She's A Betty is a blog devoted to budget lifestyle (vintage, indie & DIY style, cheap eats & entertainment). I also blog about Asian pop culture at PopKissKiss. For more info, check out my profile, follow me on Twitter, or email me at shesabetty AT gmail DOT com.
Featured this week: Bebopadiva Vintage (floral dress), Specialist Auctions (grey 1920s shoes, black dress), Ballyhoo Vintage (yellow raw silk dress), Lullie Vintage (fuchsia skirt), Vintage Martini (jacket and shirt lounge set).
Just a few colorful (and affordable) vintage finds for Thursday. Click images or links above to learn more about each item.
Featured this week: Red Pony Vintage (grey/neon pink dress); Plaid Pony Vintage (plaid skirt); Vendima Vintage (metallic mini); Sew Retro (vintage pattern); and Patchwork*Princess (blue dress).
Five finds this week: an unusual grey & hot pink dress for $65.00, a XL wool plaid skirt for $24 (good for fall), a metallic shift for $50.00 (the listing says it's rayon-lined aluminum, hmmm), a sexy pattern from Sew Retro (B34), and a beautiful 1950s blue dress, currently under $22.00.
Also, Angela of Dorothea's Closet just emailed me about a great opportunity for bargain vintage:
some sellers on eBay do a vintage sale event 4 times a year....premise is all items must be vintage, listed as buy it now, and all under 19.99.
Below are three cool finds from the sale; for hundreds more, simply go to eBay and search for "VBO." Thanks, Angela!
Click individual photos for direct links. For more vintage, see our full set of Vintage Finds and our Online Vintage Clothing Directory.
Featured this week: California Vintage Connect (green dress), Thriftwares (brown boots), denisebrain (white shirt), richtig (yellow skirt), Vintage Amore (white ring and striped skirt), mr boots vintage (navy jacket), Couture Allure (black heels and black shift).
I've got a few more non-eBay selling communities to talk about, but I must post some eBay finds this week. For starters, there's the green kimono mini (currently $21), and the vintage dead-stock Ferragamo boots (currently $17.11).
There's denisebrain's 1918 white blouse (what a neckline), less than $22, and richtig's yellow skirt, $15. There's mr boots vintage's navy sailor jacket, $25, Couture Allure's awesome pair of 1930s heels, and a well-priced wool LBD with waist detail.
Finally, Vintage Amore supplies the only non-eBay finds this week, with a revamped vintage ring that is just like Kenneth Jay Lane's $88.00 version, only for $12 just sold out, argh! Also, the striped skirt, $13, has a nice surprise: the white lines contain musical notation.
Click individual photos for direct links. For more vintage, see our full set of Vintage Finds and our Online Vintage Clothing Directory.
This week: All finds from Vintage Martini.
Vintage Martini is one of my favorite vintage sellers. They always, but always, have incredible finds for reasonable prices. Each piece above, including the space age eighties dress and the two cloches from the 1920s, is under $123.00. Click individual photos for direct links, or visit Vintage Martini's index.
For more vintage, see our full set of Vintage Finds and our Online Vintage Clothing Directory.
All finds from Babylon Mall. Featured sellers are Hatfeathers Vintage (green stilettos), Fuzzylizzie Vintage (red dress, beret), Dorothea's Closet (sailor dress, Hawaiian dress), & Vintage Sedona (black dress). Click images for direct links.
This week's finds come from Babylon Mall, another excellent non-eBay vintage selling community. Some tips: don't click the "Shop" link at the top of the homepage--you'll find more merchandise using the advanced search feature. Also, most Babylon Mall sellers have other shops, either independent sites, eBay stores, or both. For that reason, if you like a particular store, always click on the "Visit My Other Site" link. Otherwise, you'll miss out on some beautiful pieces.
About this week's picks: I love green patent right now, hence the stilettos; the red sari and Hawaiian purple dresses ooze bombshell glam. The black Grecian dress has interesting pleating & a surprising deep vee back, while the sailor dress and tilted beret work well with fall trends (ladylike chic and dramatic hats).
For more picks, see our full Vintage Finds section.
Featured this week: All finds are from Specialist Auctions, and all but 1 are under $50.00. Click individual photos for direct links.
This week, I'll (finally) continue the series on non-eBay vintage selling sites. Next up is Specialist Auctions (SA), which I discovered through Marge of Born Too Late Vintage, a former Mainstreet
Mall seller turned co-moderator of SA's vintage clothing section.
The site offers strong merchandise, although navigation can be frustrating. Specifically, the thumbnails are too small to be helpful. Spend some time on the site, though, and you'll be rewarded with excellent bargains.
For this week's finds, I picked an XL leopard print swing coat, a bombshell red dress with pearl beading, a brilliantly colored purple dress, a black cloche, a maribou feather stole and a Whiting & Davis purse with art deco clasp. The first three are striking, timeless pieces, while the latter three also play heavily into fall trends (feathers and 1920s chic). All but one of the finds (the purple dress) are under $50.
For more vintage, see our Online Vintage Clothing Directory & our full set of Vintage Finds.
Featured this week: Pretty Baby Vintage (first blue dress, $39.99), Lulu Cherry (navy shirt, $16.95), California Vintage Connect (light blue shirt, current bid $34.00), Le Robo (white, current bid $20.50), Mama Stone Vintage (black shirt, current bid $68.00), Adore Vintage (last blue dress, $54.00 *sold*).
Now, I've done weekly Vintage Finds for months. Every single time I look for finds, I run across 2 or 3 Mexican embroidered shirts or dresses, for $50 or less. Every. Single. Time. If consumers aren't exactly crying for ripped off designers, it's because the rip-offs go both ways. $200 dollars for a tourist shirt? God.
Just two sellers this week: Pretty Baby Vintage (bottom two) and The Purse Diva (top two). Both sell at Mainstreet Mall; be sure to check out all Mainstreet Mall sellers.
One good suggestion I received after asking how I could make this site better was to feature more non-eBay vintage sellers, specifically more non-eBay vintage selling groups [Ed. note: I did not receive the suggestion from the above two stores]. So for the next few weeks I'll feature different vintage selling communities that you may not have heard of.First up, Mainstreet Mall, a small seller community with excellent finds and truly wonderful prices. All the above finds cost less than $60; I love the shapes of the two yellow pieces above, and who can resist blue suede shoes? Also, if you just shorten the sleeves on the black dress, you have something very similar to two pieces from Lyell's SS07 collection (only for $30 instead of $500+).
Click individual images for a bit more commentary and the product link (or just click the store names above), then check out our full Vintage Finds section & our On-line Vintage Clothing Directory for more finds.
Stores in this round of vintage finds: Northstar Vintage (fur-trimmed gown); The Bees Knees Vintage (white peep-toe heels); BebopaDiva (black & white roses dress, black stilettos, and brown high-waisted skirt); Le Robo (mod print shirt, key print blue mini); Denisebrain (black eyelet dress, polka dot dress); Frecklewonder (funky chicken shirt); Starstruck Vintage (gold drop-waist dress); Patchwork*Princess (blue floral print sun dress).
This week, I looked at maybe ten stores, loved everything, and called it a day. A quick rundown:
First, a fur-trimmed dress. I don't usually post fur, but a) it's a big fall trend, and b) if you're going to wear it, wear vintage. I also really like the sleeves on this one--you can't tell, but they're made to swing when you walk, like a '30s film star.
Next, two sets of heels. I love the front detail on the white ones, plus they're deadstock (meaning they're brand new, for squeamish shoe buyers). The black, on the other hand, are pure sex kitten. The white are $25.00, and the bidding for the black is currently at $24.99, ending in 4 days.
The seller of the stilettos, BebopaDiva, also has this drop-dead gorgeous 50s dress in a black & white rose print, complete with red sash. It's the most expensive find this week, at $125.00, but it's still a bargain for the style & quality.
Next, Le Robo has some great prints this week, including the futuristic orange/brown shirt & the key print blue mini (you have to see it up close!). Another favorite seller, denisebrain, has two excellent dresses (the black eyelet & the polka dots with yellow trim), both currently at or under $20 (the bidding for the polka dot dress ends in one day).
Frecklewonder is back after a long hiatus (well, she's been back, I'm a little slow), with a shop full of fun pieces, like this funky chicken button down shirt. Starstruck Vintage has a stunning '60s drop-waist gold dress, while Patchwork*Princess has a breezy Hawaiian printed sun dress. Finally, it's to BebopaDiva again, with a trendy-yet-classic high-waisted brown tweed skirt for $40.
Remember that vintage items are one-of-a-kind and can sell out quickly. Click individual images for a bit more commentary and the product link (or just click the store names above), then check out our full Vintage Finds section & our On-line Vintage Clothing Directory for more finds.
