More so than even other recent years, 2020 was the year of secondhand. Of the top of my head, I can think of only one clothing item I purchased at retail; everything else was either thrifted or Poshmarked. My experiences with Poshmark are reflected in the fact that both the cost-per-item and overall cost-versus-retail-value percentage increased slightly this year compared to last.

For those who may be curious, the items I purchased this year cost, on average, $15 (up from about $13/item in 2019). I paid, on average, 5.7% of the retail value for the items I did buy (up from 5.3% last year). Overall, I bought less and spent (slightly) less this year than in 2019 and, in fact, any of the past 5 years. In large part, this was due to the fact that thrift stores were closed here from March until late May, and I didn’t get into Poshmark until later in the summer. If you take those “no-buy” months out of the equation, I actually bought more during the months I did shop.

If I had to justify myself (and I don’t, really), I think it’s because 2020 is the year I fell in love with fashion all over again. Discovering new designers has been fun. There were so many good deals to be had on pieces that are beautiful and well-made, and I couldn’t resist buying them and enjoying the experience of wearing them – for myself. Alone (well, not really, but you get my point) in the house. It was a source of joy in an otherwise stressful year. I always take good care of my clothes, and my goal is to ensure that my pieces can end up having another lease on life in someone else’s closet once I’m ready to move on. This is one way that I can minimize the environmental impact of my hobby – and share the joy of beautiful clothes with others.

Okay, enough navel-gazing. The title of the blog post promised you a Best Of list, and that’s what you’re going to get.

In thinking about how to prepare this, I realized that I would have to honour the spirit of the Year of The Skirt, by breaking down my list into two (and, after further deliberation, three) sections.

Best Skirts

Without a doubt, my favourite purchase — of all – this year. When I bang on about how clothing should be fun, this is what I’m talking about. Nothing gives me more joy than wearing this skirt … at home, alone at my desk. It makes me feel fabulous, even if I have nowhere to go. This is the year I began to fully appreciate that “fabulous” is a state of mind.

Note: Dries van Noten skirt, via Poshmark ($185).

Honourable mention has to go to this amazing “mermaid” skirt. I am obsessed with the cut, the design details, the colour, and the texture. It came to me all the way from Australia, and I am happy to have her in my closet.

Note: Acne skirt, via eBay ($80).

This was an early thrift find of the year, but it’s a one-of-a-kind – literally. This was a skirt made by someone by hand, from one of the most wonderfully coloured fabrics I’ve ever seen.

Note: handmade skirt, thrifted ($6).

This is a kind of bookend to the previous, being one of the last purchases of the year. Looking at it with semi-sober eyes (I’m still in the infatuation stage with it, haha!), it’s a mash-up of the Acne skirt and the rainbow skirt, isn’t it? Maybe it’s why I love it so much.

Note: Carven skirt, via Poshmark ($83).

I feel a bit guilty for not giving this amazing skirt more love this year, but I haven’t been wearing black as much as usual. That being said, Issey Miyake is one of my fave designers, and this skirt is a beautiful example of his work. Photos cannot do justice to the details – the layers, the intricate pleating, the movement.

Note: Issey Miyake skirt, thrifted ($10).

Best of the Rest

Full disclosure: I haven’t worn this yet, but for sheer excitement factor alone, this Gucci blouse would have to make the list. I love the muted aqua colour and the creepy floral print. I can’t wait to see outfits I can concoct with it in 2021.

Note: Gucci blouse, thrifted ($8).

I’ve given up trying to photograph this Shirin Guild topper for the same reason as the Issey skirt – they cannot capture its beauty. I wear this a lot at home whenever I get cold while working; it’s the perfect weight – not too heavy, cozy without being scratchy (it’s silk-wool blend).

Note: Shirin Guild topper, thrifted ($10).

Not all my favourite purchases are designer. I bought a few Gap striped sweaters this year that I simply adore, but in the end I chose this Wilfred one instead as my most favourite – it was a close call though. I love the colours and the colourblocked stripes, and it’s incredibly soft and cozy. The oversized style works surprisingly well with my midi pencil skirts.

Note: Wilfred sweater, via Poshmark ($33).

I’ve written before about this dress and our history (going back to 2015!) so of course it had to make the list. I haven’t been as into dresses this year as in the past, but this one puts a smile on my face every time I see it.

