Frugal April Closet

Why call it frugal?

Because most of the clothes and accessories shown here were thrifted, some of them for a dollar apiece. The two scarves shown were, strangely enough, not thrifted, but one of them was a gift. A couple of things came from consignment stores and vintage clothing sellers. One purse was bought new a couple of years ago.

Why do frugal?

It's a budget-friendly way to shop sustainably. Plus you can find things nobody else has!

I've used this poster before as wardrobe inspiration. This time it came up kind of after the fact, but there's definitely some "Sonatina Per Due" going on here again.

It might be this scarf:

Or this one:

Or this blouse from the thrift store's dollar rack:

Or this taupe top, also a dollar...

Read the rest of the page here

The Thing Is (The Return of Come Unthrifting With Me)

Right now all the Ontario thrift stores are locked down (again), so our treasure-hunting trips are not happening. Online alternatives are tempting, especially with many retail stores having sales and offering incentives like free shipping. However, I'm trying to hold out on shopping for amusement, and enjoy the things I already have, so I'm reviving the Unthrifting posts. (Total honesty: I did order a new tote bag to replace one I've used hard for two years; but it was on sale.) 

Lately I've been seeing ads for a very nice sweatshirt-fabric blazer. The thing is...I own a similar navy is-it-a-sweatshirt-or-is-it-a-blazer, that I found at a thrift store a few years ago.

The same company has sent me ads for their most recent take on a good-quality, simply styled jersey dress. The thing is...I recently thrifted a similar dress.

I often click the shopping links on Vivienne Files posts, which give helpful information (what's that sweater actually made of?) but which often involve stores and clothes much too cher for me. So now ads for the same stuff pop up everywhere I go online. Lately that means a whole batch of beautiful scarves, mostly florals. The thing is...I have scarves too. Most of them are thrifted, a few came from Ten Thousand Villages before it closed, and a couple were bought new somewhere else, and/or were given to me. Last fall I saw this pink scarf called "Poetic Nature Foliage" on the website of a Canadian store, and I ordered one along with more practical things like pajamas and turtlenecks.

Are you seeing the pattern here? (I don't mean the one on the scarf...)

It seems to me that many of us, when we're getting bombarded with ads and filling virtual shopping carts with clothes or books or whatever, could probably look through our own closets and shelves and find things that pleased us just as much when we first undid the packages, or when we first came across them at a fancy store. Or a thrift store. Or an amazing little out-of-the-way used bookstore. Or even at giant-mart.  (Don't discount the discounts. I have a favourite blanket scarf that I found during a giant-mart grocery trip.)

If you were to photograph some of these things beautifully, post them on a buy-my-stuff website, and then absent-mindedly come across your own ad, would that make you say, "Look! Just my size! Great colour! I want it!" or "That's a book I wanted to read again?"

This week I'm going to pull out a few of my own surprise-myself items, and (hopefully) get happy all over again. You can come too.

This Old Thing (Part One)

"This old thing? Why, I only wear it when I don't care how I look." (It's a Wonderful Life)

Appreciation of our stuff is often a matter of perspective.

One of our kids, at a very tiny age, watched the rest of us wrapping Christmas presents, and wanted to play too. Within the next hour, a number of gift bags appeared under the Christmas tree, filled with everyone's socks and underwear.

I can imagine that there are circumstances where clean socks and underwear would be very welcome! At any rate, we tried to affirm the good intentions of our little "giver." "Socks! Just my size! Thank you!"

So imagine that you have received a wrapped gift with something in it that you already own, maybe something you're on the fence about keeping, or something that's been a bit neglected. Or that you scored it through an online auction, and it has just arrived with all the "It's for me, happy day" dopamine you get when the package truck pulls up. How do you respond?

"A sweater! Look at those nice buttons! And it's my favourite shade of blue."

"I love this teapot! Where would be a good place to display it?"

"This was, like, my favourite book ever. I can't wait to read it again."

Or, in a nod to 2020, "Oh, a whole jar of yeast! How did you know? Rolls for dinner, for sure." 

