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:

Great texture and cream/grey color on this cardigan by Madison Studio, but again, too wide for me:

Closeup on the texture:

And now, the keepers:

Leopard print shirt by Banana Republic:

More about my quest for leopard here.

Red dress by Talbots – great for summer and also for layering in winter:

Wool/cashmere blend red blazer by Kate Hill:

Caramel velveteen bootcut pants by !iT Jeans:

Caramel crew neck sweater by J. Crew:

Caramel shirt by Jones New York – more here:

(More on my red/caramel obsession on Thursday.)

Cream heathered sweater by Gap Designed & Crafted:

Split hem on this baby (also a little pilling I need to take care of):

Cold weather accessories:

Jones New York black party dress & Chico’s two-tone blazer – more here:

Neutral mod dress – more here:

White skirt by Ann Taylor:

With pockets!

Pink/blue popover by Dalton:

I’m thinking this is pretty tribal-inspired and might have to get re-donated – what do y’all think?

Navy floral blouse by Loft:

I love the colors and can’t WAIT to wear this in spring, as I’ve been keeping an eye out for something with a bold floral print:

Bamboo tech shirt by Tasc Performance to replace an old one I’ve had since high school:

With thumb holes:

What thrift finds have you scored lately? Scroll down to share in the comments!

Travel Wardrobe: Cold Weather in a Carry On

No Friday ReBlog today because I haven’t been reading enough (any?) blogs over the holidays to find good stuff for ya. It’ll be back next week; in the meantime, send me your favorite thrift- or style-related blog posts at leah AT thriftshopchic DOT com or leave ’em in the comments.

We went to the Great White(ish) North for a week over the Christmas holiday and I had to figure out how to pack for cold weather in a carry on. The limited parameters on my wardrobe were not as dramatic as this trip when I packed my stuff and my kid’s into a tote bag (which I promptly forgot), but I did need to think practically about how everything would go together since warm clothes take up more space and thus afford fewer slots to play with. Everything is thrifted unless otherwise noted.

Using the template from the How to Pack a Travel Wardrobe post, I’m factoring in:
-length of trip (6 days);
-weather/activities at destination (cold; family time + church + exercise); and
-laundry facilities (check!)

Knowing it would be cold, I started off with this wool/cashmere/angora sweater from the Loft, which is as cozy a garment as you’d hope to find:

Then I picked out tops to go underneath:

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4 tops, with plans to either rewear or wash depending on how many living room dance parties were to be held. L to R: Coldwater Creek, Piazza Sempione, Loft, J. Crew

I also tucked in a sleeveless undershirt in case it got REALLY cold – didn’t need it but was glad it was there. And I wore leggings (see below) under my pants when were going to be outside for a significant amount of time.

Then pants that picked up the colors in the sweater and would serve as great neutral bases:

L to R: Banana Republic, IT! Jeans

I wasn’t keen on the grey at first, since I had a grey turtleneck; doing too much grey because it’s just depressing when it’s dark and cold. But the corduroy on the dark grey ones is almost like velvet, making them so chic I knew they would dress up my otherwise comfy outfits. I thought about bringing my navy cords, too, but since I couldn’t justify 3 pairs of pants (no room!), I decided to keep the grey and just not wear it with the grey top. (Look for a post next week introducing the caramel velveteen pants.)

Jewelry:
Same ol’ earrings every day, plus one pendant necklace, the cream and dark taupe of which would jive nicely with my sweater:

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Necklace DIYed from Goodwill parts.

Shoes:
I went for one these two, to cover church (bronze flats by Clarks – retail) and everything else (navy Pumas):

Plus sneakers for running (retail).

Workout clothes:
Luckily my sister-in-law is pretty devoted to her running schedule so I knew I’d get a chance to run with her – motivation!

I packed a silk undershirt to layer and keep me warm:

And a bamboo tech shirt to layer on top:

It wasn’t cold enough to need more than that – I just had to run about 5 minutes to warm myself up and the silk kept me nice and snuggly.

I also brought bulky but oh-so-worth-it track pants from highschool to keep my legs warm while running.

I brought two pairs of leggings, one for sleeping and one for layering under the track pants, both American Apparel (retail). Here was my shirt to sleep in (and to wear one day before I slept in it):

Faded Glory.

