Skip to main content

Always Buy Your Formal Dresses Used

Most of us have few opportunities to wear formal dresses. As I write this post, we are in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic of 2020, with few opportunities to attend a wedding, a gala, or any other more formal event.

This too shall pass, and I suspect that opportunities to get out and dress up will rebound. Meanwhile, what better time than now to score a couple of nice dresses?

Here are some dresses I've found at Goodwill and worn to some formal occasions in past years:



I wore this most recently to a friend's wedding last year. I also wore it to my high school reunion two years ago, which is always a quite formal affair. It's a Banana Republic dress that ties in the back. I don't remember what I paid, but the typical cost for a dress at Goodwill is $12.99, and I likely paid under $20.00. I intend to keep this dress for a few more years. The necklace, a simple sterling silver strand, was purchased new.



I got this dress for an audition just prior to the pandemic shutting down all of the theater activity in town. It's a Calvin Klein dress that likely cost under $20.00. The necklace was also purchased used from a consignment store.



This faux wrap dress is from Chico, with their trademark shiny, stretchy fabric. This is my current favorite "little black dress" to wear for more formal occasions. I was fortunate to have an occasion to wear it in early 2020. I purchased the pearl necklace new in the early 1980s, swayed by the argument that a simple strand of pearls would stand the test of time. This dress also was likely under $20.00.


I got this dress at a consignment store rather than Goodwill. I don't remember what I paid, but it was likely under $30.00. It was my "costume" for a holiday cabaret that I sang in for several years running, and so I've had many opportunities to wear it. The necklace, costume jewelry, was purchased new.

I purchased this last dress new in 1988 for my ten year high school reunion (fun fact:  I also wore it to my 20 year reunion--don't tell anyone!). I include it because, now that I've photographed it for posterity, I've donated it to Goodwill, along with the dress shown immediately above, for someone else to cherish.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Clothing and getting on the Environmental "Green Triangle"

Dana Thomas, author of the book, Fashionopolis , published in 2020, has a scary message:  Our addiction to cheap, trendy clothing is poisoning the planet and keeping millions in poverty . Fast fashion is bad for you. The fashion industry as a whole is responsible for ten percent of all carbon emissions worldwide, and a whopping twenty percent of all industrial water pollution, according to Thomas' research. Meanwhile, sweatshop operations (Thomas reports of young people working in 110-degree heat in some of the factories she visited) paying low wages to the people manufacturing our clothes continue in many countries, including our own. Her research shows that one in six people worldwide, nearly twenty percent, is employed in some manner by the fashion industry. Of those millions of people, only two percent of them are able to earn a living wage. There is a Sisyphean side to the fashion industry as well:  We will only wear the clothing these people worked so hard to manufacture...
1 comment
Read more

Casualization of Clothing

 I'm taking a break from talking about used clothing this week to focus a bit on history. I recently saw a photograph of women from the 1920s, and it occurred to me what an amazing transformation had happened for women's clothing in just 30 years. Here's an image of what women wore in the 1890s. Note the long sleeves, high necklines and rear bustles. These outfits would also have required a corset underneath and petticoats. I found this image at ThisVictorianLife.com .  The couple who runs the site wears Victorian-era clothing in their everyday lives. Here is an image of what women wore in the 1920s. Note the (relatively) high hemlines, short sleeves and more contemporary necklines. Also note the low heel on the shoes. I found this image on a Pinterest page. While I personally prefer clothing that's a bit more figure-flattering, imagine the freedom these women from the 20s experienced compared to their 1890's sisters! Have things changed as much 100 years later? Ma...
Post a Comment
Read more

Curating a Summer Wardrobe at a Fraction of Retail Cost

There is almost always a tension between time and money. On one end of the spectrum you can save a lot of time by hiring a personal stylist to select, purchase and alter clothing tailored for you. On the other end of the spectrum, if you are willing to spend some extra time shopping and doing some minor alterations, you can create (I believe) an equally nice wardrobe that is orders of magnitude less expensive. Since you can't specify the exact piece you want in your wardrobe when you buy used clothing, you need to have a broad plan or template in mind, then you can shop for the basic pieces to fill in the gaps.  Assuming you're on board with spending time instead of money, here are some considerations as you curate and build your own seasonal wardrobe: Step One - Start with pieces you already own. Visit your closet and pull out the pieces you want to work with. As an example, I recently retired, it's summer in Phoenix, and I wanted to expand my wardrobe of casual summer clo...
1 comment
Read more