The Downside of Thrifting
After all the good things I have to say about thrifting, there is something that totally bums me out…
No, it’s not the grodiness, or the part about wearing clothes that someone else has worn before…It’s finding something so cool that’s not in your size! I love these pants. They’re just a size too big. I guess I could take them to my local, trusty seamstress (ahem…Mom…), buuuut some days just call for over-sized, baggy pajama pants. (So I’ll wear them with a smile.)
And that just means I’ll have to keep hunting for another pair.
top, pants (Gap), denim jacket (Gap) – thrifted // shoes – Sears // earrings – Guess
Congrats to Trina for winning the Henri Lou bracelet!!
Linked with WIWW and Random Wednesday
Two Signs of Spring
Maybe some of you have been doing this for a while in your neck of the woods, but baring arms time is officially here for us!
How else do I know that it’s spring? My kid is running around without pants on. (Hmm…if I only dress him in tees, then I have less laundry to wash. This is something to think about!)
top, jeans (diy here), faux leather vest – thrifted // shoes – Sears
Linked with Visible Monday, Monday Mingle, and My Thrifty Chic
4 Items to Buy for Yourself at the Children’s Department
I admit it. I sometimes shop in the children’s section for clothes. Besides for being cheaper than their adult counterparts, I also like how the fit can be. These 4 items are top on my get-it-from-the-kid’s-section list:
Denim Jackets: I picked up this jacket a few year ago from the kid’s section at Target. I like how its shorter on me than my usual denim jackets. Gap kids is currently selling a cute white denim jacket for $34.95. A similar jacket from the women’s department runs for double that at $69.95!
Blazers: Looking for the perfect shrunken blazer? Head to the boy’s department. During pregnancy I wore a boy’s navy blazer that I thrifted. I love how the sleeves were shorter…I usually roll or push them up anyway.
White T-shirts: Whenever I need some basic white t-shirts, I pick up a pack of Hanes xl’s from the kid’s section. I mean, as quickly as white t-shirts last, you can’t beat the price!
Button Downs: I buy men’s button downs to wear with skinny jeans, but on the flip side, boy’s button downs work much better tucked into pencil skirts or under sweaters.
Keep in mind that children’s clothes won’t be tailored the way that adult clothes are. They tend to be a little boxier, but if you can pull it off (and find them in your size)…I say go for it!
Linked with WIWW!
Taking an outfit from day to night: Mommy Style
I spent a majority of Saturday cleaning my basement from Thursday’s massive rainfall. By the time dinner came around, I was too exhausted to cook anything. I think the hunger and fatigue helped me convince my husband to bring the kids to a restaurant…boy that was a poor decision! At least I had enough sense to not put on a fresh pair of clothes. (But I did freshen up a little! Heels and lip stain to the rescue yet again!) By the end of the meal, I had a belly full of Carne A La Mexicana and a shirt full of rice.
sweatshirt – Hanes // jeans – H&M (men’s) // shoes – Nine West // coat, bag – thrifted
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Remember to enter this giveaway for a lovely Henri Lou bracelet!
Linked with Visible Monday and Monday Mingle!
Faux Leather Jacket/Bright Bag…Take Two
For health reasons, I’m transitioning my family to a gluten-free/dairy-free diet. I’ve been in the kitchen testing many different recipes…sometimes just adjusting one or two ingredients from the time before to try and get it ‘just right’. (Anyone have a good recipe for gluten-free pancakes? From the 5 or so I’ve tried, I can’t get the darn things to flip!)
I’m feeling the same way with my outfits recently. Once I like how something looks, I tweak it a bunch of different ways until I get tired of it. Not sure how many times I’ll be wearing this jacket before that happens, but I bet it will be a while.
top, jeans (Gap) – thrifted // jacket – Guess // bag – Brahmin (won from Momtrends!)
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Make sure to enter my giveaway for one of these Henri Lou bracelets! Giveaway ends on April 29th!
A Secret to Sustaining a Stylish Wardrobe
It drives me crazy when I hear people say that they “have nothing to wear”. My personal philosophy: Don’t complain. Do something about it…like look at your clothes in a different way. I’ve worn this blouse with dress pants, and I love how it looks with jeans too. I also know that it would look amazing with a simple black pencil skirt and maybe even a pair of shorts (once the weather warms up). These jeans have also gotten worn lots. I had them for a few years and recently decided to distress them…I can tell that they’re going to be a huge staple for me this spring.
Maybe being a teacher has helped me in this department. (Having a classroom budget of ZERO dollars, I always think about how to make the most with what I have.) When I think I need something, I can’t just go and buy it…I need to assess what I already have and see if I can make it work somehow.
I try to do this with my clothes too. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. But it feels great to play around with what I’ve got rather than buying new stuff when my creativity becomes lull.
blouse (Express), jeans – thrifted // jacket – Guess // shoes – Nine West // bag – Brahmin (won from Momtrends!)
If you’re looking to add a new accessory to your collection, make sure to enter my giveaway for one of these Henri Lou bracelets! Giveaway ends on April 29th!
