eBay Report For March

As I have mentioned more than a few times, I started selling on eBay.  Mostly mid level clothing, nothing too high end (yet!!!!)...hings like Lane Bryant, Torrid, Talbots, Ralph Lauren, Ann Taylor, Ann Klein, Chico's, Eileen Fisher, Bebe, Miss Me...etc etc.  I think those on the eBay boards call these "bread and butter" items, meaning they are easy to find and easy to sell.  These have been constant sellers for me in March.

I love to shop so this has been a lot of fun...either shopping clearance racks, thrift stores, or my own "too big" clothing stash.  I even sold a few VERY large ladies shoes that belonged to a cross-dresser I knew...ha ha.

I have no idea how much I spent when buying things from the thrifts, but I wrote some of the things down so I could have an estimate...

 109.41 purchases and 62.51 in eBay fees...and figured out how much difference is in my paypal from my ebay...bla bla bla.  I am not good in math at all and in no way a good business person....but I think I made about 306.47.  That is not bad at all...esp considering alot of my items have not sold.  LOL.  I made this on 42 items so that means I averaged a little over 7 bucks an item profit.  I might have all this mixed up...whatever.  I made some change for my pockets...LOL.  I need to find an accounting system that I can keep up with and understand.  I think I did pretty good for my first month of not knowing what I am doing....donchathink?

Here are some of my most favorite sells:




Gap Recycled Wool Dress around 3 bucks....sold for 9.99




Size 15 (I also had a size 13) red pumps.  Bought for 0 sold for 20 (the other pair sold for 20, too)



Torrid Goth / school girl skirt.  Bought ages ago... sold for 21.49
(I do believe this sold for more than I paid a long time ago!!!!)



Torrid pencil skirt...bought ages ago sold for 12.99



Torrid skinny pants, again bought ages ago...sold for 10.49




I bought this on clearance ages ago...did not look right on me so I never wore it.  Sold for 16.49



Anthropologie skirt (first and only one I have come across at the thrifts) paid 2.99 sold for 9.99

Bebe dress, without belt.....bought for 5.00 sold for 19.99

Love LOVE L O V E this Bebe skirt.  Bought for 1.50 Size 2 is NOT my size...so I sold it for 10.50

Ann Taylor lace straight skirt...paid 2.99 sold for 7.99
(I had to list this TWICE...I would have snagged it up on the first go around...)

Saw this Torrid skirt at Goodwill and past it up on 2 separate visits...no size tag.  I spotted it on visit 3 and it was half off, so I paid 1.50 for it.  It sold for 12.50

Another lovely from Bebe.  Paid 2.99 and it sold for 20.49.  I also sold an adorable Bebe black pencil skirt, found for 1.00 and sold for  12.99.  LOVE BEBE!!!!



J.Jill Wool NWT skirt...found for 2.99 (and it might have been half of that, I do not remember...).  I took a chance at listing this one HIGH at 29.99 with Free Shipping....AND. IT. SOLD!!!!

 I had a few disappointments, as well.  First....I sold an adorable lime green Venezia tunic shirt that I had in my own stash...I remember wearing it once...MAYBE twice.  Sent it off and got an email from the buyer that there were spots on it.  I KNOW I checked it several times....but that one got past me.  So it came back home.

I also listed these items and they did not sell....some things I would love to wear if they fit me...

I have listed this blue label Ralph Lauren skirt a few times with no bids.  It is such a classic piece that I just knew there would be a bidding way over it.  LOL.

And this super cute Ann Taylor tan striped skirt.  It is a size 6 and just sat there both times it was listed...while it's less attractive cousin, another Ann Taylor tan skirt sold.  Who knew?

Here are some sweet things I have listed right now...The auctions are all ending tomorrow....



Vintage Olga Night Gown



Long Chico's Travelers Skirt Size 1 and one in cranberry size 3

Torrid School Girl Skirt NWT Size 18

Disney Tiki Wrap Skirt...SO CUTE!!! Size Large

Chico's Brown full skirt, size 1 or 2...

Chico's Black and White Capris....I noticed another seller has the jacket to this outfit...OUTSTANDING if someone was able to win both!!! 



Eileen Fisher Size Large black blouse / jacket



Miss Me Gypsy Boho Chic Skirt.  Very cute!!!!

I also have a lot of Ann Taylor, Venezia / Lane Bryant, Talbots, etc listed.  They all end thru out the day Sunday, tomorrow.

Here's to hoping April is just as good for me....

Tiffany

Such Pretty BEBE...such a low price

I have been having a good deal of luck lately.  As I have stated, in other posts, I love the Bebe label.  I always have that as inspiration when I start a diet...if I can get down to Bebe sizing, I will splurge on an outfit.  Hasn't happened, yet.  Oh well...I can just offer the cuties I find to other thru my eBay shop.

I also have been finding some other labels that work well with many figure types, Ann Taylor, Eileen Fisher, Ann Klein, Torrid, Lane Bryant / Venezia, Talbots, J. Jill, Miss Me, Ambercrombie....etc etc. 

What I can not give away to friends, family....my teeny tiny niece....I put on eBay and since most of my family and friends (with the exception of mentioned niece) are womanly....well...I have more than enough to keep me listing.

Tiffany
This post was linked up to Thrifty Thursdays

eBay, thrifting, and general ramblings.....

My blog posting has really slowed down.  I seem to be able to have one addiction at a time and right now, it is eBay....with a mild obsession with Weight Watchers out of necessity.

I have quiet a bit listed on eBay and am very excited about some of the labels.  I have 2 Bebe items and that is making me dizzy with giddiness.  I have had an obsession with Bebe for years.  If I was a size 2, these would never make an appearance on the net...but I am not and will never be a 2.  Have no desire, thank goodness as my body just would not take it.  I will post about that obsession sometime, I am sure, but right now let us settle with the fact that Bebe is HOT HOT HOT. 

I also have quiet a bit of Ann Taylor and most of what has sold has been from that label.   I can see that this will be a label I snatch up when I see it at the thrifts.  Nothing has sold for more than 12 bucks but considering I only pay 1 to 3 dollars for a skirt, capris, or slacks....that is a pretty good turn around. 

Also, I have lots of my own plus size clothing from my heavier days listed.  That is flying like hot cakes.  Venezia, Lane Bryant, and Torrid....not to mention I will have some Ellen Tracy, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfieger, etc listed soon. 

If you have a garage sale in your furture....try selling the clothing on eBay first...you might be surprised.  I had a sale a few seasons ago and no one even blinked an eye to my clothes for 50 cents....now I am selling them for 10 dollars plus.

I am off to thrift today.  I have dreams of more Anthropologie (have a skirt on ebay right now...and it is not going for much), more Ann Taylor, maybe some Abercrombie.  I went yesterday to the Goodwill closest to my home and there was not much there at all.  There is a consignment store across the street and I have a suspicion that they make frequent stops there.  It is in a pretty upscale area (well the outskirts) so there is not other reason for this Goodwill to never have anything in regards to good labels.  Smart consignment store, if they are in fact snagging all the goodies.  Might just be a coincidence but it is hard for me to believe since I have found goodies at all of the other Goodwills in town.  No hard feelings for this shop as they have a great section of Plus size things and they are not too pricey for good second hand clothing (that is not from a traditional thrift shop).

Weight watchers is going well for me.  I have my weigh in tomorrow and will share more after that.  Please tune in Friday as I am sure Thursday night will pass by without a post.  We have someone coming in to discuss the redecorating of my kitchen....SWOON.  I love my hubbie for many reasons but this is really getting me going.  I am so excited.

Now off to the races....be back later to tell you about my treasures.

Tiffany

New Dresses!!!! And a Brief History of the Shirt Waist Dress

I hit the jackpot today during Salvation Army's Half Price Day.  All of their clothing is half on on Wednesdays (in the Dallas area, at least).  I almost did not go.  I had arrived  a little after 8am to find out they do not open until 10am.   I ran a few errands, filled the car up (OUCH...Gas Prices!!!!), etc and almost decided it was not worth waiting on.  At the last minute, I turned around to wait it out.

I am so glad that I did.  You know that I complain about not being able to find dresses in vintage styles because of my "granny arms" and well...my size in general.  Someone must have cleaned out a closet and donated a load of never worn dresses.  Never worn but they have that .... smell....that older clothes get.  Well that is part of the price, I guess...so they are being laundered or aired out right now.

Before I proceeded to take care of the "dusty attic" smell, I played dress up with Gertie.

A little wrinkled but in such perfect condition.  I am posting this one on my etsy shop, Girlie Girl's Notions.

This one looks just so darn cute on me.  The belt does not fit Girtie, but really nips MY waist in.

I almost did not even try this one on...It is my most favorite of the group.

Each had the tags or the little plastic thingies that attaches the tags still attached. 

I am not too fond of the pockets on the chest of this one.  I am thinking of a re-design.

I have the perfect cardigan for this one.

This one needs some work.  I like the shape so it was well worth my time.

I know these are not 50's house-dresses / shirt-waists but they have the fit and design of what I look for.  I am thinking these might be from the 1970s / 1980s because there was some influence during that time of 1950s fashions.  I remember when I was in Junior High (mid 80s) I had a few shirt-waists that I liked because, even way back then, I preferred this fit and style.  I even kept a few until I was in college because the styles changed and I could no longer find them.  They must have been trashed when the evil second husband of my mother (lol...notice I did not say "step-dad") redid my room.

After World War II, women looked to lifestyle magazines, such as Good Housekeeping, to define, learn, and adapt to their new roles in the land of plenty.  Such magazines "influenced the fashion decisions of women, and provides information on how the 1950s shirt-waist was sold to them.  Tracing the path of the shirt-waist—from its established pre-war form, to its 1947 revision by Haute Couture designer Christian Dior, to its gradual appearance in this new form in Good Housekeeping—shows how it began its development as an icon.  Exploring how it was represented in other media in later years will show how it solidified as an icon" from The Clothesline Journal .

When we were researching the early 1900s in my costume history class at Texas A&M, we learned that the shirt-waist was based after a man's shirt.  Women wore these because they were practical and they did not need assistance in getting dressed.  This brought a lot of freedom for the ladies to spend their time on other matters, such as fighting for the vote and other civic minded activities.   So you can see that the 1950's designers were not the first to construct a shirt-waist inspired look.  

These dresses became the uniform of the 1950's housewife.  Since this is the fashion era I am interested in, as far as this blog post is concerned, I will focus on the 1950's influence.  June Cleaver, Donna Reed, Father Knows Best's wife (what was her name?), Marrion Cunningham, etc all wore these dresses....so when one thinks of the 1950's housewife, this is usually what she is wearing, of course with heels and pearls.  

"Christain Dior’s influence on the 1950s style shirtwaist began with his “New Look” collection in the spring of 1947 and almost single-handedly defined the post-war silhouette.  Although other designers such as Claire McCardell were working with similar skirt shapes at the time, the fashion media credited Dior with the inception of the “New Look.”  While Dior did influence ready-to-wear styles, it is incorrect to say that his version merely “trickled down.”  Grant D. McCracken explains the specifics of the trickle down theory in his essay “The Trickle-Down Theory Rehabilitated.”

“The trickle-down theory, first stated by Simmel (1904), was an ingenious account of fashion change.  The theory holds that two conflicting principles act as a kind of engine or motive force for innovation.  Subordinate social groups, following the principle of imitation, seek to establish new status claims by adopting the clothing of super ordinate groups.  Super ordinate social groups, following the principle of differentiation, respond by adopting new fashion."[7] 

If anything, an opposite scenario caused the shirtwaists popularity.  This change disseminated in a circular and almost cyclical way.  Dior took the already well-established form of the shirtwaist and created a new, haute couture version.[8] While this is not necessarily an early incarnation of the now common trend of turning street fashion into couture, it does suggest Dior’s “. . . willingness to work with an established form but to complicate its construction and render it idiosyncratic.”  The new style then slowly began to influence all price points and classes to create the new form, while obliterating the old one" from The Clothesline Journal. 

So every housewife was able to follow the styles, no matter her social status.  From farmer's wives to socialites on 5th Avenue, women were dressing up or down in the popular shirt-waist style.

Happy Homemaking,

Tiffany

This post is being linked up at  

Thrifty Thursdays at Bloggeritaville

And Fabulous Thrift and Fashionable Friday at  A Thrifty LA Life (kris is so darn cute, you gotta go see what she found at Goodwill...so fashionable)

Skirt Fetish

I have a name for my obsession....SKIRT FETISH!!!!  I have been slowly, ok not TOO slowly, collecting a massive amount of skirts.  Skirts are good to me.  With my granny arms, I find dresses hard to fit but a cute skirt can usually be found AND I get my true size.  I do not have to get a larger size JUST for those wavey granny arms.

It is true I love skirts from each season but something about a soft cotton skirt from spring makes me happy.  I buy several every spring, I just can not help it.  I do not care where they come from, I buy them from Nieman's, Chico, Wal Mart, and this year I discovered Goodwill has them so inexpensive that I can have a new skirt for each day of spring.

Because I had such a hard time leaving a skirt behind AND I have so many that are too big or too small...I am going to sell some on eBay.  Since I have so many each are barely worn and just sitting in boxes.  I need the space, the cash will be nice, and I would rather pass them on to someone who can love them.

Here are some recent skirts I have found while at Goodwill.  Some are great brands.

Norton McNaughton 18

Valerie Stevens 12

Izod 20

Casual Corner 14

Tevan 14

Dress Barn 18

Faded Glory 16

Nicole Miller 10

Avenue Blues 18

Cold Water Creek 20

Were them with a soft sweater twin set in early spring or a stretchy T or tank top when the sun gets warmer.  Casual or dressy and perfect to pack in a tote for a romantic weekend away.  Skirts are the perfect item of clothing.

Tiffany
Linked up to Penny Worthy Project
and Thrift Share Monday