Thrifting Current Trends

One reason you might hesitate to thrift is the worry that you’re going to look dated. I mean, if everyone is donating their worn-out (or never-worn, sitting in the back of the closet for years) stuff, aren’t thrift stores just full of clothes that are out of style?

Short answer: nope. And there are a couple of reasons why – both negative and positive.

First up, the sad trombone: fast fashion has made retail clothing so cheap it’s become disposable. Consumers can afford to buy a pair of kick flare jeans – that’s trendy speak for cropped & flared jeans that make you look like you had an overnight growth spurt ca. 2000 – decide they don’t like them, and donate them two weeks later. Then you find them new with tags or barely worn at the thrift store while they’re still on sale at the retailer. Not great for the planet or for workers who aren’t paid a living wage to make the clothes; but if you happen to like a current style, it’s a way you can give those items a new life instead of sending them straight to the landfill.

Behold, new with tags J. Crew light-blue-and-white striped button down. This style was making the style blogger rounds this past fall, and I thrifted mine just a week after I saw it on Instagram:

Poshmark and eBay are great for this – I saw this floral midi dress in Target, stalked it on eBay, and found it a month or so later, in time to wear in the warm-weather portion of my pregnancy:

Second, on a happier note: everything old is new again, so if you are thrilled to see spaghetti straps and choker necklaces make a comeback, head to the thrift store and see what 90s (or older) treasures have recently made there way to the sales floor. Your vintage finds will look on trend but also unique, because you’re not buying the mass market current version.

I give you the oversized blazer trend, in a unique vintage pinstripe style instead of the houndstooth or glen plaid I see everywhere:

And the wide-stripe shirt trend, still for sale online at J. Crew:

which I first saw styled (and fell in love with) on Frances Ayme:

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A post shared by Frances (@francesayme) on Apr 15, 2019 at 10:40am PDT

My 100% cotton vintage version has long sleeves; I could keep it that way for cooler weather or decide to chop the sleeves for a hot weather look:

There’s also always the option to DIY a current trend out of a thrift store find. It wouldn’t be hard to take a pair of scissors to some seriously flared jeans and make your own kick flares, for example, or, if you have sewing skills, to turn a giant muumuu into an off-the-shoulder maxi dress.

What current trends have you thrifted? Were they new-with-tags, or vintage-turned-trend?

Thrift Finds: March 2018

Long time no see, Thrifters! You know it’s been awhile when my last post was also thrift finds… from a month ago.

I’ve been happily busy with work (Lent, Holy Week) and thus away from the blog. To jump back in, I thought about doing the Spring 10×10 (click here to read about what a 10×10 is) but it was scheduled to start on Good Friday (hello people, busiest time of year for a pastor!) and also it snowed yesterday. So nope.

But I did have some good March thrift finds and I would love to share them with you all. I’ll classify them by thrift excursion so I can keep track of what’s what. Here we go!

First up: Global Thrift in Waltham.
I did a quick run through just before closing and didn’t find anything I wanted to try, but did find a gorgeous J. Crew linen dress in a Light Summer coral not remotely my size:

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Wanh wannnnhhhhh.

Here’s another Light Summer number in the weird college-student-party-dress length that always cuts off people’s legs while simultaneously threatening to show their assets:

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Why do people wear such short hems?! #rantover

Next up, the Goodwill in Seabrook, NH on the way to visit my inlaws. I have one complaint against New Hampshire Goodwills: they sell a bunch of new stuff alongside the secondhand things, and while this is handy when I want to buy underwear or socks and still support a non-profit, it just kind of spoils the feel for me. Plus the way they display it sometimes makes it hard to distinguish between new and not; the new stuff is usually cheaply made; and I didn’t find good undies this time. #rantnumber2over

Nope on this cable-knit sweater – the overly bright white and the cheap quality overrode my love of cowl necks:

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Too small:

This pleated dress with attached camisole-like liner actually looks better in retrospect than it did in the dressing room – it was a bit baggy on:

Great colors on the stripes; wonky neck:

Despite the picture which makes it look sort of milk-chocolatey, this NY & Co. blazer was the exact right brown for Light Summer. Too bad it was so baggy in the chest/armpit area!

These two t-shirts came home with me as they were simple but with details that added a twist. Ralph Lauren Jeans is on the left; on the right is No Boundaries (a Walmart brand that almost never passes the quality test, but this one did).

