White Elephant Sale Haul

[hrj]

So the theory was that I was going to spruce up my Spring/Summer work wardrobe at the Oakland Museum White Elephant Sale, like I have the last couple of years. But somehow I mostly got winter wardrobe stuff: three, count 'em, three pairs of nice (lined) wool pants. Two of which are shades of dark gray that will go with my gray suit if I ever get around to cutting it down (which saves me from the immediate task of pants alterations for that outfit). The third is a nice dark brown that will go well with my brown tweed blazer. But I don't see myself wearing wool pants until next November or so. Two new blazers: a dark green wool, and a wonderfully fitting very dark charcoal one that somehow slipped through my natural-fibers-only filter. (I don't just go by feel -- I look at labels -- and somehow the "polyester/rayon" label escaped my notice. But I love the fit so much that I'll forgive it.) I may, however, take the opportunity to dump the purple wool blazer I picked up last year. I like the color but it fits a bit loosely and just ends up looking bulky.

Continuing on, I got a dark gray silk pantsuit. Normally the pantsuits they have end up looking like ... well, like someone I'm not. But this one had a very "suitish" feel to it and looks very professional. Two pairs dark brown (chocolate-brown) pants, one cotton twill and one denim. Two long-sleeved silk button-down shirts, one dark green, one tan. When I was doing my first pass through the racks (during which the criteria are: size, fiber, and gross style and color issues), I somehow ended up with about five cashmere tops in various lightish shades of blue. But when I got to trying them on, I concluded that light blue simply is Not My Color for the most part and pared it down to one darker one ... in which I spotted a few small moth holes just before having them rung up. So I ended up with no blue cashmere at all. (One got rejected on the basis of being short-sleeved. Short-sleeve weather and cashmere weather don't intersect in my world.)

Also one ribbed silk knit sleeveless top -- the sole summer-weather item I purchased. Two of the pairs of pants need to be hemmed, and one button needs replacing. But over half the clothing was new and unworn (and designer labels!) rather than second-hand. At an average of $4 an item, I still feel like I made a nice haul.

The non-clothing items included a bunch of plain fine linen tablecloths to be cannibalized for yardage, a set of polyester satin curtains (very dark wine color) with a matching pair of beaded-fringe swags that simply caught my fancy. I have no idea where I'm going to put them. I also picked up a portable garment steamer (I hesitated since it was bulky and I'd traveled to the sale by BART, but ended up succumbing), a mini crock pot (ca. 1 quart) which is something I've been seeking for the last year or so, and a chopping attachment thingie that you use with a blender mechanism.

I'd been noticing this year that an awful lot of my friends were talking about having gone to various of the advance sales and asked one of the volunteers about that. I guess in addition to the Preview Sale in January (for which I think you have to be a museum society member) you can get in to the advance sales by donating a certain value of items for the sale. I think I'll have to look into how that works. Given the stuff I find on the one "official" sale weekend, it's intriguing to think what might be there before things get picked over.

Comments

[hrj.livejournal.com]

I have oodles of linen tablecloths and napkins that I use as tablecloths and napkins. (I even have a linen bedsheet that I have sometimes used as a bedsheet, although having only the one is problematic.) The ones I buy for sewing are only the plain tabby weave ones, and ones that are finer in weight than it's possible to get in the store these days. I don't use them for linings (I prefer somewhat heftier linings and can always find fabric store linen that's the right weight for them) but rather for veils and other headgear, and currently I'm thinking about maybe a nice fancy shirt with embroidery.

The White Elephant Sale also has a section with "orphan" linen napkins -- singles or pairs separate from their sets long ago -- which I browse for items fine enough and plain enough to use for handkerchiefs. (The cocktail size is best.)

[shalmestere.livejournal.com]

Ah, OK--gotcha :-)