Thrifted Anthropologie is the best kind of Anthropologie in my books. Lately, I’ve been hooked on older Anthro classics, like this skirt, and thanking my lucky stars that thrift shops in town are a veritable treasure trove of such goodies. I’m not always lucky enough to find pieces in my size, but no matter — I can be surprisingly resourceful. For example, I took advantage of the fact that this skirt is pleated to do a no-sew alteration; I just pinned the extra fabric in the back with a safety pin as an extra pleat, and wore a sweater to cover the waistband — and no one was any wiser.
I love the muted palette of the skirt, and can’t wait to try different outfit combos in the future, but I kept things pretty simple this time around, as I had a (daytime) client function to attend. I got quite a few compliments, so I’m counting it a success. Thrifted Anthropologie — it really is the best.
I remember seeing this sweater at Simons last year, and being immediately drawn by its Ted Baker-esque floral print. Alas, at $70+ for a poly blend, I couldn’t justify the purchase. But then! A few weeks ago, I found the very same sweater at a local consignment store — for under $20. Score. It’s one of my fave things about shopping secondhand: getting second chances at clothes I might not otherwise get to take home.
close-upclose-up no. 2
This is a super basic outfit, but it felt chic nonetheless. Wearing so much black meant that I could take a risk, and pick pretty much any colour of accessories. Baby blue shoes? Don’t mind if I do.
floral love affairkismet by any other name would still, erm, smell sweet
I will confess that I didn’t have as much time to plan my annual clothes swap this year as in years past. Proof? I didn’t realize until about a week beforehand that it’s actually my tenth annual swap. Talk about a milestone … and a missed opportunity to go REALLY big. As it was, the theme this time around was on the vague and pulled-together-at-the-last-minute side: Springtime. Well, duh. Still, I would like to think that everything came together nicely in the end.
My decorations consisted of some IKEA party supplies and flowers from Costco — not exactly the stuff of Pinterest dreams. I did put my growing collection of hobnail/milk glass pieces to good use, which was nice. However, the reality is that a clothing swap is not really about the decor or food … it’s about the clothes, of course. For my part, I traded two extra large bags …
bags o’ clothes to go …
… for a bunch of neat new-to-me pieces. Check it:
Zara peplum blazer
One of the things I swapped was my navy Talula blazer, and as fate would have it, managed to replace it with an awesome peplum version which fits like a dream.
Milly for Banana Republic dress
I also got this Milly for BR dress, which had me really excited; I don’t have any plain black dresses (that fit) and this one looked promising. Afterwards, I realized that it’s actually navy, not black. But! It’s still a super cute dress that I’m sure will see a lot of wear.
Nanette Lepore dress
This was a dress I thrifted over a year ago, when it was far too small for me. I liked it too much to leave it behind in the store, and ended up passing it on to my friend, Cassie. Well, it came back to me! And now it fits! There’s an old adage about that, I think …
Nine West & Ferragamo shoes
I also got two pairs of shoes. I’m excited to see how these cut-out Nine West pumps will work out — they’re a still I wouldn’t have tried on my own. Cassie decided to pass on her thrifted Ferragamos (!!!) and while they sadly don’t fit me (I tried, repeatedly), they are perfect for my mom. Spread the love, I say.
Last but not least, I picked up a vintage wool cape (with matching skirt that’s impossibly small, sadly) which is quite outside my style comfort zone, but too amazing to pass up. I’ll be wearing it to see the Sherlock Holmes exhibit at the Telus World of Science in a few weeks, and I can’t think of a better occasion to take it out for a spin. Stay tuned for pics.
You can check out past clothing swaps here, here, here, and here.
