So, your favorite vintage piece had run its course and it is time to trade it in. Or maybe you just need some extra cash. Or maybe, a piece you … Continue reading Selling thrifted clothes
Author: haleymartin1
Trip to the Dallas Museum of Art
Well, looks like summer has arrived. The weather has not gotten the memo, but I definitely have. I am back in D-Town (what the cool kids call Dallas) and ready … Continue reading Trip to the Dallas Museum of Art
End of Semester
Finally, it is the end of the semester–well almost. I still have a few more exams to go but for the most part I have conquered this semester of college. I have learned so much during this semester about blogging, html and media history. Blogging has been a new world for me and there have been many ups and downs of this experience.
WordPress is the best tool that I could have learned during this blogging journey. It is extremely user friendly but I wouldn’t have been able to be as successful as I was with it without a few tutorials from my professor, Jon Zmikly. I lappreciate the different tools that wordpress provides to users for writing a posts, although I have struggled a bit with them. I thought the scheduled publishing feature would come in handy, but it turns out I am not quite ready to take my blogging to that level (this is my second time writing this post). Overall, the new tools that I have learned have helped me develop and hone my blogging skills.
Using social media to promote my blog was a new experience that I was hesitant about. I am not extremely active on social media to start with, so the idea of sharing my blog with my friends and family terrified me. Fortunately, my friends and family were very supportive of my blog. My best friend even has alerts set up on her phone to notify her when I post.
In the future, I would like to improve my blog by posting more frequently. I would also like to include a larger variety of subjects like general fashion, diy, health, and life. I hope to also post videos in the future.
Because of this blog, I am much more confident sharing my writing online. Hopefully this new found ability will be an advantage for me. I have heard countless stories of people who were hired at a job because of their online personas. I can only wish that one day I will be so lucky. I have learned valuable writing and blogging skills that I hope to have the opportunity to implement in the future.
The semester is over, but this blog is not. This summer I will be soaking up the rays, hitting the thrift stores, and writing about it all in this blog.
Swap Party
Yesterday, I attended my first swap party ever. For those who do not know what a swap party is, you have been missing out–believe me. At a swap party you bring all your once-favorite clothes, nick backs, decorations etc. that are now collecting dust and get together with your friends and swap them for their old stuff.
I was more than happy to get rid of some of the things I wasn’t getting full use of. Since I am living in a dorm a little bit of extra stuff takes up a lot of room. Also, I am moving out in a few days so now I have a little less stuff to pack. I came to the party equipped with an unused journal, two unopened tins of tea bags and about 10 items of clothing that I had not worn in a while.
I traded around with some friends and got rid of lots of my old stuff and gained a few new clothing items. I would definitely attend another swap party or even host my own. If you are interested in learning more about hosting your own party, check out this website. Below you can see the treasures that I got from the party.
Thrifting Profile: Valerie Vega
This week, I sat down with my friend and fellow thrifter Valerie Vega to explore her thrifting habits.
Yes, these are your grandad’s clothes.
Doing anything even slightly unique does not come without an array of comments from the peanut gallery. Thrifting has slowly started to become a conventional way for many to compose their wardrobe, but many still do not understand the appeal. Although I believe my thrifted style falls far below the extremely quirky (and extremely awesome) outfits other thrifters put together, I have not been exempt from a fair amount of scrutiny.
We all have that one friend that thinks you value their every opinion about your wardrobe, when in reality, you could not care less what they think. I have one friend in particular that makes a comment on every outfit I wear. While I feel glorious in the success of the $10 outfit I have carefully assembled, she always voices her disapproving opinion on my style. Never one for complements, this friend will spout statements of opposition and questions regarding my economic stability. It dumbfounds her why I would choose to buy used clothing when I could afford new ones. No matter what I say back, the comments do not cease.
To everyone who has encountered a similar situation, there is a valuable bit of information that it is important to keep at the forefront of your mind: it does not matter what anyone else thinks. As long as you feel good about what you are wearing, go ahead and rock those grandpa sweaters, hiking boots, rainbow windbreakers or whatever other clothing brings you joy. Even if you prefer not to wear thrifted clothing, this applies to you too. So let those scoundrels keep on judging!
