Thrifty Thursday: My Best Investment Ever

See this vest?

Don't worry - those 2 spots are just water because I was too impatient to wait for them to dry before I took my pictures. 

I bought it when I was a junior in high school eleventy trillion years ago.

Okay, more like 20 something years ago but whatever.

When I bought this vest I was living in northern California.

One of my closest friends, who was also my most fashionable friend, invited me to join her for some local thrift shopping.

It was the first time I'd ever been inside a thrift store.
(How was I to know then that it would become a lifelong addiction?)

I remember wondering if there would be someone at the door to decide if we were allowed to shop there, kind of like a bouncer at a nightclub but to decide if we looked poor enough to be worthy of entry because I was basically a very sheltered idiot who thought thrift stores offered exclusive shopping rights to only the most indigent people.

And college students.
Which are pretty much one in the same as I found out a couple years later.

I also remember that the thrift store smelled funny...sort of like old people who were slightly mildewed and covered in moth balls.

But it was still pretty awesome.

My friend, who was a frequent thrift store shopper, left with several items that I couldn't quite fathom how she would put them together to make outfits an actual human person would wear but, of course, she ended up looking amazing in every single piece, and I left with my one vest which was probably already a vintage item when I bought it at that time for less than $5.

I wore that vest a LOT!

I wore it to school and to parties.

I'm sorry my braces encrusted smile is overshadowing the small glimpse of my vest covered shoulders. My friend has been cropped out of this picture to protect the innocent.

I loaned it to my best high school friend and she also wore it to a party.

Then my first college room mate wore that vest to a party after she saw me wear that vest to a previous party.

(There was a lot of partying going on during that time!)

Big hair. Cheap beer. Cool vest. Very 90s-esque.

And then my daughter wore it to school in 4th grade.

Which is the last time it's seen daylight.

I've thought about getting rid of it but then I try it on and I just can't part with it.

Not in that whole 'I have so many great memories in this vest and I'm going to save it and eventually become a hoarder because this is how that starts' sort of way.

But in the 'holy crap this vest is timeless and awesome and will always look good!' sort of way.

I guess you could say it's been my best wardrobe inVESTment to date!

I'll see myself out.

À la vie et à l'amour

-Cortney

Thrifty Thursday: Vintage Formal Gown

I am really excited about today's Thrifty Thursday post and I really have no idea why it's taken me so long to get around to writing this particular one because it's been 'brewing' in my head for 43 weeks!

I know it was 43 weeks because that what it says on the Instagram post.

Anyway, late last summer I made my daughters go to one of my favorite local thrift stores with me and we spent a significant amount of time there looking through all the things.

I was rummaging through their mile long rack of dresses when I came across something so fantastically wonderful that I gasped very loudly and upset my 16 year old because she startles easily.

But I really couldn't help it because look!

Details

It was a vintage formal gown in perfect condition in my daughter's size and it was only $14.51 and no I didn't mistype the decimal!

Model face

Trying it on the day we bought it.

Knowing she would need at least one formal dress for her upcoming Senior year activities and events, my daughter was equally excited that we had already found something so amazing by complete accident.

We had to make a couple of small, easy alterations for a truly perfect fit but it looked gorgeous on her!

(And we never had to worry about someone else having an identical dress, of course.)

At her Senior night event.

She also ended up wearing it for some of her Senior portraits

 (which were taken by my wonderfully talented cousin.)

Doesn't everyone wear a formal gown on a swampy bridge?

Every time I see this dress I am still in shock that we were able to find such a great timeless piece for less than $20!

À la vie et à l'amour

-Cortney