Details: Tommy Hilfiger shirt, Ralph Lauren sweater, Fossil belt, Coach bag (all secondhand), Banana Republic jeans (retail)
Thoughts: With fall approaching, I feel a shift in aesthetic coming — Prairie Ralph to Preppy Ralph. And I am here for it!! I think this year’s version of the Historian is going to be a mix of 70s and 90s, Ivy/collegiate, Annie Hall, and the usual RL influences mixed in. Men’s shirts, sweaters, sweater vests and waistcoats, midi skirts, and a lot of wide leg, pleated pants. Oh, and corduroy, of course! Sorry, getting carried away here a bit. Anyway, this is a transitional outfit for a rainy late-summer day. Loving navy and dark blue lately, especially with cream and different shades of brown. So simple and satisfying!
Thoughts: But I’m not letting go of summer just yet! This skirt has been one of my fave purchases this year; it’s such a great addition to my summer wardrobe. It works both as a focal piece in outfits, and as a blank canvas. Here, it’s a bit of both. Denim and white with turquoise accessories is my total jam.
Details: No label dress, Prairie Trail goods jacket, Brixton hat, Hondo boots (all secondhand)
Thoughts: Can you believe that I thrifted this cotton dress specifically for this jacket and these boots? I mean, I think it makes sense, no? The colour is a perfect match for the jacket, and the length is perfect for showcasing the boots. I’ve been loving short, swing dresses this summer even though the length is a big departure from my usual style. For me, short + voluminous is the way to go — I would not feel like “me” if the dress was short and very form-fitting. I think part of it has to do with my torso-to-legs ratio (which favours the former); swing dresses make it seem like I have longer legs than I actually do, because they don’t let you see where my waist actually is, and I do enjoy feeling like a gazelle every now and then, LOL!
Details: H&M top, Only & Sons shirt, Mexx skirt, Napoleoni shoes (all thrifted)
Thoughts: A little Disco Southwest moment. I thought it would be fun to layer a sparkly crop top under this SW patterned shirt … and I was right. I kept the colour palette very simple, so the textures could be the focal point. It’s minimalism, Adina style 😉
Details: Uniqlo top, Prairie Trail Goods jacket & bag, Ralph Lauren skirt, Old Navy shoes (all secondhand)
Thoughts: I just threw a bunch of my fave floral summer pieces together, and called it an outfit. And it was a good one! I’m surprised I’d never thought to pair this skirt and jacket before; the colours go together so well, and despite the fact that there are a million different patterns involved, the result is very harmonious and pleasing to my eyes. And you’ll notice that I added a new, solid-colour tee to my cropped top rotation; I think the soft lilac colour will be versatile for my wardrobe. Crop tops are one of my closet staples these days, since I wear so many high-waisted skirts and pants. They eliminate the need for tucking, and still let me show off my waist (and belts).
It’s been donkey’s years since I last did a wardrobe analytics post, but the mood struck me the other day, and once my hyper-fixation kicks in … well, one can only ride it out. And you must also come for the ride! This time around, my brain got fixated on a question that I hadn’t considered before when running analytics on my closet: what proportion of my purchases this year (so far) have been vintage?
Going off anecdotal evidence vibes, it feels accurate to call 2024 my Year of Vintage. I have consciously focused my attention on buying older pieces, mostly from the 90s and 00s, both for the aesthetic and for the quality. The former aligns well with my current style, which has remained consistent over the last 18 months or so (and which I don’t see changing any time soon). As for the quality of that era, it was simply and inarguably better than anything sold in the last 5 years by most brands that are easily accessible to me (either retail or secondhand). So vintage is a win-win. It is also one of the few categories where thrifting can still deliver fantastic (bargain) finds. Designer clothing has been practically MIA at my local thrifts in the last 2 years, which is likely a combination of several factors – fewer donations as a result of changing macroeconomic conditions and/or competition from resale platforms, more resellers, etc. Contemporary fashion, on the other hand, is prone to arbitrary overpricing (and, as noted, the quality is trending down). Vintage is also getting rarer, and also starting to become subject to #thriftgrift, but it’s still the best value proposition going at the moment … in my personal opinion, of course.
So, was my impression correct? Is 2024 Adina’s Year of Vintage?
If we adopt a common definition of “vintage” — meaning clothing that is at least 20 years old — any items from 2004 or earlier would qualify. Obviously, most clothing does not come with a date stamp. [Gap and Banana Republic are 2 exceptions; they include an inside tag that lists the release month and year. It’s small and hidden usually, but a typical one might say something like “07/14” meaning July 2014 or “HOL/20” meaning Holiday 2020. I have seen these going back to about 1999. I am not sure if they had a different system before that, but any piece without that date tag can reasonably be assumed to be pre-2000.] So, I have to make my best guesses about the vintage of each piece I buy, based on the style, the look of the brand label (some 80s and 90s labels are very easy to spot from the font style used), the presence of union tags (super handy for dating), and the country of manufacture (ditto). I have written about the latter before, but it’s my #1 “easy tell” for vintage. For clothing made in the Y2K era or earlier, I’m looking for labels that say made in Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines. [Along with the US and Canada for some smaller brands. Ralph Lauren also did a bunch of its manufacturing in the Marianna Islands at one point in the last couple of decades.]
Anyway, based on these criteria, I have calculated that … drumroll, please … 48.5% of my clothing purchases this year have been vintage. I did not include accessories in that calculation because it’s harder for me to accurately date them, but I do think the percentage would be similar there. While, technically, the majority of my purchases this year have not been vintage, I still feel the Year of Vintage title is warranted because I am absolutely positive that this year’s percentage is much greater than in any previous year. I am very interested to see how this trend evolves in the future; I will definitely be keeping an eye on it. To make the process easier going forward, I think I will add a category to my purchase tracking sheet where I will note whether an item is vintage, so it’s tracked from the moment of purchase when the information is fresh in my mind. [I research every piece I add to my closet, including its likely vintage, as well as brand information if it’s a label I have not seen before.]
OK, moving on.
Here are some other stats I was curious about, and thought you might appreciate as well.
Where did I buy most of my clothing and accessories this year?
Unsurprisingly, the vast majority was thrifted: 84%. Poshmark and eBay accounted for 10%. Retail made up only 3% of my purchases, which I feel happy about. [The missing percentage points represent other various secondhand purchases, from consignment to garage sales.]
Did I make good choices?
This is always the question that haunts me, as a thrifter. It’s hard to make on-the-spot judgments, even with years of experience, and thrifting requires a lot of them. I try to be very, very discerning about what I buy, but I still do make the wrong choices from time to time – things that don’t end up being a good fit for me (or for my daughter, who sometimes takes my hand-me-downs if they suit her style). To date, about 4% of my purchases this year have been “misses” – i.e. things I bought and later chose to re-home. We are talking about a handful of things here, so it’s not too bad overall.
What kinds of fabrics am I buying?
I thought this would be another interesting thing to track. As I started to pay more attention to actual garment quality (as opposed to relying on brand names as a signifier of good quality) over the last few years, I have been thinking a lot more about fabrics and different types of materials. So what have I been buying in 2024?
Of clothing purchases alone, not including accessories, 28% were made of cotton, 20% were made of wool, 4% were made of silk, and 4% were made of leather. The remainder 42% were made of polyester or blends (meaning fabrics made from a blend of different fibers, which might include both synthetic and natural ones). I feel pretty good about these numbers, and I think they track with the percentage split for vintage/contemporary purchases. Most contemporary clothing is made from some sort of blend, if not 100% poly. For example, it’s not even that common to find 100% cotton garments anymore, outside of basic tees; it’s often, like, 90% cotton, 10% something else.
I am not a material snob or anything. Clearly, I still buy polyester and other synthetics. My current view is that most fibers have their ideal purposes or specific benefits, and it’s about knowing what to expect from their performance and then matching it to my own preferences and lifestyle needs. Sometimes polyester fabric is fine (and it’s a hard-wearing material, so you don’t need to baby it which makes clothing care easier). But I have to admit that I prefer cotton and wool, especially for things I wear close to the skin, like tops. Yes, this is another opportunity for me to remind you about how much I love cotton sweaters and lightweight cashmere base layers, LOL!
What am I paying for my clothes?
On average, $16.50 per item. This is, of course, a reflection of the fact that 97% of my purchases are secondhand. Estimating MSRP for the clothes I buy, especially vintage ones, is more of an art than a science; but I would ballpark my out-of-pocket cost at around 12-15% of the estimated retail value of the clothing. Again, that’s the kind of discount you can only get by shopping secondhand.
Interestingly, but anecdotally, I would say that this percentage is a bit higher than, say, 5 or 6 years ago. For example, in 2019, my actual cost was about 8.5% of the estimated retail value. I think the increase primarily correlates to two factors. One, I started shopping on Poshmark in 2020. Prices on Poshmark are always higher than at local thrift stores – at a minimum, due to the shipping costs. Two, thrift prices have absolutely gone up since 2019. There are many reasons for that, but inflation is probably first and foremost.
For fun, here are my top 5 most expensive items purchased in 2024 (so far):
Ralph Lauren vintage wool wrap skirt – $230 (eBay)
Vintage Coach bag — $138 (Poshmark)
Ralph Lauren vintage cotton floral skirt — $110 (eBay)
Jean Howell vintage wool cardigan — $81 (Poshmark)
Turquoise and silver ring — $80 (Poshmark)
As you can see, all of these were non-thrifted secondhand items. The quality and curation of items available on resale platforms comes at a price, but it’s worth it, IMO, in some cases. These are all pieces I love and plan to keep for a long time. Hopefully, forever.
