A Girl, A Thrift Store & Twenty Bucks

THE MISSION:

It seems like everyone is cutting back these days, me included. I've always enjoyed thrift shopping but I know for some it's become a neccesity rather than a choice. But just because you're shopping at the thrift store rather than the mall doesn't mean you have to look any less stylish. So with that in mind I headed to my local thrift store with $20 in my pocket, a mission to put together an outfit and (hopefully) a little luck on my side.



Right now I’m really leaning towards skirts and blouses (as opposed to dresses) so I planned on hitting those sections up first, followed by a run through the accessories section for shoes and a bag.

First the skirt. The skirt section of the thrift store is always a bit intimidating to me! It always seems like it’s packed with suit skirts that got lost from their matching jackets and bad 70s polyester. But every once in a while I’ll stumble across a pretty wool pleated skirt or a perfectly matched up bias plaid number. After thumbing through three rows of skirts I had my choices narrowed down to a cute high waisted corduroy pencil skirt or a navy plaid 60s wrap skirt. The corduroy seemed a bit out of season, so I went with the wrap. Now on to the blouses…

Since I chose the plaid skirt I needed a simple top to go with it so I headed over to the row of cream colored blouses. After passing up one blouse because of a stain, another because it was too big, and yet another because it would put me well over my $20 limit, I settled on a pretty pintucked top with buttons running down the back.

Then I ventured over to the accessories section. I think I spotted it at about 50 paces. The bag I’d been looking for! I must have brought some luck with me after all. There, hanging amongst the faux leather and the scarily sequined bags, was a buttery soft Coach satchel. A perfect compliment to the navy skirt and cream blouse!

Shoes can be trickier. There’s no altering shoes. Either they fit or they don’t. After a few misses I started to feel a bit like Goldilocks. One’s too big, another’s too small. I finally found a pair of light brown woven sandals with a chunky wooden heel. All set!

THE GOODS:

pintuck cotton blouse: $3.99
navy plaid wrap skirt: $4.99
woven leather sandals: $3.99
Coach purse: $6.99

Grand Total: $19.96

THE FINAL RESULT: