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

Winter clothes: Back to the lake

 Part One: A winter wardrobe in progress...

She's crazy about this Cashmink® scarf. When she brought it home from the thrift store, her husband thought maybe he should have it (it's unisex, right?), but when she tried it on, he agreed that those colours were quite good on her. (She said that he could still borrow it if he wanted.)

And then she noticed how close the colours are to one of her favourite Group of Seven paintings.

Standing back, it looks mostly green and light grey.

Close up, there is a mixture of teal and other blue-greens, denim blue (maybe it's grey), light grey (maybe it's off-white), and soft pink/peach. 

The teal stripe reminds her of a Vivienne Files post about Mountain Forms by Lawren Harris, from almost a year ago. 

But with a pile of new restrictions looming on top of the usual cold winter, the Vivienne Files post that seems to come closest is this November 2019 story about rushing off to care for a family member.

Read the rest of the page here.

The Nature of Thrifting (Part One of Four)

I read a complaint by a social activist that people who think they're doing something for justice by buying clothes secondhand aren't doing the right things, or enough of them. Her point, as I understand it, is that buying a used t-shirt doesn't educate us about capital-I Issues, nor does it channel money into capital-B Businesses owned by capital-P People that the social activist wants us to patronize. Like small independent fashion designers.

Okay.

Well, that's like saying that just putting money into a church collection plate isn't the same as getting out there and "working for the Lord." Agreed that it's not the same, but it's still important. There are front-liners, there are second-stringers, there are supporters. Some people will always stay in the back rooms of ministries, or just be names on donor lists and prayer chains, but that Does Not Make Them Less Valuable.

When you  choose to buy something secondhand, or swap or re-use or buy-not, it is a small act, but it is felt.

It is felt because of what you didn't do. Because you chose to buy-or-not-buy your X from already-existing sources, you most likely chose not to buy a similar X new. That's a vote for the environment, against pollution and packaging and garbage dumps, all that industrial-nasty stuff. Some people would also say that it's a vote against "slave labour" or unjust practices which are commonly perpetrated mainly against women.

It is also felt because of what you did do, or what your thrifting money does by going into the funds of a charitable organization or ministry. Mennonite Central Committee, for example, posted this on its website in 2019:

MCC and its partners are helping create opportunities for women and girls to flourish by:

• Supporting survivors of sexual violence after Hurricane Matthew in Haiti
• Participating in the UN's Commission on the Status of Women
• Working to improve maternal and child health in Kenya
• Partnering to provide women with access to loans and agricultural training in India
• Facilitating mental health services for women in Afghanistan

So it's all about choice, isn't it? I can support a small business by buying its products, if I can afford them and if they have something I need myself, or can use for my own business, or want to give to someone. Or I can support a ministry or charity that has worthwhile goals. Or I can make a hundred other choices.

But don't ever think that any of those choices are too small to be noticed.

Top and skirt from Salvation Army Thrift Store

The Intentional Thrifter: An Autumn Story in July

(A story in the style of The Vivienne Files)

She finds it hard to pin down her favourite colour.  Sometimes it's blue. Sometimes it's green. Sometimes it's rose pink, plum, or even magenta.

But at least she knows that all those colours go pretty well with grey. Also navy, but she's putting her fall efforts into grey. So she pulls out last year's clothes, and uses what she's learned from The Vivienne Files to put a basic group of neutral things together.

Grey t-shirt, off-white shirt, jean-style Tencel shirt; blue jeans, grey pinstriped jeans, grey denim skirt

Short-sleeved grey sweater, off-white t-shirt, grey t-shirt dress, striped t-shirt, grey cords, grey fleece cardigan

Revolve dress from Encircled.ca

It seems she has enough to cover her back, but that there are some extra things that could help these clothes out. A pair of grey pants that aren't jeans or cords; a plain-ish, grey sweater that isn't a t-shirt. And maybe a pullover in a different colour.

