Secrets of a Secondhand Shopaholic

Hello and welcome!  I have lots to tell you about this little outfit, which is loosely based on June 15th’s Inspiration Calendar outfit.  Yes, I am that far behind…

If you’re new to this blog, click here to read about the Inspiration Calendar and how I use it in my daily outfit decisions.

Price Breakdown:

Lime green cardi:  label missing, 1/2 of 2-piece set $3.89 (Goodwill)

Brown cami:  Daisy Fuentes $2.29 (Goodwill)

Skirt:  Harold Powell $5.00 (Baubles and Beads, Houston)

Necklace:  $7.99 Jewelry store in Estes Park

Shoes:  Franco Sarto $14.99 (DSW)

Total Cost:  $34.07

Like most of my outfits, the jewelry is the most expensive item I’m wearing (except for the shoes).  And this necklace is only $7.99.  I love to pat myself on the back when that happens!!

OK, now let me tell you why I love this outfit:

1.  It represents how far I’ve come in style – specifically, USING COLOR.

I have had this skirt for almost 10 years, and I have always worn it with a brown jacket or top, like the outfit on the left:

Since the Inspiration Calendar called for “Pretty Green”, and I didn’t have a green dress, I reached for the lime green cardigan above, which is the prettiest green thing I own.  It brightened up the skirt quite a bit, don’t you think?

2.  It represents how far I’ve come in style – specifically, BREAKING UP MY SWEATER SETS.

Wearing the brown cami under the green cardigan is the result of some excellent instruction from You Look Fab Forum veteran member “Queenie”.  After posting this white sweater set outfit (on the left), in the YLF Forum, and asking for advice, Queenie decided it was time for a “mini-intervention” to help me break my sweater set habit.  Here’s what she said:

Queenie:  “First off I want you to go to your closet and break up any sweater set you have hanging on the same hanger. go ahead… I can wait all day ..

Done? good… Now you can look at your sweater sets objectively as separate items of clothing rather than a pair that needs to be worn together. Your sweater sets are hereby declared divorced and are free to date around ….

And since your sleeveless shirts will all be hung together and your cardis hung together further down the bar, they won’t even see each other in the closet…..”

Is she wonderful or what??  So I took her advice, and the Pretty Green cardi paired with the brown cami about is the result.  Quite an improvement, wouldn’t you say?

Have I mentioned how much I love the YLF Forum!  I’m already practicing my acceptance speech for the Glamour Fashion “Most Improved Fashionista” award, in which they’ll be at the top of my list to thank….

3.  The Lime Green Necklace. I love this necklace that I bought in Estes Park, along with two other bright colored bead necklaces – yellow and light blue. Hello lovers!

4.  And finally, the Harold Powell skirt. Harold Powell is an upscale retail apparel brand in the south (Oklahoma, Texas, Tennessee, etc.) which features, according to  Answers.com, “specialty clothes for men and women ages 20 through 50, although typically the “updated traditional” styles appeal mostly to young executives and college students.”

I find that interesting, because I am neither a young executive nor a college student…..but whomever their demographic is, I just know I found a heck of a lot of cute Harold Powell clothes in the consignment shops of Houston when I lived there. Here’s a handful of some of the skirts I have – notice the pretty colors and bold patterns:

All in all, my “Pretty Green” outfit was a nice little Comfort Clothes ensemble, wouldn’t you say?

Confession time:  While I love the Inspiration Calendar, I’ve been going rogue……and finding inspiration elsewhere.   Don’t tell Kimberly!

(To learn about the Inspiration Calendar and how I use it in my daily outfit decisions, click here).

One place I’ve found inspiration was from the the movie The Blind Side.  Not only was it a great story and very well-made movie, I coveted nearly every single outfit Sandra Bullock wore.

I actually rented the movie from Netflix, and spent a few nights watching it, studying the different outfits and looking for inspiration.  I thought to myself that maybe could re-create some of the outfits a la “The Look 4 Less”.

I was just sure with some careful studying  and some patient shopping at my secondhand stores I could come up with a Blind Side-Inspired series, and post several great outfits, then Sandra Bulluck would discover me, fall in love with my blog and become my BFF.

Well, I got bored searching for outfits pretty quickly so I had to let go of my dreams of grandeur.  But one outfit kept lingering with me -  the one that is on the cover of the DVD – the white capris, navy shirt, and cool silver belt.  So I decided to start there, and maybe revisit any other outfits and my new friendship with Sandra Bullock at a later date…….

I already had the capris, so I just needed the shirt and the belt.  It took me a couple of months to find a navy sweater shirt at Goodwill.