Note: Pink Tartan dress, thrifted ($25).

Okay, this is a bit of a cheat in that we’re talking about 2 pieces not one, but it’s a matched set so I think I get a pass. I love the print and the funky silhouette, and I think it will be easy to mix and match with other pieces from my closet.

Note: Kaliyana set, thrifted ($14).

Best of Jewelry

Note: Stella & Dot necklace, via Poshmark ($83).

Note: Stella & Dot necklace, thrifted ($5).

Note: Monica Vinader ring, via Poshmark ($33).

Note: Paloma Spills earrings, via Poshmark ($133).

Note: Gemma Redux necklace, via Poshmark ($53).

What were your favourite purchases of the year?

2020 was such a strange, surreal year. Fashion was probably the last thing on people’s minds, but since fashion is what we talk about here, I will apply the usual myopic lens for purposes of this and other year-end posts. Let’s talk about my favourite outfits.

Things started off much as one would expect at the beginning of the year, but by March veered into a different course altogether. Sartorially, I floundered for a while; switching to working from home, whilst trying to adjust to the day-to-day realities of life in a pandemic, took a lot of adjusting.

[Not to get off-track, but I think the psychological trauma of this whole experience will take years for most of us to unpack – even for those of us fortunate not to have been directly impacted by COVID or involved in the front-line efforts to contain it. I can’t imagine what those who were (and are) have gone through, and I can only hope that at some point when the immediate threat of the pandemic is over, governments will turn their attentions and funding towards mental health initiatives to ensure that people have the support they need to process their trauma.]

Once I settled into the “new normal” somewhat, I quickly realized that my “working from home” uniform would never look like others’ if I wanted to be happy. I love to dress up. It brings me joy and brightens up my day. Trying for that “Zoom casual” aesthetic was sapping my spirits – ok, maybe that sounds overly dramatic, but it was killing my buzz, for sure. So I said “to hell with loungewear” and plunged right back into my most feverish of fashion dreams.

This was the year I truly embraced my love for dramatic fashion. I moved away from the Prince avatar (I love wearing black in public, but alone at home, it felt too depressing on a daily basis) towards the excess of the Bohemian and the luxuriousness of the Artist. Not having to deal with public transit, the weather, or an actual office, I could simply indulge myself. A skirt with a fabulous train? Why not. It didn’t have to be “practical” as long as it was comfortable and made me feel happier wearing it.

This year was also a return to whimsy – not the twee kind, but the kitschy/surreal kind. I think that trend was a reflection of my mental space, trying to grapple with the world around me. Graphic tees and over-the-top prints began to take over my closet. There was a resurgence of colour. Rainbows. I can be quite literal in my wish fulfilment.

This was, unquestionably, the year of the skirt for me. I will always love dresses, but for some reason, I find myself gravitating towards separates, with skirts in particular. I think it’s the freedom to do random mash-ups of items and patterns; the kookier, the better. After all, if 2020 is not chaotic energy in its purest form, I don’t know what is.

I went back and picked some of my favourite outfits to share; the majority of them are from August onwards. I wouldn’t say that I’ve come to terms with 2020 as a whole, but I feel like I’ve finally found my style groove again – one small way to cope with the ongoing uncertainty and challenges.

You can see here that I really honed in on certain design details that I like. Midi length skirts and dresses; interesting patterns; draping details; texture. The things I buy now are cohesive from that standpoint. I wouldn’t say that I have a “uniform” per se, but I am pretty consistent in how I style the pieces I wear and what the final result looks like.

I cannot begin to fathom and will not attempt to predict what 2021 has in store, but I look forward to enjoying my current style groove and seeing where it ends up taking me.

It’s the time of year when I start thinking about “best of” lists, but before I can get to that, let’s cover the last major purchases of the year … and they were pretty major. As a result of rising case counts and breakdown in contract tracing in Edmonton, I made the decision to stop thrifting (and generally limit all non-essential public trips) at the end of November. Since then, my shopping has been limited to Poshmark and, well, just limited in general. But the weeks prior to my thrift “lockdown” were a veritable bonanza which, ahem, explains this post. Buckle up, it’s gonna be a long one.