She starts browsing a bit online, but can't seem to find the right things, right size, right price. A lot of things are out of stock. She does wonder, somewhat grumpily, why she's bothering. Her lifestyle was already pretty casual, but with all that's going on this year, her reasons to dress up now are pretty much zilch. Her clothes budget is also small, because she's decided to put some money into a good pair of shoes.

But one hot afternoon she puts on the accoutrements one currently needs to go shopping, and drops into a thrift store. Unfortunately, these days she can't try anything on, so it's all about estimating what will fit. The best thing about this store is that the prices are pretty low, so if she makes a mistake it's not a huge deal.

First, the pants rack. Narrowing it down by size, then colour and style, leaves only a couple of maybes. She goes with a dark grey pair that are a size up from her normal, but it's a forgiving sort of style, so she crosses her fingers and puts them in the cart.

Now to hunt for grey sweaters. She finds one she likes, with all its tags missing, including the fabric label; her best guess is that it's mostly cotton. It looks like it would work well with the pants.

Hey, what's that? An Ann Taylor Loft cardigan, and it definitely looks like it would fit.  Too good to pass up.

There's a pullover sweater in a bluish teal that will go with a scarf she recently acquired. It will be a good replacement for a red one she had that was a similar style, but that was shedding little balls of fur everywhere.

She's also been thinking about blouses, so she has a quick look along the long-sleeved-tops rack. This catches her eye: a cowl-neck cotton tunic in magenta, with sort of a pattern in the fabric that you miss at first glance. It's something that could be dressed up or down. Size Large, but it could still work.

Her thrifting instincts say "That's enough." She buys the five items for about the same price as one blouse she had looked at online. And she is very pleased.

Coming soon: Adding colour and making outfits.

Fashion Revolution Week 2020: Go and spread good germs

So, yes, back to the cook who quit because those above-stairs failed to consider that their actions had any impact outside their own circle. Which is not to say that not eating one's souffle is a criminal act, but only that there is cause, and it has effects. As Ray Bradbury put it, a tiny butterfly stuck to a shoe can change history. In this pandemic situation, we understand the dread of one tiny germ that can suddenly sicken or kill.

But turn it around, at least in the realm of how we use money. Reverse butterfly effect; random bursts of positive energy. Instead of worrying about small, bad mistakes, what if we counted on the ripple potential of small good "germs?" We get a small idea to show a kindness, to share with others. We spend our money or time supporting a ministry that has an impact on one person's life, and that affects a family or a village, maybe a country: who knows? I heard the story recently about a disappointing evangelistic event at which just one person accepted Christ: but he became the father of James Dobson.

Maybe the letter you write asking "who made my clothes?" will get into the hands of someone who needs just one more bit of encouragement to enact policy changes. Maybe the person who did make your clothes will take her wages and buy books that will help educate her to speak out against injustice elsewhere. Maybe an orphanage you help support through a fair-trade purchase is caring for future pastors or artists or farmers or doctors or other future bright lights and brave souls. Maybe a buying choice you make will help keep the water, the soil, or the air a little cleaner.

Where will we be by Fashion Revolution Week 2021? I don't know, but I hope it's in a place just that much better than where we find ourselves this year. Even better: let's start moving towards someday not ever having to have such a day at all.

That white sweater, or, how do you start thinking you want something?

If you get it in your head that you want something, have you really come up with that idea yourself, or did you let someone plant it in your mind? And is that necessarily a bad thing, if the thing you want is useful and fills a need? Charlotte Mason did a lot of thinking about that.

This winter I seem to have majored on sweaters, which is fine. There was a point a few years ago when I didn't have even one cardigan sweater, mostly because they were making me feel old. I've thrifted a few knit and sweatshirt-type cardigans here and there, cycled them in and out. This winter I found a grey belted cardigan I like (it's a few posts back), and there are one or two others in my closet that I wear sometimes.

