Thrift Store shoppingOne of the many, many great things about thrift shopping is you can try out new trends or looks you would normally stray away from. It makes you a bit more adventurous because you're not really investing in a style. If you try it and don't like it, no big deal. And that's exactly what I did earlier this year when I bought a pair of lace shorts while thrift shopping in San Francisco at Buffalo Exchange.

I love anything with lace, so I snatched the shorts up quickly. I posted a photo on Facebook of my new thrift store score and someone asked, "so how are you going to wear them?" That's when I asked myself, oh shoot, how am I going to wear them! I feared the lace bottoms would look a bit childish, kinda Little Bo Peep-ish.But when I'm faced with a tricky garment, my motto is: keep it simple and let the accessories do the work. So that's what I did.

thrifty threads, thrifty threads 365

Two weeks ago, I celebrated my birthday at the Essence Music Festival. If you don't know about EMF or if you've never been, you need to change that ASAP. It's obviously a music fest, but it's so much more. It's a gathering of folks who are ready to experience food, fun, day and night parties and any other foolishness New Orleans has to offer. It was hands down one of the best trips I've been on and I plan to attend next year.But anyway, back to fashion...packing is always an issue, but for this trip it was especially tough. I needed items that were casual enough for the day {and the humid temps} but threads that were also party appropriate for any events I decided to hit up.

thrifty threads 365 challenge, shopping challengeAnother month down, so it's time to recap my Thrifty Threads 365 challenge {a full year where I only thrift shop for clothes and accessories, no new items}. For May I completely went over my budget because I was thrift shopping in San Francisco. So I was determined to keep my $50 limit in check for the month of June...and I did.

I almost made it through the entire month without buying anything but I did a brief interview and photo shoot for USA Today at the Salvation Army and I couldn't leave without buying something.

Recession has many looking thrift store chic

Thrifty Threads 365 challenge
The New York heat wave continues and there's nothing better than throwing on a flowy garment. Oh, and it was also my birthday this weekend, so I wanted an outfit that was cute but not too fussy. I knew exactly what I'd wear that would fulfill those requirements.
While thrifting at Buffalo Exchange in San Francisco, I "splurged" on a color block, hi-low top. 20 bucks is a little much for a secondhand item, but I knew I had to have it. I paired it with my vintage Wrangler cut offs that I bought at Clothes Contact, where vintage goods are $10 per pound.

Looking fly on a Dime, H&M chiffon dress

Late last week we experienced a heat wave in NYC and besides being uncomfortable, it made getting dressed a bit tricky. Though the heat had me ready to walk around the city in the buff {it's totally legal for women in NYC to be  topless in public. Who knew?!}, obviously that wasn't going to happen. And I had to head outdoors to film my Savvy Shopper segment for WPIX. So that meant keeping cool while looking cute.Clingy material is a no-no when temps start to soar, so I grabbed my H&M  frock from Salvation Army. It's breezy, bright and the rosette details at the waist add a nice touch.