Wednesday List: three fave op shop finds, their histories, and where they are now

I have been quite the op-shopper in my time, and have bought many a fine and ironic garment. I went through a big animal phase, and developed quite a passion for embellished t-shirts at one point during the mid-2000s.

Op shopping is: the thrill of the chase, risking something strange and having it pay off, and persistence (especially if you're op shopping for jeans or oversized men's tuxedo shirts). Op shopping is also about the Story of the Find - where and how.

While I op shop much less these days because of my puritanical thrifty ways, I still think fondly of my best and most favourite purchases.

So - here are some good ones, where they came from, and their histories.

1. Black “Julia Roberts” dress

What: An early 90s black silk cocktail dress, with a drop waist and pleated skirt. It came with long sheer sleeves that I tore off immediately.

Where: An op shop in Perth. It was next door to the hostel I was staying in at the time.

History: I bought this during a road trip in the summer of 2005/2006 that took me from Adelaide, to Perth, to Melbourne. I was very excited when I bought it (you can read about it in a sort of stream of consciousness post I wrote at the time).

Shannon read that blog post in the very early days of our relationship, and commented that Richard Gere in fact drives a Lotus in Pretty Woman, effectively clearing up the mystery that features so strongly in that rambling bit of text. So, I feel as though this post/dress is intimately connected with our early courting days.

Most memorable wears: I wore it to a quite epic party on Waitangi Day eve in 2008. I thought I had a picture of this, but you can't see my dress in the picture.

I have hazy (drunken) memories of wearing it a lot during 2006 and 2007.

Where is it now: Dear reader, this dress was a size 10 - and as I became happier and better paid, I was no longer a size 10 myself and had to stop wearing it.

I hung on to it for a while, but at some point between (I think) the great declutter of 2010 and the present day, this dress was given to another op shop where it rejoined the great recycle of life.

It was a good dress though, and I’m pretty sad that I don’t have a photo of it anywhere.

2. Fawn cable-knit cardigan

A photo of a Polaroid of me wearing the cardigan and standing by a camper van. I was trying to do a sort of “American Gothic” thing.

What: A hand-knit cable knit cardigan in a delightful fawn wool. Features cream vintage-looking buttons.

Where: Either an op shop in Taranaki or in the far North. (I’m a bit vague on this as I did a lot of op-shopping in small towns the year that I bought this).

History: Two options

1. Shannon and I went on a road trip in 2008 and this was one of my many (so many) purchases on this trip. 
2. Or, I bought this during a lunch break while I was away in the far North working in that same year. 

Who even knows! Suffice to say I was spending a lot of money of second hand clothes at the time.

Most memorable wears: I found a photo where I’m wearing the cardi at Campus A Low Hum in 2010, and it was one of two cardigans I took on my trip last year (my list was very tiny).

Hey also I am wearing it in this blog post about a knitted drink bottle cover.

Another very distant photo. I’m standing in front of Hampton Court Palace, arms akimbo

Where is it now?: It’s in my drawer (or possibly my washing basket).

It’s a little the worst for wear, but is has held up remarkably well given that it’s been in constant rotation since 2008 and was second-hand in the first place. The longevity of this cardi just goes to show that hand knits are the best.

3. Pink leather orchid brooch

What: A slightly pearlescent pink leather brooch, ostensibly in the shape of an orchid. Usually referred to as my “vag badge” because - yonic much?

Where: I found this in the better of the four op shops that were within walking distance of my house in the Melbourne suburb of Yarraville. I snaffled it immediately.

History: Basically I just like wearing this and pointing out that it looks like a vulva. I've done this now since 2006. You'd be surprised how tired Shannon is of hearing about it.

At one point one of the petals started flopping forward, so I stuck them to the leather back more securely. A++ accessory management.

Where is it now? Tacked to my brooch board.

Vag badge on the brooch board

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Brief life update

I have had a bladder infection since Saturday and it's fairly misery-making.