Thriftanista in the City

I've managed to obtain a few polka dot pieces in my thrifting shenanigans. I like bold prints and dotted clothes are just plain fun to wear. I must admit that I've been challenged by them in the past then I remember to follow the dots. When in doubt, I can always let them be my guide for color pairing options.

We've been celebrating Violet's birthday all weekend. For the birthday feast part of the celebration, I chose an extremely comfortable dress gifted to me by Rachael Moshman, a LuLaRoe fashion consultant.  This was a perfect choice indeed for Violet's birthday brunch. The dress is extremely soft and comfortable. There's lots of room in it. It's airy for this heat. It's wearable and stylish too.

I bought a vintage dress off of a sale rack. I liked the bright colors, bell sleeves, and sweetheart neckline. It had a small barely noticeable stain. I sprayed it with stain remover. Washed it. No change. I colored over tiny stain with a sharpie thinking it would blend in with the large motif. Nah. Nope. Bad idea. I washed it and ended up with TWO stains on my $5 vintage dress. It also had some loose stitching on a back dart and it was a little tight. I was able to move in it but given the other issues I decided to proceed with fashion surgery and turn it into a tunic.

While indulging in a few of my favorite things, I wore a few of my favorite things - african print head scarf, a vintage jacket, and thrifted jeans. I cleaned out my fabric stash and discovered scraps of one of my favorite pieces of cloth. I made a dress 7 years ago and held on to the remnants thinking I could piece together a skirt. That never happened but there was a square piece perfect for a wrapping hair up.

We all know african prints have a special place in my heart. I wore an ankara print skirt and an off the shoulder dashiki top in this week alone. It turns out I'm not the only one in love with this colorful fabric.  

It's back to school time around here and I'm having a bear of a time trying to get back into the swing of things. There's only a 30 minute difference between summer break and school wake up time but it feels way harsh. I haven't added "lay clothes out in the morning" to my bedtime routine so I'm scrambling around for decent clothes in the am and then again in the afternoon. I haven't found my rhythm. I feel good about today's post workout wardrobe change to dashiki top and white shorts. You can't go wrong with african prints.

Are we still loving summer? I am. It feels like I'm melting but I wouldn't have it any other way. Hot over cold any day. I spent most of the day indoors except for a quick alfresco brunch. I kept semi cool in a cotton tank and a diy ankara skirt .

I want to warn you that this isn't your average dirt cheap thrift haul like in Miami . I was all caught up in everything's bigger in Texas and the keep Austin weird vibe, I guess. One of the cheapest of the vintage stores I visited was Monkies. It was less curated and relaxed. Again, it wasn't thrift store cheap but it was reasonably priced in comparison. I spent $91 for three dresses, a skirt, and a top -- with holes.

Instagram is my social media happy place. I go there frequently to look at all of the pretty. Naturally, I am especially fond of thrift style fashion accounts. These are a few of my favorites who I can always count on to deliver fabulous and fashionable looks. Check them out and let me know in comments who's your favorite.

I've become infatuated with tube pencil skirts. They add a little something different to the standard jeans and tee mom casual uniform. The stretchy knit kind that you pull on and off have made summer dressing so easy. Granted I've only made this discovery about a week ago. In that time,  I've already purchased four of the same skirt in different colors and patterns. 

I cannot express the amount of love I have for this  polka dot thrift store find . I paid a whopping $8 for it which is outside of what I would normally pay for a dress. No regrets. It's one of the favorites. The cut of this dress is amazing. It fits perfectly. It has pockets. It even has big shoulder pads that I will NOT be removing.  The green and black polka color combo is quite unique too. I think the dress is perfection the way it is. Polka dots and all.