When it comes to style, there has been a major resurgence of the thrifted vintage look among millennials.
With thrifting, you can save major bucks, find classic looks for any occasion, and support community and WOC vintage thrift store owners with brick-and-mortar businesses and online shops in the process. And while I love buying brand new clothes, there is something special about going thrift store shopping and finding something name brand, vintage, one of a kind, and fly for dirt ass cheap!
I always say, "It's not what you wear, it's how you wear it."
As an avid thrifter, I know a thing or two about navigating thrift stores, finding the best bang for my buck, and thinking of ways to put unique looks together. I decided to put my skills to the test by asking a friend of mine to join me in a thrift store challenge where we put together a complete outfit for $25 or less. I decided to add a twist to it by doing a bunch of different looks, ranging from a girls' night out to a flirty date night.
Read on for tips and tricks of how to navigate thrifting, and also for some style inspiration with different thrifted looks styled by yours truly.
Start Thrifting
Photo by: Dee Williams @hideexdee @famoustaine
Hit up your local neighborhood Salvation Army or Goodwill consignment stores. Likewise, you can look up your local brick and mortar thrift shops. On this particular thrift trip, my friend Friday and I took a trip to the Salvation Army to find some thrifted looks. Remember, you can always take this opportunity to find and support WOC-owned thrift stores.
Check out this popping list of some more online WOC owned vintage thrift stores!
- Golden Bird Boutique
- DivaXpress, LLC
- Just Bree
- Ms. Phay's Closet
- The Thrift, esq.
- The Thrift Guru
- The Thrift Jesus
Photo by: Dee Williams @hideexdee
Once you're there, you will really have to look through the racks to find good pieces, since most of the stores are usually very big. The good thing about these kind of stores is that most of the clothing is color-coded and categorized by male, female, and children's. They are also caterogized by pants, jackets, dresses, skirt, coats, etc. If you are looking for something in particular, you will have no problem knowing where to find it.
Find Opportunities To Save On Top Of Saving
Photo by: Dee Williams @hideexdee @famoustaine @fluidfridays
Another great thing about the Salvation Army, in particular, is that most store locations across the country will have a day where every item in the store is half off, with the usual exception of one colored tag. I usually plan to be at my local store early to make sure that I snag all of the good stuff at half the price. Chain stores like Goodwill also offer half-day sales, as well as other savings events periodically throughout the year. So constantly be on the lookout to get the most bang for your buck.
Get Creative With Your Outfit Choices
Photo by: Dee Williams @hideexdee @fluidfridays
Thrifting allows you to really bring out your own personal sense of style, since there are no rule or guide books when going to a thrift store. You won't have any mannequin styled to perfection, and you won't have anyone there to help you pick out the perfect designer outfits. Thrift store shopping truly allows you to express your creativity through your own personal sense of fashion. Also, going with your bestie is such a fun, and bonding experience as you both nay, or yasss looks together, and swear on what you know sis would love!
Look Out For Stains
Photo by: Dee Williams @hideexdee
Don't be like me, lose your mind, and forget to keep up with your personal belongings. Also make sure you check to see if there are any unremovable stains on something you pick out. Most thrift store sales are final. As a general rule, if you are still feeling iffy about community thrift store clothes, all you have to do is wash any piece you buy before you wear it.
Click through the gallery below to check out the challenge looks that me and the bestie came up!
Look 1: Coffee Shop Chic
Photo by: Dee Williams @hideexdee
Here, I look like I threw on a quick outfit to run to the coffee shop to get some writing done and meet up with a friend for a late lunch date later. I love the chicness of this olive v-line plunge top, the old school high-waist elastic banded jeans, and the super comfortable canary yellow oversized button-down and bag. Total cost of this look? $16
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“She's not the average flower you see presented, and so she reminds me of myself. I'm a sunflower, beautiful, but different. And what I loved about her character then, and even more so now, is that she was very sure of herself.
"Sure of what she wanted in life and okay to sacrifice her moments right now, to get what she knew she deserved later. And that is me. I'm not an instant gratification kind of a person. I am a long game. I'm not a sprinter, I'm a marathon.
America first fell in love with Eva when she graced our screens on cycle 3 of America’s Next Top Model in 2004, which she emerged as the winner. Since then, she's ventured into different avenues, from acting on various TV series like House of Payne to starring on Real Housewives of Atlanta.
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Eva praises her castmates and the play’s producer, Je’Caryous for her positive experience. “You know what? Je’Caryous fuels my audacity car daily, ‘cause I consider myself an extremely audacious woman, and I believe in what I know, even if no one else knows it, because God gave it to me. So I know what I know. That is who Je’Caryous is.”
But the mom of three isn’t the only one in the family who enjoys acting. Eva reveals her daughter Marley has also caught the acting bug.
“It is the most adorable thing you can ever see. She’s got a part in her school play. She's in her chorus, and she loves it,” she says. “I don't know if she loves it, because it's like, mommy does it, so maybe I should do it, but there is something about her.”
