Thrifting My Truth

Saturday was the day I was headed to Goodwill to shop for my new style.  I have started Dressing Your Truth ® (see below for a special offer only available through May 20th).  My husband gave it to me for Mother’s Day and after a lot of thought I decided I am a Type 3℠.  I see lots of Type 1 and Type 4 in me, but Type 3 ultimately won. 🙂

I go to the thrift store a lot.  Our local Goodwills have 50% off every other Saturday.  That became a huge blessing when my husband was in graduate school and we were funneling any extra money into tuition, but now that we’re done I still LOVE shopping there.  It’s a rush, and I love how it keeps me on budget.  This post will give you some ideas on how to shop for women’s clothing at thrift stores, while staying true to yourself!

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I listened to Carol say that if you go to the store feeling like you’re not going to find something — you certainly won’t.  She suggested setting your intention to say that you WILL find something.  I did that.  I felt positive, and excited, although also nervous to find what was going to work for me in this new style.  I also brought a stylish friend along with me so she could remind me if I lost my mind. 🙂

Here are the two trips I made:

 This was my first trip, you see:

• Jeans — high waisted, yikes, but I loved the fit and I don’t love sharing my backside when I bend over if my shirt isn’t long enough
• Shoes — brand new, and squared front.
• Belt — never have I worn a belt over a shirt… maybe once over a sweater.  I am scared.
• 2 necklaces — trying to get more gold, although I’m not sure these really “fit” Type 3
• 5 Shirts — LOVE the purple one (that is something I would have bought before, I’ve always loved purple, the stripe one is scary.  That is totally out of my normal comfort zone, the flowery one has all the colors on the card but I’m not sure it’s “correct”, this is my first animal print purchase EVER, and the swirly one I will talk more about below.

The total of all shown here is $24.00 (horray!)

My Second trip:

• 3 pairs of pants — the back 3 are all capris/shorts (which is a miracle, because it’s almost impossible to find decent capris here during the summer at Goodwill).  The front “butter” color ones are certainly a step away from my “usual”
• Pair of sandals — Cole Hahn, which I got for only 2 bucks!
• A watch — A chunky watch, which I haven’t worn as much lately (but love).  This one’s battery even works!
• 2 Necklaces & a bracelet — trying to get necklaces that are more gold in color and more “substantial” & a cuff bracelet (also a first for me)
• A shirt — whole “hearts” aren’t really a Type 3 thing, but I really liked it on — including the lower in the back (to cover my buns if I lean over).

Total for that trip $33.00!

Grand total for both trips $58.00!

On the picture below you see my color card {grey-scaled at their request — but it is in color) and I had it out and ready to see what would work.  Here are my 5 tips for thrifting your type. 🙂

1.  Just dive in.

The best thing about my Goodwill is that is organized my color.  I just entirely skipped the black section (which is huge), and the navy section (which was hard — I find that Navy is my hardest color to give-up — I have so many striped navy shirts it’s not even funny).  I just started plowing down the rows finding colors that worked.

3.  Don’t say no too soon.

Anything that fit the color card came in with me.  Well, within reason.  Since I am LDS I have some modesty standards that guide me.  I didn’t go too strictly on the other 4 style elements on my first run.  I was looking for clothes that were more “substantial” and I think I’m more naturally drawn to that type anyway — but I gave myself some leeway on  my first run through, and then asked myself if the clothes were substantial and dynamic in the dressing room.  The picture on the leftis all the shirts I had in my cart before I went to the dressing room.

2.  Plan for some extra time.

I was bringing in clothes that I had a nice laugh about, but the colors fit the type and I wanted to try them on and see what I thought.  Many I continued to have a nice laugh about.  The reality is that this color of yellow really just does NOT work for me.  Maybe when included in a pattern…. but yeah, no.  BUT, on 50% off day the dressing rooms are crowded and the trips were long.  I went without kids.  I can’t imagine having taken kids on this first run through.  Plan on some time to devote to it.

4.  Shop the sizes.

I probably wear a medium to large in the stores (depending on the cut around the butt), but at Goodwill I shop large to extra large.  Very often things have shrunk or it could be jr’s sizing.  Also, with Type 3’s obsession with belts and layering, having something a little big may not be a problem (my animal print, I think, is an XXL — but I liked how it looked — I also didn’t know it was an XXL until I hit the dressing room).

