Happy Medium

I've been teased because I have a shopping pattern which weaves between fashion stores such as Neiman and Nordstrom, and thrift stores. In one week I begged my sister to accompany me to the slightly-farther Boca Mall, and then down 441 to hit up all the Think Thrift!'s and their ilk. I slum it; I love to. Discoveries are much more exciting that way, albeit less frequent.

Last night my friend M. (often mentioned here as a shopping cohort) was also accusing me of this behavior. But then she relented to point out, "Actually, it's the only way to do it. If you want original style." Basically, you either spend a lot of money to be unique, or none. If you want things that very few people have access too, digging through bins might be one way to do it. Or saving up for a long, long time.

Below I are two outfits that I've worn recently which demonstrate how I use both high- and low-cost shopping to find my style. Nothing exciting, but things I happened to have photos of on my camera.

First, this is a simple pairing of Seven For All Mankind jeans, retail value, and an Express silk camisole found in a thrift store at a steal for $6.00. Not pictured: $5 Payless black and white peeptoe slingbacks. Sorry the photos are pretty terrible.




Second, these Citizen jeans, retail value, are paired with an Arden B shirt-dress acquired at a steal for $9.00, and the butterfly belt was 2.99 at a generic thrift store. Not pictured: Tommy Hilfiger platform sandals, retail value.




The moral here is: Bard, clean your room! Obviously.

But honestly, many of my favorite pieces and outfits come from unlikely sources, so it's always great to keep an open mind and duck into those out-of-the-way road-less-traveled places to see if you, too, can fall in love with a garment from the wrong side of the tracks. At the very least, they'll make your glamorous purchases look even more fantastic in comparison!