Having a style plan.

Thrift shopping is an interesting way to shop and it's easy to be overwhelmed.  When you go to a regular shop there are mannequins dressed in the featured looks for that shop so the customer has a guide. A person can go to one of these stores and buy the whole outfit with accessories right off the mannequin, so a person can be on complete autopilot when selecting an outfit if they wanted to. It's different with thrift stores. There is no guide, there aren't usually mannequins and the clothes are just put on the rack by type of garment so you need to have a style plan.

I've been buying all of my clothes and accessories from thrift and antique shops exclusively for about a year now. The only times I go to regular stores are when I need food or tights and things like that. I learned that to be successful when thrift shopping that I needed some sort of plan, something to keep me from buying unnecessary pieces and something to serve as my custom look book.

I advise anyone who is an avid thrift shopper to do this, and to anyone who wants to start thrift shopping but is overwhelmed these ideas are to help make the experience less scary.

1: Get a style journal. 
I prefer a physical journal but you can make a digital one. You can make a Microsoft word document, your own style power point, whatever makes it easiest for you to get your thoughts down. I like to clip pictures out of magazines or print them from the internet and then make notes about the outfit or hairstyle. When  you break down the elements of the outfit it's easier to find those types of things at thrift shops.

This is an example of a typical page in my journal, it's new so there's not a lot of writing on it but you can get the idea. I also use my journal to plan outfits, it saves me a lot of time getting ready in the morning 

2:Get a Pinterest account and make a style board.

This is a quick and easy way to accumulate inspiration. You can 'pin' a picture from a website you're on instantly and get right back to what you were doing. You can even 'repin' fashion photos from other site members. Pinterest is a huge time suck though, I can spend hours on there. Join at your own risk. My pinterest style board

3:Put inspiration photos on your phone or iPod.

This is good if you're like me and forget everything you came to the shop for upon entering. You can go to the side of the shop and quickly thumb through your pictures to remind you what you came to get. 

I hope these tips help. I know ever since I started having a plan I don't spend as much money on clothes that I might only wear once. Does anyone else have a style plan?

How to channel the 60's (Summer edition)

I just got home from a rather disappointing shopping trip at the Salvation Army in Vineland, N.J. It seems that in the last couple of months the vintage well has run dry and it's not just at the Salvation Army, none of the shops I frequent seem to have any vintage things I like in stock. I'm not a big fan of a lot of 70's and 80's fashions so I don't buy them, if you haven't noticed my favorite decades are the 50's and the 60's. Anyway, what's a mid-century loving girl to do when she can't get the real deal? There are many modern garments that one can wear to capture the fashions and the attitudes of the 60's.

The long short.

In this photo from Labor Day 1964, my Mommom (on the right) models a smashing pair of shorts. Longer pairs of shorts are hard to come by at thrift shops, at least for me they are, so when you find a pair grab them! The high waist styles are the best in my opinion. 

The mini skirt.

This one is a no brainer. What would 60's fashion be without the mini skirt! However, no super tight denim skirts so short that they resemble a belt! Other then that go to town!

The mini dress/ sheath dress

I love dresses because they're so easy no matter what the season. The last couple of weeks have been sweltering and I have been wearing dresses constantly. 

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This dress isn't a vintage dress but when I saw it I thought it captured that 60's style so I snatched it up! 

The photo to the left is of my Mommom and Poppop in Florida. My Mommom is wearing a blue and white checked sheath dress, which has been handed down to me. In tho photo to the left my Mommom, Poppop, and my Mom pose in Florida. My Mommom is yet again dressed impeccably in a sleeveless sheath dress. My Mom, whose clothes were alway picked out by my Mommom as I've been told, is wearing a cute little dress with a bold pattern. Which brings me to my next point...

A bold print!

Above you see a photo of Jeremy and I with our furbaby, Ginger, at Easter time. I was wearing a sheath dress with a bold floral print on the front and back. There were a lot of bold prints, especially loud florals, in the 60's. 

This photo is of my Mommom and I last month at my Sister's end of the school year luau. I have on a button down halter with a loud print. This is a candid shot, I wasn't quite ready. 

All of the photos of me in this post feature modern garments. I wanted to show all of you that it is possible to channel vintage styles with modern pieces.