Despite the awful lighting, both are good Light Summer colors. You can see the yellow shirt (which is a tad big and looks better under a blazer) featured in my Easter outfit:

Those pants, btw, are also a new-to-me find off of eBay – they arrived on Good Friday so it seemed clear the universe wanted me to wear them on Easter. More about them in a post to come.

Last but not least from Goodwill, this cheeky little shirt by Express which is also super comfortable. Pretty sure I can’t wear this to work so it will be my leisure shirt (or I can wear it under a blazer to look like I’m in on the shirts-with-words trend while obscuring the actual words).

A quick Saturday-before-Palm Sunday visit to the Garment District to rent a donkey costume:

I hadn’t been here in about 15 years… last time I was a college student on a budget, digging through the pay-by-the-pound section:

I’ve since graduate to the racks, where I found some great patterns…

…and consignment store prices. I tried on three Light Summer finds.

I’m on the hunt for a chambray dress, but this one was too baggy, and for the prices I wanted something just right:

A yellow cashmere(!) Lord & Taylor sweater that was great except for being too short – when I raised my arms, out came the midriff:

And a pink top in which I absolutely swam:

Last but not least, a quick stop into Restoration Project in Belmont. This is a small store supporting a non-profit that trains adolescents & adults with brain disorders and injuries in the furniture restoration trade; as you might imagine, they have a great selection of furniture. So it’s already a great cause; and somehow, unlike many other small stores linked to deserving local charities that end up with a hodge podge of meh selections, this store is packed full of modern, fresh, quality finds. I buy something every single time I stop in, and often come home with a new closet favorite.

This time:

Nope – great rise on these Kancan jeans but sausage calves down below:

Practically no-rise on these otherwise great white jeans (insert rant number 3 about lowrise pants – and get off my lawn!):

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Such a fun, mermaid-y look in great Light Summer colors…

…that was too big. Plus the yoke was a dingy, cheap-looking white:

The colors on this silk Ann Taylor button down were glorious, but it was a size too big (fixed by a tie in the front) and had a few snags. What do you think – should I have bought it and styled it thus?

This Eva Mendes skirt is pretty awesome in terms of feel – very lush – and architectural detailing. I love the built-in belt for definition:

But it was at least a size (maybe 2?) too small.

Here are some shorts that hit me in all the wrong places and are way too baggy in the legs:

Here’s on I brought home – great drape, length, and detail with that center pleat…

…but although it has Light Summer colors in it, the grey in the pattern makes it feels so…muted…compared to my recently re-chromatized look:

Meh. We’ll see how I feel about it, maybe over my purple pants.

Speaking of purple, Restoration Project was in rare form with the Light Summer purples. Check out this strapless gown I wish I had somewhere to wear:

And this purple men’s v-neck sweater in Italian merino wool by Express that became my Good Friday outfit:

And this sleeveless crop-ish silk top by Bloomingdale’s, two sizes too large:

I feel like all the cool Instagram kids are wearing crop tops likes this with highwaisted jeans. I think maybe I could pull it off, especially as a fun (and inexpensive) experiment, except for the fact that it’s so wide:

What would you do with this top if you were me? Try to tighten it up with some hand sewing, while still leaving enough flex room to get it over my head? Wear it as-is and pretend it’s on purpose?

You can see more of the sleeveless top’s extra fabric in this pic of a vintage maxi skirt I nabbed. The skirt is super comfy with its flat front and elastic waistband and I liked the kicky little pleats in front:

I plan to wear it with my Saltwater sandals and a tank this summer, but in a better color. I want to dye it a color other than this 1980s peach, which is not Light Summer (or particularly appealing). Thoughts on a color to choose?

And last but not least, a vintage Maggy London dress I considered wearing for Easter for about a minute – and rejected, mostly because I couldn’t figure out whether the shoulders would look good once I removed the shoulder pads:

Happy Easter/chag Pesach sameach to those who celebrate!

My Winter Wardrobe

First, a note about my posting schedule. Work is ramping up (hello Advent, you’re right around the corner!) which means lately I haven’t had as much time as I would like to write and publish posts. For the foreseeable future, you can keep expecting at least one post a week, but my usual Tuesday/Thursday schedule will now become the ideal rather than the norm. Thanks for your flexibility and for continuing to keep this blog a fun and creative place for community and conversation!

