I have been obsessed with knife pleats all year, but it’s taken a while for my obsession to bear fruit. When you’re all about that #thriftlife, it happens — the universe usually provides, but not on any kind of reliable schedule. In this case, as in many, when it rains, it pours. Shortly after finding my pleated Aritzia skirt, I found this COS dress. It’s architectural, and extra pleat-y, so you know I had to have it as soon as I clapped eyes on it.

The dress has a nice weight to it, and the pleat work is fine enough to pass for something a step up from fast fashion. This is my first time thrifting COS, so I don’t know much about the brand. Based on my limited experience, I like the aesthetic a great deal. Fit-wise, for anyone interested in tracking this one down, the dress suffers the usual pitfall of sheaths on an hourglass/pear shape: it’s large through the waist. Otherwise, it runs small. This is a size 8, and it’s not noticeably loose anywhere except the waist; in an ideal world, I might have sized down to a 6, but definitely not a 4, which is my typical size in most brands. The waist situation was not a deal breaker for me because I can rectify it easily enough with a belt, which solves any accessorizing dilemma in one fell swoop. Speaking of which, have I mentioned recently how much I love a stretchy, embellished belt? They are accommodating and wonderfully useful. Anthro and BCBG are safe bets, and it’s always worth checking the dress rack at the thrift store. I got this belt from a dress I thrifted for $7 purely for this purpose. Consider that my thrifting PSA for the day.

Reader PSA: A lovely blog reader let me know that she has a Plenty by Tracy Reese dress (new with tags) that she would be happy to send to a good home (for the price of shipping) in lieu of simply donating to Goodwill. While the dress is not quite my current style, it is very pretty. It’s a size 10, but fits more like a 4-6. I asked her if she would be comfortable with my extending her generous offer to other readers, and she said yes. So, if you think you might be interested, send me an email and I would be happy to put you in touch.

On a related note, I’ve been mulling the idea of doing a weekly or monthly Buy/Trade post where readers (especially fellow thrifters) could post pieces that they would like to trade, or pieces that would love to find/buy. This seems like a natural extension of both the community here and the focus on secondhand/sustainable fashion. However, I am not sure if that’s something any of you would actually be interested in — I would love to hear from you!

The ghost of my old style still haunts my closet, it seems. Like Old Taylor Swift, Old Adina can’t come to the phone, but, clearly, she can still be resurrected on the blog from time to time. (Sidenote: “Look What You Made Me Do” is a terrible song, and it is catchy AF.) It’s hard to commit to an exorcism when it comes down to pieces like these. I’d venture to call them Peak Anthropologie — which is to say, twee-ness at its best. So many sweet, little details, down to the frills on the skirt lining (which you can’t see), and the underlayers of the tulle hem (ditto). These clothes look like somebody’s craft project, in the best way. I can’t bear to part with them.

It’s hard to explain how I feel when I wear outfits like these. They feel more like a performance, of sorts, than a second skin (if that makes sense). It’s not necessarily a bad thing. Even though, with age, I’ve come to lean more and more into the comfort that comes from knowing myself, it can still be fun to “dress up and play” from time to time. I mean, a ruffle tail? What could be more fun?

The older I get, the more I love weddings. I don’t know why that is; perhaps I am getting more sentimental with age. Weddings are a wonderful opportunity to connect with my extended “community” — family and friends I don’t see regularly — which I probably miss more than I realize until, well, a wedding comes up. Of course, wedding are also great opportunities to (a) dress up; (b) eat buffets. I love both of those things, in more or less equal measure. I also love dresses which allow me to eat buffets.

This Adrianna Papell number is a good example of that kind of magical unicorn dress. See, it *looks* form-fitting but it’s actually surprisingly forgiving. I don’t know what kind of witchery that fabric is, but it skims the body without being too body-con OR constrictive. And no Spanx were involved in the making of this outfit. Score!

The whole outfit cost less than $100, which I also count as a victory because there is nothing like looking champagne fancy on a beer budget. The dress and shoes are thrifted, the necklace is an antique mall score, and the clutch is vintage. It used to belong to my grandmother. I don’t have a lot of family (fashion) heirlooms, so I treasure them. This sparkly clutch is surprisingly modern too; it’s nice to think that I might pass it on to my daughter one day … or maybe wear it to her wedding. But that’s just my sentimental side talking.