Category: Fashion

The air is crisp, the leaves are beautiful, and there is a hint of bonfire smell in the air! October is my favorite – which why we got married in October 17 years ago. This month, I went into the office once, celebrated Taylor Swift’s new album with my sisters, attended an engagement party that turned out to be a surprise wedding, and celebrated our wedding anniversary.

Let’s take a look at my October outfits:

Office Style

The return of this fantastic vintage skirt! This time, I paired it with a couple ancient Anthropologie pieces – a tank top that I bought retail more than 10 years ago and a fun, vintage looking embroidered cardigan I found on Poshmark in 2022. I also love the sweetness of my Mary Jane Rothy’s (bought on Poshmark) and think they are a great fall work shoe!

Celebrating Style

The dress was my choice for an outdoor engagement party that turned into a surprise wedding. I found this dress a few months ago at a consignment shop and love the color, the fit-and-flare of the waistline, and the milkmaid-ish bodice. I paired it with my thrifted vintage cowboy boots, since I knew we would be outside in the grass.

The cowboy boots made another appearance on our anniversary weekend. Travis and I decided to take a drive out to the Shenandoah Valley to have a delicious lunch and enjoy the changing leaves at Skyline Drive. So, I paired a fun tee with a sassy skirt (that used to be a dress before I chopped it in half).

Casual Style

The rest of my looks are different combos of jeans, v-neck tees and sweaters. I’ve been revisiting a few different pairs of jeans in my closet and added one new pair from Lucky Brand (the dark pair on the bottom right). I absolutely LOVE the new pair, so I may need to write a post just about them at some point.

New vs Secondhand Tally

This month, I count 9 items that I purchased retail and 15 items I purchased secondhand.

Back in September, I walked you through an aggressive closet cleanout (you can read that post here). By the end of my purge, I had two big bags that went to the local thrift store and a huge pile of stuff to sell.

When it comes to clothing sales, I typically sell in three places: Poshmark, targeted Facebook groups, and a consignment store. For this pile, I used all three resources, so let’s take a closer look at what sold, where, and how much I earned.

Poshmark

I’ve been selling on Poshmark for years and it’s pretty easy to photograph and post each item for sale. So, that is usually going to be my first stop. For this pile of stuff, I slowly worked my way through it and ended up adding 47 items to my Poshmark closet.

I figured I’d list everything for about 2 weeks or so, to see what sold quickly. Then, I’d go through and remove items that I would take to the consignment store (marking them as ‘not for sale’ once I dropped them off).

Here is what I sold on Poshmark:

• Anthropologie beaded belt – $15
• Anthropologie corduroy dress – $31
• Johnny Was blouse – $50
• Anthropologie floral dress – $28
• Vintage brown suede skirt – $40
• Anthropologie leather belt – $16
• Boden blouse – $15
• Frye boots – $65
• Eileen Fisher sandals – $25
• Sezane blouse – $40
• Birkenstock sandals – $38

My total of sales was $363 before Poshmark fees (20%).

After about a month on Poshmark, I deleted any item that had 0 likes and added it to a donation bag. One more full bag of items was dropped off at the thrift store.

If you’re new to Poshmark, you can use my special invite code to open an account and get $10 off your first order. Just use: POCKETFULOFJOUL And here is a direct link to my closet: https://poshmark.com/closet/pocketfulofjoul. Feel free to make an offer on something if you love it!

Focused Facebook Groups

Some ‘specialty’ items sell better in focused Facebook Groups. A benefit is that you don’t have to pay fees (I typically use PayPal). However, you DO have to pay for your own postage. In this pile of stuff, I had one purse that I sold on the Rough & Tumble Fans Facebook Group for $190.

Consignment Store

I have a consignment store that I adore, that is about an hour away from my house. About 2 weeks after I posted everything on Poshmark, I removed 16 of the items that were accepted by the consignment store. According to their portal, I have earned $140 so far through my sales. After 60 days, I’ll collect any unsold items from the consignment store, pick up my check, and decide whether to donate them to the thrift store or re-add them back to my Poshmark closet.

My Earnings

As of today, here is my total for closet cleanout sales:

• Poshmark: $300
• Targeted Facebook Group: $190
• Consignment store: $140

Total: $630

I’m very happy to have done a full purge of my closet to get rid of a bunch of items I wasn’t wearing or loving anymore. It is nice to pass on things so that someone else can enjoy them AND I certainly don’t mind some extra money coming back to me!

I was scrolling back through some of my older posts and realized something – every fall, like clockwork, I get the urge to toss up a little seasonal inspiration. Here’s my post from 2021 and here’s one from 2023 too. As soon as there’s a chill in the air, I want to dig through my closet, mix things up, and find fresh ways to welcome autumn.

So, in keeping with tradition, here are a few images that are giving me all the cozy, pumpkin spice, crunchy-leaf vibes this year.

When it comes to accessories:

Sources: Amazon, my closet, Warby Parker

I’m obsessed with this dark olive green nail polish shade for my toenails right now. Its OPI in “Suzi the First Lady of Nails” and I love it! Also on my ‘feeling for fall’ list is the cowboy boots I thrifted in Arizona (I added these fluffy insoles inside and now they are cute AND comfortable) and my platform low-top Chucks (also thrifted). I’ve been wearing both with all the skirts lately and will be adding tights to the look soon.

I found this chunky two-tone necklace at a consignment shop and can’t wait to layer it along with other chains with all my fall looks. As for those gorgeous wine-berry colored glasses, they are the Dasia glasses from Warby Parker. I tried them on while helping my husband pick out his new glasses and they might be my new pair once I get my prescription updated next month. They reminded me that I own a similar colored pair of readers, so I switched them out with my heavily used pair to give me a little variety.

Clothing inspo:

Sources: my closet, Pendelton and Lucky Brand

I thrifted the Everlane striped sweater in the spring and I’m still obsessed with it. I can’t wait to wear it a billion times this fall with jeans and joggers. The plaid/velvet/embroidered Johnny Was top was bought secondhand in Florida in August, so I’m patiently waiting until the weather allows me to throw it on as a kooky fun layer!

I love Pendelton designs SO MUCH, even though they are mostly out of my comfort price range. I have picked up two of their cotton cardigans secondhand over the past year or so and I love throwing them on over a simple v-neck t-shirt or graphic tee (here’s my orange version). They will be appearing a bunch this fall. As for the jeans, I’m excited that boot cut/baby boot cut are back around! I’ve been gravitating towards a darker wash and recently ordered a couple pairs (including this pair) from Lucky Brand to try.

As you notice, most of my fall inspiration comes from items I’ve collected secondhand and I’m shopping my own closet for my inspo. I don’t feel like I need to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe each season. And really, who can do that anyways?! Instead, I like to collect a few new pieces that I love throughout the year and pack them away until the right season comes around and I can fully enjoy them.

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