Apparel, Upcycled Projects

My Thrift Store Style?

by Cindy @ Upcycle Design Lab

Hello there. Welcome to the lab.

Do you buy second-hand clothing? I know there are plenty of folks out there who do and also many who don’t. I am assuming if you have found your way to my tiny place on the internet that you might not be totally opposed to owning second-hand things.

This post is not a tutorial in the “how-to” sense that I usually write. I guess it is more about my philosophy and how it relates to what I do.

If you are here, I assume you have at least an inkling regarding what my blog is about (i.e., recycling, reducing waste, reusing old items, repurposing unwanted things, repairing the broken stuff, and reimagining junk to give it new life).

From that description, you might think I am or should be some big environmental activist. But I am not. What I am is a believer in conservation. I believe in conserving resources on a personal and a community level. And one resource in particular that I believe in conserving is money. And one way in particular that I conserve money is on clothing.

Advertising Disclosure: Upcycle Design Lab may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website.

I don’t usually admit this, but today, I am sharing some of my thrift shop outfits. I can’t tell you the last time I purchased a new piece of clothing. It’s been years since I was keenly aware of fashion trends which is not to say that I don’t want to look good.

But the conservative in me notices the value that a second-hand piece of clothing has. There is lots of wearable life left in most of the garments you find, and the prices are most certainly affordable. But, to the fashion point, well, as I said, I am a little blissfully unaware.

So I recently purchased this black jumpsuit for 9.99 at my local ARC thrift store. The brand is Old Navy size XL. It is a pretty heavy knit 94% Rayon and 6% Spandex, so it is very drapey and stretchy.

Let’s get the confession out of the way first. I love this type of fabric for all kinds of reasons. First and foremost, particularly in a dark color, it is pretty pet-friendly. Meaning pet hair is easy to remove from this fabric. We have 6 pets. So we also have a lot of pet hair.

The second wonderful thing about this fabric is its wrinkle-free quality; add that to a versatile piece like a jumpsuit, and you have a great item for travel.

As I mentioned above, this fabric is also very drapey, which is good and bad. It’s good because garments made from it hang nicely and have a nice swing. It’s bad for showing jiggle, if you know what I mean. If you don’t have any jiggly body parts, then you will look great in this fabric.

This brings us to the confession part, where I admit that I wore some bike shorts underneath my jumpsuit. They aren’t quite Spanx, but they did help a little. 🙂

Here is another confession. My first styling attempt didn’t go so well. I don’t think I am a baseball cap person.

But I liked the red Keds, so it wasn’t a total failure.

On an entirely different note, I don’t buy a lot of jewelry either, but I do like to make it, from recycled materials, of course. So for this outfit, I chose some bobbly magazine paper earrings and a paper bead necklace. If you are interested, I have some for sale here.

I was much happier with my second outfit. It is casual and comfortable. To “tie up” the legs, I used some hair bands, which gives the legs a whole different look.

I don’t usually wear cropped tops, but somehow, I think it works with the jumpsuit, and for $2.50, it was worth a try.

I am so happy that I found these sandals. I am such a flip-flop gal, so any time I can find a comfortable pair of shoes that don’t just slide on and off, I consider it a win. These are Skechers Brand with memory foam, and they are quite comfortable.

Next, I decided to dress up the jumpsuit with this white poncho. I don’t usually wear white again due to the aforementioned 6 pets, but it was worth the risk for four dollars.

I have had these sandals for a while, and I still love their silly little flowers. They are a nice height to wear for comfort and dressiness.

The accessories for this outfit are also hand made the earring are made from recycled fused glass. I made them in my Fusework Microwave kiln. It is one of my favorite crafting toys. It lets you fuse glass in a conventional microwave. The pendant necklace is made from old watch parts.

If you are interested you can find the tutorials for these projects below or links to items for sale in my eBay store.

This next look might show my age a little too boldly, but what the heck. It is comfy and cool, and it goes with my new favorite shoes.

For my last look, I went back to a crop top appearance using the “hair band knot technique on the top, some casual cream-colored wedges sandals, and my everyday black should bag.

That’s it for now.

Happy Upcycling,

Cindy

Advertising Disclosure: Upcycle Design Lab may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website.