I love blue. I mean, duh, but seriously: I. LOVE. Blue. So of course I love this outfit — so much. It’s just straight up blue. And there are florals involved. Prepare yourselves for a bazillion photos.

It’s a head-to-toe pre-loved situation. The top and shoes are from consignment, and I tracked down the matching skirt on eBay. (Let me pause here for a second to say that these blue J. Crew pumps have been one of my best shoe purchases ever. So, so versatile.) The cardigan is by UK brand Nougat, and a recent thrift find. English peeps: is Nougat still a thing on your side of the pond? I still see pieces here on consignment stores from time to time, and it’s always priced along with mid-range labels, but it’s not very well known here otherwise. Last but not least, my ebayed YSL Muse II in all its matchy teal glory, still looking sharp.

Let’s face it, this is all about that trench. Did I mention how lucky I got, thrifting a good-as-new Burberry trench … in my size, no less. It looks fantastic. Total aside: do any fellow thrifters ever get the impulse to say “I got it at Goodwill” whenever someone compliments you on your outfit — whether they asked for that information or not? I’m not sure why I get that urge, but it’s especially hard to resist when it comes to designer pieces. Maybe it’s because spending a lot of money on clothes is considered frivolous, and I don’t want people to think I’m frivolous. Or, at least, to know that I’m savvy about my frivolousness. Anyone else feel the same? Anyone? Bueller?

Hey, let’s look at some more pics.

Naturally, I wore some clothes under my trench too. The cardigan is Theory, via the clearance rack at Winners. The top is a recent thrift find, and another pretty good score — DVF for $4? Yes, please. The outer layer is silk, but the inner lining is bamboo, which is kinda neat; I’ve never seen that on a fabric tag before. It’s incredibly soft and lightweight. The shoes are also thrifted, and they’re leopard-printed calf hair, although that’s hard to see in these pics. Black pants are boring, but sometimes an outfit needs some boring to pull it all together. Last but not least, my croc-printed Mulberry Bayswater; heavy bag, but a classic. I’ve been obsessed with Mulberry lately … you’ll see what I mean soon. To be continued …

I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve been very lucky in my thrifting. I’ve scored some amazing designer pieces for next to nothing, and I’d be hard pressed to pick favourites. There aren’t many things that still make me go “ooh” when I discover them on the racks of my local thrift stores; I’ve stopped being surprised at the things that people donate — because I’ve seen pretty much every major label you can imagine. There are, of course, a few exceptions. Some, you might say, unicorns. Hermes, Chanel, Dior — that sort of thing. In those cases, the best a thrifter can usually hope for is finding vintage pieces, and even those are truly rare.

I have a shortlist of “unicorns” that I would love to find, but near the top of the list are a few practical ones. For example, Manolo Blahnik Campari pumps. Saw a pair at Nordstrom last year and fell in love, but at $500 (on sale) it wasn’t a love destined for a happy ending. My black Stuart Weitzman pumps are reaching the end of their useful life, and I would like to replace them with another pair of pointy toe pumps … like the Campari. No luck so far, sadly. Another practical thing I need is a trench. I’ve been looking for one for at least 3 years, and have never found one I liked at an affordable price point. I mean, a girl can only dream about Burberry, right?

Well …

… it turns out that a girl can do more than dream, sometimes. To my utter and complete disbelief, I found this like-new Burberry trench at a local Goodwill. I don’t know the name of the style, but it looks like a contemporary one. All the hardware is in pristine condition, which leads me to believe it isn’t more than 5 years old (or was never worn). There isn’t a single flaw I could detect in this darn coat. And it cost me all of $8.

It’s such an unlikely, unbelievably lucky score, I can’t help but laugh every time I think about it. If only I was this lucky at playing the lottery, I could have been a multi-millionaire by now. On the plus side, who needs the lottery to look like a million bucks when you have a good thrift scene at your disposal?

Tell me: what was the biggest unicorn you have ever captured in the (thrifting) wild? What’s the biggest one you’d like to find?