of their *heavenly* Pink Grapefruit Preserves which get this contains 45% fruit (insane!) and is nothing but Pink Grapefruit, Sugar, and Lemon Salt.

Below is a picture of the cute old school glass jars they use emblazoned with the motto “taste, enjoy, remember.”

According to this article from The Nibble, it’s available at specialty food stores nationwide for roughly $5.49 for 11.28 ounces.

Filed under: Product Reviews , food, gourmet, jam, kosher

Shopping Review: Dabble Cosmetics

Below is my review of Dabble Cosmetics, a new cosmetics boutique in Danville’s Blackhawk Plaza, (San Francisco East Bay), which is still undergoing renovation.

Pros:

Friendly staff – it seems like the owners themselves were still setting up shop when I went in for a peek

Beautiful interior design – has a retro modern black + pink theme that’s girly, yet still sleek enough for the store to brand itself the “sexiest cosmetic boutique to hit the Bay Area”

Store branded “Dabble” makeup brushes were of very high quality and very affordable (think something similar to the super soft brushes Alima offers)

Cons:

Focus seems to be on fairly mainstream brands: such as Smashbox, Stila, Bare Escentuals which you could easily find at any local Sephora (Walnut Creek for the snotty sales girls and Pleasanton for the nice sales girls).

Number of brands carried is rather limited and as far as I could see all were priced at full retail.

Marketing confusion: also offers jewelry, threading, and makeup services….are they a boutique, a salon? both?

Conclusion? 

Pretty exterior, a little empty on the inside. If I wanted makeup brushes or some Comptoir Sud Pacifique perfume I would go back. Otherwise,  I would wait for additional, less mainstream brands to be added. For a more vintage/romantic boutique bath-and-body shopping experience, I would probably go to The Soiled Doves Bath House (same plaza) which carries yummy Voluspa candles.

Location:
3454 Blackhawk Plaza Circle
Danville, California 94506  

Open 7 days a week

Filed under: Shopping Review , boutique, cosmetics, east bay

Archivia: The Feedburner Edition

I have now enabled feedburner on this blog so you can subscribe using whatever feed aggregator you like. Use either the “Subscribe” link at the top of this page or click here.

Happy reading!

Filed under: Random, Uncategorized