THRIFTED THURSDAYS/ one

Welcome to this new segment on my blog! I'm going to be calling it Thrifted Thursdays and every Thursday I'm going to be discussing one of my amazing secondhand finds. These finds can be from traditional thrift shops, garage sales, consignment shops or eBay and they can range from handcrafted, to vintage, to designer pieces. I will also discuss different tricks and techniques when buying secondhand.

The name of my blog is Secondhand Rose and seeing as I work at a consignment shop, I'm around used clothing almost daily. Although you do see some of my used clothing finds in my outfit posts, I feel like I've neglected that whole section on my wardrobe here on my blog.

I also believe that there is still a lot of negativity, and almost like a stigma, associated with buying secondhand clothing and I'm here to disprove as many of those myths as possible. Let's get started, shall we?

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I decided to start off the segment with one of my latest and most favourite designer finds. I picked this up at Rikochet Resale, a consignment shop here in Ottawa, and I am head over heels in love with this piece. It is an authentic classic Burberry lambswool scarf and it is a piece I've been lusting after for pretty much my entire life. The trick with buying designer items secondhand is to find a credible shop. There are tons of counterfeit pieces out there and it is sometimes tricky to determine the legitimacy of an item by yourself. I'm wary of items found in thrift shops like Value Village or Goodwill that claim to be designer, and there's no way I'm going to shell out money for designer goods off of eBay. I like to feel the item and see it for myself, or in the case of this consignment shop, know that it was check thoroughly by a trained professional.

Although I have been lusting after this scarf for what seems like forever now, I always knew that it was out of my price range. The scarf I bought is an older style, but scarves at Burberry are traditionally price upwards of $300 (depending on style, materials used, size, ect), and I picked this one up for only $100. The price I paid may still seem steep for a lot of you but you have to understand that this is a classic, traditional piece and it is coming from a company that hardly, if ever, has sales. I also have a sort of passion for designer scarves and I knew that adding this to my (small) collection was a must. I'm beyond happy with this purchase.

* Photo was taken by myself.

TWENTY-FOUR/ all bundled up

I travelled to and through five different provinces (that's half of them) in the past week alone. Trust me when I say that it's tiring and when people say there's no place like home, they truly mean it. I am so exhausted, in every sense of the word.

My week first started in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec. It's a lovely ski resort village and it looked like a winter wonderland when we arrived. There was snow on the ground and lights on all of the trees and chalets. My family and I made the journey up there to say goodbye to my oldest brother before he moved out west.

A couple of days later my brother packed all of his belongings into his car, and we made our way out west. I decided to go with him because a 40+ hour drive by yourself is not only boring but can also be dangerous. Although I don't have my license, I figured I could keep him awake and help out if anything were to happen. He's also my best friend and I thought one final road trip would be an awesome way to say goodbye. We drove through Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan before arriving at our final destination in Alberta. We spent three days crammed in his tiny little car with all of his possessions just talking about anything and everything, enjoying the sights and listening to all of our favourite songs. We experienced so much along the way and it definitely made me view this country in a different light; northern Ontario almost killed us, I fell head over heels in love with Saskatchewan and we saw an amazing view of the Rocky's in Alberta - his new home province. We arrived in Alberta Thursday night and I flew home on Friday, and believe me when I say that I'm horrible at saying goodbye.

I will never ever ever make that trip again. Hopefully I'll head back to each province we visited, but if I do, I'm flying. As beautiful and terrifying as the sights were, 40+ hours on the road is just much too long. The weather in Mont-Tremblant and Calgary (where I took the majority of the pictures below) was completely opposite from the weather we've been having here in Ottawa. It was snowy and cold in both places, and it seems as though I brought that weather home with me. It's because of those early winter conditions that I was living in my parka, large knit scarf and Uggs (don't judge me) this week. I wouldn't have it any other way, winter is by far my favourite season. Take a good look folks, this is what I'll be living in until March.

COAT/ Addition Elle BOOTS/ Uggs LEGGINGS/ American Apparel SCARF/ Gap

In Calgary, Alberta

Saskatchewan on either side, just outside of Thunder Bay (Ontario) in the middle

Mont-Tremblant, Quebec

A great view of the Rocky Mountains in Calgary, Alberta

* The top picture was taken by Derek Waugh, the rest of the pictures were taken by me.