My Personal History with Pre Loved Items
Quote of the day: “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” Sir Winston Churchill
ThredUp is having a campaign to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8. The company is allowing everyone to shop in 30 of their top supplier’s closets (starting March 6) and then thredUp is donating 100% of these proceeds to Girls, Inc. I’d love to invite you to not only have a blast shopping on thredUp’s site, but also as a way to help out this fabulous charity.
Since I have been embracing pre loved items more and more, I thought it might be fun to take a stroll through my life wearing some of these second hand items.
History
As an only child, needless to say I didn’t get hand me downs. Well, I shouldn’t say never. Because every once in a while I’d be delighted with a box that arrived from California from my cousin Joy, who I introduced earlier this summer. In fact I found this fun photo of one time when my mother and I were out visiting Joy and I picked up these orange bell bottom jeans from her! Don’t I look so stylish??
I loved these hand me down boxes because they were totally “in style” pre loved items. Remember we lived in Ohio, the Midwest, where styles took longer to get introduced! And my cousin was always so cool. I wanted to be just like her.
I’ve had other friends gift me items all the time, in the past and even now. The red dress below is one that my dear friend, Julie gave me to go swing dancing when I went out to visit her. She told me to keep it, and I used to wear it all of the time. In fact, I still have it in my closet. And now that I’m talking about it, I should pull it out and see how it fits.
After Dental School
I’m not sure when thrift stores became popular in Denver, but when I first purchased my dental practice, the assistant working for me introduced me to Savers.
And man, I was hooked. I couldn’t believe that you could walk out of there with a huge bag full of pre loved items for less than $100. And considering I was still paying off school loans, I considered that a smart, financial choice. I could add some professional blazers and jackets to my closet for such a deal.
The blazer I was wearing in the above photo is definitely from the thrift store because I never bought a blazer any other place.
Attitudes towards pre loved items
I know many of my friends dislike the idea of pre loved clothing except maybe for costumes. In fact, I found this photo from a cowboy themed party where both the top and skirt I’m wearing are thrifted. It was a “sexy cowboy party” so that’s why I’m showing off my midriff. And I want you to know I still have that red bandanna. And I wear it!
As for already worn items, I always look at them as a once I’ve worn a new piece, then it is pre loved. Sure, maybe I’m the only one that’s worn it, but it still not new anymore. And even for new items, it’s possible that many other women have tried on that piece before you’ve bought it. I think that’s why the idea of thrift store shopping has never bothered me. It’s like a fun treasure hunt because many times you can find items that aren’t being sold in the stores.
Marrying Rob
My husband Rob is one of those people who doesn’t appreciate thrift stores. He always thinks that they have a certain smell and just doesn’t love the idea. Therefore once we got married, I didn’t continue shopping at the thrift stores as much.
Of course it didn’t hurt that I was finally making some money in my practice too. This is when I found and began supporting the small boutiques wherever we went. Not that we didn’t shop at the big stores too; however since I owned a small business, I also loved supporting the other small businesses.
Retirement
Once I sold the business, I started realizing that the thrift stores could become my friend again. I had found a couple around our area and even convinced my husband that they weren’t all that bad.
Once I started blogging, I remember reading about thredUp in another blog and that’s where I found both my jumpsuit and my moms for our blog post a couple of years ago. The idea of online shopping at pre loved clothing prices is like a dream come true. Since then I’ve also discovered Poshmark and eBay as other online options for pre loved items.
Its been amazing what a large Instagram community there is for pre loved items. I found #thriftedchicstylechallenge which I’ve been lucky to be co host along with Michele for the last 6 months.
If you are on Instagram, feel free to join us during specified week during each month by showing your second hand style. The best part is there’s a winner every month. The challenge runs usually in the middle of the month and I always share a post to announce it and the list of hosts and sponsor.
I found the metallic dress, the red cardigan and that Kate Spade leopard purse all at thrift or consignment stores.
Nancy & Mom
Nancy was never a big shopper period before the blog came into her life. And she certainly didn’t go to the thrift stores. But I after our trip to Frisco this winter, where she found this wonderful leopard coat, I think I’ve converted her. We just recently visited the Clothes Mentor in our area when they were having their $2 sale, and she picked up some more fabulous deals.
PS. As I was looking through thredUp, I noticed quite a few leopard coats for sale. I know when I was originally looking a couple of months ago for myself, I couldn’t find any that would work for me. So it’s a great lesson, that it just depends on the timing.
Because my mother is thrifty by nature, she has been a huge enthusiast of any kind of consignment or thrift store. In fact the maxi skirt she wore for our retro blog post, she did purchase from thredUp.
I know for myself, I’ve been trying to increase my selection of fun purses. Therefore, that’s definitely one pre loved item that makes it’s way into my shopping cart almost every time.
International Women’s Day campaign with thredUp
As a reminder, on March 6, just two days before International Women’s Day, thredUp is releasing this list of diverse and inspiring women whose closets you can shop. As I said before, the best part is that 100% of the proceeds from their closets will go to the incredible charity, Girls Inc.!
Feel free to look around thredUp’s site with the links www.thredup.com/shophercloset and www.thredup.com/bg/p/about-shop-her-closet to get more information. The sooner you check in, the more incredible selection you will have.
And if you’ve never looked into thredUp, I invite you to check them out. Even if you’re not interested in buying pre loved items, they have a service where you can send in your unwanted items and get paid for them. I’ve used this service a couple of times, and it’s a great way to purge your closet.
The Facts
Since I’ve worked with thredUp before, I was contacted to be part of the marketing for this International Women’s Day campaign. Because of this I was compensated with a small amount of thredUp credit. I’m sure you’ll see it in the form of a new piece of pre loved clothing on the blog.
Keeping in Touch
Are you registered for my email reminders to let you know when a post goes live? I’d certainly love it if you take the time to sign up and make sure all your friends sign up too!!
Do you ever wonder why you should connect with me on other social media sites? Well let me explain what I’ve been doing lately.
Sure you can find my posts on Facebook but I also love to share other people’s posts that I think you may like. Or my Pinterest page has all of our outfits in a nutshell along with fun inspiration from other women!
Right now, most of my time is spent on Instagram. Here’s where you’ll find many other of my outfits and plenty of musings about life and such. Sure, you may not feel like you want to add another social media site to your list. But I spend lots of time and effort to make sure there is something for everyone!
And if you’re new to the party, you can always see our outfits organized by categories, here. Don’t forget to check out the deals & discounts too, on this page.
Also, feel free to Shop My Instagram items.