Overall, Eva hopes that her contribution to the role and the play as a whole serves as motivation for others to reach for the stars.
“I want them to walk out with hope. I want them to re-vision their dreams. Whatever they were. Whatever they are. To re-see them and then have that thing inside of them say, ‘You know what? I'm going to do that. Whatever dream you put on the back burner, go pick it up.
"Whatever dream you've accomplished, make a new dream, but continue to reach for the stars. Continue to reach for what is beyond what people say we can do, especially as [a] Black collective but especially as Black women. When it comes to us and who we are and what we accept and what we're worth, it's not about having seen it before. It's about knowing that I deserve it.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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Fortunately, five simple words have simplified my dating process and ushered in clarity faster: “Would my husband do this?”
A couple of years ago, I met an entertainment lawyer who was tonguing down a twenty-something-year-old woman for breakfast while I slurped my green smoothie and chomped on a flatbread sandwich. Okay, Black love, I grinned and thought as I sauntered out of the Joe & The Juice. As soon as I stepped down from the front door, a torrential downpour of Miami summer rain cascaded and throttled me back inside to wait out the storm.
I grabbed a hot green tea and vacillated between peering out the wet door and anxiously checking my watch. My lengthy agenda started with attending the Tabitha Brown and Chance Brown’s “Black Love” panel, and I was already late. That’s when the lawyer introduced himself to me, after he made a joke about neither one of us wanting to get soaked by the rain. His female companion had braved the storm, leaving us to find our commonalities.
We both lived in L.A. and had traveled to the American Black Film Festival to expand our network. He represented various artists, including entertainment writers, while I was working as a writer/creative producer in Hollywood.
While there is no shortage of internet advice on how to strategically meet a prominent man at conferences, if I spend my hard-earned funds on career growth, I have tunnel vision, and that doesn’t include finding Mr. Right. So, I stowed his contact details away as strictly professional.
Keep It Cute Love And Hip Hop GIFGiphyAs the humidity and mosquitoes were rising around L.A., two months later, another suitor-turned-terrible match cooled off after three unimpressive dates and a bevy of red flags. I posted what some of my friends called a thirst trap, but it was really me wearing a black freakum jumpsuit with a plunging neckline to my friend’s 35th birthday soiree despite feeling oh, so unsexy and bloated on my cycle.
I’d been waiting to post a sassy caption and finally had the perfect picture to match: “You not asking for too much, you just asking the wrong MF.”
That’s when the entertainment lawyer swooped into my DMs and asked me to dinner. I was quite confused. Is he asking me on a date? Or is this professional? Common sense would’ve picked the former. Once it clicked that this would in fact be a date, I told my mentor, who’s been happily married for over twenty years and has often been a guiding light and has steered me away from the wrong men.
Upon telling him about how we met, he emphatically stated, “He ain’t it.” He followed up with a simple question, "You have to ask yourself: Would my husband do this? Would you tell others that you met your husband, tonguing down another woman, and later married him?"
Aint It No Way GIF by UFCGiphyOuch. The thought-provoking question cleared any haze. Prior to going out with the lawyer, the first thing I inquired about was the woman.
“You saw that?” He said, taken aback that I’d witnessed his steamy PDA. Surely, anyone with two open eyes peeped him caressing her backside as he kissed her in the middle of the coffee shop.
He brushed her off as a casual someone he’d gone on a couple of dates with but had since stopped talking to. He said he hadn’t been in a serious relationship in over three years. Though I was still doubtful, dating in L.A. is treacherous and ephemeral. Making it past three months is considered a rarity.
With my antennae alert, I dined with him at a cozy beachside steakhouse restaurant where we were serenaded by a live jazz band. I’d emphasized forming a platonic friendship first.
Break Up Friendship GIF by TLCGiphy“I’ll come to you,” he obliged. I liked that he had made me a priority by driving over 50 miles to see me. I also liked the effort he made to check in with me daily. But I still couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that he initiated on a professional pretense and then alley hooped through the back door on a romantic venture, which bombarded me with confusion.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my dating life, God is not the author of confusion; any man who brings confusion, rather than clarity, is simply not The One. It doesn’t matter how many boxes he checks–eventually, that confusion will manifest itself into bigger problems, in time.
After diving into deeper conversations on the phone, post our first dinner date, I quickly realized this man was indeed not The One for me. But I’m grateful for the valuable lesson I learned.
I don’t expect some unattainable fairytale of a husband; we all have our own flaws and conflict is inevitable, but after dating for two decades, through failure and success, I’ve realized that the person I ultimately marry must mirror the values I exert into the world. He must reciprocate kindness, patience, and respect. He must be quick to listen and slow to respond. He needs to be forgiving and trustworthy, practice healthy communication, and be a man of his word at the bare minimum.
If I’d had “Would my husband do this?” in my toolbox when I was dating and floundering in stagnant relationships, in my twenties, it would’ve saved me a lot of precious time. But now that I’m equipped with the reminder, it’s allowed me to ground myself in my non-negotiables and set/maintain the standard for the special person, I’ll one day say, “I do,” to.
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