Sadly, I discovered ANOTHER hole in it, so it’s hereby consigned to winter sleepwear with no daytime cameos:

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Outerwear
I wore my trusty red wool peacoat on the plane (well, used it as a blanket) and packed my freshly thrifted winter accessories in the outer pocket of my carry on so I could get them out first thing after landing:

J. Crew

No tags.

Here are my outfits. There’s not a lot of variety, but I liked the formula. Furthermore, I had no one to impress and just wanted to look put together and feel WARM. Mission accomplished:

(worn twice)

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(worn twice – except for the bowling shoes, those were just worn once)

What are your strategies for packing sufficient cold weather clothes into a small space? Do you ever just pick one simple outfit formula and wear variations of it to keep packing super simple? Scroll down to comment, and Happy New Year!

My Fantasy Style

And now, a little bit of sparkle leading up to New Year’s Eve…

If I could dress however I wanted, with no limitations due to boring things like jobs, budget, or practicality, I would dress like Luke Spiller, lead singer of The Struts, on stage:

A photo posted by lukestruts (@lukestruts) on Dec 10, 2016 at 3:04pm PST

A photo posted by lukestruts (@lukestruts) on Nov 5, 2016 at 2:01am PDT

Essentially: lots of gold, lots of sequins, glitter makeup, metallic pleats, and lots of leather.

A photo posted by lukestruts (@lukestruts) on Sep 2, 2016 at 5:36am PDT

A photo posted by lukestruts (@lukestruts) on May 4, 2016 at 11:34am PDT

Please dress me, too, Zandra Rhodes. (She dressed Freddie Mercury and Brian May and her clothing for Luke is discussed in this T Style magazine interview with the singer.)

A photo posted by lukestruts (@lukestruts) on Apr 5, 2016 at 8:16am PDT

A photo posted by lukestruts (@lukestruts) on Feb 18, 2016 at 7:11pm PST

We are thrifting kindred spirits: “The Struts are regulars at Los Angeles thrift stores when they’re not on tour, where Spiller has developed an eye for picking out the kind of special pieces — like an all-in-one white kimono from Max Mara — that have become his calling card onstage.”

A photo posted by lukestruts (@lukestruts) on Jan 16, 2016 at 3:40pm PST

A photo posted by lukestruts (@lukestruts) on Sep 19, 2015 at 10:21am PDT

This style affinity is how I end up with things like this in my closet:

And this:

And regrets about passing up things like this:

A photo posted by LeahLW (@thriftshopchic) on Jun 9, 2016 at 2:41pm PDT

The last of which I would rarely (ever?) wear IRL.

I think it’s healthy, though, to keep a little glam in your life, even if just in your imagination… what’s your fantasy style? Scroll down to comment!

What I Wore: Thrifting an Outfit for a Party with a Dress Code / New Years Eve

This post is about an outfit I thrifted for a birthday party with a dress code, but could easily work for a New Year’s Eve bash or other one-off fancy holiday party.

My fabulous friend Sheena had her birthday party a few Saturdays ago (Sagittarians in the house!) and the dress code was “all black.”

If you have been reading for any length of time you will know that I decided awhile back that black washes me out and that therefore I have almost no black in my wardrobe. The few items I can think of that involve black use it as a pattern on top of some other non-black base color:

Plus a pair of black leggings that I use for running.

Everything else you see in my closet that might look like black is, in fact, dark grey or navy.

Sheena knows this and knows that I am thrifty and didn’t want me to have to buy a completely new outfit, so she graciously offered to let me go with navy. But what is thrifting for if not being able to rise to the occasion/dress code on short notice and small budget? Challenge accepted.

Our staff holiday party was Friday and everyone went home early afterwards, so after doing some necessary chores I was off to the Goodwill to see if I could put together an ensemble tout noir. My strategy was to start with the black leggings I already own, add a black dress (quite abundant in the thrift store) and finish off with a topper to keep me warm. I had previously donated my black flats that I wore very infrequently, so I got permission from the birthday woman to wear my cream and dark grey snakeskin print ankle boots. They’d add some nice contrast but easily crop out of a photo.

Tip: When thrifting a dress for something one-off, first figure out your parameters – color? hem length? sleeve length? fabric? – and sift through the options on that basis.

For the dress, I was pretty sure I wanted to go with long sleeved (for warmth) and just-above-the-knee, so I skimmed over the black dress section starting at the bottom and looking for shorter hems. When I found a hem I liked, I pulled it out by the fabric (not the hanger) to 1) get a feel for the fabric quality and 2) see the sleeve length. It turned out there were not a lot of long-sleeved dresses and I didn’t like any of them, so I switched to short sleeved/sleeveless and figured I’d just keep my topper on.

Look at all these options! The black section is definitely the largest part of the dress rack. L to R: Loft, Zara Basic, Calvin Klein, H&M, Liz Sport, BCBG Max Azria, H&M, detail of back, H&M.

If I had been thrifting something I’d also keep to wear to work, I would’ve gone with the last one – it’s my favorite silhouette (sheath) with pockets and an interesting neck detail:

But since this was a party, and I don’t wear black on the regular, I went for something more fun!

It’s a sleeveless v-neck high quality polyester dress with a flare skirt that felt very festive to me. As I was walking past the blazer rack a new-with-tags Chico’s blazer with sleek lines and contrast collar/side panels jumped out at me, and I realized pairing it with the dress would bring a modern touch to the more 90s ice skater feel of the dress.

See the incredible contrast details on this blazer?

The final outfit:

Dress: Jones New York, thrifted new with tags, retailed for $100
Blazer: Chico’s, thrifted, new with tags
Leggings: American Apparel, retail (made in USA)
Ankle boots: Lucky Brand, gift from my sister
Necklace: DIY from thrifted parts

I LOVE the jacket. It is so damn modern and clean-lined, and it fits like a glove. Chico’s, I have wanted to be old enough to buy your stuff since I was 12, and you have proven my preteen longing right (again). I wish, a little bit, that this blazer were navy and…whatever the charcoal equivalent of navy is. Textured navy? Heathered navy? But since this baby is in perfect condition and so sleek, I’ll quit complaining and start thinking of ways to style this wardrobe outlier. Thoughts?

And the dress – I love the neckline and how gorgeous it feels (high-end polyester for the win!). The cut of the skirt is not super-current BUT feels very party-ish, and I think it would be perfect for an evening wedding or a super fancy cocktail party. Except I never get invited or go to such things. That being the case, I feel like this BRAND NEW WITH TAGS, $100 dress should go to someone who will glory in it, especially since thrift stores are the best place to find swanky duds that fit your unique style and not just whatever silhouette the retail world has dictated must be sold. So I will likely donate it – after the holidays, in case I get invited, unexpectedly, to some fancy New Year’s Eve bash (and assuming we can find a babysitter).

For $13 I had a great outfit that fit the party parameters and which will not kill my bank balance even if I never wear it again. Win!

And now for the fun, with the lovely Sheena in all her birthday glory! We celebrated at an upscale bowling spot, hence the ugly-chic velcro shoes:

Please to note Sheena’s fabulous sparkle top and hoop earrings. Not thrifted, but still.

In some photos (like the above) my sleeves have un-scrunched themselves, but for most of the evening I styled it with sleeves scrunched up, which made it feel more current:

In the background, Sheena’s delicious cream-black handbag in the back (also not thrifted, but still) and a bottle of birthday champagne.

A little later, a little sweatier, and with my offending charcoal grey jacket (because it was ALL BLACK, Leah, DUH) gone:

PS I am a bowling fox:

Have I convinced you that thrift stores are the perfect spot to pick up a one-off outfit? (Or am I preaching to the choir?) What do you think of my finds? What have you, dear readers, thrifted in one-off fashion? Scroll down to share!

Friday ReBlog: No Sew DIY Ugly Christmas Sweater Arm Warmers

Yes this is a day early. If you get inspired by these awesome arm warmers, I want you to be able to go get supplies TODAY and make them TOMORROW in time for any last-minute Christmas shenanigans. Or, you know, they’d make a nice DIY Saturday AM to cozy up your arms for Christmas Eve. Your call.

My friend Tracy is an avid thrifter (surprised?) but also much more of a DIY badass than I am. We went to a holiday party at the house of a mutual friend last weekend and instead of merely thrifting an ugly Christmas sweater to wear (or completely missing that part of the invitation and showing up in regular clothes…whoops, that was me), she thrifted two ugly Christmas sweaters and MADE ARM WARMERS OUT OF THEM. WITH SAFETY PINS.

It’s like an ugly Christmas sweater had little arm-warming babies with a punk rocker. Check this out:

She basically measured the width of her forearm, doubled it, and cut a piece that size from the parts of each sweater she liked. Then she cut thumb holes (the best) and instead of sewing, she thought “Why not use this pile of safety pins I have lying around?” Why not, indeed.

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If you were looking to make them last awhile, you could sew instead of pinning and reinforce the thumb holes with hand stitching. BAM.

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If you and yours are looking for an easy, thriftable, warm, no-sew, and (most importantly) rad Christmas project, get amongst it. Thanks, Tracy, for sharing!

What are your favorite holiday-related things to thrift? Scroll down to comment!

What I Wore/How I Styled It: Summer Dress in Winter Weather

I thrifted a lovely little number this week and felt inspired to wear it right away – the sign of a good thrift. There was just one problem – it was a cotton shirt dress. Even in Atlanta, December is not always friendly to warm weather clothes. But I was determined.

My biggest tip for wearing warm weather clothes in cold weather? Layer both over and under.

So I started with a sleeveless undershirt to keep me warm. (If it had been even colder I would’ve gone with my cream turtleneck.)

Then I put the dress on and tried out a few different leg-coverings: regular thin-ish cream leggings, cable-knit white leggings. The first seemed too summery, and the second were too white – not the warm cream tone I was going for to pair up with this delicious caramel dress. Then it hit me that my cream corduroys would be the perfect color and warmth. Et voilà:

I spy an undershirt:

I nabbed two of these rings at the Goodwill the other week and popped one on as a necklace and wore one as a ring:|

Hello glorious safari details:

Then I popped my big fuzzy sweater on top to make sure I was cozy. First wear of the season for this baby:
Sorry it’s a little blurry – I’m still not great at taking outfit selfies!

And here’s a sassy little bow:

My favorite – roll tab sleeves! This sweater is kind of like a shedding polar bear, though:

Last but not least, textured socks and bronze snakeskin flats:

Shirt dress: Jones New York, thrifted
Undershirt: Cuddleduds? Can’t tell for sure; thrifted
Sweater cardigan: Loft, thrifted
Corduroys: Lauren jeans by Ralph Lauren, thrifted (new with tags) and tailored
Socks: Target, retail
Shoes: Clarks, retail

What warm weather pieces do you wear in the cold, and how do you style them? Scroll down to comment?

Thrifting for Kids

Note: none of the pictures loaded in the previously published version of this post, and a few still aren’t coming up. But now you can get a much better idea what I was talking about re: clothes! Apologies for the hiccup.
In the “What would you like to see me cover in a post?” section of my recent reader survey, someone wrote:

“Do you thrift your kid’s wardrobe? My wardrobe is almost entirely thrifted (except underwear and shoes- hard to fit). I’ve got an 18 month old and an almost 4 year old, who, aside from socks and underwear, dress entirely in hand me downs and stuff from Once Upon a Child [kids’ consignment store]. But we’ve now moved 40 minutes from the nearest Once Upon a Child, and I notice that I can’t just roll up to the Goodwill and quickly find a whole season’s worth of clothes, because the selection is strange and there’s zero organization. I would love to hear how you go about clothing your child.”

This question resonated with several of you who commented that you’d like to read about some strategies for thrifting children’s clothing and/or see an update on my kid’s current wardrobe. (You can find the last time I covered it – last winter – here.)

First up: strategies for finding clothing your kid/s in secondhand clothes

General strategies (all applicable to grown up thrifting as well!):

Try to stick with one color palette so most/all of your stuff is mix and match. This palette may be pre-chosen or may develop out of the things you piece together in store. If you accidentally end up with an “outlier” that doesn’t play well with everything else, remember: jeans/jeggings go with everything. But:
Don’t be afraid to get creative! YOU get to determine what “goes” together, so don’t restrict yourself to rules about certain colors or prints not going together – if you or your kid love it together, it’s fair game.
We aimed for legging-like solid-color pants this time around (see below) to keep legs warm and not clash too hard with her printed tops. We ended up with some heart print pants and some striped pants, though – which turned out to be fun to mix in with patterned tops. In a pinch I also ended up with slightly baggier pants that look a little funny paired with some of the bigger tops. But the essential I care about – that they not ride up so she doesn’t get cold – was covered by the elasticated ankle. Done!
Also try to stick with a silhouette or two so that none of your finds become standalones that can only be worn with one other item. Button down shirts probably will look funny with sweatpants so stock up on jeans/chinos…skirts/dresses in cooler weather mean lots of tights…active kids who love skirts might go with leggings or leggings shorts underneath…you get the picture.
When my kid was tiny I stuck with onesies (with pants pulled up over them as necessary) since standalone shirts were prone to riding up on her wriggly body, then switched to shirt and pants/shorts when she was walking to make diapering easier.
Know your kid’s measurements (at least by eyeball). Brands all have different sizing standards, so only your familiarity with your kid’s frame can tell you whether an item is likely to be too small/short/long/wide. This is especially handy for when your kid isn’t with you to try things on/there is no place to try things on/online shopping.
Create a small (2-3 item) “fancy” capsule for special events – worship services, school performances, weddings/funerals, etc. This keeps special stuff clean(er) and gives you flexibility to do another silhouette (e.g. my kid rarely wears dresses in ordinary life but has 2-3 she likes to wear on special occasions).
Decide your strategy for thrifting ahead.
Because I live in an area with multiple stellar Goodwills and have limited storage space (and even limited-er willpower), I try NOT to buy items that will fit my kid “someday.” I stumbled upon this strategy when I realized that I could not predict the rate at which my infant/toddler would grow and thus would only be guesstimating what size she needed for what length/weight of clothes.
Your mileage may vary – your kids grow more predictably, you have more storage space, you have fewer opportunities to thrift and thus stock up when you find good stuff, you have multiple kids coming along so even if it doesn’t fit kid A in winter it might fit kid B in winter…etc.
If you have older kids, particularly ones who care about their clothing, have them help you identify which colors/silhouettes they like before you shop – or better yet, take them with you!

Tips specific to various secondhand contexts:

Consignment stores: Our reader question mentioned Once Upon a Child
Thrift stores
Hand me downs
Online
Gifts – both retail and secondhand

And now, my kid’s current wardrobe.

You should know that my mom has saved a BUNCH of my/my sister’s baby clothes. You should also know that she has one grandchild (my kid), and that one of the ways she loves on her granddaughter is buying her clothes. This means we start off most seasons with some hand-me-downs and 3-4 new outfits and new pjs (see below for pics).

This means I end up with a sort of mini-capsule at the beginning of the season in a matching(ish) color palette that doesn’t make me want to keel over from pink overload (thanks Mom), to which I then thrifted mostly complementary clothes to get us to a serviceable wardrobe size. (My mom came thrifting with me over Thanksgiving to get in on the fun! Pics below.)

Here’s what my mom dug out of storage for us for winter –

Blue zip sweater

red cardigan

My grandmother made these and I love dressing my child in them. Grandmother died before her great grandchild was born but it feels like she is hugging my little girl (and thus me) every time I pull her arms through the sleeves and zip or button her up. /tears/ Plus who else has a rad zip sweater that goes on backwards so your kid’s face is always framed by that sweet little hood that never falls down?

Here’s what my mom gave us (new) for winter:

Owl top:

teal top, jeggings

pink/blue stripe top

polka dot top
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Heart pants

The light purple leggings (in the pic with the red sweater) and jeggings ended up going home with a friend by accident when I threw them into a load of her clothes she was washing at our house (bah, broken washing machines). We’ll get them back this weekend!

It’s been about a month since those pants stowed away in our friend’s laundry. At the beginning we got along alright without ’em because it was still warm (thank you Atlanta summers extending into November). But in anticipation of cooler weather, this kerfluffle quickly got me out and thrifting for some new (to us) pants – plus a few extra shirts, because a pink short-sleeved T Rex on the Golden Gate bridge shirt can only be worn under a red cardigan so many times.

Here’s what I thrifted, round 1:

Navy & white striped sweatpant-style pants:

Jeggings (SO many jeggings to choose from) – basically the same as above leggings.

Floral baseball top – *I* would wear this in a big person size. Great mix of chic + sporty:
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Heart stripe top:
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Yes this is all pink, but the election had just happened and I felt like sending a message to the world about LOVE. Also, it’s a 5T (my kid wears a 2T) but looked smallish. It fits in the body and I cuff the sleeves – remember, it pays to know your kid’s frame!

REI purple puffy coat:

(The hat, shoes, and jeggings are also thrifted)

I KNOW. This thing looks brand spankin’ new and was $6. Perfect for colder days here and for our annual wintry trek to the wilds of New England. I picked up purple mittens at the grocery store and we have hand-me-down hats; I will ask my mother-in-law to keep an eye out for a secondhand snowsuit and we’ll be all set. Take THAT, Winter!