And now, this year’s late fall/winter wardrobe, for your viewing pleasure. Since I broke up with capsule wardrobes, this is not a comprehensive list of every single piece I will wear this winter, but rather the pieces I imagine will get the most wear; they form the core of my wardrobe.

Tops

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Coin 1804; Gap Body; Eileen Fisher; Ivanka Trump; Workshop by Andrea Jovine; J. Crew; Cyn; Liz Claiborne; Gap; Loft; L.L. Bean; J. Crew; Joan Vass; Gap Designed & Crafted

I’ve really upped the number of tops this year for two reasons: I have about twice as much winter to contend with, plus my M.O. for expanding a section of my wardrobe tends to be “buy several different varieties I think I’ll like and then see what actually gets worn.” Instead of “less is more” (which is where I hope to end up), this is basically the “more becomes less” approach.

Re: colors – is anyone surprised that my sweater palette is basically blue and cream, with pops of caramel, grey, and red? That’s my whole summer wardrobe right there.

And the dresses keep the theme going….

Dresses

Gap; J. Crew; Merona; Caslon; Merona

I’ll wear these with cream, blue, and grey tights of varying weights.

The pants, however, have a liiiittle more variation in hue happening…

Pants

Loft; Talbots; Paige; Lauren by Ralph Lauren; Banana Republic; Jessica Simpson

I’m enjoying pairing more neutral tops with more colorful bottoms – if you can call purple so dark it photographs as black (those first pants) “color”! And yes, apart from the jeans, I’m sticking with the all-corduroy streak again this year. They just feel…cozier. I’m probably deceiving myself that corduroy imparts extra warmth; after all, the fuzziness is on the outside, not on the inside where it would do some good. I don’t care; just let me hold onto my comforting delusion!

Back to the trusty ol’ red/cream/blue color palette for my layering pieces.

Layers:

Kate Hill; Merona; Tahari by Arthur S. Levine; The Savile Row Co.; Mercer & Madison; Loft

Last but not least…

Outerwear:

United Colours of Benetton; J. Crew; Larry Levine
That’s a lot for now; I’ll share scarves/hats and footwear in another post.

In the meantime, check out my winter wardrobe this time last year; a lot has changed!

Thrift Finds: October 2017

First up, I want to share with you all Nadia at Happy Malista’s recap from her 10×10 challenge; she shared her outfits as well as outfits from a few other bloggers whose challenges she enjoyed, including yours truly! It’s sometimes hard finding a style blogger whose style is close enough to your own to resonate but different enough to inspire you; Nadia’s 10×10 hits that sweet spot for me. She’s convinced me I need to replace the blazer I used to own that was kind of a spring take on moss green…

And now, on to my thrift finds from last month! Starting with the NOs:

A great soft dark grey turtleneck with split hem, made of supima cotton, that was too baggy – sigh:

A Talbots sweater that made me feel like I live in a ski chalet – look at that great fringe!

A wonky fit in the torso, though:

I’m on the hunt for a caramel-colored turtleneck but this one was giant in the armpits:

It hid its ginormous pits well, though:

This dark cognac trench was a dream – 100% wool, and just had so much character:

It was a little TOO oversized on me, and the color a bit intense – see how it’s the first thing your eye is drawn to in the picture, instead of my face? Sign of a tone mismatch. Anyway, this would have fit my fantasy life (city dweller with a 20 minute walk across the Loop to get to my office) but not my real life (quick jog down the block to my office, then where do I stash this monster?), so I left it there. Tear.

It’s hard to tell, but this riding jacket by Ralph Lauren was too big on me. The cut is very equestrian; can’t you see it paired with jodhpurs?

But here’s where it shines – velvet collar and some purple woven in with that moss green. It’s like heather in a blazer!

Various pants I tried out because I thought I needed grey jeans (probably not true):

Several sweaters that didn’t make the cut, such as:

Loft – loved the diamond pattern but it was scratchy-atchy-atchy, as one of my kid’s storybooks says:

Same with this Gap sweater – scratchy, and that neck plus those sleeves totally remind of the year 2000:

Too much blue in this green sweater by Land’s End – but it fit perfectly! (Their tops are usually too wide in the torso for me):

Italian wool from Banana Republic, too tight (that smudge is the mirror, not a sweater defect):

And a J. Crew dress that underwhelmed, I think mostly because it was short enough to need leggings, but lightweight enough to show any lumps and folds from underlayers:

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That bottom half is navy, despite its greenish tinge in this photo.

