When I thrift, I have rules. These rules are essentially in place to slow my transition into one of the Junk People from the Labyrinth. Shopping second hand can easily get out of hand, because when items are $5-15, every purchase seems harmless. So, I try to keep a few key things in mind:
– Don’t buy it if it doesn’t fit. You can’t sew, and you won’t fix it – Don’t buy it if you don’t have specific occasion to wear it. Your life isn’t as fancy as you might think, and you are not a Gossip Girl. – Don’t buy it if it’s not in season. By the time it’s in season, you’ll want something else. You’re fickle.
Most of the time, I stick to the rules. For this dress, though? I broke every single one. This incredible coral 60s number dress from Netty Vintage made a hypocrite out of me, but I have no regrets.
Background: Jentine had been talking up Netty Vintage for some time, so way back in March, we devoted a Saturday to it. I tried on his dress because of the colour, fell in love with it because of the collar, and committed to it because of the price (on sale for $10!). However, the sleeves were way too big at the time, and the length went right past my knees. It didn’t fit, I had nowhere to wear it, and it was a wholly impractical purchase given the dreary March weather, but I was smitten.
A few months later, I received an invitation to my cousin Kayla’s wedding. There was my occasion. A few weeks ago, Yen offered her sewing skills in exchange for my camera skills. There was my seamstress. And at last Saturday’s wedding, the weather was cool, sunny, and absolutely ideal for a thin dress with sleeves.
Since I already broke so many of my own rules just by buying this dress back in March, I broke a few more while wearing it. Are you supposed to match your dress with your bag? I don’t think so. Are you supposed to match your bag with your nails and your lipstick, too? Definitely not. But I did. I also drank beer before liquor, used my dessert fork for my salad, and even broke my “no dancing to country music” rule by letting Taylor Swift tell me all about her doomed dalliance with a man named Trouble.
If that’s how the the Junk People party, you can count me in.
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Dress: Netty Vintage | $10 Banana Republic Purse: Clothing Swap | $0.50 Earrings: Ten Thousand Villages Sandals: c/o My Edit 😉