About a week ago I had to opportunity to go out shopping with a good friend. Her mission was to get me out of my standard uniform of jeans, tops and sneakers and into something with more style. The rules were that I was not allowed to buy anything black it’s classic), and I was not allowed to buy socks.
You see, my practicality being what it is, socks are infinitely useful. Besides being worn on the feet, once they become worn out, they can still be used for many other things. Plus, it is rare to find new socks at a thrift store. Thwarted from buying socks, I expressed the desire to buy socks for my husband. After my friend finished laughing, she put on a stern face, grabbed my arm and steered me toward the dresses.
Of course, we took a drive to the outlets for our shopping. Why pay full price for anything, right? Plus, we searched the clearance racks within the outlets for even more savings. This, still was a bit hard for me. I think even my bargain hunting friend would be shocked to know that at least 50 percent of my wardrobe dates back at least seven or more years (some tops that I still wear today go back 17 or 18 years) and at least 30 percent of my wardrobe comes from thrift stores.
There were some very nice clothes that I tried on and really liked. But each piece had to go through a pretty severe checklist in my mind. For example, do I already have something in my closet that would go with the piece (or could I find something right then and there)? How many times was I likely to wear the clothing? If it was only for special occasions, was the cost low enough to justify?
Combining this checklist with just trying things on means that at the end of the day I walked away with very few purchases: a date dress (and the promise of baby sitting for my wedding anniversary), some underwear (special but still practical), a fun dark purple top, and a white sweater for church that I snuck in when my friend wasn’t looking. Oh and the dress? It is black.
You can read more blog posts by Mary Ann Romans here!
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