And now, for the winners!

You’re familiar by now with my new cable knit sweater by Workshop by Andrea Jovine:

Here’s my new goose down coat by Larry Levine; it retails for up to $200 but thrifted for $20. I may not be psychologically ready for the cold, but I will be sartorially ready for it!

It’s just this side of dark charcoal, so hopefully it will not wash me out quite as much as pure black. Honestly, though, if I’m warm and I paid 10% of MSRP, I don’t care. Functional wins out over everything else in this case.

Here’s my first Eileen Fisher find! A bright, orangey red that is sort of intensely bright – what a great fall color:

Check out that split hem!

To wit, here it is styled:

And this tan/cream patterned sweater by L.L. Bean:

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There’s a cat balancing on my phone!

…with a fun hi-lo split hem:

Here it is styled:

And last but not least, this merino wool plaid scarf in colors that complement my wardrobe in stellar fashion:

Overall, a pretty good month. Onward to November!

Did anything in my finds catch your eye? What did you thrift this past month?

What I Wore: Preacher Casual

I’ve mentioned before that my new office is on the more casual side – jeans, capris, unfussy tees and polos – especially compared to where I previously worked. As the pastor, I’m aiming to appear polished but not make anyone feel under dressed in comparison (not that there’s too much danger of that since I run by the church in my sweaty workout clothes all the time…), so over the last few weeks I’ve played with translating my rather dressy wardrobe staples into my new style environment.

I’ve kept in rotation my collection of blouses to bring more casual ensembles up a notch, and added my trusty blazers to dresses in need of a little warmth or formality. But I’ve stashed my pencil skirts and wedges in favor of pants and sneakers/sandals; kept my sheath dresses mostly under wraps in favor of my more casual dresses; and left my trousers in the drawer in favor of chinos and jeans. I even wore shorts to the office once, gasp!

I don’t plan on donating my dressier dresses and skirts, since I love them and since they’ll come in handy for Sunday mornings and formal occasions. I’ll share some of those Sunday AM outfits in another post, but here’s a few examples of where I’ve landed for weekdays filled with office work, pastoral/hospital visits, and practicing communion choreography.

First up, a variation on what I wore my entire first week: jeans + blouse. Please note the authentic office decor including a not-yet-mounted-but-already-drawn-on-by-office-children white board:

Blouse: no label, thrifted
Jeans: Paige, thrifted
Sandals: Saltwaters, retail

The best thing about this blouse – besides the delightful colors in the floral pattern and the collarless neckline – is the hem. It draws the eye pleasingly upward instead of chopping me in half horizontally:

And the toes! Can’t forget to showcase the nail polish matching the shirt:

This is a level of coordination I rarely achieve.

Basically all last week I wore these jeans plus a similar top. E.g. these:

Banana Republic Heritage, Loft, Chico’s, Old Navy.

Here is another work outfit, on the even more casual side, which I posted last week:

Shirt: Kenar, thrifted
Jeans: Paige, thrifted
Shoes: City Sneaks, thrifted

Each day I chose sneakers or sandals depending on the morning’s briskness. I added this blazer one especially cool morning:

Mercer & Madison, a new thrift find already coming in handy.

This week I was feeling the need for something fresh, so I broke the outfit mold – and found a place to take decent outfit pictures! (Now I just need to work on focus and exposure, ha.)

Behold, my shabby chic garage siding, and a dress/blazer combo:

Dress: J. Crew, thrifted
Blazer: Charlotte Russe, thrifted
Cuff bracelet: Monet, thrifted
Sandals: Saltwaters, retail

^^I wore this for staff meeting and some office work.

The day before I sported this outfit for office work & pastoral visits:

Top: Jacqueline Ferrar, thrifted
Pants: Banana Republic, thrifted
Belt: J. Crew, thrifted
Cuff bracelet: Monet, thrifted
Necklace: street vendor, Washington D.C.
Sandals: Saltwaters, retail

Love that pop of leopard and gold showcased by a little t-shirt tuck.

