Here’s the thing: I don’t love September. But there is at least one good thing about it and it’s this: September is the green light to start thinking about fall fashion and making some strategic wardrobe decisions. And while I might not love changing seasons for other reasons, I love the opportunity this brings to shake things up in my closet. Bring on sweater weather!!

As I write that, it’s currently 27 degrees Celsius, so I might be jumping the gun juuuust a little bit … but just let me have it, ok? Besides, as someone who thrifts her clothes, your girl needs extra time to prepare and plan for the future.

Now, that being said, I don’t actually see a lot of change on my sartorial horizon; Fall 2024 isn’t going to look all that different from Spring 2024 or even Fall 2023. Taking stock of my summer outfits, my current aesthetic mood is pretty obvious and might be best summed up as “the many faces of Ralph Lauren” with a side of 90s nostalgia. There’s the Ivy/prep thing, the prairie/cowgirl thing, the cottagecore thing, the English country thing — plus all the things I wanted to wear as a 90s teenager and didn’t the chance. And these are all things I continue to like, and which feel very much like the “me of now”. Obviously, there will be a pivot in terms of the interpretation of those inspirations to account for the change in weather, but the core ideas will be more or less the same. (Though I will probably put the prairie/cowgirl thing on the backburner once the weather dictates that my cowboy boots go into storage.)

Still, as you know, I do like to make little updates to my wardrobe every season to refresh the working material at my disposal for translating my aesthetic inspiration into actual outfits. I have a highly curated — and amazing!! — wardrobe, so this is an exercise in identifying specific pieces that will enhance the versatility of what I already own and allow me to put a fresh spin on my style, rather than a total overhaul. And I am feeling very excited and inspired for this exercise at the moment, though you might be surprised to hear why.

I recently fell down a Gen Z thrifting/fashion rabbit hole, and I don’t wanna get up.

OK, that probably requires a bit of explaining. Thanks to my IG algorithm, I’ve been consuming a lot of thrift haul content from Gen Z fashionistas/resellers — which, as a thrifter with a strong voyeuristic streak, is right up my alley — and let me tell you: these ladies are going ALL in with the Y2K fashion. I’ve been seeing clothes I haven’t thought about in decades. Getting some unpleasant flashbacks, but mostly I’m getting … lots of inspiration. Not in the sense that I am planning to start dressing like it’s 1999 and I’m a 19-year old university student; it’s a bit more complex than that. Seeing this generation’s take on 90s/Y2K style is making me see that fashion in a different light, with the added lens of my experience and knowledge as a 44-year old who lived through that era once already. It’s giving me a new appreciation for some things, reinforcing my lack of interest in other things, and sparking lots of ideas for how to remix my wardrobe.

I have said this before, and stand by it: sometimes, I get more inspiration from looking at personal style that is different from mine than I do from looking at a sartorial clone. You discover new things, and that is at the heart of creativity.

But I digress.

Seeing so much 90s and Y2K clothing on my social media feed lately has given me a ton of ideas about how I might update my current aesthetic with a bit of extra 90s flair. I have also seen a few fashion industry trend reports for Fall 2024, and while I always take those with a grain of salt — they’re just marketing for the capitalist agenda — I am intrigued by a few things I’m seeing, which have the potential to work really well for my style and my wardrobe.

So, without further ado, here’s what I am hoping to thrift into my (sartorial) life this fall.

Brown cowboy boots

Technically, this is a holdover from my summer thrift life that has yet to materialize, though it’s also an item I will keep wearing happily until there is snow on the ground. I have 2 pairs of black/grey cowboy boots that have been getting lots of wear this summer (seriously, I’m obsessed!) but I would like to have a brown option as well, because brown works better as a neutral with many of my outfits. Cowboy boots have been thin on the ground in thrift stores since earlier in the summer, and I don’t expect to see a lot of them as we head into fall and winter, but you never know. The bonus of finding them out-of-season is that they may end up being less expensive.

Black and ivory cap toe kitten heels

I like the very classic preppy vibes of this style of shoe, and I’m thinking that it might be a good addition to my shoe closet. I would prefer something with a low heel (or wedge) rather than ballet flats, and an almond toe rather than round toe. Basically, not a dupe of the traditional Chanel quilted cap-toe flats; I have a slightly different vibe in mind. I imagine them paired with jeans and a men’s shirt and a pearl necklace for a ‘laid-back elegance’ vibe. I think they would also work well with other pants in my wardrobe, but I’m less sure about skirts and dresses and that’s the main reason why I haven’t pulled the trigger on the pair I’ve been watching for a few months on Poshmark. Will I commit? Stay tuned.

