Missys' challenge

I got a challenge from my friend Missy the other day.  She gave me this picture...

 

...and asked me to recreate it!  Obviously, this just seemed fun to me, so I accepted with a smile and quite a bit of excitement.  I hit the Goodwill to find the two pieces I didn't have at home, the sweater and the scarf.

 

 

I found the sweater in the men's section, for $4.  The scarf is an infinity scarf which I love.  Want to know my fun little trick for getting these thrifted?  I buy a t-shirt or dress in the color I want and cut straight across under the arms...ta-da, infinity scarf!  This one was a dress, that I cut off at the waist.  It was $2.50.  I found a black pair of leggings for $2.50, but didn't buy them because I had black skinny jeans at home.  It wouldn't be thrifty to buy the leggings if I had something similar already would it?

 

 

The boots, bracelets, and clutch were in my wardrobe also. 

 

 

 

My black skinny jeans are from Target and I bought them for $28 they are a wardrobe staple for me.  The price for EVERYTHING I am wearing comes to about $46.50, but it would have been $21 had I bought and used the leggings I saw at the Goodwill.  I didn't use sunglasses because it is overcast today, but I have a great pair that I bought for $1 last year, that I would have used for this look!

 

In total, the two pieces that I purchased specifically for this outfit came up to $6.50.  Great price for a new fall look right?  How close do you all think I came to the inspiration picture?

 

Thank you Missy for the challenge, if you want the sweater I will mail it to you, it is Tommy Hilfiger!  I appreciate you making my life and hobby so fun, and always supporting me in it!

 

Of course, to my readers, thank you for reading, commenting, sharing, pinning, and enjoying my blog!

 

xoxo,

 

Monica



A thrifting adventure with Amy

Last weekend my friend Amy volunteered to be a test subject for me.  I have never dressed another person, well, one who I didn't give birth to!  Amy has a completely opposite body type to mine.  Where I am small on top and big on the bottom, she is well endowed on top, and has slim waist and hips (lucky!)  We went to our local Goodwill, and I had some ideas fresh in my head, and on my tablet computer. 

 

The boots Amy is wearing are tall like the picture, but because her jeans aren't skinny, we didn't like how they were bunching at the knee.  The total price for Amys' look is $19!  The jeans were her own, but she bought them thrifted for $2.50. 

 

 

I am in love with this brown leather jacket, why buy a new one for $295+, when you can get this one for $12.99?!  If anyone has a good answer for this, feel free to let me know.  I am guessing that the majority of people would choose to save $282.01. 

 

Total for this look is $18!  Jeans jackets are amazingly versatile, throw one over a work outfit to dress it down for happy hour.

 

 

I adore this skirt!  It is so girly and flowy, I put a cardigan on it for fall, but it could easily be worn with a short sleeve blouse or t-shirt for warmer weather.

 

 

 

We went with a black cardigan for this ruffled dress, where they wore leather in the original.  I couldn't be so lucky to find another leather jacket in the same store that fit our gorgeous model!  To balance it out, and make it more leather and lace like the inspiration look, we threw in some riding boots.

Note: I would add thick tights if available.

 



This is by FAR my favorite outfit of the day.  The high low skirt is at the top of my list for popular pieces right now.  I brought this one into fall by putting a warm belted jacket over it.  If we weren't at the store, I would have had her put closed toe shoes on with tights.  The cost for this look, including the jacket is $22.  I will be searching high and low *pun intended* for a skirt like this in my size! 

 

Thank you all as always for reading! 

 

I was contacted yesterday by another blogger who is doing the same thing we are here....I am thrilled to read her blog, she has amazing looks over there!  Check her out.  http://thriftthelook.blogspot.com

 

Please don't forget to share me, pin me, add me, or follow me!

 

xoxo

 

~Monica

 

 

 







Three piece white skirt copycat

The look I chose for today couldn't be more simple, only three pieces! I am telling you folks, anyone can do this.

 

The inspiration to finally use my white skirt came from my Mom, she bought one at a thrift store in her area lately and asked for a little advice from her blogger daughter.  She is my biggest fan!  I told her how I would wear it, with a basic t-shirt tucked in, that is classic and comfy for me. She went with a t-shirt un-tucked with a belt, I love it!  

She certainly has better scenery for a background, I will have to do a blog there next time I visit to get some of those flowers in.  I tried to make her picture bigger, but since it came through text, this is the best I could do...sorry Mom!

In the look that I copied, I love the black button up top, it is very chic, great for fall (I don't follow the no white after labor day rule, I am a rebel) and would be very office appropriate.  I had considered throwing a belt into my look, (I have a strange obsession for them) but decided to keep this one very simple and straight forward.  Here is a second picture just in case you hadn't seen enough yet...

The cost for my look today was, $14!  The shirt is actually an old work shirt I had, but I did get it at a thrift store for $4. 

As always thank you for reading, I appreciate all of you! 

On another note, if you live in the El Paso TX area and would like to volunteer your time and body to me I would be very thankful!  I am starting a portfolio of thrift outfits, to display my talents, and I am in need of models of all shapes and sizes.  Please contact me through email or leave a comment with your email address and I will send you a short survey to get your sizes and preferences.  As always, don't forget to share me with your friends through Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest!