Her other thrifted winter shoes are these:

If you’re counting, we’re now at 3 pairs of pants (soon to be back up to 5) and 5 long sleeved tops. This is juuuuuuust enough to get us through a week of daycare plus 1 weekend day of “I don’t care that my kid is wearing a shirt that already has paint on it.” In other words, since I am lazy and try to only do laundry on the weekends, this is not quite enough.

Enter my mother, come to town for Thanksgiving, and game for a trip to Goodwill!

What we thrifted, Round 2:

Dino top:

My kid loves dinos and I love claiming non-traditionally “girl” colors and motifs for my kid via her clothing. I don’t think she cares yet.

Glitter top:

Sorry the pic isn’t better – it says something about Glitter EVERYWHERE. Too twee? I was on the fence about the message but I love the sports jersey look and the color scheme. It crosses traditionally “boy” colors/design with a traditionally “girl” love of glitter in a way that means any gender could wear it. Because really, what little kid doesn’t love something designed to be strewn everywhere with glorious abandon so that your parent can’t ever get it out of your hair/off the floor/combed out of the cat?

Then I broke my own rule and let my mom thrift two shortsleeve shirts that will (theoretically) work for my kid next summer: a lion-with-sunglasses top (fun and cute), and a tow truck top (she loves tow trucks and looks great in blue). My mom is a bad influence.

This month my mom sent us this for Christmas, which we have used as our church/holiday party outfit ad nauseum:

So that completes my kid’s current capsule.

The orange shirt is an outlier, colorwise, but goes just fine with jeggings and can work with the stripe pants and the heart pants (first time out she wore it with the hearts). The purple pants are also a bit of a color outlier but still go (to my eyes) with the polka dot top, the teal top, the heart top, and in a pinch, the blue/pink stripe top.

TIP: save (or buy) a pair of pants or two that you’ve thought about donating – too worn/too baggy/too short – and take ’em to daycare/preschool/babysitter in case of potty training accidents.

How do you all thrift for the little people in your life? Scroll down to comment!

PS My sister sent this yesterday for Christmas, so now we have another shirt. Thanks Seester!
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Friday ReBlog: Two Stylish Kays

So, sadly, Keren Charles of Two Stylish Kays isn’t currently posting on her blog. BUT! – before you walk away from this post because what is a ReBlog without an actual blog? – the archives are fab, she’s active on Instagram (@twostylishkays), and she created a free thrifting app that helps you locate secondhand shopping opportunities in Atlanta and across the country:

Download our free mobile app to locate thrift, consignment and vintage stores in Atlanta and across the United States. #thriftingatlanta #thriftstorelocator #app #itunes #goggleplay #thrift #shopsmall

A photo posted by Keren Charles (@twostylishkays) on Oct 6, 2016 at 8:04am PDT

Someone please download it and tell me how they like it, because I have a Windows phone and it’s (understandably) only available for Android and Apple.

From the Two Stylish Kays archives: for those of you who’ve mentioned you’re not familiar with thrifting tours, read this post she wrote about her tours. Those consignment store pics make my statement-blazer-loving heart go pit-a-pat! Here’s a look at the Diane Von Furstenburg dress that the Duchess of Cambridge has worn and that Keren scored for $7. And a bonus tip: according to Keren, January is the best month to thrift because of all the closet cleanouts and store closeouts from the end of December.

Happy weekend, Thrifters!

What’s on My Thrift List – Winter Tweaks

Time for an update on my thrift list – both what I’ve checked off my last list and what I’ve added. This is actually self-serving because writing it down helps me remember what I’m looking for when I’m cruising the thrift aisles. But hopefully you’ll find it interesting as well.

From the previous list – found

-Soft-structured blazer – Found!

In retrospect I really should have done the “work” pose featured in the poster on the door. #schuylersisters

-Since this will be the season of turtlenecks, a turtleneck in this color (but not this tight):

I went for a delicious merino crew neck sweater with 3/4 length sleeves, which just felt good (on my skin) and right (in my wardrobe) – a new-to-me color that’s in the tan family but doesn’t look sickly on me:

YES to that caramel/cream combo, and also to this combo:

Statement jacket – Found, in spades! Full post here.

Grey Pumas – Found! Although they’re blue. But I love them. Full post here.