Recently I've been thinking about lighter colours, though. I was at an outlet store a few weeks ago, and I bought an off-white cotton mock-neck pullover (after not allowing the saleslady to push me into a pink one. I like pink, but I needed a plain colour that would Go With Things. I was channelling my inner Charlotte Mason that day for sure).  The Vivienne Files did a story about ways that someone could wear an ivory cardigan. I also found this 2019 post by Style Bee about her investment-quality cardigan.  I liked the idea of something buttoned-up and light-coloured, even though white cardigans (especially fuzzy ones) made me think of my great-grandma. But okay: v-neck, about five buttons, medium weight. I started keeping my eyes open on our thrift-store touring, but I didn't find much besides much-washed acrylic. Then I was doing a thrift shift, and had a few minutes to shop afterwards. Here's what I found: an off-white cotton cardigan, v-neck, five buttons, in like-new condition. It's not organic or lifetime-quality, but it's not dollar-discount-store either. 

So far I've worn it with a denim shirt (that doesn't get worn enough) and light-coloured cotton pants, and a white t-shirt (kind of copying Style Bee) and grey jeans. 

The question might be, whose idea was it that I wanted/needed a sweater-that-wasn't-a-pullover? Is it like looking at a blank space in the stairway, and mentally matching it up with a pair of pictures while you're walking past the art rack at Value Village? I don't think it's about trying to be something I'm not (ahem, I'm not Style Bee); I just wanted/needed something that filled in that gap, that didn't cost too much money, and that fit into a Conscious Closet. (I did buy the white t-shirt at Walmart, so I needed to balance things out.)

How do you trace out your ideas?

How green is green? (Product Review of Duffield Design)

Treehouse readers know a couple of things about me and my clothes-buying habits. First, I'm usually a thrifter, although I have gone out of my way, once or twice, to buy new dresses from Canadian makers promoting sustainability and made-right-here. But not often. Even my favourite purple dress from Miik was an accidental find at the Salvation Army.

The other thing you might remember is that I've been looking for a decent solid-coloured t-shirt-style dress for a very long time. One problem has been that they tend to be designed without much shape, and I would rather not spend a hundred-dollars-plus on a potato sack, no matter how low its carbon footprint. And the cheaper ones either don't last well, or haven't been popular, at least if you go by the low numbers that turn up at the thrift store. I've been searching almost weekly for over a year, and the closest I came was this long black dress. And that turned out to be, well, too black. I prefer something more cheerful.

Recently I was looking at the Spring/Summer collection on the website of Duffield Design, a small company that uses "green" fabrics and has its sewing done in Canada. I had liked a couple of their pieces last winter, although I didn't need them badly enough to buy anything. Most of their tops and dresses this season were in colours I didn't gravitate to (black, nude), but one dress stood out on the page: the Sphinx Tie Dress in Seafoam. I thought about it for awhile; had a few more tries at finding something comparable secondhand; and finally ordered one.

I'm glad I did. It's a dress I can wear for summer happenings, but it's not too fancy to wear for everyday things. (Maybe not dragging boxes at the thrift store, but other than that.)  The hip sash can be tied in front or behind, and it can even be worn tunic-length.The fabric (Bamboo-Cotton-Spandex Stretch French Terry) and the construction seem to be excellent. The fit, always a wild card when you order online, was fine, not a potato sack. (I got a Small.)

The hardest part of trying to post a review has been getting a picture of this quite intensely green dress that doesn't show up looking more teal or turquoise (my photo at the beginning reads a bit too blue). The photo below is the closest I was able to persuade the camera to come.

Think somewhere between the cactus and the handle of the teapot for a better take on "green."

Here's the dress with my "#AOCM2019 scarf":

And with another current favourite scarf:

So if you're thinking green (even if it's black or nude), and want to shop Canadian, check out Duffield Design.

Our Duty to Buy Stuff (Charlotte Mason and Fashion Revolution Week)

"What we want is––not the best thing that can be had at the lowest possible price––but a thing suitable for our purpose, at a price which we can afford to pay and know to be just.