Linked with IFB Project #91, Visible Monday, Monday Mingle, and My Thrifty Chic
Getting Dressed: Part 2 – Filling in the Blanks
My little sis is on the road to becoming a full-time professional! And since I’m such a great sister (ahem, ahem), I decided to help her straighten up her closet and create some trendy, work appropriate outfits.
The first thing we did was to purge her wardrobe. (You can read more on that here.) After that mess, we looked at what clothes were left, and decided on things that appeared to be ‘missing’ from her closet.
With our list of missing pieces in hand, we headed to our nearest Savers to try to fill in the blanks. ”A thrift store…for professional clothes?” Yes, a thrift store. Personally, I think it’s a great one-stop shop. Sometimes when I go to a “regular” retailer to shop (let’s say for pants or something), I find that all the pant options in that store seem to fit me the same way. But at the thrift store, you have many brands in many sizes. This availability gives you more options as a shopper.
As you can tell from the pictures, we had no problems loading up the shopping cart. We were looking for pants, skirts, and blazers…and a few other things ended up in the cart as well!
Unlike some other thrift stores, Savers does have try-on rooms. Checking for a ‘good fit’ is always important when buying clothes. But…if you find a great piece while thrifting, you can always have it altered to your size (and still pay less than if you bought it full-price.)
One of the fun things I like about shopping with my sister is how honest we are with each other. We have no problems letting the other know if a fit looks funky or if something looks out dated. Having a good shopping partner is always a plus!
Unfortunately, that large pile of clothes dwindled down quickly…sis only came home with a few pieces. But on the bright side, that’s a few more pieces than she had before! And now we get to create some outfits!!!
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If you haven’t had the chance yet, make sure to enter my giveaway for a Henri Lou bracelet!
Leather Pieces for Spring and a Henri Lou Giveaway!
With spring temps moving in I really need to pack away my sweaters and other cold-weather stuff. I’ll most likely keep this leather mini out through spring, but the chunky knits need to move aside for summer dresses.
Another bit of leather that I’m planning on wearing a lot of this season? This Henri Lou bracelet. (I’m actually wearing two here.) The leather and metal are such a perfect mix! Mixing elements are right up my alley…Julia Roberts and Terri Hatcher agree too!
And now here’s the super awesome part…Henri Lou sent me two of these Henri bracelets so that I could give one away to a Knocked Up Fabulous reader! Exciting, right?!
Entry for this giveaway is easy.
Follow Henri Lou on Facebook or Twitter,
Follow Knocked Up Fabulous on Bloglovin or Twitter,
Then leave a comment to let me know where you’re following and which color (brown or tan) you’d like. Looking to increase your chances of winning? Follow on the other social media networks and let me know about that too. Giveaway closes on April 29!
Linked with Monday Mingle, Anything and Everything, Style Sessions, and WIWW!
Getting Dressed: Part 1 – Cleaning Out the Closet
For as long as I can remember, my little sister has always had problems deciding what to wear. Fast forward to present day and girlfriend has landed herself an internship and is in the home stretch of her PsyD program.
I offered to help her clean up her closet to prepare her wardrobe a little more for the professional world.
I’ve helped her put outfits together in the past, but before we did that song and dance again, I thought it would be best to clean out her closet…to toss items that were getting old and worn and to take a needs assessment to see what items she needed for her ‘updated’ wardrobe. The first thing we did was go through EVERYTHING in her closet. If something hadn’t been worn in a while, or if it was past it’s prime, we put it in a donate/trash pile (see below pic). I should mention that her closet was already pretty organized (see above picture); everything was sorted by color and like items. I suggested though that she reorganize the items in subcategories…short sleeves, long sleeves, blazers and jackets, etc.
I do have to say that my sis did a better job with this process than I thought! I thought for sure that I would be arguing with her about tossing things, but mostly I sat there and said things like, “When was the last time you wore that? How many black cardigans do you really need? Do you see yourself wearing that in the near future?”…yada, yada, yada. Mostly just being that inner nag to help her thin out her clothes.
You can tell from the donate picture and the empty hangers above that loads were cleaned out! (Two garbage bags of clothes to donate!) We decided as we were purging that sis needs more work appropriate bottoms and perhaps a few more blazers. I’m banning her from buying any more tops…girls got plenty of blouses, sweaters, and t-shirts to go around!
Next up…a little shopping trip to work on filling in the missing gaps.
Have you gone through a wardrobe “spring cleaning” recently? How do you organize your stuff?
Changing an Outfit From Professional to Playtime
It’s around this time every year when I start to count the minutes until the end of the day, then make a beeline for my house and grab the kids for a little play time outside. As much as I don’t want to ruin my nicer work clothes at the playground, I also don’t want to put on a whole ‘nother outfit and give myself more laundry to wash! (I know! Laziness wins every time!)
I wore this top and pants combo to work with a pair of heels. For playing outside with the kids, I traded the heels for boots and threw on a jean jacket.
Simple changes. Or as my 4 year-old would say, “Easy peasy lemon squeezy!”
jacket (Gap), top, pants, bag, sunglasses – thrifted // boots – Gap
Linked with WIWW, Random Wednesday, and Visible Monday