Tularosa dress

This is one of those brands I wouldn’t have known about were it not for the US thrifters I follow on Instagram. Turns out, it’s a pretty pricey brand that usually sells on Revolve. In this case, I bought the dress because pink + tiers + sequins was a combination I could not resist. Luckily, Value Village was also unfamiliar with this brand, which meant that the dress was “regular over-priced” ($18) not “we think this is a fancy brand over-priced” ($25 and up). My plan is to wear it at Christmas, to cheer up what is likely to be an otherwise subdued affair – we are still waiting to find out if we will be able to see our parents or not.

Marc Jacobs top

It’s been a while since I’ve thrift-spotted Marc Jacobs, but this cute geometric pattern stood out immediately. I love the colours, which work well with my close palette. Note to self: wear this soon.

Guy Vidal earrings & brooch set

This was one of those “if you know, you know” moments. Although I am by no means an expert in brutalist jewelry, the little research I’ve done in the past (mostly in looking up my fave designer, Rafael Alfandary) was enough for me to recognize these earrings as being (a) brutalist, and (b) most likely Guy Vidal. I poked around a bit more and found the matching brooch too. At home, closer inspection of the stamped signature on the back and some additional Googling confirmed that it is, indeed, a Guy Vidal set. Vidal is one of the best known Canadian brutalist jewelry designers. Pieces like these would typically go for $100 and up. Beyond the bargain (I paid $7 for both), I love that thrifting allows me to discover little pieces of history like this.

London Kaye sweater

I was not familiar with this brand but I loved the design so I grabbed it … originally for a friend. At home, I realized that despite the 1X size label, the sweater fit more like a generous Medium at best. So I kept it for myself, thank you very much. The material doesn’t feel like it’s been mangled/shrunk in a laundry accident, so I have no explanation for the sizing disparity. I love this sweater and it’s become one of my faves, so it was a happy accident, whatever the cause.

Lulu’s jumpsuit

We don’t have Lulu’s in Canada (as far as I know?) so I don’t know much about this brand; for some reason, I always associated it with tweens/young girls. Normally, I wouldn’t give a Lulu’s piece a second gland for that reason, but I liked the style of this jumpsuit before I saw the tag and decided to give it a chance. The quality is nothing to write home about, but from a distance, the material has an interesting shape to it – a kind of Japanese aesthetic. It’s a size Large, but the straps are adjustable so I can tighten up the bodice; the rest of it fits very well, and it’s long enough to accommodate my torso (rare for jumpsuits).

Rachel Comey top

This was a thrift first for me: first time spotting Rachel Comey at the thrifts. It’s a brand whose aesthetic I admire, but would be too pricey for me to buy at retail or even on Poshmark, so I was happy to get the chance to try it out. This is more of a summer piece, so I haven’t worn it yet.

Carven mini skirt

This was a great Goodwill score – I paid less than $4 on a colour tag sale for this fabulous wool mini skirt. I adore the blackened teal colour. I was initially a bit unsure about the length (I prefer midi or longer skirts) but it’s grown on me. Boot season is probably the best time to wear it, because I have a few knee-length or higher boots that pair well with it.

Kaliyana top + skirt

Again, I was not familiar with this brand at all but I could tell the quality was good, and I loved the aesthetic, so I got it. Turns out it’s a Canadian designed and made, mid-tier brand – think Eileen Fisher-esque. I lucked into finding both pieces, as they had been separated (top and skirt were on different racks); I am currently obsessed with matching sets, so this is really perfect for me. I love how comfortable they are, and the cool design details – like 3 pockets on the skirt.

Gemma Redux necklace (Poshmark) necklace

A random find on Poshmark, but I love this necklace. Apparently, this designer’s pieces were featured on Gossip Girl back in the day and used to sell at Sak’s. I think the brand is now defunct, sadly. I love the design of this necklace and the blue-red combo is so striking. I scored this for under $60, which is a great deal because – speaking from experience here – the stones alone would have cost more to source.

Rebels and Nomads t-shirt

Another one for my graphic tee collection, but I had to grab it because it’s so very apropos for 2020.

Iro vest

I don’t see a lot of Iro at the thrift store, so I am not too familiar with the brand and its overall quality, but I liked the texture of this vest. I think it will have a lot of layering possibilities.

