FLASHBACK: This picture was taken and posted the week of January 19, 2012 (see original post here. That's nearly 2 years ago, yeah? This exact dress, and socks have been on regular rotation for the past 2 months- I still love the cut of the dress, and the colors- dreamy violet and turquoise against a midnight black cotton background. This is winter blooming at its finest. The shoes are long gone, the gorgeous metal scaled belt has recently been sold, but everything else is still in my closet. And that feels good!
This outfit was 80 % Thrifted, but is 100% #SECONDHANDFIRST.
Let me illustrate:
- Vintage 1950s/60s wool floral sweater. Bought at Fringe, a vintage lifestyle shop in Sacramento. Owned by a lovely lady, this is me shopping local, and supporting a small, local business, as well as buying a secondhand sourced garment, that happened to be in minty fresh condition, and a bargain for just $32.
- Vintage cotton floral frock- purchased from Free Style Clothing, another Sacramento based business, owned by a woman. Kinda like Buffalo Exchange, they do a booming business of buy/sale/trade offering up a way to circulate your wardrobe. There are vintage items, some new items, but mostly a great way to make some room in your closet by trading your sartorial misses in, to be snatched up by another fashion-lover. The dress was on clearance- the zipper was broken, and I swooped on it for $12, and after the zipper replacement (which cost more than the dress,) the dress is still a bargain for under $30.
- The belt was a score from the Goodwill probably nearly 7 years ago. I think I paid $15 for it, knowing that was worth a lot more than that. I've only seen one other belt like it, at an upscale antique/vintage boutique, priced for $65.
- The socks were gifted to me- and I love them still! They are over-the-knee socks by Betsy Johnson.
- The shoes- in reality cheap trendy things, but I loved them . They were purchased in a small local boutique, yet another Sac-town, woman owned business. I wore the shoes almost daily for nearly a year. Suddenly they didn't suit me, and I then donated them to a charity shop. While I would have preferred to have bought better quality shoes made from a Union factory, at least the purchase supported a local business. We all do what we can, when we can do it.
REMINDER: Shoe Shine is next Tuesday! Looking forward in seeing what you'll bring!