Pocketful of Joules

Over the weekend I had an appointment at the Apple store to get my battery replaced and was shocked to find out that it would take TWO HOURS, even with an appointment. They took my phone and threw me out into the mall to waste two whole hours… so I decided to hit up the Anthropologie sale. And by sale, I mean ‘sale on sale’ because everything on sale was an additional 40% off.

Of course, I didn’t have my phone… so I couldn’t do any dressing room snaps for you all. But I did try on a few new items, so I could give a little feedback.

They’ve been advertising these two skirts pretty hard lately. I’ve seen them on various Instragram personalities, as well as on display at the stores. Before I started crushing on them too much, I figured I’d try them on and then if I loved them and then wait for a good sale.

Willem Skirt, $128.00
Find it here

Source: Anthropologie.com

I thought I’d love this skirt and I’m glad I tried it on… because I totally don’t. The fabric is super heavy and you have to do it up by the squeaky tight-fitting front buttons. I’m typically a 10 or 12 in skirt and the 12 fit a little snug. It was super unflattering in the belly area and the length was really frumpy too.  All in all, I wouldn’t recommend this one for those of us larger than a 4/6.

Luria Striped Skirt, $118
Find it here

Source: Anthropologie.com

This one looked absolutely adorable on the store model, so I grabbed it to try. They only had an XS and XL, so I tried the XL. This looked TERRIBLE on me. Sure, it was a size too big, but even if I cinched it up it was still awful. The cotton fabric was thin and droopy and to be honest it looked like something I’d find at the thrift store from the 1980’s. This one is a nope.

I checked online and both of these skirts have great reviews, so maybe it’s just me that looks terrible in them…

I did have some great luck in the sale room!

Hemant & Nandita Lazuli Dress
Find it here

Source: Anthropologie.com

There was only one of these dresses in sale room and it was a 10P, so I kept my expectations low. However, once I put it on, I LOVED this dress. The original price tag was $228 and it was marked down to $129.95… so at 40% off it would still be $78. While I didn’t really NEED this dress, it would be great for various upcoming wedding celebrations and even appropriate for work with a cute cardigan. When I went to the cashier to buy it, apparently it was supposed to have an updated sale tag of $69.95 before the ‘sale on sale’… so it came out to just $41.97! I’m so glad I didn’t put it back because this was such a steal!

It finally warmed up enough outside to do one of my old-school front porch pics, so here it is on me:

I’m certainly a bit curvier than the Anthro model, but I think it’s pretty darn cute!

Foxiedox Autumnal Slip Dress
Find it here

Source: Anthropologie.com

I’ve actually come across this dress in the sale room a couple times over the past few months, but never bothered to try it on. I’m glad I gave it a try this time though, because the large fits me really well. The original price of this one was $168 and after all the markdowns and the sale, it ended up being just $29.97! This is a heavier fabric, so it will look good with booties and a sweater in the fall/winter/now, but also will be great for warmer weather with sandals.

Here it is on me:

And here it is with a thrifted cardigan topper:

Looking at the photos, I’m wondering if I should shorten it a bit. Do you think I should hem it knee-length?

Original price total: $396
My ‘sale on sale’ total: $71.94

I think I’ll get a lot of wear out of both these dresses, so I’m glad that Apple *forced* me to go shopping!

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I’ve mentioned that I have some fun wedding activities coming up – my brother and his fiancée are getting married in September and then my sister and her fiancé are getting married in December (and yes, I googled when to use fiancée vs fiancé ). I’m in both weddings and will be wearing a long bridesmaid dress for one and a short bridesmaid dress for the other. The problem is… dressing Travis and Jack!

Travis very, very rarely dresses up and doesn’t even own a suit that fits. We actually bought him one from Target about 13 years ago, but that one is way past due for hitting the donation pile. I’d like to find him a well-fitting suit and maybe 2 – 3 shirts that he can switch in and out for the two weddings, rehearsal dinners, and any other suit-related activities that come up over the next few years.

Husband Suit Inspiration Board:

Sources: suit, top dress shirt, bottom dress shirt

I’m leaning towards a navy blue suit, possibly with a super subtle pattern. Here are our suit-related challenges: my husband is 6’4” tall, so in shirts I usually have to buy him an XL-Tall because his torso is so long. He does sometimes fit in a ‘regular’ XL when it comes to coats though… so maybe we will get lucky. I did some online research and checked places like Jos. A. Bank and Men’s Warehouse, and it looks like men’s suits run $400 – $700, which is giving me some massive sticker shock.

Here’s where I can totally use your advice… where can I find a relatively reasonably priced man’s suit?

Right now I’m leaning towards Nordstrom Rack, because they have some nice options online and I believe since they are a Nordstrom store they do alterations too. I’m certainly open to other ideas though!

Next up, is Jack. Jack is the ring bearer in my brother’s wedding in September and is also attending my sister’s wedding in December. He doesn’t have a special outfit for his ring bearer’s duties, so we decided to go with trousers, button up shirt, suspenders and bow tie.

Here’s what I’m thinking:

Ring Bearer Inspiration Board:

Sources: boy’s shirt, boy’s pants, crab bow tie, chambray bow tie, suspenders, shoes.

