Yes, friends, it has come to this: I now have to dedicate an *entire* post to things I did NOT thrift. Never fear, there’s a separate post coming up detailing my actual scores.
What, did you think I hadn’t bought anything? Come now, you know me better than that.
I’ve also started to do a bit of thrifting for friends, and I have to say I’m enjoying it tremendously. It’s really fun to try to spot things other people (with different tastes and needs than mine) might like. It’s a whole new kind of challenge … and you know I love me a good thrift challenge.
Speaking of which, I now kinda regret not getting this eShakti dress for a friend — I just found out she loves owls. This was the first time I’d ever run into this brand locally. I call that “thriftspotting”. There’s always a first time for everything, as they say.
This J. Crew Collection was cute, but two sizes too big and also strapless. I don’t do strapless. I have no idea why Goodwill priced it individually as a “special” piece, since far better brands have ended up on the regular rack. Maybe because this looks vaguely bridesmaid-y, and those sorts of dresses tend to get marked up at GW.
Cute separates (that kinda go together!) but not really my style.
Brand new Geox sandals — very cute, but a little too girly for me.
I have a funny story about this dress, but you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to hear all about it. For now, I will say that I was sad to see that this dress was a size 10, because I’m not.
I have this blazer in the coral version, and the green would have been tempting but, alas, wrong size again.
This was super cute (and 100% silk), but I’m generally not big on pussy bows, so I passed.
Wrong sizeitis strikes again … but I talked Nicole into buying it.
… but I was not able to talk her into this Plenty by Tracy Reese blazer. I’m sure it found another good home.
I think Aryeh is an Anthro brand — correct me if I’m wrong, peeps — but this dress was definitely not my style. I’m proud of myself for resisting the Anthro lure.
VV’s denim-pricing strategy eludes me. I’ve bought Paige, J Brand and AG denim for under $8 (without discounts), so I have no idea why old True Religions would be going for over $30. Boggles the mind.
You know what else boggles the mind? The cut of this DVF dress. That was … very unfortunate. I like to think I have a reasonably good figure, but this dress did it zero favours. I would never have thought I’d pass up DVF for $3.50, but I couldn’t think of a single person who would look flattering in this dress.
This dress might look like something your toddler would wear (reluctantly, after ample bribing if she’s like MY toddler), but it’s in fact a Very Special Dress. The label is legit — I googled it and it does appear that a version of this dress was worn by one Bella Swann in some Twilight movies. By which I surmise that Bella Swann has terrible fashion sense.
Another dress that fit weirdly around the middle. Not as egregious as the DVF dress, but not great either. I can see this being cute on someone else though.
This scarf caught my eye because of the print, and I googled the signature just for fun. (I always look for signatures on scarves — you never know what treasure you might find.) It turns out this is a Canadian designer, whose vintage scarves sell on Etsy for $25-30 a pop. If I was in the re-sale business, I might have been tempted.
I’ve been waiting to find a pair of Miz Mooz shoes in my size for ages … so it figures that when one finally turned up, it would be a pair of peep toes. Sigh. I have sworn off peep toes for good, so I couldn’t let myself buy these, but they were very cute.
Another thriftspotting first — Saint James!! I was pumped to find this cozy cardi-jacket, and even more excited to buy it for my mom.
I ended up buying this without trying it; I was in a rush, it was new-with-tags, and I remembered it from eBay (having been tempted to buy it before). Sadly, when I got home, I realized that I was not crazy about the fit on me — too straight up-and-down. It’s a nice dress (BCBG knows how to do an interesting print), but it’s better off in someone else’s closet. I returned it.
This was wasn’t a thrift find, but I figured I’d add it here. I impulse ordered this floral tunic from Zara, and then hemmed and hawed for a week over whether to keep it or not. I loved the print (it reminds me of the Gucci Flora print I’m obsessed with) and the fit of the dress, but I hated the side slits and the slight sheerness of the material. Not to mention that it was 100% polyester fast fashion. Oh, and $70 to boot. Do you know how many dresses I can thrift for that amount? Needless to say, this dress went back. It’s Gucci or bust, baby!
If you’re not experiencing thrift overload, check in tomorrow to see what things did end up finding a home in my closet. Spoiler: it’s gonna be another long post.
Yesterday I found a pair of Manolos and a DVF wrap dress (with “Love is Life” print). There’s just such a thrill at seeing the label, especially with the dress as it was jammed in among a million other dresses (so many Forever 21 dresses! Why would anyone put a DVF dress there??!). It was only $6 but a two sizes too small. Sigh. The Manolo’s a pink/gold paisley print that I would never, ever wear. In retrospect, I wonder if they were donated by the same person – I could almost see them as an outfit together. That Tracey Reese blazer is cute. I would have struggled to leave that behind.
“I wonder if they were donated by the same person”
Too funny, I think that all of the time! There’s one rather dingy Goodwill not far from me that requires some serious digging. I often walk out empty handed, but on more than one occasion, I have found Anthro dresses tucked in among the duds. They’ve all been beautiful, barely-worn, and size 6-8. I am convinced they are all coming from the same wonderful woman with great taste.
I definitely think the same thing from time to time, and I *am* convinced it’s not always a coincidence.
Those Manolos sound killer, legit. Would have loved those, sigh. I sometimes wish there was a way to thrift shop “virtually”, for lack of a better word. I’ll often come across things that don’t necessarily work for me and which I think someone else might like, but unless they live in the same city as me, it’s too logistically complicated to bring the the item and the person together.
That DVF dress! Where’s the laugh/cry emoji when you need it?! You have a stunning figure, and I don’t say that lightly. But that dress? Suddenly it’s a I-just-ate-my-weight-in-pasta or I-am-six-months-pregnant tummy. Hmm…maybe it would be cute on a pregnant tummy??
I agree with all of your decisions here. Can’t wait for tomorrow’s post!
I thought about that too, but I don’t think it would be a good fit/look for a pregnant woman, unless it was someone in the very early stages of pregnancy. And even then … I don’t know.
It’s funny, a guy snatched it off the “unwanted” rack as soon as I put it there, and proceeded to hand it over to his (I assume) partner who was changing in one of the other stalls. I don’t know if he spotted and recognized the brand (if so, kudos for the sharp eye) or if he just thought the dress looked cute on the hanger. Either way, I thought to myself: “that woman is going to be in for some disappointment once she puts it on”.
Love these posts Adina! I find the hardest part of thrifting sometimes is showing restraint and not buying all the things just because it’s a good deal!
Totally! That was a huge struggle for me in the past. I still struggle with buying too many things, even though I never buy things *only* because they are a good deal anymore. They have to check a few other boxes as well, and I *still* feel like I’m not being sufficiently discriminating. There is just such an abundance of awesome things in my local thrift stores … what is a girl to do? 😉
Loved the Zara dress on you, too bad it was so expensive. Loved the Beethoven scarf too!! You have great willpower to resist all those lovely things. Cheers, Michele
Thanks Michele! Haha, that’s what I tell myself. Except that I still buy a truckload of stuff, so it’s all relative 😉
Is it sad that I recall that Bella Swan dress being pretty in the movie (I know for sure that it’s sad that I have seen said movie)?
Hahaha! No, it probably photographed better (and the material might have been nicer too) than it looked in really life. I just thought the main character would be wearing something cooler/sexier, but now that I think about it, she was supposed to be a teen (right?) so my expectations were probably off base.
I love the pussy bow blouse! Those are my jam. The Zara dress is also really cute.
It was a cute top … but I’m trying to get away from bows, sigh.
Reconsider the Zara dress.. it is SO pretty on you!!!
I don’t regret returning it, to be honest. I LOVED the print, and the fit was good, but too many things were otherwise wrong with it. I have no shortage of clothes, so I’m going to hold out for something that checks off all the boxes.