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.

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!

Photo from Creative Commons Google Images

Meanwhile, get inspiration from this jumping photo and enjoy this youtube playlist of thrifters who definitely don’t care what other people think.

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.

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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 that 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!

Thrifting App

For class, I was assigned to create an app. Upon doing research in the Apple App Store, I discovered that a few apps focusing on thrifting already exist. However, these apps did not utilize the resources that I was expecting from a thrifting app. Instead, the existing apps served as online marketplaces for users to sell their old clothing.

The goal for my app was to create a resource where thrifters can find out about sales, styling, store reviews and more all in one place. Using the website Buildfire, i built a prototype for my own app. With my app, Thrifting Sitch, users would be able to find all these tools in one place.

One of the aspects of my app is a sale widget. In this widget, users will be able to discover thrift store sales in their area.

My app also features a styling widget. From here, users will be able to type in an item that they want to see styling tips for and be provided with some photos and articles to help them.

Many thrifters, including myself, spend needless time using a variety of sources to perfect their thrifting. My app will bring all of these resources together and make the thrifting experience easier for users. People will want to use this app because it is portable, user-friendly, and combines resources into one.

Thrift City

When I took a weekend trip home to Dallas, I made sure make time to go to Thrift City, the local thrift store where I have comprised much of my wardrobe. They were having one of their many sales, with 50% off select clothing items. Unfortunately I didn’t find any steals in the sale section, but the items that I did walk away with were reasonably priced, and wardrobe essentials.

When I saw these overalls, I was ecstatic. I have been looking for a pair of full length overalls for about a year. Every time that I went to a thrift store to find some, I came out dry. I was so grateful to find a pair in my size without any tacky embellishments. This pair fits me nearly perfectly. The only drawback is cuts that have been made at the ankles of the legs. But this problem is easily solved by rolling up the pant legs. For only $5, these are the perfect addition to my spring wardrobe.

As I am in desperate need of shoes, I am grateful to have found this pair of Kimichi Blue Sandals for only $4. I immediately recognized the brand as one that Urban Outfitters carries. The sandals seem like they have barely worn at all. The pair original retailed for $29.

Savers Trip

I am a loyal Goodwill shopper, but after being constantly disappointed by my local store in San Marcos, I decided to take a trip to Savers, a thrift store that I am constantly hearing about but have never visited. The nearest Savers is in Austin, forty minutes away from where I live, but the awesome selection made the trip well worth it.

The store was much bigger, cleaner, and neater than any Goodwill I have ever visited. Not to mention the quality selection and helpful employees. I tried on many items at the store, but ultimately only walked away with two.

I have been looking for graphic tees for a while, so I was grateful when I found this one with the title of Willy Nelson’s 1973 album on it. For only $3, this shirt saved me from having to dish out money for one of the outrageously priced graphic tees that other retail stores sell.

The second item that I found at Savers is this beautiful, great quality red scarf for only $5. Although it is warming up outside, this scarf is lightweight enough to wear for a few more weeks. I have seen scarfs almost identical to this one at department stores priced upwards of $50, so this $4 scarf was a steal.

At the end of the day, Savers is such a great store that I do not think I will be able to resist visiting again. Even though the prices at the store were about the same as at Goodwill, the selection and organization of Savers make it superior. Every advantage of the store makes up for its inconvenient location.