 "Looked at from this point of view, the whole matter is simplified; we are no longer perpetually running round, harassing ourselves and wearing out other people in the search after bargains. Every purchase becomes a simple, straightforward duty. We feel it to be a matter of integrity to deal with tradesmen of our own neighbourhood, so far as they can supply us. If they fail to do so, we are at liberty to go further afield; but in this case, we soon fix upon the distant tradesman who can supply our needs, and escape the snare of bargain-hunting." Charlotte Mason, Ourselves, pp. 176-177

13 She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.14 She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar.15 She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.16 She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.18 She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night. ~~ Proverbs 31:13-16, 18

Does Proverbs 31 prove that we have a justifiable need to buyeth things? The condition, though, seems to be "wisely."

In the previous passages from Charlotte Mason's Ourselves, she focused on the issue of debt; here she is concerned with wasted time and effort. You've done the dollar math, she says; now figure out your other costs. Even being disorganized in planning, not having bought what you should have realized you were going to need (or not being able to find it in a mess) costs something. Ordering a bargain item of poor quality (Proverbs 31:18) costs return postage, and delay while you search for something better, and even (as Mason says) creates hassle for other people.

In this age of technology, we have useful shopping tools at our disposal. We can not only locate a "distant tradesman" who has exactly what we need, but we can read customer reviews of those products. We can also, ironically, find out about and order from farmers and craftspeople who produce goods almost in our own backyards. Provided we use the tools wisely, shopping both "afield" and locally has never been easier. (As many have found, too easy.)

We're also encouraged to maximize what we do have (verse 16) and use it for God's glory. If we buy land, the goal is to plant on it, and share the harvest with others. If we buy craft supplies (verse 13), we don't let them gather dust.

How does that apply to the area of clothing and fast fashion? We choose carefully, think about how we'll wear the shoes or the pants, think about whether it's the right time to buy. We read the fine print in the description, study the size charts and the reviews, figure out our price point. But then we ask one more question about the item we're considering: "Who Made My Clothes?"

If we have a feeling that we wouldn't like the answer, we'd better say no. 

This series will continue tomorrow.

Keeping it green and cheerful on Black Friday

The best place to shop on Black Friday? The MCC thrift store, after a morning of sorting books. No special deals, but buying thrift means giving things a second chance; and, at this store, each purchase also supports Mennonite Central Committee programs.

Plus nobody was pushing me around or fighting for carts.

For under $10, I found a real-deal pashmina scarf in my favourite colour; a pottery soup mug; and a copy of Surprised by Laughter: The Comic World of C.S. Lewis. Yes, in spite of what Roald Dahl's Matilda said, Lewis was "sustained by joy and humour," to quote the dust jacket.

These other two items were bought earlier in the week. The sewing book (with unused patterns!) is for me.

And the plastic Tardis cookie jar, with lights and sound effects, is an early present for Mr. Fixit.

Who needs malls when you can travel through space and time?

The Intentional Thrifter does Cruise Night (plus a handy hint and a free e-book)

First, the e-book: Courtney Carver's Mini-Missions book is free for Kindle right now.

I was given an unexpected thrifting hand recently, i.e. a bit of cash to buy a few extra fun things. I also had the chance to drop in at the Salvation Army store, just for a change, since the summer Cruise Nights have started and I can tag along with Mr. Fixit and Grandpa Squirrel. Cruise Night trips are short, because we don't stay at the show very long; so I have to make my mind up quickly about  buying things. The store has a bit different atmosphere from the one where I volunteer; also it was the end of the day, so there were more families, more kids running around, more stuff tossed around on racks. There are only a couple of changing rooms, so you usually have to wait while somebody makes their mind up and their toddler bangs the door open and shut. But the clerks are friendly, and I've often found good things there.

I started at the dress rack, and this long dress-or-skirt kept catching my eye. Not the most practical thing, I thought, but I really liked the navy batik print. (Dark navy? Black? Somewhere in between.)

I found an off-white lace top that could go over the dress/skirt, and ended up buying both of them to make an outfit. I have other navy tops that would work over the skirt as well, so it wasn't just a random choice; and the top will go with all kinds of things too.

Handy hint for thrifters: if you don't own a stitch ripper, you should. I have used mine many times to remove sewn-in labels, or bits of label, from clothes and scarves. Sometimes people snip labels off, but they leave the sewn-in bit behind, which looks bad, itches, or both. This white top had a large, visible label sewn partway down the back (the back isn't lace, but you could still see the label through the fabric). I very carefully picked the stitching out. Surgery successful.

I was pretty happy already with the long skirt and lace top, but then I found this purple Miik bamboo dress for eight dollars..amazing. I like Miik's ethos and style, but it's usually (way) out of my budget. The weather has cooled off just enough that I might even be able to wear it this week.

I finished the shopping-spree money today, back at my regular thrift store, with a $1.50 pair of grey jeans from the last-chance rack. I feel like I should be packing these clothes up for a vacation. (But I have a big term project to get through first.)

New page: Summer Project 333 Clothes

Season: Summer 2018 (for as long as it lasts)
#project333 (link to Courtney Carver's home page)

Édouard Manet, "Carnations and Clematis in a Crystal Vase"

Here's the rest.

Quote for the day: "The mechanics of unhappiness"

"In the same way that your joy does not equal the price of an item you buy, neither do the functions of that item. A down jacket that costs double the price of the one you already have will not offer double the warmth. Your dissatisfaction continues, and you reach out for something else. You know you'll get used to the next thing and become tired of it as well, but you can't help predicting the future based on your present feelings...In the back of your mind you know that you'll never be satisfied, but you keep thinking that maybe this time the brief sense of happiness you feel will be the real thing. These are the mechanics of unhappiness, and they exist no matter how much you spend, no matter how much you own." ~~ Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism, by Fumio Sasaki

From the archives: Charlotte Mason and "that sweet thing which she did not buy"

First posted October 2014

"Before she goes 'shopping,' she must use her reason, and that rapidly, to lay down the principles on which she is to choose her dress,--it is to be pretty, becoming, suitable for the occasions on which it is to be worn, in harmony with what else is worn with it.  Now, she goes to the shop; is able to describe definitely what she wants...judgment is prompt to decide upon the grounds already laid down by reason and what is more, the will steps in to make the decision final, not allowing so much as a twinge of after-regret for that 'sweet thing' which she did not buy." ~~ Charlotte Mason, Formation of Character

Photo from The Apprentice's Barbie story, here.

Thrifted finds

For Mr. Fixit: two 1957 handyman magazines.

For Ponytails: cookbooks she was looking for.

For Mama Squirrel: a black lacy sweater in a floral pattern. I generally don't wear black, so it's an experiment.

A pashmina scarf, in berry red and blue-grey. The photo is not doing it justice at all; it's more grey than purple..

The belt that should have gone with last week's paisley dress. I was very surprised to see it hanging with the belts.

(Here's the dress)

A book about retro fashions. (To go with the paisley dress.)

On the longevity of clothes...or not

I'm taking time out from studying the philosophy of adult education (really) to throw out a few thoughts on why we do or don't, should or shouldn't keep clothes around for years. It's two years since I started following Project 333, a.k.a. trying to get my own clothes thing together, so it seems like a good time to pause and remember what this was about in the first place.

I just read a post that could be summed up as "better but fewer, keep them forever" by a minimalist blogger. My reaction was "that could really make you feel guilty." My own first clothes page from two years ago has maybe ten things on it that I still own, and those were all fairly new (or new to me) then. Ironically, some of those ten things were the cheapest, the ones that theoretically should have fallen apart by now, like the stereotypical $8 grey t-shirt. So, point number one: cheap does not always equal lousy.

Do I see myself keeping what I have now for several more years? I probably will, because I like what I have, and  I'm wearing almost everything I own regularly. I don't have the particular problem of wearing 20 per cent of the clothes 80 per cent of the time. On the other hand, I have re-donated many of the clothes I tried out during the past two years. I got tired of them, the style was too young or too old, they made me look even shorter than I am, or whatever. Thank you, departing clothes, for teaching me what doesn't work, as Marie Kondo would say.

The last point is one on which I do agree with the article, and that is that you should not feel guilty about skipping whole categories of closet must-haves if they don't work for you. I've said it before myself, but it's always worth repeating: you may not be a pants person, or a white shirt person, or a little black dress person, or just a 2018-round-hole person. You may walk through an entire mall full of clothes, and dislike everything you see, because you are not "that" woman. You may also spend fifteen minutes at a thrift store, and find your favourite dress ever. It's not all about what things cost, or where they're made; it's also about how much we do or don't buy into what's new, what's normal, what everybody else buys; it's about what works for us. I had a classic denim shirt, but I recently handed it down to my daughter because it didn't work with anything, and fastening  the teeny little buttons drove me crazy. I like pullover tops better.

Ask who made your clothes, and think about the planet and the rivers and the landfills. But wear what makes you happy, hold onto it awhile if you can, and let the rest go.

Let's talk some more: how I ended up with fewer but better clothes, and had to re-do the page

I had fun with Project 333 this fall, in spite of the fact that I broke all the rules, kept finding new things all season at the thrift store (volunteering is bad for that), pulled out half my summer clothes again in a burst of KonMari, and figured I was finished with tiny wardrobes since I was obviously not very good at sticking to minimalism. The fall/winter page here was also a mess since I kept crossing things out and adding other things.

So I changed my mind and added a just-winter page. The clothes aren't new; but the list is cleaned up and easier to read. Strangely enough, I don't have many more items on it than most respectable "tiny wardrobes."  It may not look like anybody else's version of what people "should" have, but it's working for me.

I don't know how most other people go about "thrifting" wardrobes, but here's what I do. Take what you can use.

I've seen articles online talking about which things you should snap up at thrift stores, and which ones are not usually worth your time. I'd say, make up your own list based on your experiences. I've read that it's impossible to buy used pants (because of fitting issues), and that t-shirts and sweaters are usually worn beyond bothering. But I take a pretty standard (although petite) pants size, and if I see the magic number on a label, it usually fits. As for tops and sweaters...well, you have to look past the poor ones to find something you do like. So figure out your own must-visit categories, those you'll look at only if you have time, and those that are a no-go for you. My quick-looks are the bargain rack, for obvious reasons; shoes, because although I rarely find any that fit, the odd exceptions make a regular look worthwhile; and dresses, because I like them and they're often more interesting than the tops and pants. If I have time, I look at the accessories. Anything else just depends on what I don't have much of; maybe I really need pants, a new purse, or whatever. Is there anything I wouldn't look for at all? I rarely look at athletic clothes, yoga pants and things like that. I also don't spend time looking at very fancy dresses. Jewelry was another section I used to skip, but this fall I've started looking at necklaces again.

The point is, your must-try list will be different from mine. It depends on what you love, what you do, and what you need. And one other "what": what you would like to try, or change. Maybe you have never ever worn jeans, or dresses, or high heels, or anything bright red, and it's just time. Maybe your secret wish is to be Rhoda Morgenstern. Thrift stores are the perfect place to try out new things.

Watch for colours you like but which may be hard to find in the average mall store. One idea I've seen online, but haven't tried, is to buy a too-big t-shirt in an interesting colour, cut the body away from the neck and sleeves, and wear the resulting big loop as an infinity scarf.

The last bit of advice is an obvious one, but...thrift stores vary. Donors, merchandise, and prices vary. I used to visit one store that always had great books, but horrible clothes, because the donors were mostly frugal older people who wore their clothes to shreds. Some stores sort things more carefully than others do. Some places smell better than others. If your only thrifting experiences have been bad ones, remember that better things may be hiding in another neighbourhood, or the next town.

Birds and gardens: my Project 333 clothes for summer

My Summer Page  (this is the link)

This spring/summer brings change here in much more than clothing. We are in the middle/muddle of moving from a house to an apartment, which means that I've been busy with things other than what to wear, and also that I'm going to have less closet and drawer space when the moving is done. So, Project 333 to the rescue. Also the new (to me) idea of a One Week Wardrobe, which is another way of saying, "I have enough."

