Thursday, April 8, 2021

Hello! We are almost to Friday!

I had a fun Spring Break visit from my sister, as many of you know. One of the things we did was take a trip to two of my favorite consignment shops. I think she has been consignment shopping longer than I have? But, I remember our mom bringing us to the big city (Louisville, where I currently live) to go consignment shopping when we were teenagers. We grew up in a small town in Indiana about an hour from here. So, maybe she and I have been learning the tricks to consignment shopping for the same amount of time. We have always loved getting bags of hand-me-downs and finding garage sale treasures and enjoying second hand stuff. I know that is not everyone’s cup of tea and that’s o.k. But, remember that someone else probably tried on your new clothing in the store! Lol!

If you live in a small town, it might be worth researching the consignment stores in your nearest big city and making the trip. Many of our stores had to pivot (Friends!) and start websites during the pandemic. A popular internet consignment store is Thredup. For me, I want to see and touch my consignment goods, so I really don’t want to do online consignment shopping.

Let me debunk a misconception…

No one will ever know it is a consignment find. Consignment stores are very picky about what they take. I cannot tell you how many items I see that still have retailers’ tags on them. Plus, there are also many items without tags that look like they have never been worn or have only been worn once. We all make shopping mistakes and you can be the beneficiary of someone else’s mistake! Ha!

I actually like the fact that some of the clothes I find have already been washed. You know when you buy something, wear it once, and then it falls apart in the washer and dryer? Or, it just doesn’t look the same? That stinks! I try to avoid fast fashion now (or at least more than I used to) and that has helped. You may want to look at the next size up since the items may have been washed and can shrink a little. We all need to stop getting hung up on sizing tags. Sizing is crazy in the US!

I personally have had a lot of luck with shoes. I do not think it is gross because if I buy a pair of shoes they have hardly been worn. I do sometimes spray them with Lysol or clean them up a bit, but you would not believe the wonderful shoes I have found. Some of my best finds of all time are my three pairs of brand new Tieks flats that I found for $30 each. These retail for $200 and are some of Oprah’s favorite things. I also found Tory Burch Miller sandals for $70 and they retail at over $200.

Both of my favorite consignment stores allow returns on clothing, but not on shoes. I think it might be worth it to take something home and try it on with your own clothes and in your own mirror.

When you are consignment shopping, it’s good to be open-minded. You probably won’t find very specific things, but you might. If you live close to shops, their inventory changes very frequently so it may be worth it to stop in once every couple of weeks.

On my shopping trip with my sister I came away with these new or almost new shoes:

These Volatile cow/dalmatian? print sandals were $20. I was not in the market but I have heard many people say that this brand is amazingly comfortable. I thought I could throw these on with jeans and a black top or cut off jean shorts and a black top and have an easy put together outfit.

My sister found two pairs of Antelope sandals. She has really high arches. I don’t like this high of a heel for myself most of the time.

This shirt was another of my sister’s finds. It is a pale green mossy color and it looked very flattering on her. Lesson here is that it may not look like much on the hanger, but it might be really great if you try it on. I told her I thought she would reach for this a lot. Elevated t-shirts are what I call this type of thing and they are really great to have in your wardrobe.

If you remember the style spotlight I did on Kate, my sister, she talked about button down shirts and how she has quite a collection and uses them to layer in her outfits. We both thought this was an adorable print.

And, the day she left she put it together with a cardigan she brought and one of her new pairs of sandals. Isn’t this a cute and easy outfit?

And, finally, I was so jealous. This blouse screams “Amy!”, but alas, it was not in my size. It is kind of a flowy poncho fit but with some structure.

I spent around $20 for one pair of like new sandals and Kate spent around $80 for 3 tops and 2 pairs of sandals. She actually found several more things but narrowed it down with my help. We saw Cabi, Boden, Anthropologie, Tory Burch, Michael Kors, and many other great brands. All of these finds came from Sassy Fox in Louisville, Kentucky. They had so much spring and summer inventory!

We also went in to Clothes Mentor but walked out empty handed this time for us. Kate did find 4 items for her teen girls from American Eagle and Target. I feel that the quality has gone down at Clothes Mentor but there could still be a diamond in the rough.

What are your thoughts on consignment shopping? I won’t judge. It’s not for everyone!

Amy

P.S. – Maybe it would be a cool blog post for me to show every consignment item in my current closet?