-One or two more thin sweaters that act like shirts; particularly a Donegal tweed version in cream or blue (or juuuust the right red). I have a feeling this might be a long thrift hunt.
I did find another thin sweater but it is kind of a heathered cream, not a Donegal tweed, for which I will keep my eyes peeled. Heathered cream here:

Shot of the awesome split side seams and closeup of the great pattern to come in the Nov/Dec thrift finds post.

-White pencil skirt – found! Will share in the November/December thrift finds soon.

-Sleeveless, collared leopard blouse like this but without cutting off armpit circulation:
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Found! Look at how close this pattern is to what I was seeking, but with dark grey instead of black, which makes it even better, as do the roll-up sleeves which bring it into 4 seasons here in Georgia:
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More on that shirt here.

Still looking

-Ivory puffy vest to go over my shirts when it’s not cold enough for a full-on coat
Still looking, but did find a taupe version that I will showcase in the Nov/Dec thrift finds

-Old school sleeveless denim dress – still looking

-Silk/nice poly blouse in cream with tiny red polka dots
I thrifted the below shirt months ago for my friend who is afraid red will wash her out, thinking that a sort of chambray-like take on red would do wonders. I told her she could pass it on if she didn’t want to keep it – and she did, which is fine, only now I wish I’d asked for it back to wear it as a version of tiny red polka dots. #thriftregret but also #thrifthope because I’ve found duplicates of other Old Navy shirts often enough that I may yet find this one too.

Additions to the list:

-Cream blazer to go over a red dress, a caramel sweater, a blue dress – oh, so many things! – the likes of this Banana Republic one. It was too small, I cried:

Does this make for an over abundance of blazers? I think I’m headed for my typical pattern of “get too many then pare it down to what you need.” What can I say, it works for me!

-Riding boots in brown or cognac. Most tall boots I find at the thrift store are either cheap or heeled (or both) so I may need to start looking at consignment stores.

-Navy blue velvet blazer. Hoping to find one to replace my wool one – to take the whole look up a notch, as it were.

-Brown leather bag to replace this one which is doing fine in the body – but the arm straps are covered in cheap thin leather that has split in multiple places and they’ve come out of the body

-Navy polka dot short-sleeved blouse in silk or nice poly because this one has a rip in the back :(

-a cream-based plaid scarf with some red in it to go with/pop my red winter coat; something like this:

A photo posted by Ranisha (@the_cost_conscious_fashionista) on Dec 10, 2016 at 10:13am PST

The end! What are y’all on the hunt for lately? Scroll down to share.

What I Wore: Liturgically Appropriate Advent Wear

Warning: this post contains liturgical nerdiness in the extreme.

This past Sunday was the third Sunday of Advent, also known as Gaudete (Latin for “rejoice”) Sunday. In many Catholic and Protestant traditions, the candles on the Advent wreath – one lit for each Sunday leading up to Christmas – are all purple except for the one representing joy this Sunday, which is rose.

(Many other Protestant and a minority of Catholic churches [since it’s illegal under Catholic law] use a color called Sarum blue, derived from the liturgical palette of Salisbury cathedral, for all of Advent. The idea is that since purple is the color used for Lent, a penitentiary season, something different and more joyful should be used for Advent. But old schoolers reply that this is 1) liturgical wishful thinking and/or 2) that Advent IS penitential in some ways as we prepare our hearts for the coming of the Christ child into a beautiful but messed up world. As I promised – definitely more than you cared to know.)

Anyway, Episcopalian and Catholic clergy get to rock some pretty rad vestments on this day:

My dear friend Sarah (2nd from right) at her former parish rocking the rose vestments. (Butterfly headpiece optional.) Source.

Sadly the only thing I own in this hue is strictly for warm weather. But I did try to communicate some joy with the blush pink in this sweater:

Sweater: Forever 21, thrifted
Corduroy pants: Banana Republic, thrifted
Snakeskin print ankle boots: Lucky Brand, gifted to me by my sister
Necklace: DIYed from Goodwill finds
Cuff: heirloom from my grandma

Close up on the very, very faint blush pink in the sweater:

Pretty lousy attempt at a joy-filled color, no? So I stuck these fun socks down below, which are both closer in hue to “rose” and make me smile every time I wear them, particularly so in cold weather:

Socks: Target

Now that you are equipped with obscure trivia for sherry hour at the rectory, scroll down and tell me about the last time you dressed in a particular color for an event.

This post brought to you by the Vicar of Dibley, whom I sure has rose vestments somewhere…

…and who would invite you over for scotch, not sherry.

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