I don’t know what you were up to this long weekend, but aside from taking time to remember and be thankful for my freedom today, I shopped for THIRTEEN hours! Which means, I’m tired but happy and also feeling like I deserve some wine and chocolate (but since I’m doing Whole 30 I will settle for tea and figs; practically exactly the same). I had the privilege of having three thrift-guiding appointments this weekend at different VV Boutique locations. I hope you enjoy reading about them as much as I enjoy sharing! First up:
I met Nadine, the Savvy Do-Gooder, and her sister Michelle at the 34th Avenue Value Village (having learned a valuable lesson in specifying “south side”!) for some much-needed shopping! If you recall, Nadine prefers a small wardrobe but has almost no clothes, particularly after donating six bags in order to get 30% off her purchase. Michelle needed to shop to replenish her wardrobe after recently losing some weight. Both sisters are on a budget; both value shopping second-hand as one step to take towards doing good for the community and environment. We gathered not one, not two but THREE carts full of options then hit the fitting rooms. And by that I mean, I stalked the end stall then surprised the gentleman exiting with a big greedy friendly smile and mumbled something about good timing. We needed priority fitting room privileges to manage all the pieces! Basically, we took over half the fitting room area for a couple hours. Thankfully, the staff is always friendly and accommodating! Unfortunately, trying to keep outfits going in two different directions meant I did not get near the photos that I intended but here is a taste of Nadine and Michelle’s success!
Nadine was looking specifically for casual pieces for her mom-uniform. She’s back down to size now that her baby is all of about 14 weeks old, and turned in her maternity pants for VV stickers! (My youngest is 164 weeks old and I’m almost back down to size.) She was looking for an elevated version of jeans and a hoodie. We found several hoodie-type sweaters that were structured with interesting details and colours, including this knit moto sweater…
- 3 pairs of jeans
- 2 dresses
- 3 skirts
- 6 sweater/cardigans
- 3 shirts
- 1 belt
- 1 pair of leggings
That’s an average cost per item of $7.89 or $11.58 including my consultation fee. I should note that this final tally doesn’t reflect all the “yes’s” that Nadine found but she carefully edited her stack to stick to her budget. I admire your self-control, Nadine! Even still, she had fabulous pieces and quality labels (Roots, Nine West, Tristan, etc.) that are well worth a price point of $11.58, and can be remixed so many ways with each other and her existing wardrobe. Nadine did great!
- 3 pairs of jeans
- 5 cardigans
- 3 dresses
- 2 skirts
- 4 shirts
- 1 necklace
Michelle’s cost per item was $7.22 or $11.11 including my fee. Like Nadine, she had many more yes’s but edited her cart to stay on budget. She found some key pieces like great-fitting jeans, black and oxblood cardis, and other fun pieces that reflect her style and can be worn in different seasons. She is a great example of thrift shopping when you are transitioning through sizes, for whatever reason. Most people suffer through ill-fitting clothes, which is a shame when you can get so much for so little and easily get your value in cost-per-wear.
4 Comments
That moto jacket is AMAHHZING; amazing dresses, too! Congrats to all involved!
Thanks Claire!! She looks awesome!
Well done Nicole! Nadine has an hourglass shape and your clothing purchases showed it off! How does she look so stinkin’ good after only 14 weeks? wth? My youngest is 572 weeks old (that would be 11 y.o) and I am still up a size! hahaha
Thanks Shirley! That is a high compliment coming from you! And yup, she looks so good! Little jealous but she’s so GOOD that I can’t help but be happy for her!