And there you have it: another (mind-numbingly? I hope not) exhaustive wardrobe analytics post in the bag. I hope you found some ideas in it that might be relevant to your own clothes-buying experience, and if you have your own practices or suggestions for wardrobe tracking, please share in the comments.
Details: Adelyn Rae dress, Barbara Barbieri shoes (both thrifted)
Thoughts: I got this dress last year and have been waiting ever since to wear it. This summer did not provide me many opportunities — life having unfolded in a pretty casual manner — so I was running out of time and decided to stop waiting for an extra fancy event to materialize in my calendar. So I ended up wearing this to my MIL’s birthday dinner, and it was perfect. I think the cutouts made me feel like the dress was fancier than it actually is; in reality, it’s totally wearable for daytime and other non-wedding events. Very much an “outfit in one” which is not my usual MO — I like being able to layer and mix and match things — but it’s not a bad thing to have a few easy standbys like this one in one’s closet.
Details: Emmy Deveaux bodysuit, Ralph Lauren skirt, Only & Sons jacket, cowboy boots, Coach bag (all secondhand)
Thoughts: This kind of outfit is more my speed: three pieces, plus accessories. The jacket will be very familiar to y’all by now (are you sick of it, #sorrynotsorry) but the eagle-eyed will spot something new. Yes, I got another Ralph Lauren skirt. Hear me out. I present you my defence. Exhibit A: I have been looking for a black floral, maxi skirt in floaty chiffon for ages. My specific inspiration was the RL F/W 2010 runway collection. This skirt hits all the right marks, save for the hem; I was not specifically looking for a handkerchief hem — and, indeed, it’s not a style I prefer — but this one is acceptable. The layers of the skirt (there are 3) overlap each other slightly, which minimizes the jaggedness of the hem. Exhibit B: this is purple label Ralph Lauren Collection, made in the US, aka the Good Stuff. And I paid $30 for it on Poshmark. Score! Exhibit C: it gets better. Inside, I found a union tag! Based on that, the skirt is mostly likely late 90s to very early 00s. Exhibit D: it’s silk. All of it. Exhibit E: this outfit is hella cute. I rest my case.
Details: Bozzolo tee (retail), Beechers Brook dress, CoH jeans, Aldo shoes (all thrifted), Coach bag (Poshmark)
Thoughts: Speaking of the 90s, this sheer floral maxi shirt dress gave me such nostalgic flashbacks — I had to get it. (Thrifted, obvi.) And I did a very 90s thing, and decided to wear it over a pair of jeans. With a white baby tee. And chunky platforms. Loved it. LOVED. IT.
Details: Marimekko x Uniqlo top, Lucy & Yak jacket, Everlane pants, Coach bag, Stuart Weitzman shoes (all secondhand)
Thoughts: I love Lucy & Yak, so I couldn’t resist thrifting this chore coat even though the pattern leans towards “clown chic” in a way that doesn’t align as well with 2024 Adina as it would have with, say, 2020 Adina. But it’s so fun! And sometimes, I still enjoy being nonserious with my outfits. It made sense to pair this bold pattern with another one, courtesy of Marimekko, and then draw out the bold colour palette by throwing my green Coach bag into the mix.
Details: Bozzolo tee (retail), LNA dress, NBA jacket (both thrifted), Maguire shoes (retail)
Thoughts: This is a little more streetwear than I normally lean, but the outfit was mostly just an excuse to wear my fab new shoes. I think you can now start to appreciate what I mean when I tell you that cropped tees (mostly of the white, cream, and black variety) have been my wardrobe MVPs this summer. They are not the pieces you notice in my outfits, but they’re the glue holding most of them together — across most of my aesthetic spectrum.
Details: Ricki’s skirt (retail), Lee x H&M top, Mannequin vest, Esprit belt, Old Navy shoes, Stella & Max bag (all secondhand)
Thoughts: Another one of my fave pieces this summer has been this white skirt. I don’t buy many things at retail, and I am very pleased with myself each time that I buy something which ends up being a wardrobe hero. That’s always the goal when buying retail: pick something that you’ll keep and love for as long as possible. Not all my choices are perfect, but this one was. And I feel like there is good mojo flowing in my direction, because I haven’t spilled anything on this skirt. Yet. Did I just jinx myself? Damn.
Details: Toni T dickie, Nautica sweatshirt, Twik pants, Fossil belt, Ferragamo shoes, Coach bag (all secondhand)
Thoughts: When the weather dips, time for a little fall preview, baby! I’m really feeling this vibe — preppy sweatshirts instead of sweaters, paired with collared shirts. And corduroy. I’m so ready to have corduroy back in my life. Not quite as ready to say goodbye to summer just yet. But there are things to look forward to, that’s for sure.