5.  Once you have it in the dressing room, give it the “eye”.

I was so concerned about my little card and if I was getting the right stuff that I didn’t pay as much attention to pilling and stains.  That is uber important in the land of thrift stores.  The purple shirt had a little hole on the side, but since it is on the seam I could easily fix it (and I loved how it felt on).  I give it the once over in the dressing room, and then I also do it while I’m in line at the checkout.  If you brought a friend, check clothes together, she might find something you missed!

6.   Once you have colors down, ask yourself about the other elements.

Are there the right shapes?  DYT has specific shapes that you look for in your clothing.  I must admit that the heart shirt has abit of my Type 1 personality, but I really liked it.  That weird brown/green/orange/yellow shirt has dynamic movement to the swirls (it’s the top one in the picture of the shirts on my cart).  I honestly have no idea if I’ll love that shirt, but I thought I’d give it a try.

7.  Plan on the investment having a few goofs.

As I have mentioned, the brown/green/orange/yellow shirt is “out there” for me – -but as I held the card up I felt like it was true Type 3 and I wanted to see what I thought after a day of wear.  I figured the $2.50 it cost me will be a learning experience.  I also bought those butter yellow pants.  I would NEVER have bought them before, but they’re a color that is totally on my card and I thought I would try it.  I have never worn a bulky belt over my clothes, and again — I thought I’d try it.  That’s the beauty of buying at Goodwill.  I’m not married to these clothes.  If I lost 10 dollars to have a better idea of how my style works for me that is certainly worth it.

Things I’m excited about:

1. The long purple shirt fit so nicely, and comes down to cover my buns.  I think it will look great with a belt and it the fabric was nice and soft

2.  The shoes —  I currently ONLY have rounded top shoes.  However, the ones with the squared toe are cute and I think they are brand new (and I paid $3.50 for them).  The sandals are Cole Hahn and I paid 2 bucks for them.  I currently wear a lot of black shoes and that will need to change.  These are a nice dark brown that will help me transition out of that.

3.  The jewelry.  I am excited to add some more gold to my collection.  The rose gold watch is currently the only watch that I have that fits the system.  I was hoping to find a couple more watches, but didn’t have any luck.  I love watches. 🙂

Things that scare me:

1.  That striped sweater is kinda weird.  As I look at it I wonder if it’s more Type 2 than Type 3, but I had my card out and it really seemed to match.  That is CERTAINLY a piece I wouldn’t have picked out otherwise.

2.  Butter yellow pants.  Yellow, in general, scares me.  I love it as a color but with my skin tone and hair I’m not so sure of it.  I thought I’d try out these pants to see what I think of it (without having it so close to my face).

3.  That gold cuff is kinda crazy!  It’s so big.  I have never had a bracelet like that.  We’ll see if I like it. 🙂

Overall Thoughts About Thrifting with DYT

My friend Lara has done Dressing Your Truth for a long time.  In giving her the many excuses to why it wasn’t going to work for me, I said that almost all my clothes come from the thrift store.  She said that it would make thrift shopping even easier, and I would have to agree.  Yes, yesterday’s trip was a little overwhelming, but I think it would have been overwhelming to do at any store.  It’s a lot to take in, to figure out if the clothes have ALL the things you want in them.  Ultimately I think I’ll be able to run to the section and go through it much more quickly, find things that really work for me (honestly, most of the clothes that I put on looked REALLY great on me as far as the colors go — and I was nervous about many of them) and get OUT of the store.  And that’s what it’s all about for this Type 3.

I also think I’m going to scan in the card and make a couple more and laminate them.  I’m worried about losing it (you also get a larger card, but this one is so portable and handy!)

Anyway, that’s my trip.  I hope you guys found this kind of interesting.  I’d love to see someone else’s trip to Goodwill.  It is fascinating to see what people find and what they’re drawn to.  Also to learn how other people do it.  I’ve learned a lot about thrifting from a very smart sister in law.  It’s really something you have to be taught or make some trial and error at to get right.

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