September Thrifted Buys (Auckland)

September has flown by so quickly and I've been thrifting like mad (as per usual). I spent a couple of days with my Grandma sifting through both Savemart's in my area, as well as every single second-hand store in the greater Wellington region (blog post on that coming soon). Ben and I also travelled to Auckland for the Fleetwood Mac concert and went thrifting on K Road, where several purchases were made. So, to commemorate this successful month of op-shopping I thought I'd put together a little collection of some of my most favourite purchases. Some of these pieces are for my store (here) and others are just for me! If you have any questions, feel free to ask them below.

As my obsession and fascination with 60s/70s fashion grows I obviously had to pick up a pair of white go-go style boots. They've featured in a few of my Depop photos, as well as some images on my story and I've had tons of compliments and questions about them. So, it was practically a miracle when I found an almost identical pair at Vinnies last week. They're even by the same brand! I'll be listing these incredible white boots on my Depop in the next few weeks, so keep your eyes peeled!

One of the fastest and best-selling items on my Depop is the fluffy bucket hat. It's a trend that anyone above the age of 30 doesn't seem to understand (quite frankly, my Grandmother finds them pretty ugly). But I think they're fantastic and such a great way to spice up any outfit, whilst keeping your head nice and toasty. I managed to pick up over five different fluffy bucket hats this month, one is already for sale on my store (here). So, if you were wondering, yes-both of the pink fluffy bucket hats pictured above will be for sale very soon!

I found so many incredible vintage pieces in Auckland that tempted me majorly. I eneded up narrowing them down to a small collection, mostly because my carry on was already verging on full to bursting point. I picked up a gorgeous 1970s beige dress with suede details and big gold buttons. It gives me major Western / Once Upon a Time In Hollywood vibes and would look incredible with some cowboy boots.

The dreamy orange and cream floral 70s dress is from Crushes, a store I'd never heard of but stumbled across when exploring K Road. They had so many amazing vintage pieces and I had to really stop myself from spending up a storm. I can't wait to wear this dress in the Summer with my brown boots and a cute headband. Then I simply couldn't resist picking up my favourite Rolling Stones album on vinyl. It was only $30 at a cute vintage store on K Road and a major pain to transport home on the plane (but worth it).

After starting my business selling second-hand clothes, I've found that buying for myself has become more difficult. Most things that I thrift I'll end up selling, even if I regret it later. So, it was nice to actually pick up some pieces for myself in the month of September. Now, the weather just needs to warm up so I can actually wear them!

Bella 🌼

September Op Shops Colour Study

Thrifting this month has been such good fun, with my own personal style developing, as well as my stores'. I went on a two-day long op-shopping expedition with my wonderful (and very patient) Grandmother. We visited both of the Savemart's in my area and every op-shop in the Wellington region, including Petone, Tawa and Upper Hutt. It was an exhausting couple of days and I'm embarrassed to admit that my arms were alarmingly sore from sifting through racks of clothing all day.

I found so many amazing pieces for my store, including pants, tie-up tops, skirts, fluffy bucket hats and crochet bags + so much more! I also found several funky homeware and furniture pieces to lust after. It seems I've become kind of known for my taste in crockery (??) as I had two strangers send my images of mugs at op-shops they thought I would like this month. So strange, but a great compliment all the same. I have been asked quite a lot recently what my favourite spots to thrift in Wellington are, so I might curate a list of the best op-shops in the area. Let me know if you'd be interested in that!

Ben and I went on a thrifting mission to find the perfect outfits to wear to Fleetwood Mac this month. I stumbled across the most incredibly beautiful 1970s maxi dress, it was love at first sight. But shopping for Ben was quite a lot harder. It's weirdly difficult to find decent guys clothing at op-shops, maybe that's because they've been picked through. Or perhaps Ben is just super picky (probably the case). But he really struggled to find the right piece for the concert. Until we walked into Tangent on Cuba Street and hit the jackpot. If you're a Wellingtonian and you haven't stepped foot in Tangent, you really gotta.

I often share most of these images on my Instagram story as I take them. But, I love seeing them all collaged together at the end of the month. It's so weirdly satisfying and it seems to tell a fun story of the places I've been and things I've seen that month. Keep your eyes peeled for some of the pieces above which will be coming to my store soon!

Bella 🌼

The Retro Collection - Depop

I'm so excited to finally release the first-ever instalment of 'The Retro Collection'! As a part of my everchanging and growing Depop store, this new collection is a carefully curated bundle of my most favourite true vintage pieces.

As someone who has a completely 60s / 70s inspired wardrobe, it only seemed right to introduce this style and wonderful era into my store. Currently, I sell a mixture of different styles, mostly centred around 90s and the early 2000s. I've found that these pieces sell the best overall, they're the easiest to thrift and I've had a super positive response so far. But, I never wanted to pigeon hole my store with just one style or era of fashion. So, I've come up with the idea to create collections. This is a great way for me to market and sell pieces as a whole style, rather than simply dotting them randomly throughout my store. I'm open to any suggestions for future collections if there's a specific style you'd love to see. I was thinking maybe even collections inspired by specific style icons or film genres?

For the first instalment of this and as a pilot collection I thought it would be appropriate to channel my own unique style and look into a curation of clothing. Some of these pieces have been thrifted specifically for 'The Retro Collection', a few are from my personal closet. I've had so much fun collecting these pieces and dreaming up how I wanted this first lot to turn out. As this is the pilot collection I've kept it quite small and selective. Let me know if you like this or if you'd prefer larger bundles of clothes in the future! See the full collection below.







'The Retro Collection' (pilot edition) is made up of seven items, each is unique, funky, colourful and 100% true vintage. Most tags are still intact and the quality of each piece is impeccable. In this collection, you'll find three retro 60s style dresses, two button-up 70s shirts, one men's button-up shirt and a pair of wool shorts! I'm super stoked to finally introduce a men's item into my store and I'll be interested to see the response I get from customers.

I'm so pleased with how this little creative experiment has turned out and I can't wait to trial new ideas and styles in the future. I'll be uploading 'The Retro Collection' to my Depop store later this week in one large drop, so stay tuned for that! As always, feel free to message me if you have any of your own ideas or suggestions for future collections. I'd love to hear from you!

My Depop store here.

Bella 🌼

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

If you haven't seen Quentin Tarantino's latest film set in 1960s Hollywood, what are you doing?! Once Upon A Time In Hollywood officially blew me away with its quirky plot, swingin soundtrack, crazy outfits and oh-so Tarantino ending.

I wasn't all that familiar with Tarantino's films before this year and initially Ben and I were drawn to this film because Leo is my all-time favourite, I love the 60s and I really love Hollywood. Ben sent me the trailer for Once Upon A Time In Hollywood a few months ago and we'd been counting down the days until its release ever since. Now, after seeing it three times in cinema I can officially say I'm a major fan.

Set in 1969, fictional characters Cliff Booth and Rick Dalton, played by Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio, play comical roles in the rewriting of a major historical event. Despite being a big Hollywood fan, I didn't know much about the Charles Manson murders or Sharon Tate. In fact, I went the entire three hours of my first screening with absolutely no clue of their significance to the story. If you've seen this film then you'll understand just how random and strange it appeared without that context. It was even better for the second time, as I sat alone in the cinema with a large bag of popcorn to keep me company. I was able to simply sit back and appreciate it for the third time, knowing exactly what was coming. After understanding the thought that Tarantino put behind each scene, character and reference, the film became even more of a masterpiece. Keeping the memory of Sharon Tate alive in an alternate universe run by deadbeat spaghetti western actors and stunt doubles with vicious Pitbulls.

My like-minded, 60s loving pal, Fran is also a big fan of the film and its incredible soundtrack, with bops from Deep Purple, Simon & Garfunkel and The Rolling Stones. We blasted this brilliant soundtrack on our drive to Savemart a couple of weeks ago with Matt and I still have it on repeat now!

We also shot some super fun photos in town with Ben and Matt before heading off. I especially love the black and white shots taken in Aro Valley, Fran used the flash which gives them a really cool almost film-like quality. My favourite photo is of me and Ben walking across the street, I love the shadows and the warm lighting from Fran's camera and editing.

In these images, I'm wearing a fully second-hand outfit. If you're very observant you may notice that these are actually new jeans (yes!) I felt that it was time to invest in some new flared jeans, as my everyday pair were getting well worn. I found this incredible pair of 1970s flare style denim jeans from Karen Walker on Depop. They're incredible quality and even shipping them from Australia cost so little, they were very much worth it! I love how high waisted they are, and they fit perfectly around the waist, meaning I don't need to wear a belt, which is great. My vintage shirt is from Recycle Boutique in Wellington, one of my absolute favourite shirts that I will take with me to my grave. My blazer is a thrifted Vinnies find and my orange headband is thrifted too.

I plan to see Once Upon A Time In Hollywood again (and again) once it comes out on DVD. There's something about the setting of Hollywood in the 60s that I simply adore and I love the old western theme too, so many good cowboy boots to drool over! Make sure to catch it in cinemas soon, it's an absolute must-see!

Bella 🌼