From My Closet: T shirt Follow Up

Here is my promised tshirt follow up, this time featuring some favourites from my own closet, all affordable fashion gift options (really, truly, I am a real cheap chic girl).... So the shirt above is one I picked up at Kmart for under $10, it is a sleeveless black vest type shirt, and I embellished it with two button flowers. There is good news and more good news: 1st, this is an easy project for you or your kids to make, simply use tailors chalk to draw the outline and then fill it in with buttons. 2nd, I am now taking orders for custom shirts like this and others in my Etsy store, so tell me the type of tshirt, the colour, and the motif you want..... and I will get your gift underway. I recommend hearts, stars, flowers, smiley faces and other icons that are easily identified by the eye. Cost depends on where I source the shirt, and then the amount of time and buttons used, and shipping.

This is a favourite summer shirt though I only bought it at the start of this year in Susanne Grae's new year clearance sale..... I love the cut of the shirt and the embellishment, and the lovely sleeves (pity can't see in this pic!). Definitely worth heading to SG's every season and checking the racks, I never pay more than $20 for any single item, often a good deal less, and fashion clearances are fantastic opportunities to score a lovely gift for someone.

Knit or Go Home shirt, variation on the Jolly Roger, was originally designed by the wardrobe lady for Lorelai (Lauren Graham) in the Gilmore Girls tv show..... now can be purchased from cafepress.com as can many other Gilmore Girl merchandise. I am waiting to wear this to the annual craft fair, but it gets worn a lot and gets a lot of second and even third looks. The shirt comes in a number of different colours, and shirt styles so price varies, and there is shipping, but sometimes its worth a bit more money if you can afford it and want something near and dear to the recipients heart. Definitely as I have said before, a company I would vouch for, they are excellent.

Now this one will be hard to track down as I have had it since 2000 or 2001, it was purchased in a surf shop in Fremantle, it was under $20 and I have included it A) as a favourite and B) as an example of unusual pieces you cand find and snap up if you apply yourself.

And finally, here I go again..... trusty old Kmart for this long sleeve boat neck top shirt, that came out a few years ago when patterns over striped fabrics were the rage..... I am still wearing at times, a favourite never goes out of style in my eyes.

And yes, my clothes do last a long time..... because I probably have too many so they each don't get worn as frequently and take over 10 years to wear out..... I am my own best vintage fashion supplier haha!

Just So You Know..... my friend Jade and I have started another blog called Just So You Know.... where we (hopefully) comedically diss, complain, and critique the things we observe in our daily lives, the title of the blog comes from the way we frequently start our sentences...... ie 'just so you know, yada yada yada'. I am having a problem finding how to load Jade's profile to that blog without altering my profile for these two other blogs I have...... grrrr can anyone help?

and just so you know..... I am going to be here a lot more now, and during this long time away from blogging I have come up with a rough plan for what I'd like to feature on the blog. I was thinking along these lines:

Tuesday: tutorial day (how to, projects, advice etc on various themes)

Thursday: inspirations (find what you are looking for, by finding out what you are looking for, with help by seeing what I have been buying, what I have been making, and what I already own)

Sunday: soul day.... giving.... the larger picture.

I hope this sounds good to you, I really appreciate your understanding and patience with my long absence not just from my blog but yours too, thanks everyone, xxx Starry

Guide to T-shirt Shopping

Another themed post, today's is another influenced by my own passion - t shirts, I love em! Of course I love them so much that one post will not suffice, so today's is specifically for novelty tshirts, and where to get the best service. I will do another post on beautiful cheap chic shirts I bought locally just to inspire you for Christmas (yes it may be time to start tucking some cheap but fantastic treats away for those you love) you can get fantastic fashion thrills for under $10, $20, and $30 though of course the cheaper the find, the bigger the thrill for the buyer.

The hot pink number above cost me $20 at the Burswood Dome for Hopman Cup 2009, it is a Walter Says branded tshirt designed by Rose Dowland. I love it because of the intricate flourishes and the cheeky quote 'stuff being princess, I want to be queen!'. It is comfortable, well sized, has not shrunk, the colour has remained bright, has easy care instructions, and is a good cut, some tshirts are just like wearing a sack!

This tshirt is the first item I ever bought online, purchased very early this year, from myteespot.com It is of Kramer from Seinfeld dressed as his alias Dr Van Nostrand (inside joke). My Tee Spot have a massive range of merchandise for tv shows, cartoons, political, music, celebrity.... really easy to search for what you want, you can suggest things they do not carry (suggest a shirt), but the prices are US dollars. I totally trust this company, their shipping is very fast, their communication over orders and progress of orders is fantastic, I am just sorry the tshirt is wrinkled in this pic it hasn't been out of the drawer for winter. Oh one last thing, it is pre shrunk, has no seams, yes so comfy no side seams! and the care instructions are good.

This tshirt was also purchased from My Tee Spot (see above) this one is of Christopher Walken and says "I got a fever" its a Saturday Night Live in joke. I love to wear this to the doctor surgery, but that is my sense of humour. Again I highly recommend this company.

And for those who don't like to shop online, I got this Tweety Bird shirt at Kmart this year, under $20, love the metallic silver slogan "little bit sassy". This has been really comfortable, is a great fit, the fabric is nice and soft, and the design has withstood being folded without flaking so far (love it when a shirt can hack that!).

My online favourite though has got to be cafepress.com and for Australians, add an au to the end of the address and you will find you can browse in Australian dollars for peace of mind and knowing exactly how much you are spending (I like that peace of mind). Cafe Press have a lot of television merchandise, I have gotten Gilmore Girls merchandise from there earlier this year (remember my Reading Is Sexy tshirt, and baseball jacket 'Major League Gilmore Fan') and am now awaiting my jolly roger restyle for knitting needles saying 'Knit of Go Home'. I am also awaiting a peacock shirt, really I have played around for hours searching different themes and key words and I have to say they have got the best range of shirt designs, and you can custom order your own design. The service is quick and reliable, very thorough communication over your order's progress, and I trust them.

In recent weeks on facebook I have been tempted by fb ads for Threadless Tshirts and also Boy Girl Party, and have had a look, they have great shirts, but I have no purchasing experience with either of them. Boy Girl Party also have wonderful journals, tote bags, and cards with their beautiful designs featured.

Today I checked out www.pistolclothing.com.au and really loved the woman's aqua eye shirt, $50. It was my first visit to their store but it won't be my last!

www.peacearts.com have a great range of peace themed tshirts, as well as other peace art (posters, postcards, etc) though I have no experience buying from them yet.

www.zazzle.com was my last stop for the day, and I am in LOVE! Their shirts start at $12.95 and there is no minimum order. I have ordered the Vintage Aviator Tee Shirt, the starting price for the shirt was over $30, and it came on a distressed shirt, I hate the frayed distressed shirts with exposed seams, so I elected to change the type of shirt it came on, mine is a tank top, looks really great and now cost only $25 and I got to choose a different base colour. I can't wait for it to arrive, the shipping was very cheap, the information provided over sizing is very good, I got a discount via email because I recommended the shop to two of my email friends, and I enjoyed using the site.

So tshirt devotees, get shopping, and also, leave a comment telling me of your fave online tshirt business so I can torture myself/indulge myself some more!