I mentioned a project I have in the works in my last Wardrobe Wednesday post…well, it’s still in the works. Man, life sure does get in the way of blogging! But I didn’t neglect to compile yet another list of looks that are all Goodwill, all the time (unless otherwise noted).
We got the Goodwill craaaaazies up in here, people. (Okay, it’s late. Can you tell?)
Sparkly tank: Old Navy ($3), Ruffled shirt: Ann Taylor Loft ($3), Jeans: Miss Me ($5), Shoes: Target (free from a clothes-swap), Earrings: $2, Belt: $1, Purse: $3, Bracelet (which reads, “Boo loves Alby”): made by moi
TOTAL: $14
If my smile looks a little grimace-y, it’s because these shoes are a size 7. I’m a size 9. They sure are dang cute, though. Ouch.
Top: $3, Shorts: Old Navy ($3), Belt: $1, Necklace: $1, Earrings: $2, Shoes: $3
TOTAL: $13
Here I am again…wearing the same shoes…grinning like a fool. But I assure you. My feet are crying on the inside (see how they’re trying to take a nose-dive—toe-dive?—off the front edge?).
Tube-top (honestly never thought I’d type those words, but it was quite handy underneath this dress): $1, Dress: Mossimo ($4), Necklace: $3, Earrings: $2, Scarf: gifted, Shoes (c/o stubborn stupidity): $3, Bag: A gift from Italy from my lovely mama,
TOTAL (without factoring in my future foot-doctor visits): $13
Aaaah…(comparatively) comfy shoes. My toes are happy once more.
These were all taken at a picnic for a VBS my boys attended a little jaunt down the road from us…their second of the summer. Now, granted, I was the music coordinator (fancy term for lady with the nutty hand-motions) for the first one, but I have to admit I wondered if my oldest was saying things like, “At the other VBS…” and the VBS volunteers were thinking, “This lady just totes her kids around to random VBS’s just to get free childcare.” I’m shocked at even the insinuation! (*she protests to the imaginary situation in her head…oh dear).
Of course, I had to overdo it on pictures of The Cuteness! My fingers…they see pictures of Della, and they just start jamming the “post” button faster than I can stop them!
Top: Old Navy ($3), Shorts: Old Navy ($3), Shoes: $3, Earrings: $2
TOTAL: $11
I’m smiling because: a) these shoes are a size 7 too, and I just can’t believe my own ridiculousness, b) my husband is holding my adorable daughter who is smiling back at me, c) I have a ginormous bow in my hair, d) all of the above
Top: free from a clothes-swap, Jeans: Lucky Brand ($7…I KNOW, GW’s getting expensive!), Shoes (2 sizes too small, but who’s measuring?): Ann Taylor Loft ($3), Anthropologie knock-off headband: made by moi (click for a tute!)
TOTAL: $10
I promise these shoes are the right size. AND they have huge bows, a psychedelic color scheme, and pattern overload. Remind me why I don’t wear these with everything?
Top: Old Navy ($3), Skirt: $4, Shoes: $3, Earrings: $2, Bracelet: $1, Necklace: (thrifted, but not from GW—please don’t tell; they might not give me the good deals anymore), $5
TOTAL: $18 (Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner for Most Expensive Outfit of the Week!)
Oh, and for inquiring minds, my nail polish color all week was Jaded by Revlon.
Okay, folks, I wish I had something really huge to sign-off with (CLOSET. MAKEOVER), but it’s late (or early?), and my brain is really fuzzy, so just come on back tomorrow for Thoughtful Thursday, and…something important (closet. makeover!!!!). I feel like my subconscious is telling me something, but I can’t quite seem to get it.
Night, night. (And good morning to those of you just reading this! : )).
Linking up with:
Lindsey
and Nina
wow! i love all these outfits! i am so excited to start thrifting again. I took a break towards the end of my pregnancy, and now that my baby is out, I am excited to go again soon!
you look lovely!
Sylvia
love your outfits…over from pleated poppy!
Thanks for following, Kimberly! And you can have the size 7 shoes (although I should say that you’ll have to get in line since I’ve had several other offers : )). They really aren’t worth the pain, even if they are super-cute! I just started a new blog: http://www.secondhandorbarebottom.com on which I post all of my 100% thrifted outfits if you’re interested in seeing more! : )
I’ll gladly take those size 7 shoes off your hands. 🙂 So stylish you are ~ I find the occassional cute piece at Goodwill, but nothing as cute as what you are finding. Thanks for sharing. I love your blog and am a new follower, too.
XO,
Kimberly
OMG…I am so glad to know I am not the only person with Goodwill-i-tus! U know there has been no cure found and I don’t know if I want to be healed! LOL. I live in Dallas and thrift stores are everywhere!!! I love your Wardrobe Wednesday blog!!
Thanks, Hannah! It’s one my favorite nail colors too!
I really like your outfits! They are adorable! Love those turquoise nails!
-Hannah
https://blissfullyfeminine.blogspot.com
I am a garage-saler when I get the chance, but I almost never go because driving around unsure of where you’ll find a great deal with 3 kids in the car doesn’t work that great. So…yeah, if/when I get a free morning with a girlfriend once in a blue moon, I’ll happily garage-sale it up! And yeah, most of the furniture in our house is either from GW, thrift stores, or craigslist. Good deals ARE addicting!
Oh, and there are way worse thing to be remembered for than striped socks, girl!
oh WOW, what a way to be remembered! striped socks with heels! I have no ideaaaa what I was thinking!! That sounds terrible and EXACTLY like something I would wear. I was a bit of a sock-a-holic for a while- I had to have an intervention:)
I never thought about questioning the prices, and asking for discounts if it’s warranted, but it makes sense. I will have to employ that method if the situation arises.
Are you a garage saler too? We furnished almost our entire house from garage sales/craigslist.. good deals are addicting!
Keep it comin’ !
Thank you! We are really excited!
Abbie I love you already! Yes Biz is correct (www.busybizblogs.blogspot.com) When I was little and asked to say my name I couldn’t say Elizabeth. Instead I would say Ebizabiz, thus Biz was derived and has been my nickname ever since!
As for the advice I greatly appreciate it. I’ll have to try this, I only wish you lived closer to that I could take a crash course shopping lesson from you in person. Never did learn how to shop for myself, but I’m ready to start now and your fashion sense is everything I WISH I could accomplish! I’ll have to find out where the nearest Goodwill is since we just moved to NC. We left Austin, TX 3 weeks ago and I miss it terribly!
I hope you have a blessed weekend!
Thanks!
Sad, sad day. It’s not like retail shopping is the absolute worst or anything, but cute cheap clothes are hard to beat!
Ha, Heather! I have actually toyed around with the idea of having a “shop my closet” (or in my case…shop my GW finds) since people are always asking me to “keep them in mind” when I go. Hmmm…may have to do it after all!
Oh no. I’m not revealing my secrets. ; )
Thanks, and welcome!
Shopping after pregnancy is so much fun! : )
Oh, and congrats on the upcoming birth of your first little one! So fun and so crazy all at once. Enjoy every moment!
Sara, I hope you’re serious. Because I would LOVE that! Let’s make a date!
I do have a couple of decent Goodwills in my area, but it doesn’t just make tons of sense since I live in E. Texas (not very stylish) and live near relatively small towns only (not complaining, though).
Sounds grrreat!
Thanks!
Why, thank you! Too sweet!
Ha ha, Donna! My mom would totally say the same thing, and I’m in complete agreement. I do have shoes that fit me, I promise. And I mostly wear those for my pics (and then slip my flip-flops back on ; )).
Mine can tend to do that too, Cassi, even though I have curly/coarse hair (I think it’s my head-shape), but, even though you can’t see it super-well in the pic where I’m wearing the scarf, I have my hair braided in a crown around my head, which is why the scarf had nowhere to slide. I’m going to do a tutorial on how I do it sometime soon!
Thanks and welcome!
Oh, Mandy! I don’t even live in a town! (Have you noticed how “rural” all of my pics are? Yeah, we live in the sticks), and the Goodwill I frequent is in a small, rundown town. I’ve still never been able to figure out why they have such good stuff (they have plenty of bad stuff too!). Oh, and I’ll try to be nicer to my tootsies! ; )
Of course I remember you, Amanda! (I can still remember sitting behind and to the left of you in church one day and admiring the cool striped socks you were wearing with your heels. Thanks for totally ruining THAT sermon for me ; )).
Oh, and it makes me upset to even read about that ridiculous “fashion focus” section! Grrrrrrr….that is soooo wrong (and greedy!)
Hmmm…my thoughts:
1) Kick the name brands to the curb and just buy it if it looks cute and doesn’t seem like it will fall apart after one wash (and heck to the yeah on finding names they don’t recognize!)
and
2) Are you a loyal digger? I find that the more my Goodwill recognizes me, the more they’ll throw their prices out the window (the other day, I went in and asked about something and then mentioned it again when I checked out, and the manager checking me said, “Ooooh, YOU were the one asking about it? Well, then it’s only ________ for you!” : )). It never hurts to ask if they’ll lower it or to explain your point of view. You might get the stinkeye (definitely have some experience with that), but you might get a nice manager (or a sneaky checker! : )) too!
I love thrifting, but I don’t love how human nature immediately latches onto anything good and tries to turn it for a profit…meaning…as thrifting gets more popular, the prices/gouging (imo) get more prevalent. Yuck!
Thanks!
Oh, girl. You find ’em and let me know, and we will swap addresses and shoes in a heartbeat. I am not even kidding. Message me when you hit shoe gold! : )
And boooooooo for no GW. My closet would be way more boring, and I’d be a lot poorer without it. Hope you get to Goodwill it up in Cali!
I’ve always wanted to be somebody’s hero! ; )
“Permanently borrow!” Made me laugh!
Thanks! And yes, shopping @ GW with all three is a challenge, but it usually works out okay in the end. : ) And yes, she is adorable, isn’t she? : ) : ) : ) (I could keep going!)
You do, you do!
Thanks, Audrey!
Thanks, Melissa. That teal top is one of my faves as well!
I would definitely say that creativity is a huge factor in putting together outfits from thrift stores. That and vision, and maybe a teensy bit of insanity. You have to see an outfit and think, “Normally I’d say, ‘heck no,’ but maybe that could be awesome,” and then give it a go. Sometimes it doesn’t work out (I’ve exchanged many a thing at Goodwill), but at least you tried! ; )
You totally do!
Thanks for following, Elizabeth…okay, wanna hear something funny? I assume that your sign-off, “Biz” means that’s what you call yourself, but I was too worried that maybe it was a typo–instead of Liz–to use it so you didn’t get offended that I messed up your name. I even analyzed my keyboard to try to figure out the probability of hitting the B instead of the L…VERY low, in case you’re wondering. So, after all of that, I decided to call you Elizabeth. But now I desperately want to know if you go by “Biz” because I will def call you that from now on. Boy, I’m a dork.
Aaaaaanyway, in answer to your question, yes, I do have some thoughts on how to be successful at Goodwill:
1) Take your time…and lots of it. I rarely get out of Goodwill in less than two hours
2) Go often, go early, and look at the racks that they have out (set apart from the stationary racks if your store does this) first. You’ll get the least picked over stuff.
3) Be really flexible. If it has a tear, a stain, or a ruffle that you like, ask yourself, can I fix this in 5-10 minutes? and then look at the price-tag. If it’s ridiculously low, you answered the fix question affirmatively, and you absolutely love everything else about it, buy it.
4) Don’t worry about whether something says it’s in your size. If it looks even remotely close, try it on anyway. You might be pleasantly surprised.
I could go on, but these are the big ones (in addition to keeping an open mind/fashion sense) that work for me
Hope that helps!.
Hi! I’m a new follower and I just have to say I’m insanely jealous of your Goodwill! Why do I feel that every time I go to Goodwill there is nothing there? We are about to have our first little one and after she arrives I’ll definitely be in a shopping mood to redo my wardrobe, 3+ months of the same maternity clothes day in and day out is starting to get to me! Any suggestions on how to find these kind of finds at Goodwill?
Biz
i love the big bow shoes!! and bright colors too. Why don’t I wear them every day too? 🙂
ps i’m having a little giveaway over at my blog… some lush products+handmade earrings! stop on over! kristin1028.blogspot.com 🙂
Bring on the crazies, indeed, Jodi! And I normally could not even dream of squeezing into a size 7, much less two, but these ran super-big. It doesn’t mean they weren’t still a squeeze. : )
This is quite impressive! I love your style and the fact that almost all of this came from Goodwill…from everything I keep seeing it sounds like I need to try my hand at thrifting more often!
I’m a huge fan of Goodwill and thrift stores too but for some reason my outfits are never as stylish as yours. I think I lack creativity!
I LOVE the teal top! I want it! 😉 It looks great on you! – I wish I could find a pair of shoes similar to the last ones you posted…with bows and a funky pattern! You seriously find the best stuff! Like I say every time, I love your blog! Can’t wait to see the closet makeover! 😉
I just found your blog through The Pleated Poppy. Those wedges might be too small for you, but they look FANTASTIC. And I love teal on you.
That is unbelievable. LOVE all your outfits. Adorable. I think I need to visit our Goodwill!
wow you are a great shopper! and you put it all together so well! I never seem to be able to go into a gw with my 3 kids. great job with your outfits and your daughter is ADORABLE! 🙂
Getting that nail polish ASAP. And you are way too cute. Very impressed.
My sister has your shoes in the last picture and every time I visit I try to permanently borrow them and she won’t let me. 🙁
So cute though. And I love the anthro head scarf.
LOVE your outfits. I love even more that you thrifted so many of those fabulous items. Awesome.
-FringeGirl
um….i think im in love, with all of them, you had me at goodwill….i do the same thing, but my outfits dont quite look as good as yours…you are my hero! I am following now!!!
xoxo
you are so cute! love seeing your outfits and the deals you get 🙂
I love the boho look with the cut off shorts. You are so adorable!
http://www.luxeboulevard.blogspot.com
Love your shoes….I’m a 7!!! Maybe I can find something similar in a 9 and we can swap? Love your looks! I so miss the GW!! I moved from CA to Utah… they don’t have GW here…insert sad face…. I have found a few cool things at Deseret Industries (DI) though…. Going home to CA to visit, so hopefully I will get to the GW when I am there!
love, love, LOVE your first outfit!
Abbie, Amanda Lawrence (now Hyman) here. We met at Grace, back in the singles days. I found your blog through maybe Laura Eaton? Can’t remember now, but I’ve been following you on my google reader now for a couple weeks. Love your thriftiness and enterprising spirit. One question, my goodwill here (WA state) does the “fashion focus” section. Where someone has alerted the workers to tag anything with a brand name (Gap, Banana, even 4ever 21!!!) as Fashion Focus, and hence a larger price tag. Sometimes upwards of $20 bucks for jeans and jackets, and shoes. Sometimes it’s more than you would pay for something brand new on sale in the actual store!! Makes the digging just not so worth it, IMO. Not that all the good stuff in Goodwill is only name brand stuff, but… thoughts? (Oh, sometimes I can find a good brand they don’t know about in the cheap section, that’s the best! 🙂
I’m a first time visitor from the WIWW link up & I am amazed by your awesome thrift find! I cannot believe how lucky you are at GW! I’m going to start having to visit mine more often!
another great week of outfits, love the dress, that is super cute!
Wow your so pretty! I love all your thrift outfits.
I am SO impressed with all of your thrift finds…amazing! Living in a small town, our thrift selection is very slim. You put everything together so well too! Go easy on those feet girl! 😉
Just found your blog through WIWW and I love your style! So laid back yet still very chic 🙂
I love everything about the first outfit. How do you get the scarves to stay on your head? Mine always slide off.
I love your style and that you have the patience to sift through things at the Goodwill to get a bargain but life is too short to wear shoes that hurt your feet. Invest in a pair that you love and in your correct size and you will wear them forever and get your $$$ worth…I promise! It’s not a bargain if they hurt. This is now the end of my older mom rant 🙂
omgoodness! you are beautiful! these pictures are gorgeous as well. that first outfit with the dark teal turquoise & orange belt is amazing. stunning.
I am so jealous of your outfits. You look amazing everyday! Great job!
Love these. I especially like the teal ruffle top with the leopard shoes! I do have to say though.. you must have a rockin’ Good Will where you live! 🙂
Well I’m a shoe size 7. I always find really cute shoes at my goodwill but they are all too big for me. I’ll let you know if I find some shoe gems in your size around here.
OK…. I’m officially addicted to your blog! Next time you go to GW I want to tag along! Seriously.
You always do such a great job with your accessories – love that orange belt!!
CUTE CUTE CUTE! I love that Mossimo dress and the ruffly tank and all of it! And thrifted is even better!
wow! i love all these outfits! i am so excited to start thrifting again. I took a break towards the end of my pregnancy, and now that my baby is out, I am excited to go again soon!
you look lovely!
Sylvia
Too cute! And thrifty! Where is this Goodwill- I must go there!
You are so stinkin’ cute! Love your style! And you scored some serious stellar thrift finds.
p.s. I wear a size 7 shoe… keep me in mind when you’re done with them.
You’ve got yourself some amazing deals over there! I miss thriftshops! We don’t have them here in Indonesia, unless for the very poor, for secondhand designer stuffs for the rich. No Goodwill. Almost no garage sales, either. 🙁
LeeAnne, Style N Season
https://stylenseason.blogspot.com
love love love that green purse your mom got you from Italy!!
You are my hero! Super stylish and not breaking the bank. I love all of your accessories and color!
LOVE your style!! (and the price)!!!
I’m a size 9 as well and could never squeeze into a 7 – kudos to you! LOVE the first outfit so much… color mix is perfect! As a Goodwill lover, I say, bring on the crazies 🙂