~Mon

I heart shorts!

Here in El Paso, we hold on to summer weather until nearly October.  So, thankfully we get to wear shorts quite a bit later than I was able to in Colorado.  No need to fear Colorado girls, you can still wear shorts year round by throwing some tights on under, one of my favorite evening out looks for winter!  Todays look comes to you without tights, and is more of a summer look due to the bright colors. 

Please excuse my strange facial expression, I am not sure what I was chatting about, but I'm sure it was something awesome and humorous.  I was going to cut my head off while editing the photo, but decided my readers must love me enough since they continue to return, so I left it! 

The shorts I am wearing are not from a thrift store *gasp*, I got them at Marshalls for $10!  Now, because I am the Thrifting Fashionista, I try to get the majority of my clothes at thrift stores, but I also LOVE getting great sales on new items.  I rarely buy anything that isn't clearance or sale priced, and I mean dirt cheap sale priced.  The only thing I will buy full priced is jeans, it is really hard to find tall sizes on sale or clearance and since they are staples that I will have for a long time, I can splurge on a couple great pairs.  Marshalls and Ross are great for finding cute, very low priced items, but Targets' clearance can't be beat! 

Ok, enough of my clearance rant, lets get down to my outfit price.  In total, including necklace, I spent $21!  Have I mentioned lately that I love thrifting?!  Not only is it fun, like a mini treasure hunt, but it is also inexpensive and great for the community and environment.  If you are still not convinced, and you live in my area, email me and I will meet up with you for a thrifting extravaganza! 

As always, I want to thank my readers for being so great!  Don't forget to share me by facebook, pinterest, or anyway you can!

~Monica

My J. Crew copy cat look

I know it has been a couple weeks since my last blog, but I have been SICK!  I mean sick like, I haven't gotten out of the house or bothered to get dressed sick.  So sadly, I have been clothed in sweat shorts and t-shirts, and I doubt any of you want pictures of that.  But my lovelies, I am back and ready to be fashionable once again! 

Todays look comes straight from the J. Crew catalog.  I loved the feel of this dress as soon as I saw it, and was thrilled to find a similar one for $6 at my local Goodwill! 

I also LOVE argyle, but lo and behold, I do not have an argyle sweater, but I do have a cute striped one!  You have to work with what you have, and if stripes is what you have, then stripes is what you use.  I lucked out and found these great yellow/grey shoes for $8, they were brand new!  The Target stores in our area donate their shoes that they can't sell, to Goodwill, yay me!  As you can see I took my look more into a 50's housewife direction with the hair and make-up, just goes to show how a little hairspray and red lipstick can change a look completely.  My total cost for this look is, $19!  I never found a price on the J. Crew outfit, I am betting it's a couple more dollars...wink wink.  If you are heading out to the thrift stores, yard sales, or estate sales soon, happy thrifting friends!

As always, please feel free to share my blog or pin me, I love new readers!

~Mon

The scarf print blouse

Has anyone heard of a scarf print shirt?  If you have, you are way ahead of me in the area of fashion.  I just learned last night what it was called.  I had seen a great picture of one a few months back, and then was thrilled to find and purchase one in the Goodwill shortly after.  It is basically an amazing, silky blouse that looks like the print should be on a scarf!  There are tons of them in thrift shops, as they were very popular in the 80's.  (Hint: you might have to take out some serious shoulder pads!)  I like them so much right now, I am considering starting a collection. 

The look on the left was my original inspiration, but as I got to searching, I found more and more looks, these blouses are really versatile.  I chose to go with a red shoe like the great lady in the photo below!

And then to show another look, I wore some dark skinnies like my other inspiration photo.  You can't see her shoes so I had to go with my gut, which always tells me to get fancy!  Living in the town I do, it is ALWAYS ok to dress up a bit, so I do!  

I also saw it pictured with shorts, but decided you all had seen enough of my white legs yesterday!  The blouse that all of the models are wearing is by the brand Zara and I have seen it priced around $70.  Mine was.....drum roll please.......$4!!!  My outfit with white pants in total cost me $20, and the dark jeans one cost me $19!  Both of those prices include the jewelry!  Those spectacular boots are shoe dazzle, they were brand new when I got them and I spent $1.99 on them.  Do I have to profess my love for them, or can you already tell how I feel?!  

As always, thank you all SO much for reading, don't forget to pin me!

Feeling girly

It has been a week since I started the Thrifting Fashionista Blog, and I must say it has been a blast so far!  I find myself really having to use my imagination when putting together outfits, which will only make me more helpful to you all in the long run.  Todays outfit is a fun girly one, yet simple enough for anyone to try.

There are a few differences between the inspiration look and mine, starting with the skirt, both striped, but mine is flower print, which I love simply because it's very feminine.  Hers is also much shorter, which looks great, but wouldn't work for me or my hips!  Always dress for YOUR body, not anyone elses.  I wore red ballet flats with mine, I do have black ones similar to the original picture, but I chose to get a bit more color into the look, I think it worked well.  My whole look only cost me $16 and made me feel extra girly and summery today!  Enjoy the last few hours of your weekend!

I want to thank everyone for reading, I am grateful to have people in my life who enjoy my passions with me!

Don't forget to pin me, the "pin it" button is right below!