But the hardest part was finding the cool silver chain belt at a secondhand shop.  I looked everywhere, but didn’t find anything that was close to it.   I finally broke down when I was reading Daily Diva Dish and saw this horse bit belt which I totally fell in love with, but not enough to shell out $120.  So I Googled “silver circle belt” and found this one at JC Penney’s – it’s listed at $28 now, but it was on sale for 1/2 price when I bought it (yea for me!).

So here’s the outfit I pulled together.  In my pose, I tried to recreate the scene where Sandra Bullock’s character Leigh Anne Tuohy was yelling at Big Mike to think of his football team as a family:

Price Breakdown:

Navy Sweater:  Alfred Dunner $3.89 (Goodwill)

White capris:  Ralph Lauren $12.99 (Fashion Junction consignment shop)

Belt:  $14.99 + $5.99 shipping =$20.98 (JC Penney)

Shoes:  Bandolino $14.99 (DSW)

Total Cost:  $52.85

Kind of a pricey outfit for me, but world’s away from what I’m sure it cost Sandra/Leigh Anne in the movie.  I read that the shirt was Oscar de La Renta, and most of her shoes were Jimmy Choos or Christian Louboutin.

So I’m pretty happy with my take on the outfit.  Actually, this outfit reinforces one of my original goals of why I started this blog – to show people that they can dress like celebrities, but only pay a fraction of what the celebrities spend.

What do you think?

I am so in love with this purse:  the Big Buddha Mia purse.

As in all my major decisions, it’s time for me to do a pro and con list:

Cons:

1.  A co-worker owns this purse – that’s when I noticed it.  Unfortunately, we do not have a warm and fuzzy relationship, and I’m pretty sure showing up with it one day would be pretty awkward.   Of course, “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”, but I’m just not sure this co-worker would see it that way.   So I wouldn’t really be able to take it to work – it would have to be a weekend bag.

2.  Not surprisingly, I love the pink one, which happens to be the color this co-worker has.  But I could also live with the yellow one.

3.  $62.99 is a ton of money to spend on a purses!

4.  It’s very seasonal, and I would be limited to carrying it for only 2 seasons.

5.  I am not a purse person, really.  I could live without it.

Pros

1.  Isn’t it ADORABLE!

2.  LOVE IT!

3.  It’s literally calling to me…..look at the picture of it again, and turn up the sound on your speakers……if you listen closely, I really think you can hear “Buy me Brenda!!  Buy me Brenda!”

4.  I only have 6 purses.  Don’t you think I owe it to myself to buy another?

So what do you think?  I know – let’s have a poll!!

Hello everyone!  Man do I have alot of outfits to catch you up on!!   Obviously while on vacation I didn’t refer to the Inspiration Calendar (IC), but there are some outfits before I left on vacation that I haven’t shown you yet, so here it goes.

(If you’re new to this blog, read about the Inspiration Calendar here, and how I use it in my daily outfit deciding routine.)

On Monday, June 7 (yes I am that far behind!) the IC suggested I wear bright shoes to match my outfit.  This gave me the perfect opportunity to wear my orange wedges (from Shoe Story, Part Two) with my newly-shortened bright flower-patterned skirt:

Price Breakdown:

Shirt:  Express $14.99 (Fashion Junction consignment shop)

Skirt:  $3.39 Lily (Goodwill)

Cami:  Express $2.29 (Goodwill)

Necklace:  $6 (Plato’s Closet)

Shoes:  Fioni $8 (Plato’s Closet)

Total Cost:  $34.67

First, let me get back to my roots – everything I am wearing was purchased at a secondhand store – with a total outfit cost that could equal the cost of just one skirt, or one pair of shoes.  I am filled with “thrift pride” when that happens.

Second, I received so many compliments on my skirt!!  Two of them came from total strangers that I passed in the Des Moines skywalks.  Am I loving my decision to spend some money to get it shortened? Yes, yes, yes!!

Third, while good in theory, not sure if I pulled this outfit off stylistically.  Although the IC encouraged pairing bright shoes with a bright outfit, I’m wondering if my orange wedges (which I love!) might have competed too much with the skirt….and the fact that it’s a neon orange in the skirt vs. a muted orange with the shoes.

What do you think?

Thirdly, I hate the fact that the shirt is see-through.  Maybe I should have pulled out the cami, instead of tucking it in.

This skirt, though has made my Top 10 Favorite Summer purchases.  I hope I wear it again this season!

Here’s my next outfit – once again worn back in early June:

Price Breakdown:

Jacket:  Body by Victoria $4.69 (Goodwill)

Sleeveless top:  $5.99 Ann Taylor (Ann Taylor outlet)

Capris:  $3.69 Ann Taylor (Goodwill)

Shoes:  Franco Sarto $15.00 (Bargain Basket)

Total Cost:  $29.37

Ok, while I love buying things at secondhand stores, I do get an equally satisfying rush when I buy great clothes for great prices at retail stores.  I bought this one in when I was in Baltimore on a business trip, and had a few hours to kill.

The best part was that unbeknownst to me, certain unmarked items in the store were 70% off….so when I went up to the register I was planning on spending around $15 on this top.  When the price came up as $5.99, I almost fainted.  The clerk told me that some items were on sale, but there was no way of knowing which ones were until they were rung up.

It was lind of like the Golden Ticket in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory; at least to me it was.

Needlesstosay, she got pretty annoyed with me when I decided to stick around and see if I could find more “Golden Ticketed” items.

“Can you ring this one up?”

“What about this one?”

“Is this one on sale?”

and so on, and so on….as I said, she got pretty annoyed with me.

Back to the outfit, you can rest assured that I didn’t wear the hat.  It was just a prop to model the example photo as closely as possible.  Seeing this photo confirms my suspicion that my head was really not made for wearing hats….

But I liked the outfit, sans hat.  What about you?

Hello everyone!  I’m back from vacation in beautiful Estes Park, Colorado!  Well actually I got back last Wednesday, but for some reason I stayed in “vacation mode” as long as I could.

I took my laptop with every intention of blogging throughout the trip, but apparently I’m an all-or-nothing person, so when I’m on vacation, I’m on vacation.  The laptop was never opened.

I totally packed wrong for the trip.  The outfit in the photo above was really the only appropriate outfit for hiking and biking I had.  Everything else I packed was long or short sleeved polos.

It’s funny, because I bought those khaki cargo shorts about 3 years ago from Sam’s Club, and I never wore them because they were too tight and fitted.  This was the first time I’ve ever worn them, and they have quickly become the style I want to wear all the time.  I went to Sam’s this last weekend, hoping that maybe I’d see them, but no luck.

Like I said, it’s very interesting to me how just one short year ago, I was only comfortable with baggy shorts and polo shorts, and now I only want to wear fitted clothes.  Well, to be honest, I still have to self-talk myself into tighter clothes.  I still want to just put on a potato sack and hide in a corner,but I am slowly becoming more comfortable and familiar with wearing clothes that fit.

On the last day, after I wore that first outfit into the ground, I pulled together this number for a hike – a running sports bra and a cami.  Notice I am wearing two sweatshirts tied around my waist.  That’s one thing I was never at a loss for – sweatshirts.  I packed about 20, but ended up wearing the same one every day.

The lake behind me is Bear Lake, and it was the prettiest hike we did.

I’ll post more about my trip, but just wanted to let you know I’m back!

Look!  I was featured in an article for a church newsletter!  Thank you to Leanna, who called and interviewed me after seeing me on the news last spring. Click here to watch the segment if you missed it, or look at the side bar on the right, under “Media” – I made a link!

Back to Leanna’s article, I think she did a fabulous job writing it – I especially love the thrift store shopping tips.  I’ve been meaning to write an article with all those tips, but I just never really thought I had a lot of information to offer.

But when I read Leanna’s article, she did a real good job of making me sound like I’m an expert.  Gotta love that!

Click here for the link to Women of Grace newsletter, or read the article below:

Hello all!  Sorry I’ve been away for awhile, but I decided to write in my Diary instead of blogging.  My shopaholicism was in full swing, and it was just so out of control I had to do some personal writing to sort through it all….I titled my entries The Dress Diaries – and you can click here to read them.

Who knows, maybe someday my Diary entries will turn into a movie…..something like:

Or maybe a book:

Or how about a reality show?

Not my most original ideas, I admit.

I do want to update you on my summer fashion, which you’ll be happy to know has improved somewhat since my Wanted:  Summer Help post.  Well, have I got a Before and After comparison for you:

Talk about a picture being worth 1000 words, huh?  I’m not saying the outfit on the right is perfect and I’m ready for the runway or anything, but it’s quite an improvement, isn’t it?

It’s really amazing how much I’ve learned in the 8 months I’ve been doing this.  When I would wear an outfit like the one on the left, the fact that they were name brand clothes (Polo – Ralph Lauren, shorts – Petite Sophisticates) purchased for less than $10 at Goodwill (except for the shoes) made me feel like the smartest and best dressed person in the world.  I never really thought about fit and style – just wearing expensive clothes that I bought cheaply was enough for me.

You have all taught me that there is so much more to fashion and style than name brand clothes.

And the fact that I can wear an outfit on the right, also purchased for less than $10 (except for the shoes), still makes me feel pretty smart:

Price Breakdown for outfit on right:

Navy Shirt:  Jones New York $3.89 (Goodwill)

Cami:  Express $2.29 (Goodwill)

Shorts:  American Eagle $3.89 (Goodwill)

Shoes:  Steve Madden $14.99 (DSW)

Total cost:  $25.06

I still think 25 bucks is a good price for an entire summer outfit, don’t you?