Chunky platform Mary Janes

At the other end of the spectrum from the above, this is a pair of shoes that had been on my thrift list last year, and which I am now bringing back. I do have 2 pairs of platform loafers in my line-up, so this item is not a super high priority, but I would love to expand my 90s-inspired footwear options. I also think it’s a shoe that my daughter would enjoy borrowing … and, yes, we have reached that stage. *cue crying in where-did-my-little-baby-go* We are now basically sharing a closet, though I am putting down some boundaries, aka a “no go” zone around my favourite pieces. (Luckily, our taste in clothes does not completely align, so some of my stuff is safe … for the time being.)

Diamond tennis necklace

Not, like, real diamonds, ok? I would love a moissanite version or, more realistically, a good cubic zirconia one. Even some good quality vintage rhinestones will do. I have been wearing my tennis bracelet a lot this summer, and it recently struck me that the necklace version would be equally versatile. I have been looking at some options online, but this is an item I would prefer to buy in person after trying it out first. I’ve heard these types of necklaces have a tendency to flip over / not lie flat, and I want to check how one sits on me before I buy it.

Short pearl necklace

Same vibes as the tennis necklace, basically. I’ve been super into pearls lately, but rather than a long strand (which I already have), I want a choker-length one. Plot twist: I did find one! It took a few weeks to thrift something that met all my specifications, but Value Village came through — and I only paid $6 for it. I am warning you now: I will be leaning hard into the preppy vibe this fall.

Olive leather blazer

Apparently, olive is one of the “hot” neutrals this fall, and I became intrigued by it once I started to think of it as a brown-adjacent green. We all know how much I love brown! That being said, olive can be a tricky colour for me, so I am looking for a shade without too much of a yellow undertone. I specifically want to add some olive to my closet via a leather blazer because (a) coloured leather is also trending right now (though, frankly, it never goes out of style as far as I’m concerned) and (b) I love wearing leather in the fall. Leather is a wonderful textural contrast to the wool knits that form the backbone of my fall wardrobe. Here, I actually have a specific blazer in mind — it’s vintage Gap — but haven’t had any luck sourcing it yet. I am keeping my eye out for it, as well as other options; Danier is one of the brands at the top of my list when I’m on the hunt for leather jackets.

Brown leather blazer

Same explanation as above. As we already know, I love brown and wear a lot of it in the cooler seasons, so a brown leather blazer — similar to the black one I already have — would add versatility to my wardrobe. Plot twist #2: I found one! It’s a cool, slightly oversized, longline blazer cut, which will hopefully give me a lot of styling options to play with. It’s vintage and in mint condition, and at $20, it was a total steal. Something comparable at, say, Banana Republic would have set me back $300+. And that’s the reason why leather is one of the things I always try to find secondhand, if I can.

Suede vest / jacket

Suede is also hot this fall, and I’m here for it. Again, it’s the texture that gets me. Add a suede vest over a chambray shirt and then throw a chunky knit cardigan on top and you’ve got yourself a mix that would get a thumbs up from Papa Ralph. Apart from a vest, I am keeping my eyes open for other suede pieces including a fringed coat, a boxy cropped jacket, maybe even a pair of pants. Ideally, I want suede pieces in a warm whiskey brown, but I am open to other shades of brown, as well as other colours. Let’s see what the thrift gods send my way!

Leopard print skirt

I’ll put the spoiler upfront: I thrifted this already. Leopard print is, you guessed it, another hot trend this fall — though, let’s be honest, is it ever not? (Leopard, for fall? Groundbreaking.) Now, I am not a huge fan of animal prints, so I don’t own anything that is straight-up leopard; I have one skirt that features a bit of leopard print mixed in with paisley. I also usually don’t bother with it whenever it comes back into the trend cycle. But, for some reason, this year is different. This year, leopard print intrigues me. Well, the reason probably comes down to the same thing that explains most of this list: I like brown. This is a predominantly brown print. Mystery explained. Anyway, I don’t trust myself to truly commit to leopard print, so I decided to pick one item and use it as a test subject. After some deliberation, I decided that the item would be a skirt; I thought this would be the most versatile way for me to introduce leopard print into my wardrobe. As luck would have it, I was able to source a suitable skirt (pleated, midi) fairly quickly. I paid $5 for it, which is a good price point for something that may or may not end up being a long-term addition to my wardrobe. It’s a contemporary piece, so the quality is nothing to write home about, but it’s doing its job — allowing me to experiment with a new idea in a low-risk environment. So far, I’ve worn it a couple of times, and while the final verdict is still out, the early results are encouraging.

