When I saw this blue knit skirt with cartoon characters on it, I was pretty pleased to find a reasonably similar skirt to inspire an outfit with my navy cartoon-esque flower skirt. The formula is one we have grown familiar with, of course--add stripes.
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| From hayesdays.com |
Instead of a tank top, I used this collared knit shirt that has a shorter length that works well with skirts.
Navy striped knit top with collar (Lands End), $5.00/wear+
Navy floral knit skirt (thrifted, Old Navy), $5.00/wear+
Beige mary janes (J-41)+
These hiking style mary janes (with perforations to aid in cooling) proved their worth on my long walking commute to and from the university but they're cute enough that I like wearing them even when I'm not planning on walking any long distances (and as it turns out, I spent a couple hours on my feet today, so they came in handy).
I mean, they're not as cute as this Blue Dutch rabbit print hanging in our bedroom, but trying to be as cute as a bunny is pretty much a losing game.
In other news...Robert and I went to two Goodwill shops this morning. We hadn't been out since before the move--I think my last thrift store outing was with my mom over Christmas break. We tried a couple of different stores that aren't 30+ minutes away from our new apartment and they were pretty good, if not as good as the one in the ritzy suburb that we used to go to all the time. This was motivated by (1) Robert not having enough short-sleeved button up shirts to last for our vacation coming up and (2) my hearing about my mom's (not great) outing to the 88 cent sale at her thrift store last Friday.
Here is what we took with us to donate. Gee willikers!
Goodwill gives you a 25% off coupon when you make a donation, and since Robert still had one from our last donation before our move, we were able to get out of the two stores for under $90. Here's what we got:
Robert:
-4 shirts (2 new with tags)
-1 pair of shorts
Sally:
-7 skirts (2 new with tags)
-2 pants
-1 short-sleeved cardigan
-1 sleeveless cardigan
-4 sweater vests
-1 scarf (new with tags)
-1 hiking pants
-3 sleeveless tops for exercising
That averages about $3.60 per item. Pretty good!
I feel like I did a decent job of sticking to items that are practical, that are versatile, that fit a category I've been thinking about buying, etc.
3 of the skirts are wool or tweed pencil skirts, which is something I've been looking for to expand my cold-weather options (even at the beginning of summer, I can't help but think: winter is coming! Nobody else is thinking this right now, so I got two of them new with tags at half price). 1 of the skirts is a navy patterned (paisley) pencil skirt, which I've been wanting. 1 of the skirts is a denim pencil skirt, which will soon replace my current denim skirt with the questionable zipper. (1 of the skirts is a crazy-ass fluffy plaid skirt that Robert says looks like a little girl's costume--I think it looks more like a doll costume but it works for either, if your little girl/doll is a giant. 1 of the skirts is a colorful zebra print, which needs no other explanation.)
1 of the pants is a white with black/grey seersucker, which is something very different from anything I currently have--it'll only be useful during the spring and summer but I like the idea of a pair of summer pants. 1 of the pants is a solid bright color, a category I am always looking to expand--this pair needs to be hemmed so I should get my sewing table in order.
The short-sleeved and sleeveless cardigans are helpful additions to my spring/summer layering options. I've gotten so used to wearing a cardigan or jacket that it feels weird to not have another layer and I like how adding that third piece makes it easier to create a new feeling outfit.
Sweater vests are my fall-to-early-spring standby for layering--a button up shirt, sweater vest, blazer combo is awesome.
(The scarf was totally me jumping on a leopard/floral print mix that I could not resist at all and did not try. And it matches the skirt I was wearing today, so: destiny.)
The hiking pants were a totally lucky find. They are normal, lightweight olive cargo pants...with an amazing wide knit waistband for total comfort.
And I was happy to find 3 inexpensive sleeveless shirts because I cannot exercise most months of the year in anything with sleeves.
So really, I would say only 3 of the items were silly purchases. For the most part, I don't even think this is going to increase the difficulty of the Work the Wardrobe challenge much because I avoided the wear-to-work shirts/tops category entirely. This is an area that could definitely still use some editing in my closet. For example, I currently have 3 blue/white striped 3/4 sleeve button up shirts--what the hell? I mean, they are all (somewhat) different from each other, but that's excessive.
2 comments:
How long did it take for you to find so much? I can spend hours at Goodwill and not buy nearly as much.
A little under 2 hours for both stores. I feel like I got pretty lucky this time, but I was also very focused and it helped that I didn't look at shirts. Going through shirts takes longer, I think--jeans also. But maybe this means that the Goodwill stores here are easier to find things? I don't know. Perhaps we need to test that proposition when you visit!
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