Wear Nothing New

Ballard Goodwill: Shoe and dress heaven

By Hannah

Last weekend, I made my second pilgrimage to the Ballard Goodwill and confirmed that they really do have the best dress selection of any Goodwill I've been to.  

This versatile black dress is by London Times. It falls to about the knee and has a ruffled detail along the neckline.  I almost broke down and bought a new dress because I was looking for something like this for so long.  Thank god.

The Ballard Goodwill also has a great shoe section, which I judge by color range, unique styles, good brands, and percentage of shoes that aren't totally gross.

I found these Born sandals for about $7! 

And these unique ankle-strap sandals by Nickle, which look like they've been hand-painted...  

Bonus: The Blue Glass Cafe is directly across the street and has great food (small and large plates) and an interesting bar menu.  You can wash your hands in their stainless steel sink filled with glass pebbles.

Pick of the Week: March 25, 2012

The clouds parted, a beam of light shone down, and these shoes manifested themselves in all their vinyl glory.

I found these ridiculous platforms at the Plato's Closet right by Southcenter Mall.  For $8, I couldn't pass up the chance to break my ankle in something so bright and sunny.  They are actually quite stable, but clunky to walk in.  As you can, they're Fergalicious.

-Hannah

Pick of the Week: March 18, 2012

 

Fantastic knit.

Cosmic color arrangement.

Orange sweater skirt.

 

My new favorite.  Found yesterday at Bargain World with no label and a mysterious past.  Only poetry can express my love.

-Hannah

The Golden Kameez: An embroidered treasure from Goodwill

By Hannah

Last year, my friend Sally gave me this beautiful kameez she found at Goodwill.  It's an Indian tunic usually worn over pants called salwar.  The outfit using the two items together is called salwar kameez.  

I wore this last spring with some flowy black pants, which seemed to work okay.

Pick of the Week: February 19, 2012

The "spooky tree dress," as I refer to it.  I found this last October, right before Halloween.  If I recall correctly, it's from Bellevue Goodwill.  The brand is blacked out.  Spooky.

-Hannah

Sweater Dresses

By Hannah

Sweater dresses have become a wardrobe staple for me, lately.  I've picked two to feature in this post.

This first dress is BCBG Max Azria and I probably overpaid for it at the University District Goodwill in Seattle.

In the fall and winter, I put on a turtleneck and thick tights underneath.  In the spring and summer, I can wear it with short leggings and a tank top, or another sleeveless dress.

The second dress is Rebecca Beeson, found at the South 38th Street Goodwill in Tacoma.  Very cozy.  I paired it with an Afghan-style scarf from Jawan.  The  proceeds go to support the Afghan Scholars Initiative, which brings talented Afghan students to the U.S.

 The hat...I purchased that new a few months ago from (gulp) Ross.  I will do a full disclosure in a future blog, but I decided that after a year without new clothes, I did need to purchase socks, tights, hats, and a few other items that were too icky to buy from a thrift store.

Pick of the Week: January 22, 2012

Ah, my favorite shoe brand!  This pair of Sofft shoes were only $8 at the Tukwila Goodwill.  Thrifting-partner-in-crime Meg found them in the size 7 section and was devastated to discover that they were actually size 8.  So, now they live in my closet.  Thanks, Meg!

-Hannah

Staying Warm During an Ice Storm: Cozy sweater ponchos

By Hannah

And the winter storm continues...bringing freezing rain, ice, and falling branches.  Luckily, I have two cozy sweater ponchos to huddle under.  These were thrift store finds from a few months back.

First, a black, netlike poncho by Zn (which I presume stands for the element zinc?).

Second, a soft, red, crocheted poncho with the tag cut out.  It's not flattering, but you could potentially survive a night lost in the woods with its blanket-like properties.

Coming up next week...sweater dresses!

Vintage Winter Coat Fest: Thrift store finds for a snowy day

By Hannah

I thought this snowy day off would be a great time to take some photos of my favorite coats and get back to blogging.

After a year and a half of relying on thrift stores for most of my clothing needs, I realize that used coats are a really good deal.  I've found all of my used coats for around $10.  Compare that to $100 - $150 for all the new coats I've bought in the last 10 years.

This first coat is actually from my first trip to the underground Korean thrift store in fall of 2010.  It's thin, but great for 40 degree days and layering with sweaters.  Check out the hat--I made it out of a thrift store sweater.  I'll have to do another post on the hat...

The second coat is from the Tacoma Goodwill on South 38th Street.  Brand is not marked.  It's made of silky faux fur, which I found is easy to clean.  I had to sew a tear in the lining and clean some unidentifiable brown gunk off the sleeves, but now it looks good as new!

 

The third coat is from Jubliee Reach Heart and Home thrift store in Bellevue.  At the end of an epic shopping day, despite my eyes being glazed over, I found this mint green Doki Geki coat.  It's a size large, which is good if I want to wear sweaters and still be able to move my arms.  (Backing out of our garage is interesting if you're wearing a fitted coat.)

Happy snow day!

Oct. 9 Iris Green Vintage Sale Items: Set 3

By Hannah

Following up on Sunday's pick of the week, here's the outfit completed by a brown corduroy jacket Tanya has for sale.