I’m going to level with you folks here for a minute: if I had it my way, I’d be at the thrift store at least three times a week. I’d hit up Salvation Army on a weeknight, Talize on a weekend, and Bibles For Missions sometime in between. The thrift store is my happy place, my hobby, and if I don’t watch it, it could become my home because Matt will kick me and all my pretty vintage dresses to the curb for blowing our mortgage payment on the Toonie sale at the Sally Anne.
That hasn’t happened yet, though, because for all my frequent stops, I always have a monthly dollar limit in the back of my mind. For the most part, that number keeps me in check. But for reasons I can’t quite explain, January was a different story. I blew right through that limit before January even entered its second week. Thrift shopping is an economic way to build up a closet, but not if you do it too much. And I realized early on this month: I did it too much.
So, for the past couple of weeks, I’ve tried* to avoid thrifting more clothing, until mid February. I didn’t, however, swear off the thrift store in general, because that would be insane, and I recently procured a $0.99 rainbow necklace that is sure to tide me over until then.
At first, I was worried I’d have to abandon blog until then as well, since so many entries begin with my latest thrifted find. I couldn’t think of an entry’s worth of material around my necklace, and while I’m sure I could have squeezed out a Rainbow Brite tribute, who wants to read that? (actually, that sounds awesome, I’ll do that next time). Instead, I worked this necklace into an outfit that’s the result of a different kind of shopping: the kind you do in your own closet. The outfit is unique in that every item of clothing I have on is one you’ve already seen before on the blog:
I find this kind of shopping to be much more of a challenge. Scooping up $2 sweaters and $7 sundresses is easy, but making those finds work beyond the blog post is the real trick. I’m really quite pleased with how this all came together, although it wasn’t easy. Remixing isn’t something that come naturally to me, but it reaffirms what I’ve learned from thrift shopping as well: Things work out better when they take time. Call it my way of participating in the “slow fashion” movement.
I’ll admit, I always feel a bit out of my league when I enter into “advice mode” on the blog, because I’m fumbling my way through textures and colours like everybody else. Yet that’s really the best advice there is when it comes to shopping your own closet: fumble around until you find something that works. That moment right before you’re ready to throw all your clothing in the trash and denounce carby foods for all eternity is usually the moment it all comes together. And even if it doesn’t, February isn’t that far away 😉
*There was a Toonie sale last week and I got two sweaters. I am weak.