tales from the thrift & WWIT.

Holllllla! It's Tuesday! 

Around the beginning of this year, I made a commitment to only buy thrifted or second hand clothes for A YEAR. Some newer-ish readers brought to my attention that they didn't know anything about such decision, and so I thought, it's about time for an update. 

You can read about that decision here. 

First, an accountability update: I think I've pretty much stuck to my commitment. Per my recollection, there was a $3 shirt at Walmart that I purchased with my friend Marilee, but really she bought it for me. And I also bought a workout shirt at Target, but I'd wanted it for like 2 years, it had been discontinued & brought back. It felt right. But other than that, no real NEW items bought. 

And truly, it has not been hard at all. 

In all honesty, I'm not a HUGE shopper. I think I like the act of it, but it's rare to have TIME to do it. But when it comes to actually spending money, I'm a little bit of a hoarder. If I have $4 all to myself, it feels like a treasure and I never want to lose it, unless it's on a friend or a cup of coffee. Or on a cup of coffee for a friend. 

But I went on two large trips at the beginning of the year. Here is one. The other was with my sweet bff Mare and I was SURE I wrote a post on it, but maybe I didn't?! 

Well, for whatever reason, on Saturday morning I woke up wanting to SHOP. I specifically woke up with the idea of some beautiful cigarette pants in my mind. I wanted 'em. So, I've said this before about thrifting and I still think it's totally true - you need to go in knowing what you want. Use polyvore or pinterest or a magazine and scissors and give yourself some sort of visual image of what it is you want. I feel like this aspect of thrifting has helped me to develop my "personal style" more than anything else. Also, know that I'm dying laughing writing "personal style" because I have very little. But the more I learn, the more I look, the more I stay out of the Target juniors section, the more I know this what I like. And this is what I like: nautical, bohemian, clean lines, non-fussy, neutrals with pops of color, feminine, casual, classic, east coast meets west coast style. 

That is, when I'm not wearing yoga pants and an old t-shirt. 

Which is around 3 days a week at least.

something like this.

And some black cigarette pants felt integral to that. 

So what did I do? 

I gathered a big bag of clothes I wasn't wearing anymore, some that I'd even gotten second-hand, and headed to my local thrift store. I sold them what I had and got $29 in store credit. 

And with that and a little extra I got the following: new pair of designer jeans for Nick, new chucks for Nick, BLACK CIGARETTE PANTS, a flowy top that is perfectly east coast/west coast, and a new button down that is classy and nautical all at once. Also, a fun funky top that just made me smile. 
And here's I wore/plan to wear them: 

floral bohemian shirt. MUCH cute in person. $9

cig-a-rette pants. Also, I do not endorse smoking.
Just cute pants. For $20, thrifted. from banana republic.

shirt Kristin gave me, on top of them cigarette pants

"new" thrifted button down. $6

So, bottom line: 
I love thrifting. I see no reason to start buying full price clothing when this year is over. 
It's cheaper, it builds relationship (love my thrift shop lady), and it has seriously helped me identify my personal style and search for things I truly love. 
Amen and amen. 

Also, sidebar. MY FAVE thriftstore is Sid Nancy, here in Columbia. I love the Goodwill too, but everything at Sid & Nancy is a win AND they'll let me sell my old clothes to them. Also, when I take the kids, the store owner gives them lollipops and lets them play with her iphone, what?! 

fashion friday, boston edition

A. I skipped yesterday's post because I decided to save a little for next week. PLUS re-entry to mother-of-three-kid-land has been interesting. True story: I was only gone for like four days, right? But the first day we were back, the first poopy diaper I had to change - I was in SHOCK. Like, seriously?! That is some gross stuff. So yay for getaways with your husband, boo for how they re-sensitize you to the rigors of motherhood. 
B. I would like to firmly state that this is not a "oooooh-look-at-me-in-my-cutey-outfits-posts". It's much more of a mama who lives in yoga pants & hoodies that needed to go on a vacation and be a real adult and wear something other than breathable elastic. It's also a shout-out to Laura T. and my sister who helped me find clothes/arrange outfits/and pack in a ridiculously small bag. And also, it was really encouraging for me to make myself get for real dressed each day. I've missed it this week and plan on wearing real clothes more often. Thank you & goodnight. 


Without further ado.... 
here's what I wore. 
thursday...
little poufy sundress of my sisters, goodwill belt, goodwill loafers in Charleston. 
Add a coat & a bobby pin and you're good for a night in Boston! 

thursday night.
worldy things I love: coffee, 30 rock, and hotel bathrobes.
also, you shouldn't feel creepy about this picture because I was fully dressed, just givin' the robe a try for kicks, ok? 

friday morning. 
Laura T's dress. Laura's belted sweater jacket. My favorite vest. Tights & uggs. 
I realize that Uggs aren't the COOLEST thing around right now. Riding boots or military-ish boots seem much cooler. Even I saw a lot of cute sleddingish/duck boots that would be cute in Boston. But these were COMFY. Also, I wore lipstain all weekend! Who am I? A woman?!

Friday evening:
Fave Boston outfit. Long blazer Laura T gave me, normal tank top, jeggings. Leopard shoes from like four years ago. Literally, here is the post from August 2007 when I bought those shoes. Now THAT was a good purchase. 

Saturday morning: 

The true story is, I went running on Saturday morning and didn't get a good picture of my running gear. It was lame. My USC Mom sweatshirt may have made a cameo. BUT! Here is a dress I didn't buy at a thrift shop in Jamaican Plains that I'm seriously regretting now. It might not be your thing, but I thought it was a.dor.able. Just not with my running pants & shoes.

Saturday afternoon:

I did buy this cute dress though! Like $6 or something at a thrift shop. Free People, for those keeping check of labels. Super cute. And I obviously didn't wash it:( Oops. Just put that sucker on & went sight seeing. Then put it on again for our date that night. 

crazy post-run hair

Sunday morning:

My least favorite outfit because I've got to learn that tunics aren't my friend. I need structure. Still thankful for this borrowed tunic from my sister, tights, & uggs. 

And a tightly wrapped head to keep me warm despite the freezing temps. 

And in full disclosure. 

This is me on Monday morning after we'd missed our Sunday flight. Had to get up at 3am to head to the airport. Had run out of clothes. Planned on running laps around the terminal because I felt so yucky from too many cannolis. Bought this shirt from a vendor on the street for $7 and plan to wear it during my half marathon. I'm not sure I was actually awake during the taking of this picture. Bahahahahaha. 

So there it is friends!

My guide to a thrift-shopping, groove-getting-back, not-ready-to-change-diapers-again-yet mother's wardrobe on a lovers getaway. 

I hope ya'll have a killer weekend. 

What are you wearing?! 

tales from the thrift

Ok. Let's get down to business. 

First a review. 

I'm not buying any new clothing in 2011, read about that here. 

I was planning a big goodwill trip for last weekend & did this post to do some planning. 

Some things I wanted: 

denim jumper/babydoll dress

button down shirt

braided belt

cut off shorts

loafers

nautical stripes

cardigans

feminine tops

big girl lady pants

slim fit boyfriend jeans

Well I'll tell you what. I was walking around that Goodwill saying "HALLELUJAH!" with my sister laughing at me. I found many of those silly, exact items. Almost exactly. 

Here's some of what I found: 

feminine top #1 

feminine top #2

lady pants. these look a LOT better in person. 

nautical cardigan.

running skirt? at Goodwill? Can you say thank you LORD?

button-down. 

my plan for the button-down, with some new loafers & belt.  

cute Elias, helping me style an outfit.

I think you remember these running pants, ahem.

close up of the shoes.

made some jeans into cutey shorts.

denim babydoll button-down jumper dress

not pictured, but still found: 

- slim fit boyfriend jeans

- cropped sweatpants, sort of like this 

- wrappy, ballet style top

In full disclosure, what I spent: 

$50 of leftover Christmas money plus a generous donation from the Goodwill-fairy on thirteen items. That's $3.84/per item on average. 

Woosh. Is anyone else exhausted? 

To summarize: 

a) Thrift shopping is neat. And cheap. 

b) A plan sure doesn't hurt. 

c) I will hire myself out for personal-thrift-shopping-fit-sessions for the fee of 

vintage loafers and or denim jumpers. Or coffee. 

Shoot, I'll do it for free ya'll.