We already have the shoes and it should be pretty easy to pick up suspenders. There are so many adorable bow tie options on Etsy that I want to buy them all. I mean, LOOK at that cute crab tie?! The shirt and trousers will be where I’m looking for deals. Jack will most likely only wear them for the two weddings and then promptly grow out of them!

Advice time: where is a good place to get reasonably priced kids’ dress clothes? And yes, I’ll absolutely be checking thrift stores!

I have plenty of time to find everything we need, so I figured I’d start early to allow us to take advantage of any super awesome sales or clearance events. If you have any stores you swear by or tips for the best time to buy, let me know!

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Let’s talk t-shirts. When I’m not at work, I am a jeans and t-shirt kinda girl. Or sweatpants and t-shirts. Or leggings and t-shirts. If you’re picking up what I’m laying down…comfort is pretty darn important to me.

Also, I’m incredibly picky about my t-shirts. They have to be the perfect softness of cotton and they have to be just oversized enough to not cling to my tummy… but not sooo oversized that the sleeves are down to my elbows.

Oh. And the V is VERY important. I need a v-neck that isn’t too high, but not too low. Basically, it has to be juuuuuusssst right.

Even more important than the v-neck situation is how they wear. They can’t shrink after one wearing or get covered in pills after three. They also can’t be transparent.

Got all that?

So yeah, I’m pretty darn picky about my t-shirts BUT I found one that I love:

The Madewell Whisper Cotton V-Neck Pocket Tee

Source: Nordstrom.com

This t-shirt is IT for me. And right now they are on sale at Nordstrom for 20% off, making them $15.60 (with free shipping). I do like to size up to an XL to get that flowy fit I love, so keep that in mind if you decide to try them out!

Do you have a ‘perfect’ t-shirt that you recommend? Share in the comments!

UPDATE: I had a couple requests for a photo of me wearing the t-shirt, so here you go:

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I often post about my thrifting finds and other shopping scores, but I’ve been getting a lot of questions lately about how/where I get rid of my unwanted clothing items. So, I thought it would be fun to kind of do the opposite of a ‘Thrift Haul’ post… more like a ‘What Purged’ post instead.

I’ve been on a bit of a spring cleaning kick, so I’ve gotten rid of clothes in four different ways:

1. I listed a few items in my Poshmark closet.
You can read my post on Tips for Buying on Poshmark here and when I was doing my research I set up my own closet here: My Poshmark Closet. I haven’t had a lot of success using Poshmark to sell clothes, but did make one sale a month or so ago that went quite smoothly. I just listed a few more things, so if you feel inclined go ahead and check them out.

2. I listed an item on eBay.
I was on the fence about whether to keep or sell the Diane Von Furstenberg wrap dress I thrifted last year (you can see the original post here) So, I decided to wear it once to work to see if it was a winner… and it was not. So, I listed it on eBay. I did some comparison shopping and initially listed my dress at a ‘buy it now’ price of $119, but it didn’t sell. So, when I went to relist I dropped it down to $89. It sold at that price, so I made a pretty nice profit on my $9.89 thrift score (even after eBay and PayPal fees).

3. I posted a couple ‘Closet Purge’ posts on some brand-specific Facebook Buy/Sell pages.
If you haven’t already read my post about selling on Facebook, you’ll want to check this one out: 5 Tips for Selling Your Clothes on Facebook. I currently belong to a few brand-specific Facebook groups for Anthropologie, Boden and a general ‘Non Crappy Clothes’ group (for higher-end brands). You can do a ‘purge’ on a group, where you list a bunch of your clothing items for sale and then if someone wants to buy one they will comment ‘sold’ with their PayPal address.

4. If something isn’t ‘nice enough’ to sell, but still kinda nice I send it to Thred Up using one of their Clean Out bags.
You can read my February post about my experience with the Thred Up Clean Out bag. I requested another bag, which is sitting on my sewing table. So far I have a bunch of Jack’s outgrown jeans and nicer tops. When the weather gets warm in a couple weeks and I switch my closet from cold-weather clothes, to hot-weather clothes, I’ll be adding some more items before sending it off to them.

So, what did I sell in March? Let’s check it out:

On EBay:
DVF dress – Bought thrifted for $9.20 and sold for $89

On Poshmark:
Nothing in March.

On Facebook groups:
Michael Stars top- Bought thrifted for $5 and sold for $20
J. Jill tunic- Bought thrifted for $3.50 and sold for $25
Boden Riviera dress – Bought at Boden outlet for $40, wore it once (was too lazy to tailor it) and sold it for $40
Boden jersey dress – Thrifted for $8.04 and sold within 7 hours for $40
Leota dress – Bought on Poshmark for $16, wore it once, decided it was too short on me and sold it for $35
Anthropologie Maeve cutout back dress – from my closet years ago (not thrifted) sold for $25
Anthropologie Corey Lynn Calter maxi skirt – from my closet years ago (not thrifted), sold for $40
Anthropologie One September tunic top – from my closet years ago (not thrifted) sold for $40

On Thred Up:
Nothing in March.

Did you find this post helpful? Would you be interested in a monthly or bi-monthly ‘what I sold’ post? Do you have any clothes selling tips?