Moschino dress

What a wild thrift find! This is a $1,000+ dress and if I’m being honest, I don’t think it’s worth it; while it’s silk, it’s not lined and the construction is fairly basic. But for $10? Heck, yeah. I wasn’t able to try it on at the store, and I was a bit worried about the sizing (Italian sizing is the least forgiving and I never know exactly what my size is) but it actually fits well everywhere except the bust, of all things. Luckily, with a bralette I think it will work. This is one of those pieces whose kookiness really appeals to me at the moment, but I’m not sure if it will be a long-term commitment or more of a quick fling, haha.

Wilfred dress

I normally don’t like animal prints, but something about this dress spoke to me. It wasn’t over-priced, which is rare for Wilfred at Value Village, so I took a chance on it. I’m likely going to save it for next spring/summer and hope I can still fit into it by then.

Amaryllis jacket

I know, I know. I just said that I don’t like animal prints and here we are. Honestly, I was drawn to this jacket despite myself, and I’m glad I went with it because I think it adds a bit of pizzazz to my outerwear collection.

Stella & Dot Pegasus necklace (Poshmark)

I’ve been low key watching for this necklace for a while; its current resale prices are ridiculously high in the wake of the death of Ruth Bader Ginsberg – it was one of her favourite “dissent” collars, I believe. I randomly stumbled on a fresh listing on Poshmark, and was able to scoop it up for a steal of a deal at around $70. It’s actually even more beautiful in person, I have to say. And, to my pleasant surprise, it’s not heavy at all; I hate necklaces that feel like an albatross around your neck, and this one is a beautiful statement piece that doesn’t weigh you down.

Pinko skirt (Poshmark)

File the next 2 pieces under “I don’t need more of these, but let’s buy anyway”. Stress/rage shopping has been a thing in the last few weeks, and skirts seem to be my favourite target. Midi pencil skirts, to be precise. This Pinko one appealed to my love of kitschy details; I hate camo but I couldn’t resist the odd mash-up with the classic cars. Pinko is not a super well known-brand in Canada, so I was able to score a good deal on Poshmark – cheaper than Aritzia, haha!

Carven skirt #2 (Poshmark)

I had my eye on this skirt for months, more or less since re-joining Poshmark this summer. I hemmed and hawed over it, and watched as the price came down, but still needed an extra push (aka stressful week at work/life) to pull the trigger. I’m glad I got it because it checks off all the boxes: right length, cool front slit, perfect colour palette and pattern.

Maria Cornejo dress (Poshmark)

Ok, one more for the “don’t need, can’t resist buying” camp. I had my eye on it as soon as it was listed – I love Zero+Maria Cornejo and this dress was priced attractively – but initially decided that I was going to exercise restraint and pass. Then the seller kept lowering the price … again and again. By the time the price dropped below $30, I couldn’t resist anymore. My instinct to rescue “orphan” pieces kicked in. I told myself I would adopt the “one in, one out” rule for this, and sell one of my existing Maria Cornejo dresses to make room for this one … but, to date, I haven’t been able to bring myself to do it. Sigh.

Orla Kiely dress

Okay, we are getting close to the end, I promise. I’m saving the best for last – these are all pieces I found on my very last thrift trip of the year. Starting with this Orla Kiely dress. This is another brand I rarely see at the thrift store; previously, I had only ever spotted a bag before. This style of dress was most famously worn by Carole Middleton on her first visit to the hospital after Prince George was born – thanks, Google for that information. I wish it was a longer length, but the details of the bodice are so beautiful, I had to get it. It’s going to be a great dress for summer 2021.

Ferragamo loafers

I have not thrifted shoes for a long time because, apart from casual sneakers/sandals and winter boots, I have little need of shoes right now. Still, I couldn’t resist these Ferragamo loafers – almost new condition, ten whopping dollars. Flats are where it’s at. Mine are navy, rather than black, which will come in handy.

Alexander McQueen flats

Another thrift first! And such a cool find – I am obsessed with the sequin skulls. This pair was also $10, which was a bargain considering these retailed for $600+CAD. I cannot wait for the snow to melt so I can take these puppies for a walk.

Gucci blouse

Yes, you read that correctly. It finally happened: one of the “holy grail” designers on my thrift bucket list, found. I almost couldn’t believe it. This is a collab with Kris Knight, and needless to say, I adore the quirky floral print.