Triumph or Tacky?

This week’s edition of Triumph or Tacky? is going to be a double-header! It will focus on the ring from the Week 5 challenge and the fedora from the Week 6 challenge.

If you recall, I bought this rose quartz-style ring from Aldo to wear on my trip to Mexico:

Aldo

 

Overall I’m quite happy with this purchase and everyone I showed it to also seemed to like it! Here’s the big question though, how did it hold up to sun, sand, sea water, and sunscreen (say that three times fast!)? Well, given that it’s a plastic ring some degree of wear and tear was to be expected:

Honestly, my original thought was that it would melt in reaction to the sun and sunscreen or it would end up completely scratched/destroyed by the sand. I was pleasantly surprised that with the exception of some scratches it held up really well and even has a more vintage vibe to it now! It has survived well enough to be worn again another day! I’d say this qualifies as a triumph!

 

Now what about the fedora?

Old Navy

 

As much as I love this fedora not everyone felt the same way. Some people I polled thought that it looked too masculine. Also, after having some friends over one night we discovered that it looks awesome on my husband! I wanted to post a picture of him in the fedora but I think that he’s a little shy about being featured in my blog so I don’t have a picture for you unfortunately. Trust me though, it looks really good on him!

Although it is a masculine hat (and again looks better on my husband) I still happily wore it down south:

The Aldo ring shows in this one, it's a little hard to see with my pasty skin though...

 

Over the course of our vacation, and after perusing some local shops (did you really think that I wouldn’t do at least some shopping?), I actually came across the cutest hat! This one is definitely ultra-feminine and has more of an old-school vibe to it:

My husband was sweet enough to purchase it for me and we came up with a compromise: I got the new hat and he got the fedora!

Here’s the hat on me:

Attempting my best 50's catalog model pose

 

Even better, the new hat actually came in at $15 US so even though it isn’t technically part of the SpendThrift Experiment it still follows the rules. I think that this is definitely a triumphant purchase!

What do you think?

Week 6 Results

I fully admit that I neglected my blog this week. I really meant to write at least one other post but I ended up getting completely sick so I chose to focus on getting better for my trip. That meant a lot of time in bed and not much time in front of my computer so I apologize!

Next week I will also be absent from blogging but at least I have a much more festive reason for it, I’m leaving for Mexico in a matter of hours! So what does that mean for the SpendThift Experiment? Well, it’s going on hiatus for a week. The Week 7 challenge will begin on Monday the 29th leaving me with one less shopping day for that challenge. It’s a price I’m willing to pay for laying on a beach for a week 😮

So how did I do for the Week 6 challenge? Well after some serious shopping (thankfully right before I got really sick) I managed to find a great fedora at Old Navy:

Old Navy $14.50

I found it in the menswear section and I really like that it’s a darker brown colour. I wasn’t really a big fan of their women’s fedoras since they were a much lighter straw colour but they were still cute. I know that this hat isn’t nearly as nice or as well constructed as the Banana Republic hat that I fell in love with:

Banana Republic $50

But it’s still a fun hat and will hopefully hold up to the elements. It’s also much more affordable coming in at $16.39 with taxes:

That leaves $3.61 for the SpendThrift Savings Bank!

And how does the fedora look on me?

You’ll have to excuse the creative license that I took with this picture. As I mentioned I’ve been sick so I look like something the cat dragged in (and then proceeded to drag up and down the stairs several times). I promise that I’ll take a much better picture (aka one where I’m not deliberately hiding my face) on my trip and will post it when I get back.

So what do you think?

One last note. There will be no Triump or Tacky? post this week but there will be a double post the week after for both the fedora and the Week 5 challenge ring.

Now I’m off to pack my bags! See you all in a week!

Week 6 Challenge

Wow, I can’t believe that I’ve already been conducting this experiment for 6 weeks! It’s crazy how quickly time flies!

At the moment I am in Mexico mode  since I’m a person who loves to travel and I get very, very excited about upcoming trips. Usually I use a trip as an excuse to go out and buy a new wardrobe but alas, since my pockets are still empty I don’t really have that option this time. That’s not to say that I’ve been an angel about this trip though, I have to admit that I was a little bad and ran over to Old Navy one day to pick up some “basics”:

My Old Navy splurges

 

In my defense I was completely out of flip-flops! I know that doesn’t mean that I had to buy 5 pairs but really they’re sooo cheap! Plus they pack well and I won’t care if I need to leave a pair behind (just keep justifying it to yourself Mel, *insert Raine eye roll here*). I don’t really have any excuse for buying the tank top and skirt… except that I did need a new black tank and the skirt is really comfy…hmm, and now I do need a grey tank to go with the skirt…

I have been thinking about things that I want/need for my trip and how I can incorporate these into this week’s challenge (like the ring from last week). Obviously, buying Old Navy flip-flops or a grey tank top for under $20 doesn’t really constitute a challenge (I could easily do both for under $20). Finding cheap sunglasses really isn’t that difficult either. So, after doing some window shopping yesterday I have decided to focus on finding a new hat!

You see I’ve been wearing the same floppy hat from GAP for years:

 

My much-loved hat and bag from GAP, these must be at least 10 years old!

 

As much as I love this hat (and the matching bag, I really dig the whole safari vibe they have going) I feel like I am now ready to branch out and buy a new chapeau! So that will be this week’s challenge (I promise that this will be the last accessory challenge for a while, I’ll be going back to clothing after my trip!).

When I was out shopping I saw a few floppy hats similar to ones that have popped up in the Marc Jacobs spring 2011 campaign and the Chanel Resort 2011 runway show:

 

Marc Jacobs

 

Chanel

 

And I saw a really great one at Banana Republic:

 

I do love these hats and they do offer really great sun protection but what really caught my eye were the fedora’s:

 

Lacoste

 

Especially the ones at Banana Republic, I just love how Banana Republic does the whole safari trend:

Banana Republic

 

I want this particular hat from Banana Republic so badly! I even tried it on in the store but it’s out of my price range:

 

Banana Republic $50

They were even having a big sale yesterday and were giving out 50% off coupons but 1) the hat would still be over my budget, and 2) buying something ahead of actually declaring my challenge would of course be cheating!

I am hoping that I can find something similar that is of good enough quality to stand up to the rigours of my trip and still be intact enough to wear this spring and summer.

So the challenge is on! Wish me luck!