Tag: The Spirited Thrifter

Friday ReBlog: When You’re Uncertain How to Style Something Outside Your Comfort Zone

Hey, it’s Veterans Day (aka Armistice Day)!  If you’d like to honor a veteran in your life, consider donating to Justice for Vets to support life-saving and life-changing veterans treatment courts. 

This week’s Friday ReBlog is really just an excuse to talk about an outfit I wore this week.  But it’s my blog so I’ll just go ahead and claim it.

Caroline at Un-Fancy wrote recently about how to style something new to you that’s a little bit outside your style comfort zone.  Essentially, she said: pair it with other slam-dunks in your closet to help the new piece feel less out there and to help you feel more confident.

In somewhat related news, I stared at one of my favorite cardigans this week as it hung, lonely and unworn for much of the last year, in my closet.  Inspired by The Spirited Thrifter’s minimalist closet game, I was weeding out my closet and it was hard to justify keeping something the colors and pattern of which I love but which never gets worn.  (Traditional cardis are hard for me to style without looking like a twinset – which is just not me.)

Then I looked up to where I keep my blazers – a space increasingly filled with statement pieces – and realized I could style my patterned cardigan like a statement blazer to make it fresh.  So I paired it with a pattern like I had done with my plaid blazer earlier in the week and the print-mixing instantly took it from staid (and a little twee?) to visually engaging:

A photo posted by LeahLW (@thriftshopchic) on

 

So that’s my semi-related revelation for how to mix something that doesn’t really seem to be your style anymore back into your wardrobe.  What’s something y’all have been keeping in your closet that doesn’t really fit your current look but that could be re–styled to play along?

 

PS My newest accessory:

wp_20161110_17_18_33_pro

Explanation here.

 

Have a great weekend, Thrifters!

 

Friday ReBlog: A Month’s Worth of Style Challenges

That title is slightly misleading because this post really includes TWO months’ worth of style challenges.  Or one month’s worth of two challenges per day… either way you look at it, there are LOTS of challenges.

First up, Anuschka at Into Mind has a 30 Day Closet Confidence Challenge meant to help you develop your personal style and love your wardrobe (and yourself!) more.  There’s a different prompt/task for each day of the month; if you’re Type A you can hurry up and do the first 4 today and then follow the rest of the prompts one per day for the rest of November. (Or you could start today with #4 and do #1-3 the first 3 days of December.  Or do them all out of order!! Crazy.)

Some of the ones I find personally most helpful for building my style are: wear an outfit 10% outside your comfort zone; write a list of everything that is NOT your style; analyze what exactly you like about your five most-worn items (or in my case a silhouette from another season).  Which sound appealing to you?

 

If you prefer a little surprise challenge every day, Nicole over at The Spirited Thrifter has adapted a local friend’s minimalism challenge into the Closet Minimalism Game. You need to check her posts on Instagram (no account necessary) to get the prompts, but it’s worth it: her writing is funny and the photos of how she fulfilled each prompt are great inspiration.  Plus, if you need some positive peer pressure, you’ll enjoy knowing there’s a whole community out there, complete with hashtag, playing along.

 

Happy weekend, Thrifters!

 

PS This weekend is your LAST CHANCE to take the ThriftShop Chic Reader Survey and help improve your blog experience!  Under 10 questions in less than 2 minutes.  Many thanks to those who have already taken the survey – y’all have some great post ideas I can’t wait to tackle!

 

Friday ReBlog: Two Canadian Thrifters

O Canada! (gratuitous pics of stylish and delicious prime minister Justin Trudeau and his wife, the equally stylish and delicious Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau, here.)

Today we’ve got 2 Canadian bloggers who, from all I can gather, know each other IRL and sometimes thrift for each other.  Sigh.  My dream.

First off: thanks to reader Kathleen S. who alerted us to The Spirited Thrifter. (Note: you, too, can suggest your favorite thrift bloggers in the comments below or here on the original “help me find more thrift blogs!” post).

Author Nicole sounds like my soul mate.  Evidence:

“Last week, I *helped* my friend Karlynn at her excuse to buy more Pyrex garage sale, and while *helping* her drank sangria.”  (The “Spirited” in her blog title refers to her personality but also her love of spirits.)

Or: “What’s a mom to do with 3 hours to herself but go thrifting”?

Plus she makes her kids thrift and puts thrift stores on her vacation sight-seeing list.  My kind of lady.

 

The Spirited Thrifter led me to Blue Collar Red Lipstick, where Adina isn’t afraid to style herself up while living in a dress-down kind of city.  She’s got a tailored look I love livened up by lots of color.  Many of her things are consigned/thrifted, and she has a whole section on work capsule wardrobes if you need some visual inspiration on how to put together a dressier or more colorful capsule wardrobe.

 

Happy Friday, Thrifters! I’ll be back next week with a fun travel wardrobe from a recent trip to Asheville, NC.