Chunky cropped cardigan(s)

I have a very specific silhouette in mind here: cropped and boxy, in a heavy/chunky knit. Cable knit would be nice, though I am not married to it. I think this would give me a good topper alternative to my wool blazers, and also some layering options with my leather jackets and other coats. My first priority is a cream or ivory cardigan, but I am also debating a mid- or dark brown one, and a dark red/maroon one. This might not sound like a difficult item to thrift, but I have very precise specifications (more so than what it might appear from what I’ve written) so I am not sure how long it will take me to find something suitable. Wish me luck!

That’s it for me, but I would love to hear what’s on your shopping list this fall. Share in the comments!

Details: Bozzolo top, Ricki’s skirt (both retail), eShakti dress, Donna Karan belt, Aldo shoes (all thrifted)

Thoughts: I am sure it will not be a surprise when I say that this technicolour dress was an insta-buy. Except that I don’t plan to wear it as a dress but, rather, as a coat — like here. It’s relatively well made, but the fabric is polyester with a rough weave, not entirely dissimilar from shantung silk. It’s not something I would enjoy wearing next to my skin, even with the lining (which is also poly). But as a coat, it’s doable. And I love the vibe so, so much. This entire outfit was one of my faves of the summer. Thinking outside the box pays off!

Details: Zara tee, Rachel Comey skirt, vintage bag, Aldo shoes (all secondhand)

Thoughts: Chaotic good, outfit edition. I thrifted this incredible vintage leather bag (no tags) and wanted to immediately wear it. As it happened, the Rachel Comey skirt was already hanging on my “next to wear” hook because it’s been an awfully long time since it had seen an outing, and when I saw these 2 pieces together … I had 2/3 of the outfit. I decided to lean into the chaoticness of the skirt pattern (the style was called Delirium, believe it or not), so I added my glitch-Mickey tee — another beloved piece I hadn’t worn in a while. And voila: a mad, and perfect outfit.

Details: Nautica shirt, Max & Co skirt, BR belt (all thrifted)

Thoughts: I adore the colours of this vintage men’s shirt, and I thought they would pair well with my magenta skirt because they match its boldness. I like to think I was right … and not just because I always like to think I’m right, LOL! The high (and very fitted) waist of the skirt helps to rein in the volume of the shirt a little bit, which is a nice change of silhouette for something so oversize. Whenever I wear really bold, saturated colours like these, I always use black accessories to ground the outfit. The black makes the colours pop that little bit extra. Love!

Details: Brooks Brothers shirt, Tommy Hilfiger jeans, Fossil belt, L’Intervalle shoes, Coach bag (all secondhand), Winners hat (retail)

Thoughts: I’ve been looking for a madras blazer for years and while I haven’t found the one yet, I did stumble upon this shirt. I love its bright colours, and I seem to be unable to resist button-up shirts these days so … YOLO! This was a cute version of my ‘mom uniform’ for an end-of-summer-vacation day of errand running with the kids. Colourful and comfy.

Details: Only & Sons jacket, vintage sweatshirt, Everlane pants, Converse shoes, Coach bag (all secondhand)

Thoughts: I am calling this Jessica Fletcher, 2024 reboot. The vintage sweatshirt is actually from the 90s, so it seems very apropos. Rather than doing denim-on-denim, I decided to pull one of the colours from the sweatshirt — the dusty mauve-y purple — and go a little matchy-matchy instead with these Everlane pants. I feel like this fall will be something of a vintage/graphic sweatshirt moment for me. Casual preppy, except I need to find a less boring name for it 😉

Details: Anna Sui top, Ralph Lauren skirt, Fossil belt, J. Crew vest, Rafael Alfandary necklace (all secondhand)

Thoughts: Lest you think that I’m not still a cottagecore fan, I am here to tell show you that I am. I love vests, and I love a good vest/skirt combo, and this particular one is hitting all the marks for me. Cohesive colour scheme + subtle pattern mix = my jam. Not to mention a failproof formula.

