Skip to main content

Two tops, a belt and sandals all for $34.36!

 This was a busy month as I moved from a wardrobe focused on attire appropriate for the workplace (even during the pandemic when I was working from home, I dressed in my normal work attire) to a more casual summer wardrobe. Here are the items I purchased at my local Goodwill along with their prices:

I found this beautiful Ann Taylor 100% cotton black blouse. I'm able to pair it with my white shorts and blue jeans:

$5.29. (Plastic "turquoise" necklace previously purchased used)

I was also excited to finally have a top with which I could wear the turquoise necklace. I'd purchased it years ago, holding on to the hope that I'd eventually have something I could wear it with!

I needed a belt to go with the utility skirt I'd purchased in July:

Stretchy woven belt with leather trim: $3.49

Here's a photo of the belt with the skirt:



I also purchased this top in August (pictured previously in this blog post):

$8.29. (Replacing another top that cost $4.29, so true cost was $12.58)


Finally, I needed to replace my falling-apart summer flipflops. I generally buy my shoes new, but I was willing to look at used first. These were not purchased at Goodwill; instead, I visited a consignment store nearby that holds very high standards for the shoes they'll accept for sale. With the help of a friend, I found these beautiful WHBM sandals that looked like they'd never been worn:

$13.00

Total expenses for the month of August: $34.36.


Comments

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...

Having Enough (Thanksgiving Edition)

 I culled my closet a couple of weeks ago, inspired again by Courtney Carver's Project 333  to limit my clothes only to what I intend to wear over the next (in my case) four months. Everything else got put into drawers or taken to an unused closet upstairs. While I'm sure I've gotten some things wrong (I just haven't figured out what they are yet), it feels like a revelation to walk into my closet:  Not too much, and not too little, it's exactly enough. The "Fulfillment Curve" from Your Money or Your Life (Dominguez & Robin) What does having "enough" clothing look like? When I left my job as a financial advisor, I no longer had "enough" clothes. I had plenty of clothing for meeting with clients in person; I also had workout clothing and a couple of more formal dresses. But I didn't have anywhere near enough clothing to meet my new daily circumstances of hanging around the house, meeting with a friend or running errands. I'v...

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...