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All your Christmas shopping in one fell swoop

5 Oct

Since I have to save up all my money for my Halloween costume this month, I guess I’ll go ahead and share with you the fantastic treasures I have uncovered that maybe someone else can take advantage of. I am going to immediately regret this, I just know it, but if you don’t buy them who will?!?!!?!?

steve061MediumUgh, I would totally love to get this as a gift for someone who’s moved away to greener pastures, but the fact that I can see skin through the shirt kind of grosses me out (sorry, Alternative). Someone else buy this please and if I ever see you wearing it out I will buy you a drink. Or maybe you should buy me a drink. I can’t remember. (more…)

And speaking of spring fashions

28 Apr

I want to see more of this on our dandies around town, accompanied by the aforementioned purse – man leggings!
leggings
According to the wearer, “They make my calves look good.” Keep this in mind, gentlemen, as we ladies run out of new and innovative ways to wear leggings. Maybe someone can master the cargo legging in time for this year’s East Atlanta Beer Festival? Does Sid Mashburn stock these?

Previously: EABF Fashions

Lighten up, it’s just fashion!

24 Apr

You win a PRIZE if you are the first person to correctly guess where this handmade man purse made from ethernet cables was spotted today!
murse

murse

Atlanta’s famous roadside boutiques

1 Apr

Here’s a helpful money-saving shopping tip from a couple of our favorite American Music Show stars, DeAundra Peek and Duffy Odum.

In case you’re wondering what that part of town where they go on their shopping spree (just south of Ormewood Park) looks like now:

Shelby Place
It appears that due to the current economic climate, top of the line boutique merchandise like rusty wheelchairs and jack-o-lanterns have been switched out for lower-end empty cardboard boxes.

Previously: Everything you and me could want ever in life

More from 1967

24 Mar

Next time I’ll show you the Muse’s department store ads scattered throughout the GQ with fun facts about “Fabulous Atlanta” that sound like a text from a lackluster chamber of commerce brochure. Example: “Over 60 privately chartered buses leave the city each week.” And then the weird description of coming of age in Atlanta:

Growing up in Atlanta is probably a lot like growing up anywhere. Only better. It’s going to concerts and learning to paint and climbing trees and playing ball and going swimming. It’s having wonderful schools to go to and good friends to be happy with. It’s learning and laughing and having fun. It’s playing in the sunshine, with trees, birds and squirrels everywhere.

Thank you, Mad Men.

Again, just click on the photo for the larger version. I wish I didn’t have to remind you people of this every single time. Recognize anything?
Downtown
At the time of this spread, the Atlanta Airport was pathetically only fourth in the nation in terms of passengers.
dscn0586
The caption for the following photo: “King-sized paisleys go courting in Atlanta and find that Southern hospitality is no myth.” The lady’s blouse is from Muse’s.dscn0584
(more…)

Shop talk

13 Mar

First of all, check out these cute letterpress neighborhood postcards from Katie Kaiser that are available at Urban Cottage for $3 each. (Also on Etsy.)
postcards
I feel bad about judging Urban Cottage by its old website right before it opened its Vaggie-Hi location. I was mad about my beloved Atlanta Book Exchange moving to a new county (a quarter of a mile away). Urban Cottage is lovely and they are also well stocked in Alternative Apparel‘s best and most classic pieces in black and white only (and sometimes gray).

And aren’t you dying to know what I got at Highland Row Antiques last weekend? (more…)

I am a giant hypocrite

19 Feb

Remember when I made fun of AJC’s t-shirts of their front page when Obama was elected, and Mark Davis was like, “Shut up, my mom loved hers,” and I thought secretly, “No one will ever know that during the first half of the nineties I wore the shit out of my t-shirt of the AJC front page after the Braves did something exciting”? No?

Well, my cousin dug up this photo last night and I just want to be honest with you guys and take back everything I said about the AJC Obama t-shirts.

In exchange for my humiliation, I would like one of our readers to please submit a photo of himself/herself with a Tomahawk Buzzcut. You know you had one.

Yes, those are stonewashed jean shorts with an elastic waistband. That noise you hear is the sound of the Asian Cajuns’ fashion blog empire crumbling before my feet.

Previously: What is wrong with the AJC?

The best “My Style” ever

16 Feb


Eula Adams is truly a grand fashion inspiration in this installment of AJC’s series “My Style”! Her signature style is leather skirts, her favorite store is Stein Mart, she splurges on hats, and she wore her wedding gown to a recent event. See the slideshow here! I had to go through the photos twice, first to look at her clothes and next to admire the gilded decor in her gracious home. Is that a punchbowl full of strawberries on her bathroom counter?

Sam Lettre‘s style is also pretty cool. He is four years old.