Where do you fall on the formal/casual divide? How do you dress something up or down as the occasion/setting requires?

Summer 10×10 Remix: Day 4

As part of the Summer 10×10 remix (hosted by UnFancy and Style Bee), I’m attempting to post what I’ve been wearing each day as I live out of my suitcase on back-to-back family reunions. What’s a 10×10 remix? 10 pieces of clothing, 10 outfits, 10 days. What you count as an item is up to you (I’m not counting shoes, workout gear, outerwear) since the point isn’t following strict rules – it’s using limitations to spark creativity.

Day 4: On the Farm

I feel so fancy having a great backdrop and a real camera to capture outfits! Turns out it pays to go on vacation with people who will take outfit photos.

This isn’t our family farm, but this corn crib is similar to one that my uncle & aunt disassembled last year. The 100+ year old aged pine was turned into a beautiful table where lots of us can eat and several other cherished furniture projects.

Dress: J. Crew – thrifted
Hat: unlabeled – thrifted
Cuff bracelet: Monet – thrifted
Sandals: Saltwater (retail)
Sunglasses: Ray-Ban (retail)

This is the most comfortable dress I own – so soft, so practical (I can sit cross-legged, and it has pockets!), and it gives a great silhouette – sort of boxy on top and almost like drawstring shorts on the bottom. Paired with the straw hat and some sandals that got me through fields, barns, and water fights, it just exudes easy, summery chic.

I feel like a legit style blogger over here:

So many good memories from corn cribs like this and farm yards full of grasshoppers and monarch butterflies by day and studded with fireflies by night.

More tomorrow!

Spring 10×10 Remix: Day 8

I’m doing the 10×10 spring remix hosted by Un-Fancy and StyleBee. All this work week and next, I’ll be using 10 pieces of clothing to create 10 different outfits, using self-imposed limitations to spark some creativity. All the details – and the clothes (all thrifted)– here.

Day 8 comin’ atcha. I swapped the white skirt from last week’s outfit for a navy one and ta-da! Pretty different feel, if you ask me. (Maybe some of you are bored stiff by blouse + pencil skirt combos? Obviously I’m not!)

The blouse is Banana Republic Heritage, the skirt is J. Crew, and the slides are Bandolino. Everything but the jewelry (heirlooms) is thrifted. Forgot to put on my cuff this morning but if I had remembered it would be in there too!

Side view with a senior picture-esque pose:

Close up on that all-important roll-tab sleeve:
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Styling notes: I rolled up those tabs to keep the sleeves outta my way (same as yesterday) and pinned the shirt closed in the front because the buttons are so small relative to the holes that they spontaneously undo themselves. Hopefully you can’t even tell.

Thoughts: I hesitated on this combo because the navy and dark grey/taupe combo seemed too dark. I think I prefer this skirt with lighter/brighter tops, but I was actually pleasantly surprised that this didn’t look overwhelming. I think my pasty legs balance it out, ha!

So far I’ve really enjoyed this remix and the challenge to take daily outfit pics (at least on work days). What have you thought of the mix (either yours or mine) – too much same-same, or more like hitting a groove?

Next week (Tuesday & Wednesday) I’ll be back with outfits 9 & 10. In the meantime have a great weekend!

10×10 Spring Remix – Day 2

Day 2: white H&M shift dress paired with the same dress coat (Tahari by Arthur S. Levine) as yesterday, Clarks sandals (retail), and a little added interest with a leopard print belt by J. Crew and my new (to me) cuff bracelet (Monet):

This dress. I love the length, the neckline is new (to me) and fresh, and the sleeves aren’t so cap they feel like afterthoughts:
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It has interesting structural details – 2 subtle pleats up front, diamond-shaped bias seams on the side (I’m making up these terms as I go along), and a strange, Jessica Rabbit-reminiscent lining showing through at the bust :

Styling note: I turned the belt around because the weight of the metal buckle was pulling down in the front and keeping it from lining up with the very obvious waist seam. Ta-da:

It’s hidden when I wear the coat but makes for an unexpected detail even when not hidden:

This outfit is my sweet spot – a classic sheath dress with something a little funky to keep it from being boring. The coat is, again, super elegant and I dig that it’s not the exact same length as the dress, which keeps the pairing from looking too matchy-matchy or cutting me off at the knees.