Details: Chepe dress (retail), Side Saddle jacket, Brixton hat, MbMJ bag (all secondhand)

Thoughts: Still the most versatile dress in my closet, and here’s more proof. I think I could wear this Chepe dress (and the black version I also own) with practically every jacket in my wardrobe … and I might be planning to put that theory to the test. First experiment? My verdict is “success”. This was such a nice, easy summer outfit; the heavy cotton jacket was a perfect cover-up option for the cooler morning, and then it came off in the afternoon. The nice thing about this dress is that it has a lovely cut and interesting neckline, which make it feel like an outfit even if worn alone with minimal accessories.

Details: Tommy Hilfiger shirt, Uniqlo sweater, Ralph Lauren pants, Fossil belt (all thrifted)

Thoughts: I want to call this “garden chic” — mostly because it looks like a literal garden, from the (brown) ground up. I have been loving the styling trick of wearing a sweater tied around the shoulders, and these corduroy pants float a similar vibe, so I started with those 2 things in mind. The shirt choice was a bit more of a risk, since the floral pattern doesn’t necessarily scream “preppy” but I liked how its colours looked paired with the brown, so I went for it. Choosing a green sweater helped to make the shirt look more intentional by doubling up the green.

It will not surprise you to hear that thrifting is just as much of a fun wildcard for my perfume collection as it is for my closet. You never know what you are going to find, but it will often throw pleasant surprises your way. I have slowed down my fragrance purchases a fair bit in the last few months, as my current line-up feels very satisfying and I want to enjoy it to its fullest extent, but I have made exceptions for some really special thrift finds. After all, it seems rude to turn down a gift from the thrift gods … and, I promise, you will understand what I mean in a moment.

Of all the stores in Edmonton, the one I visit the most often — because it’s the closest location to where I live — tends to have the biggest selection of fragrances on a regular basis. Is that fate or what? Hah! Anyway, this is reason why I always check the showcase first when I stop into the store. (Well, that and watches, which represent another one of my collecting passions at the moment.) Most of the time, the perfumes on display are overpriced and nothing too out of the ordinary … but, sometimes, there is a “start the car” moment. Or even two. On one occasion, the first thing I noticed was a very distinctive, familiar bottle:

If you grew up in the 90s like me, you will remember the ad for this perfume, featuring Daryl Hannah. I was OBSESSED with it.

I coveted Sun, Moon, and Stars as a teenager, but it was out of my budget and I never ended up getting the chance to wear it. When I started getting into fragrances again this year, it was one of the perfumes I started to think about again, because if you think nostalgia has a grip on my closet, I can tell you that’s nothing compared to the grip it has on my taste in fragrance. Of all the perfumes I’ve tried over the last nine months or so, the ones that have made the deepest impact have been, by and large, perfumes that were originally introduced in the 90s and early 00s. There is something in the DNA of that era’s fragrances that just speaks to me. And it’s not just in my head; as with fashion, the perfume industry has its trends. The 80s had their smell, and so did the 90s, and so do the 2020s. Some perfumes have their own unique alchemy that allows them to transcend a specific era and become “classics”, but they still retain their associations with the past for people who experienced them at different times. My pet theory is that people who refer to something as an “old lady perfume” or “dated”, do so because it smells to them like something one of their older relatives wore when they were young. Many in the fraghead community push back against this type of description for its ageist connotations, and I don’t disagree with that; but, above all, I find it a really unhelpful way to describe perfumes. It’s like saying bell bottoms are granny-coded because they were popular in the 70s. You might call them retro, but always bearing in mind that what’s “old” has a tendency to become “new” again in the world of fashion … and one might expect the same to start holding true in the world of scent as well.

Anyway, back to my thrift story. I lucked out that the bottle of Sun, Moon, and Stars didn’t end up being massively overpriced. It was originally marked $40, which was higher than I would have liked, but I ended up chatting a bit with the sales associate who was helping me (and may have been the store manager, in fact) and after looking up the perfume online, she offered to knock the price down to $25. Sold! This, by the way, confirms that thrift stores do use internet listings to set their own prices. In this case, I got lucky. Sun, Moon, and Stars is still available for purchase, and Walmart has it listed for $90. However … the current Sun, Moon, and Stars is not the same one that was sold in the 90s. The company who makes it now (Prestige Beauty) bought the rights to the name from Karl Lagerfeld, and the formula, while similar, isn’t exactly the same (at least according to online reviews). My bottle is a vintage one, and those sell on eBay for quite a bit more money. So yeah, it was a lucky score.

