Pin It and Thrift It -- Anthropologie Lookalike

I love Anthropologie--they have such an eclectic mix of styles, and a lot of it is vintage inspired. But, I will admit I don't own much from there (as in…nothing). It's a great store, but unfortunately there isn't one near where I live aaaaand of course the whole out of my budget thing (story of my life it seems). Anyway, I came across their "ruffled sweater vest"--which looks a lot better than it sounds--on Pinterest and thought it was cute, but maybe not $118 cute (plus they've been sold out online/out of stock ever since I first discovered it). Luckily for me, I came across a pretty close match at my local Goodwill a week or two ago.

Left: Anthropologie ruffled sweater vest, $118. Right: ChaudryKC sweater vest, Goodwill $3.49.

The one I found at Goodwill is by a brand called "ChaudryKC" which I've never heard of before, and only cost me $3.49. While the color and pattern isn't quite the same, it's definitely got the same look and feel to it. The back of mine has a beautiful (knitted? crocheted?) flower detail on the back that I actually prefer over the Anthropologie version. If my hair wasn't in the way, you'd be able to see it better but I may or may not have been wearing it inside out when I took the pictures and didn't notice until I had them uploaded to my computer. So, naturally, I chose the picture where my hair hides the tag to avoid embarrassment (but still embarrass myself my admitting to it…?). 

I'm super excited to have found such a close match to the Anthropolgie version, and definitely want to try wearing it with a button down like they had their model in. I probably won't get too much more use out of it this season, since it is a heavier knit, but know I'll get a lot of use out of it once next winter comes around! 

Let me know which version you like better, and as always, Happy Thrifting!! 

Pin It and Thrift It!

I love going to Pinterest for outfit inspiration (check out my Pinterest here!), reading other fashion blogs, etc. But what I don't love is clicking on the links of awesome outfits to find out that the prices are wayyyyy out of my clothing budget (...which should realistically hover as close to $0 as possible). 

So instead of dwelling on the fact that I can't afford most (or any) of what I'm pinning, I make it a mental challenge to look for items close to those that I've pinned and use that as a guide for what to thrift for (seems like the logical thing to do). 

Today I found a great deal on an outfit I pinned from The Northeast Girl (left picture). Her vest from the Gap retailed for $79.95, and her gingham button down is from J. Crew Factory, retailed at $59.50, rounding out for a total of $139 for the top half of the outfit.

Right photo: Red Land's End vest (Goodwill, $2.95),
navy Abercrombie & Fitch ginghambutton-down (Goodwill, $3)

I was surprised how easy this one was to find at Goodwill, and how close it looks to my original inspiration. The red Land's End vest was a steal at under $3--they are usually around $70, so it's safe to say I was pretty happy when I came across it. The A&F gingham was a great find as well--while I know Abercrombie screams middle/high school, I'm not ashamed to use the brand's clothes especially when it comes to basics. I can see myself layering this button down under a solid colored sweater with a statement necklace or with a different colored vest--I'm happy to have finally found a gingham shirt after searching for one for quite a while! Overall, I'd say for $6 I was able to come pretty darn close to my original inspiration!

The feeling you get when you find
 EXACTLY what you were looking for :)

And just as a heads up, I've been on a thrift hunt for vests lately, so don't be surprised if you see a few more in the near future :)

Happy Thrifting!!