Whatever it is: hang it in a good spot. Put it on the table. Make something with it.  Mend or glue it, if it needs it. Post its picture on your social media. Show it some love and appreciation.

And see, you didn't need to spend a dime.

The Intentional Thrifter (and Yardsaler): Baskets and Brooches

Yesterday we stopped at one yard sale. I found two lidded baskets for a couple of dollars.

I cleaned them up a bit, and Mr. Fixit wrangled the bigger one back into shape (it was just warped enough not to close nicely).

The little one is keeping our fake-fall-flowers company.

And the big one is holding bread.

I found the brooch on the left at the same sale, for a dollar. The one on the right was thrifted awhile ago. I don't often pin a brooch on clothes, but I like stringing one on a chain as a necklace.

Consignment store find: one of those sweaters that doesn't look too exciting on the hanger, but which immediately makes itself at home in the closet like it's always been there.

It's already made friends with my flannel shirt and a necklace. (Still too hot for that here, but I'll put it on hold.)

Also this one, from the thrift store. Neither of the sweaters are lifetime-quality materials, but I'm hoping that if I treat them kindly they'll last for awhile.

(Thrifted scarf.)

Fall is coming!

The Intentional Thrifter (and Yardsaler)

I found this jersey dress at the thrift store. It wasn't an absolute need, although I loved the colour and the twist-knotted waist. It's a fancier style than the other dresses I have for the summer, so not as likely to be worn much (since I don't dress for an office job).

 
But...I  discovered a way to double its wear. As with so many knit-fabric dresses, it can easily be hiked up to wear as a tunic or top. Now I feel much more intentional.

I also found a really great book about the sculptor Alexander Calder, who pioneered mobiles as an art form.

We haven't been to many yard sales this year--the weather's been too cold and rainy, and they're often not what they used to be. But we did stop at a couple of sales this morning, and I found three new-in-the-package "snack bags," or washable waterproof-lined zipper pouches. I don't care that they're baby-animal fabric, I'll use them for something.

I also bought a zippered travel case for jewelry. Not that I travel much, but when I do it would be very nice to be able to keep earrings together and necklaces detangled. I will use it at home in the meantime.

That's all!

The Intentional Thrifter had a coupon

It was a good day to be back at the thrift store! It's Volunteer Appreciation Week, and each volunteer was given a discount coupon. Here's what I found:

A poetry book, with CD, for Lydia

A spring dress for me (better with a belt)

A shiny necklace

And a copy of Dorothy Wordsworth's journals. (Not sure what she would have made of the poetry book.)

A hundred uses for that

Did you ever have to do one of those tests of creativity, like "Can you list ten uses for a flowerpot besides growing flowers?" Or paper clips, or rubber bands. Being Squirrels, with a bit of packrat wired in, we like to store things up. Being more minimalistic Squirrels in a small nest, we like things that are multifunctional. And if things don't come with extra functions, we find them some.

Fall hall decorations:

Fake flower arrangement, bought on clearance at Michael's five years ago. Wire basket, thrifted last spring. Pinecone things, from a dollar store two years ago. Paper-covered can, decorated by a Squirreling many years ago. Wooden cottage (behind the pot), from Mr. Fixit's childhood.

I thrifted a new-with-tags-but-several-years-old scarf, which came with a detachable chain necklace. There's a You-tube video still online that shows all the things you can do with it: wear the whole thing together, pop the chain off and just wear the scarf, turn the scarf into a belt, or wear the chain as a necklace or a bracelet. All that for two dollars. Fashion critic Mr. Fixit gave a "meh" to the whole-works look, but he liked the necklace by itself. (He also fixed one of the strands of chain that had somehow gotten broken.) 

And that's the point: you may own a whole-thing item you don't like, or can't use, or that doesn't work in the way you used to use it; but maybe you can use half of it, or turn it backwards or inside-out. One person's junk...but what about your own "junk?" Is there a way to re-use what you already have? Do you have to go buy an extra new whatsit, or do you already have one and just not notice? (Try searching "things to make with Lego," if you want to see real creativity.)