As for how it smells — well, it was love at first sniff. The smell is definitely a nostalgic one, an olfactory memory of the 90s. Sun, Moon, and Stars was created by Sophia Grojsman, who also created Calyx, another one of my fave perfumes. Like the latter, Sun, Moon, and Stars is a beautifully blended mix of floral and fruity notes, though in this case, the fruity notes are not very prominent to my nose; rather, they lend a sweetness to the florals, which have an unexpected edge to them thanks to the carnation note. At least, I think it’s the carnation that gives the fragrance a dry, slightly sharp kick — similar to the pepper notes used in more recent perfumes, but less spicy. To me, Sun, Moon, and Stars is like flower meadow on a warm, sunny day, but it also trails a kind of cool, dry powderiness that makes me think of an arid lunar landscape. There is a dichotomy at the heart of the fragrance that makes me want to keep smelling my wrists every time I wear it. But it is definitely not a perfume that everyone will love — especially anyone who enjoys contemporary fruity-florals and gourmand fragrances.

The second bottle that caught my attention the day I found Sun, Moon, and Stars was another throwback:

There are few fragrances more iconic than Poison. Strangely, though, it’s not one that had a strong nostalgic pull for me. I never wore it when I was younger, nor did anyone else I knew growing up. A few months ago, I got a bottle of the current version of Hypnotic Poison, but that has a completely different profile from the OG Poison … which is also a completely different animal from this: the real OG. As is the case with most perfumes that have been around for 40 years, Poison has gone through a few reformulations. Based on the research I’ve done, the bottle I found at the thrift is mostly likely from the late 80s, aka the original version of the perfume. The bottle was priced at $30, and after giving it a quick spray on the wrist (I always like to test on skin, if possible), I was not inclined to buy it. I put it back, and went off to browse the rest of the store. But after a while, the scent trail started to pull me in. I kept sniffing my wrist as I walked around, and eventually I decided this was a sign that I should go back and grab the bottle. I knew this was the kind of find that I would not come across twice; if I didn’t buy it now, I would not get the chance again. Thirty dollars was, on balance, worth it — not just because the scent intrigued me, but also because this is a little piece of perfume history.

How can I describe 80s Poison? It is unlike anything else I’ve smelled before. First of all, that quick spray from the store lasted on me for the rest of the day, and we are not talking about a skin scent here. When people talk about “beast mode” fragrances (i.e. perfumes that project strongly and last for a long time), they should be using Poison as the benchmark. It’s the kind of perfume that will not go unnoticed, and should only be used with a great deal of moderation. Its profile is unusual and intoxicating: it smells like sweet incense with notes of plum and honey. There is a carnation note in there as well, so there is a dryness that undercuts the sweetness a bit. To me, Poison smells like the scent that a Byzantine empress would have worn. It’s heady and seductive and very, very potent. It’s not a perfume I would wear every day, but for a special occasion, it’s a memorable choice.

A few weeks after the double-header event, the thrift gods blessed me again. This time, it was not my nostalgia that was peaked, but my curiosity. Since joining the fraghead community, I’ve read a lot about various niche perfume houses, but I have not had the opportunity to experience their offerings firsthand. Niche perfumes are not easily accessible to me locally and getting into the decant business doesn’t appeal to me, both from a cost and a convenience perspective. Meanwhile, even the smallest bottles of most niche perfumes are far, far above my price ceiling for blind buying. So imagine my excitement when I found a bottle of Italica Casamorati from Xerjoff for $25:

The retail cost of this 30 ml bottle is somewhere around $140USD, though it’s only available in a few places now; I don’t love the fragrance enough to pay that much for it, but I like it enough to pay the VV price. To be honest, I’m surprised they didn’t charge more for it. But, hey, I’m not complaining! Italica smells exactly like its note pyramid suggests it would — which is not always the case with perfumes! It has top notes of almond, milk and saffron; middle notes are toffee and bourbon vanilla; and base notes of sandalwood and white musk. And it smells like an almond and vanilla biscuit dipped in milk. The definition of a gourmand fragrance, though it’s not sugary sweet. I generally prefer amber-floral and woody fragrances over gourmand ones, but I can imagine Italica being a comforting fragrance choice for cold winter days. I’m glad I got the chance to try it and take it home, since I have nothing with a similar profile in my collection.

That’s all my tasty thrift finds for now, but who knows what fragrance encounters are still waiting for me at the thrift store. Stay tuned!