Thrift Style: Men’s Dress Shirt

Last week in my Thrift Store Haul post I showed you a men’s dress shirt that I scooped up for less than $6. I’d been eyeing button up blouses, but not really sure if the look was too ‘preppy’ for me. I figured that by trying to style a thrifted shirt I could try the look out without too much commitment.

First things first though, it was a bit too big on me. Now, let me tell you, I am NOT a gifted seamstress at all. I have a sewing machine and I know how to sew a straight line. That’s about it. So, knowing that the arms were a bit too loose and the body could be a little more fitted, I put the shirt on inside-out and threw some pins in to make it a little smaller. Then, I put it on the machine and stitched four straight lines. That’s it. And the lines weren’t even that straight.

Here’s after I spent a few minutes sewing:

Men's shirt before and after

Not a huge change — you can mostly tell around the arms– but I’m no longer swimming in it.

So now that the shirt looks a little better on me, I decided to try styling it in a few different ways. Oh, and forgive me for the crappy pictures. It was too cold to go outside and I just set my camera up for some casual shots and didn’t even bother getting my whole body. What can I say, I’ve been busy!

Look #1: Paired with a Grandpa Sweater

Look 1

For my first try at wearing the men’s shirt, I was inspired by the layering in this pin. I really liked the loose shirt, loose sweater, cute cuffs and skinny jeans, so I decided to try it for myself. I’ve had this sweater for a couple years, but hardly ever pull it out of my closet. By pairing it with the button up shirt, I feel like it makes it a little less stuffy and I’m kind of loving the mix!

Look #2: Office Chic

Look 2

For my second look, I decided to try it with a more fitted three-quarter sleeve sweater. Instead of just folding the cuffs up once, I doubled the over on themselves again to match the sleeve length of the cardigan. The more fitted shape gives the whole look a more preppy look and I can see pairing this with a pair of trousers and wearing this to work.

Look #3: Masculine + Feminine

Look 3

Janice from Mom Life & Style really rocks this look (you can see her version here) and this was one of the first outfits I wanted to try to recreate with my men’s shirt. I tried it both with a belt and without, but I still don’t think it’s quite a winner on me.

Look #4: Paired with Sassy Pants

Look 4

I love these coral colored skinny jeans that I got from Stitch Fix, but I find them really hard to style. I mean, they basically scream LOOK AT ME, so I want to tone them down a bit to leave the house. Mouthy pants. I kind of like the mix of topping the bright pants with the men’s button up and a peek of my black tank top.  What do you think?

I have to say, I definitely got more than $6 worth of fun out of this shirt and it hasn’t even left the house yet. While I’m still not sure if I’m really a ‘button up’ type girl, I can see myself wearing it in so many different ways that it has earned a space in my closet.

Oh and I didn’t forget about Susan’s comment on the Thrift Haul post suggesting I try styling it like Audrey Hepburn, it just didn’t work. I think once I tailored it a bit smaller it didn’t have enough extra fabric to make the wrap work well. Or, my boobs where the problem.

Now I want to know… which look do you like best?

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Thrift Store Haul

I love shopping at thrift stores. Back in high school, finding super cool ‘vintage’ t-shirts at the local Goodwill was the BEST. When I bought my first townhouse in my early 20’s, most of my decorations came from thrift stores or yard sales. There is just something about the thrill of the hunt… and the fact that everything is so inexpensive you don’t have to worry about regretting a purchase.

I’ve gotten out of the habit of regularly visiting thrift stores, but still keep them in rotation when looking for gently-worn kids clothes. For the past few years, I ended up getting Jack’s snowsuits AND swimsuits at thrift stores and many even still had the tags on them!

Over the weekend, after fighting a stomach bug and winning, I was dying to get out of the house for a bit. Jack and I went to the grocery store, and then before returning home I decided to swing by the local Goodwill to see what treasures we’d uncover. With groceries in the truck, we didn’t have a ton of time… but all it took was about 15 minutes and we found some awesome stuff!