The gayest directions in Atlanta

10 Feb

These are directions dictated from one our most dedicated Pecanne Log readers while I was trying to find a good place to buy powdered wigs (or powdered-looking wigs) and things embellished with garish-colored ostrich feathers. They were directions to the store Queens and Divas:

“It’s on Cheshire Bridge, before Onyx and Heretic. There is a bay window and it’s on the left, in the same strip as Hair Cuttery. If you get to Atlanta Leather you’ve gone too far. But if you go too far, Poster Hut is also wonderful. It says ‘P-Hut’ screened on the awning. There are a lot of treasures there.”

Whatever, Queens and Divas! This is only the dress I want to be MARRIED IN! Except in virginal ivory!

(photos via Queens and Divas of Atlanta)

Yard Sale Addict’s most terrifying purchase

6 Feb

I just love reading Yard Sale Addict because he brings the yard sales to me. I don’t have to go rooting through boxes of junk in someone’s driveway to come to the conclusion that there’s nothing good to buy here. He also likes to highlight the creepy things for sale, because it’s always good to know about the weird things inside your neighbors’ homes. Below is a video from over 20 years ago of one of his creepiest, most troublesome second-hand finds that was actually possessed by a demon that peeled all the wallpaper off his walls and made his socks disappear!

Now I understand why he concludes so many of his posts with the report that he bought nothing – his advice in the video is, “Do not go to yard sales and buy demons, for sure!” I’m curious to know how he ultimately got rid of the demon object.

I demand MARTA fashion

4 Feb

I get a lot (= 3) of fan mail from fellow MARTA patrons who know what’s up. And I’ve been jealously watching from afar all the support that cycling gets from the design community WHICH IS FINE, because bikes are cool, but I think it’s high time for a pro-MARTA t-shirt, not unlike the ones Epidemik Coalition did for the Atlanta Bicycle Campaign or Sopo Bikes.

I’m not saying the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority would sanction such a tee, I’m just saying I would buy one and wear it if they existed.

Look at these Breeze Card Air Force Ones!

Previously: Trauma: Life on MARTA

Anything and everything a chap can unload

3 Feb


It’s February, and everyone is already tired of all their winter clothes, every last thing! Good news – Eyedrum is hosting a thrift store all day Saturday while they renovate the gallery. It’s really more of a bazaar, because you can bring your own stuff to sell. Full info here. I imagine it will be something like this…

What is wrong with the AJC?

21 Jan

No, seriously…what is wrong with them? I really want someone to explain it to me.

(via Wonkette)
If you want a newspaper with our ACTUAL CURRENT president on the front page, you will just have to buy one of these stupid-ass t-shirts, available in 3XL.

Ladies of fashion

18 Jan

On dull cold days like this, a good way to while away the minutes it takes for muffins to bake is jealously looking through Yokoo’s photos and Etsy store:

She sells wonderful cozy knits (crochets?) for the oppressive cold plus warm-weather-appropriate knitted things (like her famous chains), and she has inimitable style and an eye for nooks and crannies around Atlanta that make for great photos.

Also, check out Amy’s Ministry of Tiny Hats blog for more adorable style and all things miniature.

Previously: Ministry of Tiny Hats takes over the world, your heart

Great Scott! Antique Market, that is.

9 Jan

Tomorrow is going to be another wretched rainy day, so why not make today the last time you watch Muppets’ Christmas Carol on VHS until next December and spend Saturday at the Scott Antique Market in the Atlanta Expo Center! And with this $1 off admission coupon and the assurance that “swearing, vulgarity and crass behavior is [sic] not tolerated,” you really can’t say no.

And to sweeten the deal, Top Design/Martha Stewart’s own Eddie Ross will be personally guiding tours around the antique mart this weekend to tell you what to buy (for a fee). Even though I love love love Eddie, Wisit is the only top designer I would pay to shop with because have you heard his golden operatic voice? (via Daily Candy)


Between Highland Row‘s sale on the first weekend of the month, Scott Antique Market on the second, and visits to Kudzu Antiques and Chamblee’s Antiques Row spread out over the remaining weekends, you could literally never buy a new item again for the rest of your life. I was introduced to Chamblee for the last week and was lucky enough to find a Georges Briard olive dish with a tiny gold serving fork on a chain attached to the dish at Antique Factory! It was truly one of my favorite vintage finds.

No gluten-free holidays here

25 Nov

It’s almost holiday time, which means two things: 1) MARTA pumps terrible Lawrence Welk-style Christmas carols through all of its rail stations, which makes public transit even more depressing, and 2) there were a bunch of craft sales over the last few weeks. I hope you figured this out and attended one or all of them, because you certainly didn’t read about them here. We ladybloggers have been too busy throwing birthday parties for our dogs, picking apples, getting engaged, being blog whores, feeling guilty about not blogging, feeling resentful that Atlanta magazine readers hate us so much, or all of the above to write a simple post to remind you to buy a tiny hat at one of these craft fairs. There are a few more chances to buy ingenious homemade gifts in our dwindling 2008, with Youngblood Gallery’s Kraftwork on Thursday, December 4 and Spruill Gallery’s holiday artist market December 5-24. There’s also the ever-reliable Etsy if you can’t manage to drag your ass to one of our many wonderful galleries and boutiques to buy locally made stuff. What else am I missing? Please enlighten us all in the comments.

