Good morning!
This post might be a bit longer – you might want to grab a cuppa.
Last year, when I wrote about finding all the wedding suits for Big Boy, Small Man and Pete at Potts Point Vintage, I promised I’d fill you in about my outfit after the big day.
At that stage, I actually didn’t have an outfit. It was starting to look like I’d have to buy something new. But then, one fortuitous afternoon, as my friend Anita the Style Goddess and I were browsing together at Salvos Tempe, she pulled a strappy Anthea Crawford silk chiffon dress off the rack.
“Try this on!”, she commanded.
I protested, arguing that I didn’t like to have my arms bare.
“Stop arguing and try it on anyway!”, she said.
It was breathtakingly beautiful. I’d never owned such a gorgeous dress in my entire life. And it fit almost perfectly, although I had to take it in two inches around the bust (ever try hand-sewing silk chiffon? It’s not for the fainthearted).
It was fully lined, silk on silk, and we think it would have retailed new for over $800 – I bought it in near new condition for $55. And we were off!
I was keen to get a shawl to cover my shoulders, so the following afternoon, I popped into Salvos Croydon.
There I found a magnificent embroidered sari in exactly the right shade of deep pink for $10, and an Olga Berg white handbag for $20. The sari was five metres long, so it required quite a bit of alteration. Thankfully my beloved friend Dan arrived from San Francisco two weeks before the wedding and spent hours helping me unpick and restitch the flimsy tulle into a two metre shawl. It turns out I love wearing pink!
So….that just left shoes.
Ahh, now they were a challenge. I couldn’t wear anything too high. It was the middle of summer, and my girlfriends had specifically banned me from wearing my cowboy boots. The shoes had to be comfortable enough to wear all night. I scouted secondhand shops and friends’ shoe collections, trying on dozens of options.
Then, a week or so later, Pete and I walked into UTurn Recycled Clothing in Marrickville. And there on the $10 rack were these shoes, in a size too big.
“Buy them anyway and we’ll make them fit”, Pete said. So we did and with a stick-on insert and an extra hole in the strap, we got away with it. Pete cleaned them for me with his special leather and vinyl polish and they came up like brand new. The shoes matched so well that friends at the wedding thought I’d had them made to order!
If you’ve been adding up along the way, you’ll realise that my entire wedding outfit – head to toe – cost $95. I honestly don’t believe I’d have done better for $1,000! Best of all, the entire outfit was sustainably sourced from the secondhand market!
As you can tell by the photos, I was pretty happy. And I think we all looked most fine! ♥
PS. My heartfelt thanks to my darling girls Anita, Jen and Dan for getting me past the finish line outfit-wise. It was touch and go for a while there!
With my styling gurus Anita and Jen!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
You look absolutely radiant. Great choices all the way around.
You look absolutely stunning! And what a handsome crew you have. Congratulations to you all!
Oh how very glamorous you look! Everything goes together so well. Must be fate.
You look so happy and lovely
There’s a deep and magnificent satisfaction in scoring a fabulous outfit for a pittance, but when you add the fact that it’s all recycled, re-purposed and pre-loved, I can see why your smile puts the sun to shame :-)
ADORE your outfit, and your whole self looks stunning!
WOW and WOW, you look ravishing ‘dahling’ :) What fun. And kudos to your styling buddies.
I live this outfit so much, but most of all because you are glowing with joy!!
You look gorgeous. You are an inspiration for the rest of us to look for sustainable alternatives to new.
Wow, Anthea Crawford, how lucky were you, and your fabulous pink shawl looks stunning. Beautiful pics of you, your family and your two lovely friends.
You look like a fairy flower! Well done you!
(And my hub told me to tell you that he is learning to bake sourdough and thank you. He’s on his third loaf and they are delish)
You look stunning and I’m not surprised you now like wearing pink – it suits you so well. The family photo is beautiful – happy times.x
You look beautiful. This is a really wonderful story.
Pink is your color Celia, the outfit is gorgeous and you look beautiful. What luck!
WOW what a find and you would think you bought it altogether at a high end store. You look lovely and the bright pink suits you. Well done. Who would have thought the shoes too…well done.
Congratulations and you all looked fabulous!
You look amazing. You must be absolutely thrilled with your thriftiness.
I love the photos and the smiles and the colour… and that you have a wonderful and inspirational story to share from it :)
Thanks goodness you are not fainthearted. What a fabulous story and stunning outfit.
Beautiful! The shoes and sari are a perfect fit to the dress. Hard to believe you found everything for under $100. A lovely family photo. Everyone is so radiant.
You looked radiant and it was so much fun on the hunt for your pieces. x
Thanks for sharing, from a fellow op-shopper who also loves wearing pink! added bonus that your silk dress will eventually biodegrade at the end of its (hopefully long and fabulous!) life! Cheers, Sally
Absolutely beautiful Celia! You are beaming with joy! Beautiful family pic too. xo
Wow…absolutely beautiful! What a gorgeous looking family.
Beautiful! What an amazing advert you are for responsible shopping.
Fabulous outfit! All of you look amazing.
On another note I just had my 23 yo Miele washer repaired. It wouldn’t spin. Needed new brushes on the motor. Repairman was quite young and hadn’t met one where he had to use his brain and not his computer to diagnose! Hoping to get at least another 5 years out of it. See, you are rubbing off on us…..
Mo
A magnificent outfit with no compromise to your principles. Brilliant 😁
You look absolutely beautiful and I love everything about this outfit and the story. Thanks for sharing your efforts and joy.
Celia, you look “mahvelous!” Fabulous finds and bravo for your needlework skills, too. Simply lovely… radiant… joyful!
P.S. I have a designer dress from Saks 5th Avenue ($10 at a local thrift store) hanging in my closet for my daughter’s wedding, which had to be postponed because of the current situation. But, it gives me more time to find shoes that match as beautifully as yours! I also found a designer handbag ($5) in an identical color a few months later. Yay for thrift stores! Praying that you ‘n’ yours are safe and well, xo.
You look absolutely stunning Celia. I think you have even surpassed yourself this time. EVERYTHING is just perfect. And I LOVE you in pink too 💗💗💗 Also want to say that I am so glad to see you posting again, and I am loving the little short posts 😄
Pink does really suit you, you really pulled that together, you look gorgeous!
I used to buy my evening dresses from a second hand store that sold clothing models wore for photo shoots. I scored some awesome dresses!
Most fine indeed and what great finds. Your family photo is so very lovely
You looked glamourous – maybe get back in the outfit to do the Friday dress up instead of dressing down people are now doing while isolated. Did you see that on the news, I particulary liked the couple dressed up to the nines to do the tractor work on their rural property
Lovely to see you all x and congratulations :)
I’ve been waiting for months to see this wonderful outfit, and fully expected the cowdy boots to appear. You look absolutely stunning in pink, Celia. and your man and boys look beautiful too. What a day.
Such a perfect outfit for this happy occasion Celia. Fantastic op-shop finds x
It was meant to be. Absolutely stunning.
Wow! Totally all handsome and gorgeous. You all did so well in more than one way. You rock MsCelia.
A little late in commenting, however I do not think it to late to say you looked absolutely stunning. The sari wrap is beautiful.