I sewed several of these weighted device-holders four years ago, as Christmas gifts. They are also handy to hold greeting cards, postcards, or small books. 

Recently I wanted to display a small plate, but couldn't think how to make it stand up. Device-propper to the rescue, disguised with a doily.

Side view:

Basket with wooden base, thrifted a year ago 

What we used it for last Christmas

What we used it for this month, for Thanksgiving (I lined the bottom with waxed paper and then coloured paper)

So...what are ten new ways to use a flowerpot?

The Intentional Thrifter buys some un-mom jeans

I finally decided that my thrifted-two-years-ago lone pair of blue jeans were getting too baggy and worn, so today I took a look through the thrift-store jeans rack. Two pairs looked like possibilities, and only one of those fit. Happily, that pair had this week's coloured discount tag, so the final price was a dollar fifty.

 

One of the two waist buttons came off in the fitting room. The other button, bizarrely, appeared to have been resewn, but backwards. I fixed them both when I got home. The jeans are in good shape otherwise. They're a skinny cut, ankle length, not baggy. Yay.

Here comes the "good reasons to thrift" part of this story. These jeans are from the same Canadian designer as the grey suit I posted about earlier this year. Jeans on her website are listed at about $150 Canadian (U.S.$115). That's a little bit scary, K-Mart Shoppers. I mean, these are pretty nice jeans, and I was happy to find them, but I don't know that you'd look at them and think they had been hand-sewn by elves or something. They are made in Canada, not overseas, so that may partly account for the high price. And some people just like to shop in boutiques and have the money to do so...and, apparently, to pass them on to the MCC thrift store when the buttons get loose.

Well, I send them my unbaggy and sincere thanks.

The Intentional Thrifter: Find and replace; wearing your closet

I am trying not to add extra clothes to my closet, but this plum-coloured sweater dress is a replacement for another dress that had gotten very pilled. So that's okay.

I'm still looking for belts and shoes, but haven't seen any that I like or that fit. It might take awhile.

I've thrifted some books recently, but they're mostly for gifts and I don't want to spill any secrets. Things I did not buy today, although it was close: a photo book about midcentury modern style; a boxed set of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books; a paperback copy of Watership Down (I might still pick that up at the end of the week). 

The Encircled.ca (or .com) clothing company is doing a Wear Your Closet challenge this week, through their Instagram page. You pick seven items of clothing you "never wear," spend the week seeing if you can find ways to wear them, and post photos to Instagram. Encircled also sends you styling hints during the week. (If you still don't like the seven items after all that, you have permission to give up and give them away.) Am I participating? Not officially, because I have already thinned out the things I doubted I'd wear again.

But this week's return to sweater-weather, combined with the Encircled challenge, reminded me to try new things. I've already worn a new-to-me sweater with a grey skirt I picked up in April but didn't wear much; and layered a slightly-too-short denim shirtdress with a top and leggings. Today I noticed that an old favourite pullover goes very well (in a cheerfully-clashing sort of way) with the last scarf I bought, and that's what I wore to sort books.

So that's how I'm wearing my closet.

The Intentional Thrifter shops for parts

I bought four things at the thrift store this morning: a wooden organizer box, a set of four cloth placemats, and two personal-planner binders for a dollar apiece, just for their innards. Total, seven Canadian dollars (U.S.$5.42 right now).

Here is the box. Nothing special, just useful. 

Maybe for paper?

Maybe for hot pads? 

The lid could also be useful.

Here are the place mats.

One by itself would look nice with this strawberry plate.

One of the binders was six-ring, but the included paper fits my own planner perfectly. Also included: some Stephen R. Covey planning advice. Just a bonus.

 The other notebook had a special binding system with plastic buttons, so the paper doesn't work in a regular binder. But we did end up with a bunch of loose paper for grocery lists, Scrabble games, and phone messages. Also some sticky page markers.

I can't use these dividers and page protectors, but I'll leave them by the elevator in our building, where people share stuff like that.

And this small pile of stuff is going in the garbage. The pen didn't work, and I didn't need the other hardware and plastic inserts.

But I still got my money's worth.