Channeling My Inner Whore Turned Beauty at the Rose Bowl Flea Market

Some girls dream of dressing like a princess in the gowns that seem to be poofed to perfection as if it were all just one giant balloon. (Balloons are so in this summer. Like in Up! That movie seriously caters to my every desires - old people and fat things.) Others dream of dressing like Celebs that can afford a $10,000 + Birkin bag. I finally figured out how much those babies cost thanks to the Asiana airline's supply of "World's Most Expensive" episodes. But I, the wanderer of the weird, have always admired my darling, the Pretty Woman, aka Julia Roberts as a whore. It's not so much her clothing as it is her transformation. It's like the underdog movie where prostitutes are just not to par with normal classy folk up in Beverly Hills. I like myself a good blond bobbed wig and tight snake-skin printed, spandex microminis as much as the next girl But that also doesn't mean I can't like a sassy hat for the derby.

Oh wait, you aren't into the snake-print spandex microminis? Oops, my bad. I get it. It's about the leopard print this season not the snake skin. What have I been smoking.

In the movie she wears this nice long brown polka dotted dress with this cute little straw hat and on top of that she wears a pair of white gloves like a sunday with a cherry on top. Ever since then, I've had a soft spot for dressing like a sophisticated, uber rich snob, older lady. You know the ones who wear those ridiculous hats with like some out of date white suit and skirt combo and their overly botoxed face? In my twisted way of thinking, I love the look because it reminds me of the derby and derby reminds me of grass and grass reminds me of blue skies and blue skies make me happy. I'm a real simple minded fellow. It doesn't take much to make me happy.

My of all things ridiculous lead me to a huge jackpot in my latest thrift-venture. A hat jackpot I might add because I ended up walking away with 5 hats that afternoon. I tell myself it's worth it because I'm starting a hat museum..someday. So I found this awesomely awesome pink and lavender floppy hat with a giant sculpture-like-thing with feathers stuck on top of it. It reminded me of my Pretty Woman and Barbie and I just loved it. Sure, it's not quite the style of the moment, not quite in-season, not that "edgy" but I was never one to give a flying duck about those sorts of things. (shoot. I'm totally going to fail in the fashion industry)

Like all my purchases, I usually have difficulties coming up with places to wear them because to me I like a little show and tell. I like to go out and be seen in my wackiness because if I look like a clown and act like a clown, then the people around me will benefit from the happiness the clown brings. I don't really understand much of what I just said, but then again... I never do.

Thankfully, last Sunday was the perfect occasion to wear my hat. I called up my pimp mama-

"Yo. Pimp mama, what up?"

"Not much. Not much. Hows you doin?"

"Alrite. Look G. I got some bomb news that the Rose Bowl Flea Market is this Sunday. Ya down fo it homie?"

"AH Shooot. Fo sho yo! Fo Sho!"

"Look we gotta go all out and dress up for this. You down?!"

"I'm always down! what you talkin about!"

(conversation has been slightly modified)

So pimp mama and I drove up to Pasadena last Sunday to what we agree to be the best shopping experience ever because if you're a junk junkie like us, this place is filled with endless, endless stalls of junk. But one man's junk is another man's treasure.

We wore our snazzy attire. With the power of my hat and her hat we summoned the Gods of shopping and they were on our sides. Don't we look so cute?!

An outfit details list? Must you?! Yes. I must. Sorry folks.

• Snazziness on my head: $4 thrift
• Ruffly shirt: $10 mall
• Yellow shorts: $2 thrift
• Belt: $1
  
• Shoes: $25
• Those giant smiles on our faces?!: priceless

The Rose Bowl Flea Market comes every second Sunday of the month. The only down side to it is the $8 entrance fee (costs more if you go in earlier), but if you have nothing better to do, then just looking at all the cool things alone is worth it! It's like a museum and shopping all wrapped in one.

We arrived around 9 in the morning and left around 1:30 and we didn't even get through half of the market. We mostly stayed around the second-hand, antiques area because once you start there, you seriously can't go back. People there are super friendly and seriously they sell like everything there. If you are looking for a particular thing, I'm pretty sure you can find it somewhere.

Prices were actually not too bad. I was afraid that things were going to be expensive since the sellers know the value of their goods. If you look hard you can find some super cheap deals and some awesome finds! I personally was swooning with all the hats they have there. Most were on the pricier side but they were so fun to try on and look at. Pimp mama found two awesome fur hats her dream come true!

There is a whole area in the back that is filled with vintage clothing and lots and lots of boots. I got sidetracked by the American Vintage clothing stall because everything was five dollars. Oh am I a sucker for cheap things.

I ended up getting that dress in my hands up there (turning it into a skirt. It's awesome!) and this lavender dress that was like a confused dress because it didn't know if it wanted to be a good girl or a slut.

The thing about this place is that there are soooo many cool things that everything just sort of blends in. There were so many cool boots we saw but since there were so many we just sort of passed by them all and only looked at the ones that really stood out.

These were mens shoes and they were awesome but it was sadly $70 and too expensive for me.

So ladies and gents, what have we learned today?

That hats are cool and that you should definitely check out the Rose Bowl Flea Market if you ever get a chance.

Sorry my blog post just sort of declined in it's snazziness. So much to do. So little time.

Ciao all.