1. Find a skirt.  It should be a floor length skirt to allow enough length to be a dress.  I chose a skirt made from Rayon, but other fabrics would be fine!  Also make sure that it has enough room to fit your body in it.

blah skirt!

2. Cut the top hem/elastic/whatever off.  Try to do it as evenly as possible.

3. The original project tells you to measure 10 inches down the side seams to create a 9 inch arm hole.  I found that arm holes this size were way too big and I had to make them smaller in the end.  So I would say measure down 7 inches or so.

4. Cut the seams down the sides however many inches down you measured.  I couldn’t find a seam ripper so I used scissors and it was fine.

5. Sew up the arm hole seams.

6. You want to make a tunnel for the ribbon to go through. Fold down the top hem 1/2 inch and pin it.  Then fold it down another 1/2 inch and repin it, taking out the original pins as you go.  Do this for the front and back of the dress.  Then sew it up!

7. Attach a safety pin to a ribbon and inch worm it through the tunnel.  How you want your final ribbon straps to end up is up to you.  Originally I had them become bows on the shoulders but I didn’t like the way that looks so I just sewed them together and put the hemmed parts inside the tunnel so that you couldn’t see them.

TADA! that’s it!  I put a ribbon around the waist to avoid the potato sack look.  What do you guys think?

Dusting off the treadmill, vowing to keep laundry off the floor, cutting down on booze.  But my favorite resolution (for other people to make): cleaning out the house.  This means a huge influx of clothing, kitchenware, furniture, everything, to thrift stores all around.  Oh, and people want to make their tax-deductable donations.  I would say right about…..now! is a great time to go thrifting.  Thanks, New Years!

If you’re one of those people planning to clean out and donate, check out this super cool interactive feature Goodwill has. You put in what you’re planning to donate and it gives you the amount of time of career counseling you’re providing for people. Pretty nifty!

Also, putting thrifting on your resolution list is a great idea.  Thrifting can help you:

1. Save money!!!!!!!!!!  Probably at the top of everyone’s resolution list.
2. Be greener.  By buying secondhand clothing, you’re eliminating clothes (and furniture etc.) that might otherwise end up in a landfill.  Saving the earth!
3. Develop a more personal (and versatile) wardrobe.  That one of a kind dress you just found?  Yeah, no one else is gonna have that.
4. Losing weight?  (or gaining weight?) thrifting is a great option for clothes shopping because while you’re in between sizes you don’t want to spend a fortune on a new wardrobe!
5. Engage with your community.  Many thrift stores employ people with vocational challenges…shopping at them helps create a stronger community.  Many are also non-profits that advocate for great causes, like HIV awareness and testing.
6. Turn you into a THRIFTING GODDESS

Pricing

I can’t believe that I haven’t done this lesson yet.  Apologies for doing one of the most important things so late!  The way that clothes are priced at thrift stores can be tricky to understand.  This post will hopefully help you find your way around the prices at thrift stores and help you make good decisions.

How do thrift stores price their items?

Goodwill has an interesting way that they price their clothes.

• Each section has a set base price, so all shirts are $3.99, all skirts are $7.99 etc.
• Everything in the store has a barb or a sticker with a designated color.  The color of the barb/sticker does not indicate price!  Red, blue, yellow, whatever color barb is all the same price.
• Each week a certain color is on sale: this is when the color of the barb is important.
• Items that are more expensive will be marked with a specific price tag.

A Barb

These signs will be right when you walk in. Look for them to save!

A specific price tag. Exceptions to the regular pricing

Goodwill (annoyingly to thrifters) will frequently pick out higher end pieces and price them higher than their normal set prices.  This is why finding something that is designer that they’ve missed is even more exciting.  However, they don’t have specific designer racks like other thrift stores.  Higher priced things will be in the same racks as regular priced items.

Other thrift stores:

• Will usually have a certain price on each piece of clothing.
• May or may not have weekly specials, but you should always ask!
• Usually have a sale section or $1 section either somewhere in the back of the store or outside on the sidewalk.
• Frequently have racks dedicated to designer pieces.  This means you don’t have to search for them but also means that they are priced accordingly.  If designer brands are foreign to you, check out my post on designer brands.

$1 section at Out of the Closet

How much should I pay?

I find that when I’m shopping I usually have a price in my head that I refuse to spend more than on an item.  I usually spend no more than $3 on a shirt, $5 on a skirt, $7 on a dress, pants and jeans, shoes, jackets, and blazers.  If something is really high end I might spend up to $20, but that’s pretty much as much as I’ll spend, and only on something that would retail for over $100.  Having those set prices in your head will allow you to stay selective.  I can’t tell you what a great price is for a shirt because it’s totally relative.  If you need help, visiting my post on brands can help you figure out what you want to spend.

Do you have any other tips or rules you swear by?  Let me know!

The weather was amazing!  It was in the high 40′s and The Boyfriend didn’t even ski with a coat because it was so warm.  This is one of those things we get to do and can afford because I save so much by thrifting.

Found anything great recently?  Let me know!

It needs to be dry cleaned…but I’m seriously in love.  I never wanna take it off!  It’s definitely one of my best finds of 2011.

Shopping with Siblings (And, how to set up your dressing room)

First of all: woooo!

Second of all: today I asked my brother, David, if he’d like to go thrifting with me.  I asked mostly as a joke, but to my immense surprise he said yes, so we set off to GW!

Excited to be thrifting on New Year’s Eve!

We walked in and it was hopping.

My brother, the glamour girl

He was clearly on the wrong track…….so I pointed him in the direction of the men’s stuff.  He ended up finding his own way, and I found him picking through the shirts.  So proud!

Goodwill was hopping!  I flipped through the shirts but didn’t find anything.  Then I went to the blazers and found three beautiful ones to try on.  The dresses were next, and I pulled out a few.

I decided it might be a good idea to show people how I set up my dressing room when I’m thrifting.  It’s really important to keep it all organized, especially when you have like 20 or 30 items.  I always separate my items by type, so all shirts get hung up together, all dresses, etc.

Skirts / Dresses / Blazers / Bathing suit

After I try them on I then separate them into three piles:

1. Definitely: things that you try on and immediately say “I LOVE THIS”

2. Maybe: things that you keep on a little bit longer, swish back and forth in the mirror, maybe try it on more than once

3. No: things that you either can’t get on, are way too big, you hate, you immediately say YUCK to

The things I put into the maybe pile I sort through again once I’ve tried everything else on.  I usually try them on again.  It’s important to be selective!  And there’s a reason they’re in the maybe pile.  If I can think of about 3 outfits I could use them in, then I might buy them.

I didn’t think my brother was going to be able to find anything…but while I was looking at the dresses he came up to me with a grin wearing a beautiful camel colored wool blazer.  It fit him like it was made for him!  He was stoked.  He also found a book called Stupid White Men.  Here he is, sitting in a cute plaid chair

So, we were finished!  David’s total came to $6…$5 for the blazer and the book was 50% off at just $1.  We researched the brand when we got home Amherst and Brock.  Looks like they tend to retail for quite a bit!  I found some for sale for $75, which David couldn’t believe.

My total came to about $27.  I bought a beautiful Calvin Klein dress for $15 and two blazers…one at $7 and one at $5.  Pictures of my finds are coming soon!  The CK dress I found…the tag was still on it, retailing for $235.  Here’s a picture of it:

That’s my thrifting adventure of the day!  Hope you had an equally enjoyable day.

Have an AMAZING New Year’s Eve!

Wikipedia-

Thrifting refers to the act of shopping at a thrift store, flea market, garage sale, or a shop of a charitable organization, usually with the intent of finding interesting items at a cheap price.

A larger philosophy permeates the act of thrifting which celebrates the recycling of formerly-owned items, finding new use and new love for vintage material goods which had been thrown out, and the thrill of imagining what the former life of the item was like.

Urban Dictionary-

When one visits several different thrift shops, second-hand shops, and vintage clothing stores in the hopes of buying several items of cheap and unusual clothing and other items. One usually does this with friends.

best-money-saving-tips.com

Thrifting also refers to the practice of restrained or disciplined spending habits, by means of purchasing goods at special very-cheap stores, purchasing pre-owned goods, love for vintage material goods etc.

Amazingly, these are really the only definitions you’ll find.  ’Thrifting’ as a word is not in the dictionary.  It is a noun, adjective, and adverb, but ‘to thrift’ is not a verb.  YET.  I think it should definitely be added to the dictionary.  Mostly because I’m tired of seeing that little red squiggly line under it when I type it.

How do you define thrifting?  Do you agree with these definitions?