Parting is such sweet sorrow
If you’re a regular reader, you’ve probably noticed the longer and longer gaps between posts. After a lot of thought, we’ve decided to no longer update Thrifty Threads, but we will keep the blog live. Each of us has evolved and grown over the last (nearly) four years, and we can’t thank you enough for being a part of our lives.
Our first posts were about Black Friday in 2009, and we’ve loved sharing our thrifty shopping adventures over the years. Personally, I still refer to outfit posts to remember the different ways I wore pieces from my closet.
We’ve all experimented with different ways to wear clothing — like when Shannon and I participated in the 30×30 challenge — and our sartorial tastes have certainly evolved from fresh-out-of-college to a little more refined late-20s look.
Since we started, Shannon and Jenny have migrated to New York City, and Katy moved back to Atlanta from Washington, D.C. Each of us has changed jobs and moved at least once. And Kristen and Katy both got married.
If you’re just stumbling upon this blog, we have 357 posts since Nov. 27, 2009 — most of which relate to affordable clothing and thrift store tips and finds — and we hope you enjoy them.
Thank you so much for being a part of Thrifty Threads, and happy thrifting!
My warehouse haul
In my last post I wrote about a sale at the East Point warehouse of The Clothing Warehouse. Well, I made the trek myself — my first to East Point, aside from getting lost while trying to find my way home from the airport.
There were bins upon bins of dresses, sweater, pants, skirts, boots, jackets, and more. Most items were winter wear, which is what they were hoping to get rid of to make room for the new stock.
I dug around and tried on for about 45 minutes before walking away with one skirt and three dresses. (Special thanks to Lindsay for the freebies!)
Since it’s been so hot in Atlanta, it is hard to imagine it will ever be cold again and that dresses with long sleeves might be a good thing.
I chose the wrap skirt (at right) because it’s so comfortable, silky, and I can easily see wearing it to a Saturday morning farmers market.
I might be able to wear dress No. 1 below during warmer months, but I’m also considering having it shortened. I’m only 5’4″, so the dress hits about mid-calf.
No. 2 is definitely intended for the coldest weather with full long sleeves. I’ve had an eye out for tie blouses, and this dress has one of its own. It’s a little busy for so much fabric, but I plan to style it with tall boots and either a blazer or cardigan.
I liked the colors on No. 3, but I haven’t totally figured out how to style it yet. Any suggestions for this one or any of the others?
A while back, Kristen wrote about her experience at The Clothing Warehouse’s By the Pound (BTP) location in East Point, Ga.BTP is now gone and The Clothing Warehouse is using the building to house its merchandise.
THIS Thursday and Friday (June 6-7), they’re having a two-day spring cleaning sale of wholesale merchandise that hasn’t made it to the retail store in Little Five Points. A representative from The Clothing Warehouse told me it’s to make room for orders that will be arriving in a few weeks.
Details:
Thursday, June 6 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Friday, June 7 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
2824 Church St., East Point, GA 30344
According to The Clothing Warehouse Facebook page, it is merchandise such as cowboy boots, dresses, and other vintage-wear that would normally be sold in the store. The rep said it’s stuff that would sell for about $20-120 in the retail store, but at a fraction of the cost.
A couple years ago, I got my cowboy boots at the L5P location (using a Scoutmob discount), and I’ve gotten a lot of use out of them. I’ve never purchased anything else there, but I always enjoy browsing when I can pop in. Honestly, the prices are a little steep for my thrifty mentality, but with good discounts, this warehouse sale sounds promising.
East Point is only about 20 minutes from Atlanta, so I’m going to try to make it to the sale if I can.
Note: A representative of The Clothing Warehouse reached out and provided information, but I am not being paid for this post.
Evolving wardrobes
Well … it’s been quite awhile.
What have I been up to in the almost two years it’s been since I last checked in here?
I won’t bore you with details, but I will say that I have a new job and I get paid to think about makeup (and social media) all day. It’s kind of awesome, but doesn’t necessarily lend itself to actively blogging off the clock.
I was going to write about my new skin care and makeup routine, but that seemed a bit self-serving. So I’ll spare you the details and write about clothes instead.
Although my new job is crazy/awesome, the environment is definitely much more corporate than any other office I’ve ever worked in. (Jeans are essentially not an option.) It’s fun looking a bit nicer every day, but it was a bit of a challenge for the first few weeks since the majority of my wardrobe was so casual.
I’m also at a point in my life where I’m willing to pay a little more for good staples, such as dresses and shoes for work. I’ll be re-wearing them often, so they need to be able to hold up through multiple cycles in the washing machine, but also look nice enough to wear to the office.
With the above in mind, I set out in March and April to get my wardrobe in shape. While I love thrifting, it wasn’t really an option because I needed a good amount of new clothes, fast, and I had a very specific style in mind.
I ended up getting a great selection of clothes and shoes from Gap, Macy’s, H&M, Ann Taylor and calvinklein.com. Everything I bought was on sale (in most cases, 50% off!) and are classic pieces that will last a long time.
Below are some of my new favorites. (Please forgive my lazy copy/paste job; I haven’t blogged in awhile so I need to ease back into it…) I think it’s pretty clear the style I gravitate toward – somewhat fitted sheath dresses with good structures, and of course, fun shoes to jazz things up.
My biggest advice when looking for nice staples outside of thrift stores?
Be patient. Department stores have sales all the time, but the nicer designers typically only go on sale a few times a year and you can usually score major deals then. I only shop during big sales and it’s definitely paid off.
Check designers’ websites. They often have random sales during the week and that’s how I scored 50% off of sale items at both anntaylor.com and calvinklein.com. Email notifications can be annoying, but if it’s a brand or designer you love, you’ll welcome that special sale email in your inbox.
Buy only things you love. I know this is common advice, but in the four years I’ve been working, I’ve purchased a lot of duds. Before my recent work-related shopping spree, I donated four huge bags of clothes to the Housing Works Thrift Shop because I just wasn’t wearing what was in my closet. (…Although somehow my closet is still full.)
Stick to classic styles you love, that you know you’ll wear often and won’t go out of style. Then, be patient and wait for the sales!
How has your work wardrobe evolved over the years?
Dress me up
Eric and I celebrated our one year anniversary a week or so ago. It is crazy to think we’ve already been married a year — time certainly does fly. We took a trip to New Orleans, and while we were there, ate a fancy dinner out to commemorate a successful first year. Eric bestowed me with choosing where we went so we ended up at John Besh’s Restaurant August (a delicious, yet not thrifty choice). It was a fancier place so I knew I wanted to dress up. It was a no brainer that I wore this dress.
Top photo is me in said dress at dinner (which a delicious malbec) and the bottom one is the dress hanging up on my closet door. I did not get a full length photo of me in it.
I got SO many compliments on this dress, both from the photos I posted of it online and from people at the restaurant. I found it amusing because it was a $10 thrift store found. A few months back when Melanie and I took a tour of some of the local thrift stores, I picked this up at the Rag-O-Rama on Roswell Road. I initially purchased it to wear to the thrift store party I talked about a post or two ago, but I decided I’d rather hold on to it for a special occasion. The tag says it is JCPenney brand. And I have no idea what year it is from. But I love it. It is very lightweight and sheer (I wore a long slip underneath it) but it was super cute.
Have you ever gotten complimented on your thrift store finds?
Thrifty Threads 