Meanwhile, get inspiration from this jumping photo and enjoy this youtube playlist of thrifters who definitely don’t care what other people think.
San Marcos Thrift Shop
Despite being such an avid thrifter, since moving to San Marcos I have found myself visiting Goodwill every week–and no where else. I had been sticking to what I knew and was missing out on other great opportunities because of it. This week I went out of my comfort zone and visited San Marcos Thrift Shop.
Let me start by saying that I almost gave up on this thrifting excursion three-fourths of the way there. San Marcos traffic has never been on my side, and this day was no exception. The placement of the store on a one-way street in front of railroad crossing and directly next to an intersection made it nearly impossible to get to. To give you an idea, as soon as I pulled in the parking lot, a police officer pulled up behind me to let me know I had made a series of illegal moves trying to get there. Luckily, he gave me no ticket, so I still had money to spend inside.
In spite of being called a “thrift shop” this store is what I would consider a typical thrift store. There was no curated items that I know of, and the prices were cheap. And when I say cheap, I really me
an it. All the clothes in the place were $2, the shoes were $5, CD’s and records were 50 cents, and books were free.
Despite the wonderful prices, I did not have much luck in the store. Because the store was so small, the selection was limited. I did manage to walk away with a dress and a belt for only $2.50. You just can’t beat that.
Tales From the Thrift
I like to think that my thrift blog isn’t too shabby, but inspiration from another blogger has left me wanting to step up my game. Christina of Tales from the Thrift is the Beyoncé of thrifting and blogging–and I don’t use that complement lightly. She is the master of thrifting and fashion, and generously shares her experiences and outfits with others on her blog.
Based out of New York City, Tales from the Thrift explores the adventures and triumphs of thrifting in a big city on a tight budget. She got started in thrifting around the same time I did, around 16. After discovering what a steal thrifting items are, she pursued thrifting and supplements the majority of her wardrobe with used items.
What I like most about Christina’s blog is her fashion tastes. She does not abandon her personal style at the door of Goodwill, and fashion is the focus of every outfit. Compared to many thrifting bloggers who resort to from old clothes, this element of her outfits is refreshing. Not only that, but her style is very similar to mine, with more sophistication. She seamlessly mixes vintage pieces with modern ones to five her outfits a timeless and unique look that is hard to emulate. After only scrolling through her blog for a few minutes, I found an array of outfits that I would die to wear myself.
Styling Thrifted Pieces
Some thrifted items seem to be an absolute treasure at the store, but once they are taken home, they are impossible to incorporate into your wardrobe. I run into his problem way to often, so I set out to make a lookbook styling some thrifted items. All of the outfits here are styled with the racer front top from Tilly’s. I would like to thank my friend Emily for modeling some of these outfits for me.
Thrifting in a Church
Today was Texas State’s 13th annual Bobcat Build, a community service project that gets students out and volunteering all over San Marcos. I participated in this event with the Student Association for Campus Activities, one of the organizations that I am involved in. Our group was sent to a church to help them out with weed plucking, hedge trimming, window cleaning–and my favorite–clothes sorting. Me and a few other girls were assigned to sorting out clothes that had been donated to the church and were to be disbursed out to the homeless. I was already exited about my assignment but my enthusiasm grew when our coordinater at the church told us that we could keep a few items for ourselves if we saw some we wanted. The only thing better than community service is community service with shopping involved.
The first few items t
hat I picked out were college basics that I have been lacking from my wardrobe: a tshirt and some underarmer shorts. Although these items aren’t normally my style, there have been a few occasions where I wanted to dress down, and now I can. The shorts are in my size and appear to be great quality. The shirt is comfort colors and also just plain adorable with the Dalmatian.
The second item I found was a long red tartan print skirt. This one was an item that is a little more down my alley. I found this by chance, forgotten in the corner of a room after all the other clothes had been packed up. Although I wish I had the creativity to pull this skirt off at its current length, I do not so I will be hemming it to above the knee. I have been looking for a skirt like this one for so long but I have found that all of them were far too short on me so this skirt is the perfect solution!
Thrift Sitch 