Though I’m still not sure how I feel overall about this dress (that weird lining!), I’m excited to style it a different way next week to get a better feel for whether it’s a keeper – which is, after all, why it’s in my 10×10.

What’s your Day 2 look like? What do you think of this look? Scroll down to comment!

What I Wore & How I Styled It: Steve Urkel Chic

Last week, without realizing it, I dressed like a great style icon of the 90s – Steve Urkel:

I subbed a belt for suspenders, but otherwise I had his look down: coordinating cardigan, high-waisted pants, high hems on those pants, and ankle socks:

Swiss dot cotton button down by Merona – thrifted
Wine corduroy pants by Style & Co. – thrifted
Merino wool cardigan by Talbots – thrifted
Leopard print hair belt by J. Crew – thrifted
Socks by Target – retail
Shoes by Clarks – retail

How’d I get to this fabulous combination?

First up: base pieces. I started off wanting some warm hues after a week in my travel wardrobe‘s polar palette, so I paired this button down with these pants:

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The current iteration of this shirt, you may have noticed, is a true button down instead of the former popover tunic. I swapped the tunic version (too narrow in the chest/hips) for this same brand/print in a slightly larger size. Yes, I cried a little to lose the popover cut and length, but I wanted to wear this great textured pattern more often than the constant tug-and-reposition act was inspiring me to do. Comfort over style, people – or rather, style informed by comfort.

Next: a topper. My workplace is chilly in some spots but the temp outside was supposed to hit 66 F – hey Hotlanta, I love you so much this time of year! – so I decided to add a thin cardigan I could layer/unlayer with ease. I went back and forth between the one on the left (from my spring wardrobe), which would have made for an interesting contrast in hem lengths, and the one on the right, which brought some extra punch in the pattern department:

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Hmm, the outfit on the left is basically this same outfit, translated for warmer weather.

Surprise surprise – I just couldn’t resist the contrast of two great patterns (one subtle) in related colors and chose the cable pattern one.

I buttoned the top several buttons because, left to its own devices, the top button flops around and doesn’t stay put, but I left the bottom several unbuttoned because I wanted the contrast in patterns to show through:

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Since the hem on this shirt isn’t as long as it used to be, I next had to decide whether to tuck or untuck. The relatively similar length of the button down and the cardigan answered that for me – I’d much rather have a visual contrast between hem lengths than have them line up in a way that cuts me off:

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Well, then, of course the high waist drew attention to itself and looked funny with no belt. Out came my trusty leopard belt – a print that functions like a neutral:

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A little less of a closeup:

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Last but not least, metallic bronze flats that would pick up the warm browns in the belt and the shiny gold of the cardigan buttons; and striped socks with all the constituent colors represented (a feat that makes me ridiculously happy):

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That’s a lot of sock showing.

So what do y’all think of my high-tide, pattern-mixing homage to Urkel – is it “No sweat, my pet”? Or more along the lines of “Got any cheeeeeeese”?

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Scroll down to comment!

November / December Thrift Finds

I thrifted steadily through November and all the way up through the end of December; in the course of assembling this post I realized these were two fruitful months! While several pieces that came home with me were for warm weather, all the winter goodies in this haul required some trimming of my cold weather wardrobe (the updated version of which will soon appear on this very blog).

First up, the rejects.

It was really hard to say no to this Loft brocade sweatshirt top:

Because multiple textures! And neutral/gold! And a split hem! But the brocade material made the front super stiff and prone to awkward pointy parts:

Gorgeous green silk shirt with cranes and hexagons on it – too big, wanh wannnnnh:

Loved the tunic length on this top by Zara woman, but it was pretty baggy in the arms and the print was too busy for me:

This Lucky Brand sweater was basically a rag rug in cardigan form – I wanted to love it so hard because who wears rag rugs? And my great grandma made rag rugs we still have. It would have been so funky, and it has such great colors, but the drape was just too tent-like. I think it would be great for someone with a more earth-mama style:

Linen top by Old Navy – too wrinkly, and too big in the armpits:

Pro tip: how the item appears on the hanger in the thrift store (super wrinkled, misshapen) is a good indicator of how well it will hold up at home.

Mustard blazer by J. Crew – I wanted more of a lemon yellow and the cut was too bulky in the chest, plus the sleeves were reallllly long: