West End Markets

For the third week in a row we rose before the sun to make our way this time to West End. Every week it seems that we are getting up earlier and earlier to make sure we are there to grab the first bargains of the day and this week was no exception as we arrived at 6am when the markets officially open and well before the sun was anywhere to be seen.
The day was not a particularly rainy day but as the markets we were visiting were in Davies Park we decided it was a wise idea to wear gum boots as there would still be muddy patches between the stalls.

With the weather in mind we both chose very colorful outfits to brighten the day and I must say I have never received so many complements for how I looked. My look was very much a fashion blogger meet fluro hippie with an estimated cost of $135.

• Shirt - Trade Secret
• Skirt - Trade Secret
• Tights - Supre
• Boots - Big W
• Belt - Trade Secret
• Earrings - Gift
• Necklace - Handmade
• Cuff - Valley Markets
• Bag -Valley Girl

Victoria was a more subdued colourful with some modern red and black colours but again the gumboots showed her true spirit of love and peace. Her outfit cost around $120.

• Dress - Alley
• Tights - Supre
• Boots - Big W
• Earrings - Valley Markets
• Necklace - Rocklea Markets
• Bag - Rocklea Markets

So the market trip began today with finding a car park as we had chosen to drive, even though it was so early it wasn't an easy task as these markets are very popular, so we ended up parking a couple of streets away in an alley we felt rather unsafe in especially in the dark.

These markets are mainly about the fresh food which was all so amazing and cheap, I wish I had more room in my fridge or some idea of a recipe and I would have bought enough groceries for the week. Victoria however bought a little of the food and did some price comparisons for her upcoming marketing adventure and what she found were some good quality food at very cheap prices.

One of the stalls that caught my eye to begin with was selling candles and candle holders, there were beautiful moulded figures and so many colours, the stall just smelt of honey and the combinations drew us in.

I loved the bowl like holders made of beeswax in every colour and size you could imagine and after being reassured that all the products the man sold were unicorn safe this was my first purchase of the day.

The next stall that I feel in love with was a mix of handmade and new clothes and accessories the lovely girl there made most of the jewelry herself and the cape that i bought from her was one of a kind (I am assuming her name was Renee as the stall and brand was Renee loves Frances)

The rest of the morning was spent wandering around looking at everything the was to be offered and finding as much inspiration for ourselves and our own market stalls as possible. Since we had arrived so early and some stalls had not because of the weather we were finished by 9am and ready for some breakfast (not including the delicious bagels we had at 6am when we arrived). So we made our way to the amazing Paddington not far across the river (north side of course) and decided we would eat while waiting for all the antique and vintage shops to open.

There are so many wonderful shops in Paddington we could have spent all day wandering in and out however I am a bit sad to say our wallets would really have felt it as most of the price tags should weigh a ton with how much is on them. One of my favorite shops was Thousand Island Dressing which has a range of  unique homewares and jewelry.

We then went on to look through almost every store we could find, we skipped the ones that didn't have a lot in them as we have come to realise they are the ones that are generally the most expensive, a give away is when there sale rack out the front is more than you can afford. We looked in Yesterdays Books and Things, St Vinncent De Paul, Retro Metro and their clearance store, Ra Ra Superstar and Hobohemia with a few in between that I can't remember.

These stores were all very inspiring to us with new ways to use old things and combinations of clothing that we would have never dreamed of ourselves. 

I was extremely taken by Ra Ra Superstar and their quirky yet whimsical range of clothing you should really check them out sometime if not in person on their website we really had a fantastic time looking, unfortunately no buying with our budgets but I was completely flattered by the shop lady who said i looked simply fantastic and wanted a photo of my outfit for their site!!

We ended our Paddignton visit sifting through the enormous Antiques shop, there were really too many bargains to mention and it just made me want a house of my own to furnish with anything and probably everything I could find (or afford) in the shop. Most items were very reasonably priced and we could have spent hours looking and not seen everything but as we had already been awake for 8hrs we decided it was time to head home and review our days purchases.

Today not all of our buys came from the markets with some being from shops in Paddington as well.

My collection today was -

• Candle holder $16
• Clock/Poncho $49
• Vest $6
• Owl Statue $20

Total Spend $91

Viccy bought a range of things-

• Sunglasses $40
• Cherries $2.50
• Bread $5
• Chile Plant $3.50
• Flowers $5
• Lantern $9.50

Total Spend $61.50

All in all we had a great morning and I would recommend both the West End markets and a shopping trip to Paddington to anyone who is looking for something fun to do.

Hope you enjoyed!
XX Stacy

Weekend Rituals 3

Well we are doing it again. Early Saturday morning we shall be heading off to the West End/ Davies Park markets to sample a trendy blend of fresh food and fashion.
I am looking forward to getting some fresh produce for a beautiful dinner and some cocktails to sip in the evening while we admire our bargains and blog.

Online Wholesale

As I may have mentioned (or you may have noticed) I am slightly addicted to shopping. For some time now I have been browsing an online wholesale website Wholesale Dresses. The clothes start at amazingly cheap prices and some escalate out of my price range with duplicates of the same item being sold at different prices under slightly different names.

Many wholesale websites offer very cheap prices for bulk items such as 24 of the same, previously I had found a site which offered 2 of the same and I thought that was pretty good and still very cheap. This site allows you to order one of the item you want as long as it is "in stock" (I will come back to this later).

Online shopping can be very risky and even more so when it is a shop overseas where your language (in my case English) is not the countries first language. I had noticed with the site many people would ask questions and only get half the answers they were looking for or even worse got completely lost in translation and the answer showed no relevance at all.

With this particular shop there are a few things you need to take into consideration when ordering your items.

1. Possibly the most important is that these models are super tiny and probably have short arms and legs as well so make sure you check the measurements (although they are not always accurate) if it is a style that you have never worn before just keep in mind it probably wont fit you the same way it fits the model in the picture so just go for style you know suit you.
2. Out of stock items must be bulk ordered, when you place your order everything will be in stock at the time but when it comes to compiling your order they may have sold out of some. There is really nothing you can do about this because it is an internal fault with their calculations (the excuse they give is that they receive so many orders per second it is impossible to keep up to date). I would suggest have a back up in mind as they don't give a refund only store credit.
3. The pictures on this site are not always what you will get, I think they say that 20% of their stock is made to look like the photo but will not be the same. Just remember the price of what you are buying, if you think you could go out to the shops in your city and find something similar for the same price I would suggest that because you can never be sure that what you see is what you will get.
4. Finally the shipping, I have mentioned this in my previous online shopping review. Shipping matters, the cost can dramatically change an item from being a bargain to being a rip off. This site has the higher end off the shipping price scale but I decided what I was getting was still cheap enough when the shipping costs were added. A good tip would be don't just buy one item because the shipping for that would be very similar to buying three, but then as your package weight increases by 500g the shipping goes up and they don't have a spend so much get free shipping so you probably can't just buy a new wardrobe from them.

After considering all this I bought a few items from their store, some of which I have fallen in love with and some of which I think I will be giving away...

So onto what I ordered from the site and what I received

Long Sleeve Cloak Shape Coat Green US$9.89
I was pretty happy with this coat, it is fully lined, the measurements were correct and the only real difference is the straps on the sleeves are higher than pictured.

Graceful Single-breasted Special Collar Coat Yellow US$9.73

This coat needs a bit of work as all the buttons are loose, it is very similar to the picture although the fit is not as nice and the pleats are a little high, but I do think once iron and fixed up a little it will be great.

Slim Waist Big Lapelled Double-breasted Coat Orange US$14.51

This coat was slightly more expensive than the others and I would say it was worth it. The material is nicer and the fit is much better, although the buttons are still a bit loose.

Long Sleeve Round Collar Deer Printing T-Shirt US$4.05

This tunic was a absolute bargain, exactly as the picture. No complaints at all!!!

Graceful Lotus Leaf Backless Charming Dress Black $8.63

There really isn't anything wrong with this dress... but it just isn't right, the sleeves don't stick out as far, the collar isn't as round and the back is a lot higher than pictured. I will probably change it a bit myself so it is a bit more special. But yes I was disappointed with this one.

Skinny Fashion PU Legging Panty-hose Black US$2.70

These tights are great, supper fashionable at the moment and so much better than paying $20 in a store. I have worn these half a dozen times already.

Double Used Lovely Picture Printed Handbag US$6.33

This bag is exactly like the picture, it is smaller than I imaged but I checked the measurements and it is correct, I do really like this bag, I am not sure where the pattern is from but I have seen it before. If you know what it is let me know :)

Vogue Pattern Shackle Cubic Bags Purple US$6.22

This bag is also just as pictured but again I am not sure about it, there is nothing wrong with it I just think it's not me, probably because it a funny size...

Fashion High Heels Boots White US$9.46
I love these shoes!! I was so worried about ordering shoes because if they don't fit there is nothing you can do (as you can see it didn't stop me). They fit great the only little problem is the ties on the sides are uneven, but when tied you can't notice :)

Simple Style Cusp Flat Shoes Black US$6.76

Again I love these shoes. I have been looking for a pair of black flats for a long time to replace a pair that i wore through but none had been right. I think these will do the trick 

Paillette Embellished Flat Shoes Blue US$8.11

Another pair of fantastic shoes, exactly like the photos and again a perfect fit. My photo isn't very good but the colour is exactly that shown on the site.

Renaissance V-Opening Bowknot Platforms Beige US$6.63
These are my least favourite shoes, they aren't shaped very well so it is easy to get the left and right mixed up. The bows are a bit messy but could be straightened and glued. They fit a little smaller than the others but are still a good buy.

Lace Double-Use Printing Fashionable Canvas Shoes  US$9.46
100% brilliant, exactly as pictured, perfect fit and beautiful colours.

Fashionable Korea Simple Cross High Heels Pumps US$13.51
These shoes are beautiful, however they are too small :( the toes just don't have enough room. But on the plus side they are made well and are great materials.

Pure Color Stylish Woolen Yarn Glove Deep Grey US$2.46

It is hard to get gloves wrong and these are exactly the same as pictured, lovely and warm too.

Lovely Double-layered Lace Hollow Socks Beige US$0.81

The socks are the same as in the picture, they look super cute with the white shoes I bought, however I have noticed they did fray slightly when washed so I may have to hand wash these.

Hot Sale Retro Wheel Printed Zipper Decorated Jumpsuit  US$7.13
Lovely Double-layered Lace Hollow Socks Beige US$6.89
I have never really been sure about the jumpsuit trend but I thought at these prices I would give it a go, unfortunately they were out of stock, which may be a good thing as I later realised my legs are probably a bit too big for Asian clothing.

I had read a lot of reviews of this online store before I decided to buy from them and I have to say I am overall very happy with what I received. I think this may be because my expectations reflected the price of the items and I ordered what I was sure would fit and also suit my size and not just a stick.
The postage was very fast considering some of the reviews I had read had said they took months to arrive, mine took about 10 days from China to Australia.

I would recommend this site if you are after cheap clothes but are also willing to take a risk, I would recommend the shoes and accessories over the clothes themselves but I am sure I will be buying clothes from them again.

Just remember to be sure you are happy to pay the price because there is no way of knowing for sure what you will receive.


Good Luck and Happy Shopping
XX Stacy Lace


If you have any stories from this site or similar sites to share just leave a comment, would love to know what others think or if there are any better sites I can visit!

Valley Markets

With another early start to the day Victoria, Candy and I made our way to the Valley (Fortitude Valley) to hunt for more treasures.

So what I wore today was a duel outfit for the purposes of going to the markets and later in the day on a movie date with the boy. The estimated value today was $70

Stacy (me)

• Shirt - Rocklea Markets
• Leather look Leggings - Wholesaledresses
• Cardigan - Kmart
• Shoes - Wholesaledresses
• Belt - Latin Clothing Company
• Earrings and Necklace - Trade Secret
• Burberry Bag - Thailand

Victoria was again the last to be ready to leave but her look was perfect for the Valley Markets and she estimated the total cost at $85

Victoria

• Shirt - SES Fashion
• Skirt - The Tree of Life
• Shoes - Rubi Shoes
• Earrings - Rocklea Markets
• Red Handbag - Rocklea Markets

It was Candys first trip to the markets with us and wanted to impress with her vintage style inspired look including items she had made herself. Her value was a little harder to calculate as a few of her pieces were gifts (lucky girl) so we put it between $80 - 90

Candy

• Shirt -Kmart
• Skirt - Gift (Target)
• Cardigan -Target
• Tights - Woolworths
• Beret - Handmade
• Scarf - Myer
• Gloves - Handmade
• Shoes - Rubi Shoes
• Bag - Stradbags

Unfortunately as predicted the laneway markets which we had heard about were not on this weekend but luckily we had the Brunswick St markets as a backup... we were just a couple of hours early.

So our first stop for the day was Ric's Cafe for a lazy breakfast while we watched the stalls being set up around us.

Once it reached 8am (still before the markets were officially open) we decided it would be a good time to have a look around and sniff out the bargains so we could snap them up for ourselves whilst still having the luxury of time to think about it before anyone else showed up.

One stall that caught our eyes featured a range of vintage clothing with some accessories to match with them, many great items were found but the prices did not suit our wallets and their limited contents, although this did not stop Viccy coming back to barter the prices down on a couple of items. 

Happy Shoppers

A great range of Vintage Clothing

Another of our favourite stalls was Astley Zan - Italian French Collection. This stall had a wide range of beautiful new jewellery from Italy and France. We were all entranced by the sparkle and gleem with something to please every style. 

Some amazing finds - not even finished setting up!

So many choices

Just loving this display

There were some very distinct differences between these markets and the ones previously visited at Rocklea. The main difference was the price, mostly because the items you could buy at the valley markets were almost all new and quality you were paying for that but you would easily find something you liked with the range of different stalls. At Rocklea most stalls had second hand goods therefore lowering the price but making it more of a challenge to discover something you may like.

And of course my favorite part of any shopping trip - showing off what we bought!

This week we all had budgets to stick to as we had not just been payed and could run to an ATM to get the cash needed for the next brilliant find, this meant that we had to be sure about what we wanted to buy and also meant there was a lot of leaving one stall only to return later to save that beloved dress or necklace who knows whose hands or wardrobes it could have ended up in.

What I bought today

• Bomber Jacket - $30
• Dress - $10
• Guess Jeans - $18
• Crochet Shirt - $4
• Anklet - $2.50
• Cuff - $15

Total Spend  $79.50

Victoria's Haul 

• Statement Necklace -$30
• Long Jumper - $25
• Earrings - $10
• Wool Dress - $30
• Anklet - $2.50
• Nail Polish - $1
• Flowers - $7.50

Total Spend $106

Candy's Kitty 

• Necklace - $15
• Belt - $8
• Anklets - $5
• Book - $13

Total Spend  $41

In all we had a great time, the atmosphere of the Valley on the weekend is amazing and there are so many things to do once you have finished trawling the stalls (open 9-4) so you will not run out of things to do. I would recommend arriving a bit earlier so that you can enjoy a breakfast and not have to fight your way through the crowds to see everything.

What did you think? Was there anything I missed? Or have you been to the Brunswick St Markets and have an experience or find that you want to share? Would love to hear from you!

XX Stacy Lace