 Breakfast in the Garden, by Frederick Carl Frieseke,
also called Teatime in a Giverny Garden. Tea, breakfast, it's all good

Make It Your Own, Part Three (Updated)

Part One is here.

Part Two is here.

Part Four is here.

Part Five is here.

Let's focus on clothing today. And since I've been quoting Charlotte Mason, what did she have to say about that?

Quite a bit, really. Since she lived from the 1840's to the 1920's, her experience of clothes and shopping went from the era of "I just go to Mrs. O'Grady and tell her what I want" through most of the changes in the Mr. Selfridge era, such as the introduction of ready-to-wear. But her advice, written from the 1880's through her old age, remained much the same:  Dress more-or-less appropriately for your lifestyle, in a way that you can afford (if you're wealthy, support the local shoemaker by buying higher-end shoes). Shop with specific needs in mind. Don't run around too much looking for bargains. And don't be anybody's nightmare customer.

We might also mention some of the principles from Part One.

* promoting community and relationships between people, including a local economy and traditions such as skills and handicrafts
* living orderly lives with integrity, or what Charlotte Mason called "straight living and serviceableness"
* living with contentment, trusting God for our needs
* not being like the Bible's "fat cows of Bashan," rich people who were impervious to the suffering of others
* working for both justice and mercy
* valuing creativity (however we might define that)
* caring for creation 
* caring for weak and marginalized people ("no matter how small"), since they are individuals created in God's image

So I read all this as: we don't want our clothes to be a disorganized mess. Selfishness is bad. Using our brains is good. We don't want to promote bad agricultural practices, and we definitely don't want to support business practices that treat people badly, especially because if we believe in "a liberal education for all," that includes people who work in factories in other countries. We do want to support small businesses that add to a local economy. We don't want to get anxious about having nothing to wear, since we were told to consider the lilies of the field. Agreed so far?

To be blunt, if we say we believe in all or most of those things, we have no business buying cheap jewelry likely assembled by children (not to mention the ecological impact of the materials used). We may also have no business buying expensive jewelry made with stones that were mined at the cost of people's lives or health. If we say we live by such and such a principle, then we need to do it. We especially need to model those choices for those (such as our children) who are watching to see how much what we do mirrors what we say.

But  those principles certainly do cut down our "choices." 

And sometimes one value runs up against others. I recently ordered a skirt, something I had thought about for quite awhile from a company that specializes in sustainable, high-quality products. All good, except that when I tried the skirt on, it clung in all the wrong places. A tall twenty-something model can get away with more than a height-challenged, married-and-modest middle-ager. (Never say I'm not absolutely transparent here.) The skirt went back, lesson learned. 

My default shopping arena, as Treehouse readers know, is our local  thrift store. When I shop there,  I'm giving clothes a second chance. I'm stretching our somewhat tight household budget. I'm practicing creative thinking when I look at how something could be shortened, or changed a bit.

The challenge with thrifting is the principle of shopping based on specific needs. Charlotte Mason may have visited her dressmaker with "one dress, black silk" firmly in mind, but in the here-today, gone-tomorrow world of thrift stores, the three P's are patience, persistence, and Providence. Making thrift stores a part of saner shopping isn't about looking for a J. Crew haul. It's still important to shop with a basic plan, an awareness of your clothing needs (or your children's), even if you head right for the dollar rack. On one trip, you might look mostly for neutral basics, and you will probably find lots of them: dark pants, white shirts, whatever. Next time, you could look for the absolutely individual, thriftshoppy, fun stuff to mix with the neutrals. (The Vivienne Files website has been doing a series of posts about how a plain, basic wardrobe becomes much more individual with the addition of colours and accessories. Or even with more neutrals, if that's your thing, but still saved from boredom.)

You may have to bridge some colour or function gaps for awhile, and that's okay. I still haven't found a plain skirt I like to replace the one that went back; but I do have some dresses, so it's all good.