Ban Week 5: $20 Spent on ...

That's right, kittens, twenty whole American dollars were mine to spend. I managed my first rollover in anticipation of a 50% off event at ARC's Value Village, and boy am I glad I did. You'll soon see why.

I roped Trinknitty into accompanying me, and she was THE BEST thrifting partner evar. For starters, she brought me these delicious frosted pumpkin cookies for breakfast. ROCK!


For seconds, she agreed to pose for this goofy shot of us with my $20 bill. See how ready to shop I am? It's just coming off me in waves.


We pulled into the parking lot about 15 minutes before the shop opened, and there were already at least a dozen people in line. It was a brisk morning, so we sat in the car and chatted until my anxiety got the better of me and I insisted we get in line, too.


I think we shopped for about two hours before we both felt we'd had a go of it. The checkout lines were loooong and slow-moving, so Trin doesn't look too pleased in this photo ... but believe me, she was stoked about her purchases.


We grabbed some lunch, and then went to ANOTHER Value Village outlet to see if we could score some more goods. I had only spent $16 of my $20 and simply couldn't let my remaining $4 go. Trin nabbed some more great gear at the second shop, but I struck out. And neither of us bought this enormous framed photo, but I felt compelled to immortalize it. Crying baby in denim hat + baby goat in MATCHING denim hat = masterpiece.


Before parting ways, we did our best-ofs. Mine is this mysterious piece, which you'll learn more about shortly.

And Trinknitty's is this painting of monks giving mead to a beggar ... or similar. It's appeal eluded me, but she was enamored.


So, wanna see the loot? OK here we go.

Long, lightweight black hoodie
$5.99 to $2.99
Fulfills: Things to wear with my leggings/Fryes, and slightly more interesting casualwear

This looks a little formless here, but I assure you, it's comfy and chic in person. Husband Mike loved it, which surprised the hell out of me as he generally prefers me in form-fitting-to-skintight clothing.

Handmade red poly tunic
$1.99 to $0.99
Fulfills: Layering pieces for winter

Hi. THIS WAS A DOLLAR. It's my best red, has a fantastic neckline, and looks great both on its own, and layered. Schweet.

Indescribable cowl neck vest thingy
$3.99 to $1.99
Fulfills: Being the coolest thing ever made

Yet again, the fantasticalness of this item is not properly conveyed by the photo. This is a slightly cowl-necked vest with a kangaroo pocket. It's made of some polyfill fabric with a sheer, charcoal-gray filmy netting layer over the top. It's a tad spaceman, I realize, but still cool beyond words. No identifiable brand, but a tiny black tag with size number only on it makes me think someone brought this bad boy back from Europe.

Black real leather cropped bomber
$12.99 to $6.50
Fulfills: Black leather cropped bomber (!)

I generally refuse to buy items from Target at thrift stores, as I mentioned earlier this week. Target clothing is cheap and cheaply made. Thrifted Target just means items are slightly cheaper, used, and will last for an even shorter amount of time than bought new. This piece was an exception. An item I'd eyed at full price, which I think was in the $90-$100 range originally, this adorable cropped bomber had never been worn for a single day. It fit, it was real leather, and it was $6.50. SOLD. This is a headless group of photos, but since HM made me do a Fonzie shot in my bomber, I had to share:

HEEEEEEEEEEY.

Grossgrain ribbon belt
$0.69 to $0.35
Fulfills: Yeah. Nothing. But it was $0.35 and so cute!

I've been drawn to these ribbon belts in J.Crew catalogs for ages, but totally unwilling to lay down $40 for one ... especially as I'm not sure how I'd wear it. But for $0.35, I'm happy to start experimenting. Experiment number one has told me NOT to wear it with my taupe sheath dress, as pictured here.

Black pleather wide buckle belt
$1.69 to $0.85
Fulfills: My misguided need to continually buy wide black belts that are ALMOST obis. Which ends here.

Promise. No more almost-obis. This belt is a very convincing fake leather, and so fun to play around with. I know it will get a lot of use.

Metal belt
$1.69 to $0.85
Fulfills: My look-before-you-leap purchase of the day

Yeah. I love this belt. And it's WAAAAAY too small for me, which I would've found out if I'd bothered to try it on before purchasing. Sure, it's fastened in this photo, but I can't actually breathe while wearing it. I might be able to chop it up and transform it into bracelets ... or, maybe one of you crafty vixens has another suggestion?

Black leather BRAND FREAKIN' NEW crossbody bag
$2.99 to $1.50
Fulfills: Crossbody bag (!)

Hi again. This bag still had the little bits of paper in all the slots. That's how new it is. Just look:

Told ya. Plus it's Hobo International, a fave handbag brand of mine that employs female designers exclusively, and churns out quality classics season after season. This was SUCH a score, my peeps.

OK, so all that totaled to $16. And I went to a bunch more thrifties over the course of the weekend before dispensing with another $3. Here's that story:

I bought this unbelievably adorable Soda Blu dress 8 years ago. Didn't fit me then, doesn't fit me now. (It's layered over a l/s v-neck tee here - not part of the dress, which is short-sleeved.)

See? Wubba galore! Plus, I love that print, but it IS a bit loud. And bright. And insane. So, taking a page out of gorgeous E's book, I started looking for a black shirt dress to wear - belted and open - on top of it.

Black shirt dress
$2.99
Fulfills: Black shirt dress (!)

Voila. I prefer the belted look, but HM says the buttoned look is more flattering. Opinions?

So have you been doing the math? I got all this stuff AND I STILL HAD A DOLLAR LEFT OVER!!!!1!(*!&!!!?!?!!! I had such a blast shopping with Trinknitty that I would've been content with half this haul ... but believe me, I'm super grateful for landing such an amazing batch of goodies.

Next week, I'll show you what $11 can do. Oh yes I will.