I’d been eyeing a button up blouse on the J.Crew website for a while but I’m still not sure I’m really a ‘button up’ kinda girl, so when I saw this men’s version for $5.89 I snapped it up:

Thrift Store Haul - shirt

It’s a bit large on me, but I’m thinking some quick sewing will nip it in exactly where I need it. I’m imagining it under a cardigan with the rolled sleeves showing and some skinny jeans. Or maybe tucked into a high-waisted skirt. Would you be interested in seeing some style options?

Next, we breezed by the kid’s section and I checked both the 4T’s and 5T’s for anything that still had tags on it. I ended up finding two pairs of Car’s swim trunks that didn’t have tags, but look brand-new. Jack is a big fan of Car’s, so I had to check them out:

Thrift Store Haul - swim trunks

I always need extra swim suits for Jack since over the summer I have to send one to his school and one to my parent’s house, so for $2.50 a piece, these will definitely come in handy.

As we neared the checkout, we eyed our final bargain… a stack of 6 Hess Trucks, still in their original boxes were sitting by the register. Jack LOVES his trucks, especially the Hess trucks handed down from my brother, so I let him pick his favorite and he chose the 2010 Truck & Jet set for $15.00.

Buying toys is always a risk since you don’t know if they will work when they get home. But even after I explained to Jack that they might not make noises he was ecstatic to bring them home. In fact, he kept yelling “Thank you! Thank you!” in the checkout line and kissing the box…

Luckily when we got home we found that not only were they still bound in their original packaging inside the box, the batteries still worked too! Oh, and for anyone who thinks that these are expensive collector’s items, I checked eBay and they pretty much go for $10 – 20.

Our entire trip cost less than $30 and I’m super happy with everything that came home with us. Jack has been playing with his new truck and jet every day since we brought them home, which in itself is totally worth it.

Every time I have an awesome thrifting experience like this, I tell myself that we need to do it more often. Of course, many times we walk away empty handed, but that’s just how thrift magic works.

I’d love to hear your thrifting stories! Did you find a diamond in the rough (literally or figuratively)? Have you ever gotten in a fight over an item? What do you like to look for while thrifting?

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I Saw it On Pinterest: ‘Cat Eye’ Eyeliner

So far in my Pinterest adventures, I’ve tackled a braided bun, made some fire starters, tried to unclog a sink drain, made a t-shirt bag, baked some crappy s’mores pockets and made an awesome blanket scarf.

Well I received a liquid liner in my January Birchbox (review of box coming soon) and had the great thought that I’d use some Pinterest tutorials to try the ‘cat eye’ look. I mean, how hard could it be?

I found two posts that sounded perfect to help me figure it out: 22 Genius Eyeliner Hacks Every Woman Needs to Know and 18 Useful Tips for People Who Suck at Eyeliner. Considering that I use eyeliner on a daily basis, I figured that with these 40 new tips I’d be a PRO!

The girl on the pin is exactly the look that I am going for:

cat eye pin

I mean look at her… it’s perfect! And don’t even get me started on the eyebrow jealousy I have going on right now…

So with this exact ‘swoop’ in mind, I readied myself. I read EVERY SINGLE tip in each article. I steadied my hand on my face. I made small dots with the liquid liner and slowly smudged them together. I tried making the liner extend out on a curve… only to realize it was randomly curving down when I stopped pulling my skin tight. I wiped it off with makeup remover and tried it again.

And again.
And again.
Okay, so I got one side done and it’s not TOO awful.

cat eye 2

And then, I did the other side.

cat eye 3

What the hell just happened here?!
I’m not even kidding when I say that this is literally the best that I could do after trying over and over again.

Even when it seemed like I was doing a good job, I’d back up from the mirror to look and I pretty much looked CRAZY.

I mean, LOOK AT THIS:

cat eye 4

Maybe I just need more practice? Like months and months of more practice…

Have you perfected the art of the ‘cat eye’?

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