What, ANOTHER thrifting post? I know, I know. I’ve been doing a LOT of thrifting lately, you guys. Not in terms of time — most of my stop-ins are only 15-20 minutes long — so much as in terms of frequency. I’ve started going at least once or twice a week, and it’s become one of my fave ways to relax after a stressful day. Kinda like reading a fashion mag, and admiring the pretty clothes … except that I get to take my favourite finds home with me, and play dress-up. That never gets old for some reason. My closet is bursting at the seams, but that’s a problem for another day. It’s why garage sales exist, right?

So, hey, you wanna see what I’ve been finding lately?

(Side note: there are tons of cool things I find but don’t buy for various reasons — wrong size, wrong style,etc. — but I’ve stopped taking photos because I don’t have time. I gotta use my 15 minutes efficiently, if you know what I mean.)

Technically, this wasn’t thrifted, but for the price it might as well have been. A Plato’s Closet opened here a while back, and I ended up taking a friend there recently to check it out. Most of their stuff is not age-appropriate/lifestyle-appropriate for me, but I couldn’t resist this dress. I have a couple of other Nathalie Lete pieces, and I adore her whimsical prints. This dress fit perfectly, even though it’s a strapless dress, so I thought it would make a nice “date night” outfit this summer.

I know St. John is a big hit with dedicated thrifters, but I have rarely come across pieces here in town. I was drawn to the peacoat-like styling of this knit blazer (a size 6, but it’s large enough to be a coat), and it was in such amazing condition, I had to buy it. Once I performed shoulder pad “surgery” on it, it looked a million times better. I’m curious to see if I can pull this one off IRL. To be continued.

These Anthro brand pants were another style gamble. I am not comfortable with the whole wide leg silhouette, but I liked the fit of the high waist, and the quality was excellent (wool, lined), so I decided it was worth trying for $6 (plus another $20 for hemming). I’ve already worn them once, and liked how they looked, so I think I could get used to them in time.

I rarely thrift for tops (there are too many racks, and I don’t have the time), but this pretty floral peplum jumped out at me. I think it will be cute in the summer. It’s floral, what could go wrong?

I’m less sure about this striped top, but for $5 I wasn’t going to overthink it. Until recently, I had no striped tops in my closet (save for my Gap tee that’s showing its constant wear from my last mat leave). Hard to believe, right? Bloggers love striped shirts. I love them, too, but I’ve had trouble finding the right kind of stripe. (Long story short, they have to be the right thickness and distance apart, otherwise they give me a headache). Anyway, this top looked promising, stripe-wise, even with the extra shoulder doodads. On the downside, it is rather longer than I need it to be, so we will see what happens. If I can’t live with the length, I’ll either try to DYI a hem, or I’ll give it to a taller friend.

I never pass up Anthro brand skirts — especially when they’re under $10.

I don’t wear pink so I don’t know what possessed me to buy this, except that the silhouette is cute, and apparently I have a blazer hoarding problem. You’ll see what I mean in a minute.

More stripes. Not sure if a candy cane striped blazer is the most versatile thing, but this one is comfortable as heck, and it was only $8.

My friend made me buy this, and my inner prep ain’t mad about it.

Again, I’m not sure if coral is really my colour (it’s not), but it IS a cute colour for summer. The fit was perfect, and my inner blazer hoarder was all, like, “do it — do it now!”

I actually bought this for a friend, then realized it was too small for her. Coincidentally, it fits me very well. Hmm.

The print of this dress may be a little ho-hum, but two things made me buy it. One, it has a really cool, retro silhouette — blousy top, pencil skirt bottom, midi length. Two, the label (which I don’t recognize) indicates it was made in the USA, which is always a nice find.

Instant outfit, am I right? Found both these pieces at the Sherwood Park VV, and they were too good (and the price too low) to pass them up even though (a) I don’t really need another pair of jeans, and (b) balloon print tops are probably way out of my age range. Whatevs.

I’ve actually been casually looking for a leather moto jacket for ages, but never found one I liked in terms of both style and price. Especially price. Since I didn’t expect a moto jacket to become a staple in my wardrobe, I didn’t want to pay a lot for one. This Joe Fresh version is not real leather, but feels really darn nice, and the design is classic and simple. For $10, it was a no brainer.

Aaaand, I’m done. Phew. As warned, that was a bit of thrifting overload. Let me know what you think of my finds, and ask me any thrifting-related questions on your mind.

With everything going on last month, I have no idea how I managed to do any thrifting … but I must have, because the proof is in the pudding. Or, rather, all the things that I bought. This, and that, and everything. No, seriously.

Ok, I didn’t buy this. Consider this a PSA: counterfeit goods end up at thrift stores all the time, and the staff is not qualified to tell the difference so don’t be fooled by price tags. This was tagged for something like $30. The “leather” was so cheap and nasty, I didn’t even need to look at the hardware (which is usually a giveaway with fake designer stuff — it never feels as substantial as the real thing).

Another fake. Again, the leather was a dead giveaway. A real designer bag of this caliber, no matter how old, will never fray and crack in this manner.

I also didn’t get this, but I wish I had. It was only, like, $5-6. Bah!

I went back and forth on this bag, but ultimately passed due to the price relative to its condition. After the fact, I thought I might have been able to do some conditioning on the leather (although there wasn’t much I could have done about the tear in the strap), and went back to look for it. Of course, it was gone. C’est la vie.

I bought this on a whim, because it’s yellow and only $5. I’m having a bit of a yellow moment. Go figure.

Cute, cheap skirt? Pretty green colour? Anthro brand? Twist my rubber arm.

Super soft, super cheap, will be fab with jeans in the summer. Sold.

Yellow love strikes again.

I actually needed these! Can you believe it? It never happens that I find something I actually NEED (as opposed to just fancy) at the thrift store. This pair of leopard pumps was practically brand new, down to the soles, so it was a double great score.

Impulse buy time. I’ll probably regret it, but it was new with tags (hence the price) and I liked the cropped length.

Very cute summer dress. I suddenly seem to have a lot of navy in my wardrobe. Good thing it goes well with yellow 😉

Totally random find, but I couldn’t resist that gorgeous peacock print. And silk for $7? No brainer.

When I went back to look for that Coach bag, I found this little gem instead. I’m going to need to figure out how to wear fancy scarves, stat.

Doesn’t this look so very Anthro-esque? I love the details like the lace hem finish, and contrast lining. Very unique.

This was cute, and reminded my husband of orange creamsicle (which he loves), so I thought “why not”. For $9, why not, indeed? That’s why I love to thrift.