And if all else fails, just make felt toast ornaments (as per Atlanta Craft Mafia’s instructions) or varnish a loaf of bread for every person on your list. “Celebrity Home Workshop” has your how-to video right here! I’m telling you now so you can sneak some rolls from the Thanksgiving dinner table to get started.

All American

25 Nov


Sad news for the seven or so of you who shopped there: The American Apparel in Tech Square is closing its doors forever. Perhaps it suffered from the eternal problem of being, how do you say, “too cool for school.” Georgia Tech just wasn’t the market to launch men’s viscose sexuali-tanks, I guess. Instead, many students opted to stock their entire wardrobes with official licensed merchandise purchased from the Barnes and Noble across the street.

Midtown Promenade tries to look more current; fails

25 Oct

Now that Midtown Promenade has a Trader Joe’s and soon will have a Starbucks, it needs to revamp its image to align itself more carefully with other modern Midtown retail, instead of just being the weird strip mall where people with penis bolo ties/meth addictions/Eurotrash ponytails hang out at the interesting array of bars. So naturally, the first thing they changed is the signage, from something you might see at one of the coolest New Jersey malls in 1986:
…to this, and I can’t even think of what it looks like. My graphic designer friend described it thus: “It is very penis. Very very penis.” What does that even mean? You be the judge:

I just feel like if you’re going to update that sign after 20 years of the turquoise horizontal stripes and everything, you should have something really amazing up your sleeve. Otherwise just leave it be! I liked how spirited the cursive script for “Promenade” was on the old sign, as though one might pronounce it “MIDTOWN Promenade!”, you know? Now it’s “Midtown PROMENADE” and my inflection’s all off.

Previously: Nickel and diming

Costume ideas from your neighbors

24 Oct

It’s crunch time, people. Let’s get serious. You have the weekend left to score a costume or start constructing one because come next week all the thrift stores and seasonal aisles will be picked over. AJC, of course, has galleries and galleries full of photos because no one reads anymore and it’s cheaper to pay someone to upload photos of a dog painted like a skunk than to do journalism. They also have this thing called a “Costume-n-ator” – your guess is as good as mine. I don’t “want to see Ludacris as a nerd” so I haven’t tried it yet.

Jay of the Plug demonstrates step by step how he’s constructed various costumes in years past. My favorite is the cigarette vending machine.

There’s also the Candy Voting Machine (via Decatur Metro). This little tyke Moey has the coolest parents and is apparently world-renowned throughout Decatur for his clever costumes. This year his neighbors will have the chance to vote for their candidate by dropping the requisite treats in the appropriate ballot box. I know I will be interrupting my party to check out the results at 11 p.m. next Friday night. I WONDER WHO WILL WIN.

And Thomas found this Howard the Duck mask on Craigslist. But I bet you $3.59 he bought it for himself already.


If you’re trying to spend as little money as possible and are okay with a costume like “Mid-’90s Youth Pastor” or “Person in Stained Sweatsuit”, my suggestion is to hit the thrift stores on Monday since most have everything 50% that weekday.

Previously: Costume contest

Nickel and diming

14 Oct

When I saw the sign for Richards Variety Store go up next to the Midtown Trader Joe’s, I thought, “Really? There’s a market for a variety store here?” I imagined the last variety store in Georgia shut its doors in Fort Gaines sometime around 1989, but I was wrong! That Midtown Promenade shopping center is turning into one peculiar little strip mall, with the exception of the standalone Starbucks currently under construction.

I read the online reviews for Richards (no possessive apostrophe; it’s weird) and many of them were along the lines of, “YOU WILL NEVER SHOP FOR GREETING CARDS ANYWHERE ELSE!” At this point in my life, finding the perfect greeting card is not a priority so I was unimpressed. But still, today I wandered into the newly opened Richards and was kind of charmed by the uselessness of it all. There are some weird things going on in that store, like the giant portrait of what can only be described as Vengeful Japanese Santa Claus hanging over the entrance and abrasive yellow linoleum on the floor.

They stock lots of old-fashioned candies, like candy cigarettes and cowtails and these flying saucer wafers “made” by the Pennsylvania Dutch (in Belgium), a great road trip snack while you’re on your way to Alabama to check out the Federation of Light. Then aisles and aisles are devoted to toys – life-size stuffed basset hounds, wind-up tin robots, and battery-powered scottish terriers. There’s also an extensive collection of Halloween wigs (planning on being a saloon girl or a viscount this year?) and a back room with Persian rugs.

I’m leaving out a lot of inventory but it’s a variety store so they don’t stick to just a few key items, no matter what you’ve heard about their greeting card selection. Now I see that Richards strategically chose that location because it is right next door to Tuesday Morning and the two stores share, I imagine, the exact same customer base. Richards is kind of like a somewhat more upscale Dollar General. The only thing I purchased was this 79 cent fan, featuring Chinese actress Kristy Yeung, as a gift for one lucky out-of-towner.

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