I volunteered at the Good As New, our local thrift shop, on Wednesday afternoon and had hoped to find something new to share with you today, but that was not to be. Though I tried on several items, some didn’t fit and others simply didn’t inspire me. Then I remembered that I had yet to wear one of my recent frugal fashionista purchases.

The royal blue sleeveless top, originally from Laura, one of my favourite Canadian fashion retailers, still had it’s original $65 price tag on it when I bought it for just $2! I can’t imagine why anyone would buy a garment and then donate it to a thrift store without ever wearing it, but the Good As New has recently set aside one rack especially for brand new items because they receive so many of them. Obviously, in spite of our present economic downturn, we are still a culture of excess!

When I was young, I refused to wear anything without sleeves because I was very self-conscious about my skinny, toothpick arms. Once I started working out, however, I began to feel differently and now I’m very comfortable in sleeveless tops and dresses.

The polyester/spandex top is just loose enough to hide the little bit extra that I carry around my waist these days and the silver grommets around the neckline and on the shoulders dress it up a bit.

My sister and I are off on a road trip to visit our brother’s family this weekend. Perhaps this outfit should go with me. The white jacket is a hand-me-down from my daughter, or perhaps I should call it a hand-me-up! The pants are the white crops that I’ve featured in a couple of other posts recently and the shoes are a favourite pair of denim flats from Payless ShoeSource that are several years old and, sadly, almost worn out.

I looked through my closets yesterday and counted 24 garments purchased at our two nearest thrift stores; the Good As New here in Sedgewick and Twice Nice in the neighbouring town of Killam. Add to that a couple of belts, several scarves, a pair of shoes and a favourite necklace and I am clearly a frugal fashionista!

In our area there’s no stigma attached to shopping second hand. In fact, the shops are social gathering places frequented by people of every social and economic status and, for many of us, searching their racks for bargains has become a delightful game.

Richard and I were invited to the home of friends for dessert and drinks last evening. Here’s what I chose to wear.

The sleeveless cowl neck top (originally from Reitmans), the necklace and the shoes were all purchased at the Good As New for a grand total of $9. The pants were bought new a couple of summers ago.

Over the next few Fridays, I’ll be sharing more of my thrift store finds, evidence that it’s possible to dress with style even on a limited budget.

What about you? Do you shop thrift stores too?