Confession: Embellished Jeans Fascination
I'm fascinated by embellished and decorated jeans, yet also horrified that anyone would think they were (1) appropriate to create, (2) appropriate to sell, or (3) appropriate to wear.
Thrift stores often have embellished jeans mixed in among all the Levi's and Lee's, but they're usually like the premium denim -- you might find one or two pairs on a rack of a hundred pairs of jeans. Yesterday, though, I found 3 pairs in a row, all in my size (not that I would wear them!). Check out these denim gems:
Embroidered football jeans
Painted Hawaiian jeans
Embroidered bird jeans
While the pair on the right is relatively understated as embellished jeans go, the pair on the left is about as embellished as you can get. The football theme starts with the "yard lines" around the pockets and continues past the football players down to the goal post at the ankle. The middle pair, with its Hawaiian theme, is my least favorite kind of embellished jeans: the painted jeans. Painted jeans almost always wind up looking like someone got bored in art class and started doodling away on their pants, instead of like an intentional fashion statement.
But no matter how funny I find these jeans to be, I swear I never wear anything like these!
HAUL: $30 at Village Thrift
Apparently, I've been to Village Thrift at least once each week for the last 10 weeks. I guess my Foursquare Village Thrift mayorship is well deserved! Today was discount day, with three tag colors 50% off and 2 tag colors 33% off. I think I wound up buying more 33% off items than 50% items, but they were all still good deals. Two of the items I got today were brand new, with the original tags still on them, including a pair of pajama pants that I had considered getting my husband for Christmas, but decided against due to their cost. They were a fraction of the original cost at the thrift store!
The Goods
Dress
Sundress
Dark boot-cut jeans
Black Bermuda shorts
Black and white striped shorts
Blue flannel penguin pajama pants
I snagged a total of 6 items for $30.07, which averages out to $5.01 per item.
Continue reading for all the price and brand info.
HAUL: $7 at Village Thrift
I've gotten into the habit of going to Village Thrift, my neighborhood thrift store, once a week, usually on discount Sunday or Monday, just to see if there's anything good. Some days I'll score a big haul -- $50 or more -- but other weeks I'll pick up only a few items (or none at all). Today, I only got a few books and a tank top.
The Goods
Blue tank top
3 books
I picked up 4 items for a total of $6.70, about $1.68/item.
Continue reading for the individual prices and other details.
HAUL: $75 at Village Thrift
Due to its proximity to my house, Village Thrift has quickly become one of my favorite thrift stores. In the past several months since my first visit to the store, I've tried to check in once every other week or so on half-price Sunday or Monday. Last night, I scooped up one of my smaller Village Thrift hauls, but nabbed the priciest single thrift store clothing item I've ever purchased.
The Goods
Black tank top
Purple V-neck shirt
Purple long-sleeve shirt
Plaid shirt
Brown satin jacket
Wool coat
Lilly Pulitzer jeans
Dark gray jeans
2 books
In total, I scored 10 items for $74.50, which is an average of $7/item.
Continue reading for all the price and brand info.
Outfit: NYE 2011
My husband and I spent our New Year's Eve at a party hosted by close friends. Because it was a low-key, informal party, we didn't want to get too dressed up, but we still wanted to dress a little more "special" than usual. I threw together a quick and comfortable outfit that still had a "New Year's Eve" vibe to it:
Sparkly tunic shirt
Skinny jeans
I had worn the jeans several times before, but last night was the first time I wore the shirt. (I don't go to too many things that call for sparkle.) Both pieces were bought from thrift stores back in August: the jeans were from Salvation Army on 25% off day and the shirt was from Village Thrift on 50% off day. The total cost for the outfit: a mere $8.69, pre-tax. Not too bad for an outfit that netted me several compliments throughout the night.
HAUL: $50 at Village Thrift
Today I made my fourth trip to Village Thrift, one of my new favorites. My first trip was somewhat lackluster, but since then I've gotten a 25-item haul for $80 and a 15-item haul for $60. I scaled back a bit more today, but still came home with a good haul.
I've mentioned before that Village Thrift's discount days are Sunday and Monday, when three different tag colors are 50 percent off. Today, perhaps for the holiday, in addition to three tag colors at 50% off, there were another two tag colors at 33% off. I succeeded in restricting myself to only discounted colors, buying 8 blue tag items at 33% off and 3 violet tag items at 50% off. (And, looking at the receipt now, I just realized that some items that I had thought would be full price actually received a discount... always like when that happens!)
The Goods
White cardigan sweater
Gray knit cardigan
Patterned tank
Blue knit tank
Flowered blouse
Purple dress
Gray & blue dress
Eagles jersey
Orioles jersey
Christmas Cards
Brown & blue organizer
The total: 11 items for $41.31.
Continue reading for the price and brand details.
HAUL: $60 at Village Thrift
I was divided about Village Thrift after my first trip there, but after my second trip there last week it's become a new favorite. Today was another discount day at Village Thrift, with 50% off on three different tag colors. Once again, almost everything I bought was discounted, although unfortunately the most expensive item I bought was not. (It was still a good deal, though, and will be very useful.)
My husband really liked the shirts I got him last week and gave me the go-ahead to outfit him with more, so I focused on the men's department this time around. I'm really glad he wanted more shirts; I think he needs more variety in his wardrobe (and the less I need to do laundry, the better!). I only picked up two clothing items for myself, as well as a few books and household items.
We'll see if Village Thrift expeditions become a weekly tradition...
(I apologize for the poor quality of the photos today. I think it's a combination of bad lighting and difficult-to-photograph patterns and colors.)
The Goods
Blue men's button-down
Blue striped men's shirt
Green striped shirt
Tan striped men's shirt
Brown striped shirt
Maroon men's polo
Purple men's sweater
Pink knit cardigan
Striped cotton blazer
Men's khakis
Striped throw pillow
3 hardcover books
Set of drawers
That's a total of 15 items for $60.60, or an average of $4.04/item.
Read on for all the brand and price details.
HAUL: $80 at Village Thrift
After my first visit to Village Thrift, my closest (big) thrift store, I had mixed feelings: I was impressed with the size, the organization, the quality of the items, the cash registers, and the discount days, but I was disappointed with some of the prices (higher prices at Village Thrift than the original/sale price tags still on new items, clothes from places like H&M for the same prices as new). I also was a little confused about the discount days; I thought it was 50% off certain colored tags on Mondays, and a different percentage off on Sundays, but it's actually 50% off three tag colors on Sundays and 50% off three tag colors on Mondays.
Today, I decided to give it another chance... and boy did I clean up! I found many items that I've been looking for: spare pillowcases, word games, cardigans, flats, generic wrapping paper, and polos for my husband. I purchased almost entirely discounted items; the full-price items I bought were ones that I felt were very good deals anyway and/or things that would be very useful to me.
The Goods
Satin jacket
Purple cardigan sweater
Fuchsia knit cardigan
Straight jeans
Dressy tank
Empire-waist shirt
Striped skirt
Metallic gold flats
Plaid canvas flats
Men's green T-shirt
Men's green polo
Men's teal polo
Men's striped polo
Men's yellow polo
Green men's shirt
Striped men's shirt
2 pillowcases
2 rolls of gift wrap
Scrapbook refill pages
Set of Christmas cards
2 word games
1 hardcover book
My total: $80.25 for 25 items. That's an average of $3.21 per item! I have a feeling I'll be making a lot more visits to Village Thrift...
Read through for all the nitty-gritty, like brands and prices per item.
HAUL: Village Thrift
Having recently moved to a new house (and the first one that we own), I've been making almost weekly trips to the home improvement stores. I noticed a thrift store, Village Thrift, in the same plaza as my local Lowe's and have been wondering what the store is like. (Unfortunately, while their cash registers are quite up-to-date, they appear to have no web site and apparently have only the one location.)
I had heard their best deals are on Mondays, so Juliana and I headed over on Monday to check it out. Overall, I was impressed with the store: it's large, well-organized, and offers just about everything, without offering a lot of items that feel like trash. However, I had some major problems with the prices. Many items I saw still had their original tags, or tags from other thrift/yard sales, but often the Village Thrift price was equal to or more than the other tags. For example, I found one shirt with its original tags, which showed many prices, ending with a final clearance price of $7.20; Village Thrift was offering the shirt for $8.90. One of the shirts I bought had another tag on it for $3.00, but Village Thrift was charging $4.90. I also noticed that many items, particularly popular brands, had prices that were close to what they would sell for new, like an H&M knit dress for $19.90.
So, while I'll certainly be going back because it's so close and large, I'll have to be very vigilant regarding brands and prices to ensure I'm actually getting good deals. I also plan to only ever shop there on Mondays, when certain colored tags are 50% off, and Sundays, when certain colored tags are other percentages off — the regular prices were not good enough for me, especially since I'm usually buying items that simply hit my fancy, and not items that I actually need.
Anyway, enough with the review, and on to the haul!
The Goods
Gray knit dress
Sparkly tunic shirt
Empire-waist shirt
Flowered shirt
Straight jeans
Word Spot coffee table game
I brought home 6 items for $23; not bad!
Read through for specific details on prices and brands.
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