National Thrift Day

I must start this post with a confession. The title I chose is a little misleading because I didn't actually go thrifting on National Thrift Day BUT it was my birthday on this most joyous of holidays and I was pretty excited when I found that out. I do hope to get to Goodwill this weekend and use my birthday coupon.

I may not have gone thrifting this weekend but I definitely celebrated getting older and made sure I looked nice whilst celebrating. I also included thrifted items in all the looks of my weekend :)

Friday Night Karaoke

 Daytime Exploring

Nighttime Partyin'

Lazy Sunday

Can you tell the thrifted items? Just goes to show that you don't have to break the bank to get the look!

My Favorite Thrifty Youtubers

I am an avid viewer of Youtube and some of my favorite Youtubers are also awesome thrifters! I thought it would be fun for me to go through my top five favorite thrifty Youtubers and maybe you'll find someone new to watch who also shares your love of thrifting!

*Salamandabot
I started watching Amanda about half a year ago. When she does a thrift haul she goes all out. They're usually long, which I love, and filled with awesome finds that range from home decor to a really cool play suit!

*Veronica Anne
Veronica is another thrifty Youtuber that makes long thrift hauls, which again I love. I absolutely love her style. She tends to wear high waisted things so I draw some inspiration from her style. She has a knack for finding some really unique pieces so I am always excited when she has a new thrift haul up.

 
*ThriftDrifter
Sadie is probably the thriftiest of the thrifters I watch and she comes up with some handy and creative DIYs to help you upgrade your wardrobe. She always finds beautiful and feminine pieces that usually include flower patterns, which I absolutely love.

*Katherine Thrifts
Katherine has such a nice and calm energy about her that makes it so easy to watch her videos one after another, after another. Katherine usually has an intro before her thrift hauls where she takes you around the store with her which I think adds a nice touch. It also makes me insanely jealous of her local thrift store. She loves velvet, crop tops and high waisted shorts, which I also happen to love!

*The Fashion Citizen
Stephanie and Melissa were the first thrifting I watched. I started watching them almost two years ago. They inspired me to get into thrifting again and I never turned back. These twin sisters both have very different styles and I find myself liking elements of each of their styles. They're dynamic on camera is also really fun to watch during their hauls :)

There you have it! My top five (technically six) favorite thrifters. Who are some of your favorites?

First Time for Everything

Hello all! This blog post will entail an adventure where the end result is a trip to Savers. This adventure was my first ever trip to the magical land of Savers and I couldn't be happier to share it with you.

For the first time in forever I was given a Friday off from work. I had planned to take a trip to Goodwill, which is ironically close to where I work, to use my 25% off for my birthday month. I was getting ready, and stepped into this jazzy number, when my friend Sarah texted me to see if I wanted to go to Savers. My immediate response was yes!

 Shirt: American Apparel/Skirt: thrifted/Belt: hand me down/Necklace: H&M/Sandals: Target (clearance)

We hopped in the zip car and away we went. The Savers we went to was in the suburbs and along the way we stopped at a Unique and a Salvation Army. My favorite finds at the Unique were a boater hat and multi colored polka dot skirt and at the Salvation Army I found shortalls(!) and an awesome jacket with a landscape of an old San Francisco.

We finally made it to our final destination and I was immediately in awe of how clean, organized and well lit it was. I immediately got to work and found two mini backpacks, one of which I ended up getting, and went ahead to the rest of the store. Just like with every thrift trip, I loaded up my cart and then eventually whittled it down. I left with a cute floral dress (big surprise), a tapestry purse, and brown wedges among other things. I was quite happy with my trip and while Savers is a little more expensive than other thrift stores, I think they keep the store well edited and well kept.

Have you made it out to a Savers? What did you find? :)

Thrifty Art

This is just a quick post to show off an image my sister created for my blog. I will be figuring out how to make it my banner in the next few days but until then I thought I would share it in a post! I might be biased, but isn't my sister's image awesome? I'm really excited to make it a part of my blog :)

P.S. If you have a chance, check out my sister's art blog: Stewart's Strokes.

Docs and the New Image of Thrift

In my last post I talked about an unfortunate event that occurred after I cleaned some recently thrifted boots. Today I would like to talk about how all was made up for when I finally thrifted my first pair of Dr. Martens.

A couple of weekends ago I had the opportunity to visit the new Salvation Army in Chicago. The store wants to bring a New Image of Thrift (and is even using it as their tag line) to those who connect negative connotations to the idea of thrifting. I myself love thrifting and love the idea of going through mounds of clothes to find that treasure, but who can complain about clean aisles, sorted clothes and good lighting? I have to admit, I was a tad disappointed about the amount of clothing I found with consignment store pricing. I am a firm believer that thrift store prices should have a cap because while I am a person that thrifts as a hobby there are plenty of people who thrift out of necessity. Despite the overpriced Target clearance items, I was able to find some very reasonably priced vintage items, many books and my favorite find of the day...these!

For a long while now I've been hoping to come across a pair of Docs in my size. Granted, low rise didn't cross my mind but I seriously couldn't be happier with this pair. I texted my sister as soon as I found them and told her "They're so ugly that they're cute!" and that is what I love about them. I feel like they will go with so much, and to top it all off they have flowers embossed on the side. If you follow me on Instagram (windycitythrifter) you may notice that I have a slight flower obsession so these fit right in with my wardrobe. Oh yeah, and the last requirement, my size. I am a tall girl and so naturally I have large feet (size 10 or 11 depending on the brand) and so I couldn't be more thrilled when these fit me like a glove.

Ok. enough gushing about these shoes but I thought I would counteract the drama of my last shoe post with the joy of my latest find. I'll keep you posted on if I find any others. Cherry red Docs are next on my list...