Category: Thrifting Fun

Halfway Through 2025: Thrift Winners & Losers

With half the year behind us, it’s time for my 6-month thrifting check-in! I started doing these a few years ago as a way to keep myself accountable. Even after years of thrifting, I still make the occasional “what was I thinking?” purchase. Looking back helps me recognize those missteps and celebrate the wins, so I can keep improving.

Let’s take a look back at my 2025 thrift winners & losers so far:

January 2025

Winners:

  • Cactus hat, $3.50
  • Stitch Fix sweater, $9
  • Homemade quilt, $15

Losers:

  • Merona Cardigan, $5.50

Time Will Tell:

  • Coldwater Creek embroidered jeans, $9.50
  • Banana Republic scarf, $6.50

All the ‘winning’ items from January have gotten some wear/use over the past few months. However, that Merona cardigan was almost an immediate re-donate. I don’t know what I was thinking when I bought it, but it looked terrible on me and didn’t play well with the rest of my closet. I’ve only worn the embroidered jeans once, but they seem nice. So we will see if they end up getting a lot of wear over the next year or so. As for the scarf, I haven’t worn it yet so it is packed away until next winter.

February 2025

Winners:

  • Land’s End cardigan, $5.99
  • Smokey Bear Bandana, $1
  • MCM California Pottery tray, $4.49
  • Nordstrom Rack linen dress, $14.99

Time Will Tell:

  • Soft Surroundings wrap dress, $19.99

Lots of winners in February and only one that I’m not quite sure about. Before wearing it, I removed the yellow beading from the neckline of the Soft Surroundings dress, and I feel like it was a big improvement. I wore it to work once and it is very cute. I’m not sure if it will be a long-term closet love:

March 2025

Losers:

  • Sage Collective joggers, $5.50

Time Will Tell:

  • Athleta cross-over top, $7.50
  • Lauren Ralph Lauren skirt, $23
  • Charlestown Shoe “Federal” Boot, $7.50

The joggers were new with tags and super silky soft, however; after wearing them a couple times they are just too big. By the end of the day, I’ve got ‘dumpy butt’ and I’m not a fan. If these haven’t already made their way to the re-donate bag, they will be there in the fall when I dig them out again.

For all three of the other items, they have to fall under ‘time will tell’ because I haven’t worn any of them yet! The Athleta top is more winter weight, the skirt is screaming FALL at me and the booties also feel more autumnal.

Spring Break Arizona Haul – April 2025

Winners:

  • Zara skirt, $3
  • Vintage skirt, $7.29
  • Vintage shirt, $9
  • Everlane sweater, $7
  • Acme cowboy boots, $25

Lots of vacation thrifting winners! I’ve worn all five of the items and LOVE them all. Perhaps I need to go on more vacations for thrifting…

April 2025

Winners:

  • Striped + Floral skirt, $7.79
  • Loft cardigan, $9

Losers:

  • Pure Jill Kimono, $9

Both the skirt and the cardigan fit well into my closet and have already been worn to work. I thought the kimono was cute in the store, but after wearing it as a topper at home a few times, it just feels frumpy. This exercise helped me pull the trigger and this one just went into the re-donate bag.

May 2025

Time Will Tell:

  • Talbots 100% silk pleated skirt, $9.99

This was a relatively recent purchase and I haven’t worn it yet.

June 2025

Winners:

  • J.Crew Tulle skirt, $3.59
  • Lou & Grey shorts, $4.12
  • Pleated running skirt, $8.24
  • Linen dress, $6.74
  • Gap top, $4.87

Time Will Tell:

  • Vintage Allison Smith skirt, $7
  • No tag dress, $9
  • Embroidered top, $7
  • Bailey 44 joggers, $6

So far, I know the tulle skirt, shorts, running skirt, linen dress and Gap dress are winners. They have all been worn, and in the case of the shorts and linen dress (turned top), they’ve been worn a few times over the last few weeks. I haven’t had a chance to wear the vintage skirt yet, but finger’s crossed that it’s adorable. I did chop the ‘no tag’ dress into a tank top, but the jury is out on whether it will be put into heavy rotation.

The embroidered top will become a pillow when I have time. And those joggers are most likely a win, but I won’t wear them until the weather cools back down!

Total Spent:

Just to hold myself super accountable, let’s total up all the thrifting purchases from the last 6 months. According to my handy dandy excel spreadsheet that I pulled the info into, my total for 6 months of thrifting was: $281.60, which equals out to about $47 per month. The total is lower than last year by over $60, so that’s nice!

While my thrifting total/monthly breakdown is not an insignificant number, this is my main ‘fun money’ I spend on myself. I very rarely buy books (I use the library and my kindle religiously) and make 90% of my coffee at home, and most importantly… our budget can afford it.

Overall Favorites:

And now my absolute favorite part, looking at all my thrifting purchases over the past 6-months and picking my favorite items!

Home Decor Favorites:

  • Homemade quilt, $15 (January 2025)
  • MCM California Pottery tray, $4.49 (February)

I love both the homemade quilt and the pottery tray that I found earlier in the year! Finding a huge quilt that had been made with love was an absolute score… and having it priced so low at $15 was incredible. I will cherish it for many years to come and it is currently in my sun room for ease of dog snuggling. As for the yellow pottery tray, it has moved around my house to a few locations so far. I love how bright and cheery it is!

Clothing Favorites

  • Everlane sweater, $7 (Vacation Thrift, April 2025)
  • Acme cowboy boots, $25 (Vacation Thrift, April 2025)
  • J.Crew Tulle skirt, $3.59 (June 2025)
  • Lou & Grey shorts, $4.12 (June 2025)
  • Linen dress, $6.74 (June 2025)

I am OBSESSED with the Everlane sweater, even though I only had one chance to wear it before the weather got too hot. It is the perfect chunky knit, 100% cotton and slightly oversized. Love, love, love it! Those vintage boots were an iconic Sedona Arizona find! The tulle skirt is so pretty and twirly and fits great. The Lou & Grey shorts are already my favorites for summer. And that linen nightgown looking dress turned into an absolutely fabulous linen top that I have been wearing on repeat!

The first half of 2025 has brought some great thrifting finds, I can’t wait to see what is around the corner!

June Thrift Haul

Where my May Thrift Haul was quite sparse, this month’s thrifting treasures are much more robust! Early in the month I decided to take myself on a mental health thrifting day, where I took a 25% off loyalty member coupon with me to browse ALL the sections of the store. Then, this past weekend I hit up one of my nearby options and found some more winners.

Let’s check out this month’s haul:

J.Crew Tulle skirt, $3.59 with my coupon

We all know I love a tulle skirt. Give me a perfect condition, polka dotted tulle skirt from J. Crew in my size… I mean, come on. That’s a no brainer! Yes, this will look adorable for holiday events and paired with a top and cardigan for work. But, it is also going to get some weekend action with some graphic tee shirts! Here it is for a fit check with the shirt I happened to be wearing and it’s a winner.

And here it is as I wore it to work recently:

Lou & Grey shorts, $4.12 with my coupon

I was flipping through the athletic shorts section when a nice lady came up right next to me to put out some new items, so OF COURSE I had to double-back to check them out. Which is where I found these silky Lou & Grey shorts for less than $5.

They’re loose and comfortable and have zip-up pockets. You guys, I am OBSESSED with these shorts. They are so, so, so comfortable and I’ve been grabbing for them pretty much every day that they are not in the laundry. It has gotten to the point that I’m thinking I should stop by the Loft outlet on my way to the beach just to see if I can get a back-up pair!

Pleated Running Skort, $8.24 with my coupon

Did I pay up for this black, pleated running skort. Sure, a little bit. However, it’s so adorable! I love the built in shorts with pockets and the pleated skirt that is perfect for twirling. And honestly, my husband is kind of obsessed with me in running skirts when we go for our evening walks, so… worth it just to see the heart eyeballs look he gives me when I wear one!

Linen dress, $6.74 with my coupon

Yes, this linen dress is giving Victorian nightgown. But the linen fabric and the neckline were fantastic and I had a vision! I dyed it a rich green, chopped off the length, sewed up the pockets and hemmed the bottom with iron on hem tape.

And BOOM, for less than $7 I have a beautiful linen top in a color and cut that goes with so many items in my closet!

Gap top with flutter sleeves, $4.87 with my coupon

I thrifted another oversized v-neck Gap Top a few months ago and it’s been getting lots of wear, so when I saw this one with pretty flutter sleeves I needed it. It’s just one of those ‘dressy’ looking tops that go with everything – paired with jean shorts, styled with a skirt and cardigan, tied over a dress… it always looks good and cost less than $5 for all that versatility.

Vintage Allison Smith skirt, $7

I love that this vintage skirt has pockets, belt loops and buttons down the front. I don’t love that we are calling the 80’s/90’s vintage… Anywhoo. The ‘Made in Taiwan’ label points to it being more mid-to-late 80’s, but it looks like it’s never been worn and has been sitting in someone’s closet for the last 30 years.

Who doesn’t love a classic black skirt?! Here’s a quick fit check with the top I was wearing that day — which is linen dress that turned into a top from above!

Bailey 44 joggers, $6

I was paging through the workout bottoms and the second my hands hit the fabric of these joggers I immediately got excited. They are SO FREAKING SOFT. They’re a medium though and I can be anything from a medium, large or XL – so I was crossing my fingers that they fit me properly. And they do and I love them! Afterwards, I found them on the Bailey 44 website (here) and they sell for $158?!

Anyways, I’m obsessed with them and can’t wait until I forget I bought them only to find them in my drawer on a random cold day and fall in love with them all over again!

Okay, the next two items are projects….

No tag cotton/linen dress, $9

I know that this dress looks like a sack. There are no tags in it (brand or fabric), but it has the hand-feel of a very nice linen/cotton and it has French seams, which are typically found on higher-end clothing. The top fits nice and oversized… so of course, I decided to chop it off and make myself another summer top.

I did the big chop and ironed on the hem over the weekend and already wore it once this week (I forgot to take a photo). But now I’m trying to decide if I need to chop it a bit shorter.

Embroidered top, $7

I love, love, love the embroidery on this top. But I don’t love how the top looks on me. After trying it on with a bunch of different bottoms and considering reducing the ruffles and moving the bows in the back, I decided that it’s going to turn into a pillow.

Here’s a rendering by folding it into position:

Cute, right?!

May Thrift Haul

With May flying by, it’s time to talk about my May thrifting. Which is actually pretty lame. It’s been a pretty busy month, so I actually only had one opportunity to check out the thrift store. Let’s take a look at this very small thrift haul…

Talbots 100% silk pleated skirt, $9.99

That’s right. A perfect condition, 100% silk, pleated, vintage Talbot skirt. {dreamy sigh} Yes, I already own a skirt this color. But, for $10 I couldn’t pass up this beauty! It is so lightweight and flowy with a built-in slip and I think it will be wonderful to wear to work on those sweltering hot days that you don’t want to get dressed up.

And that’s it. That’s all I thrifted this month.

However, I did also buy something off Poshmark. So since it’s a second hand buy, I feel like it’s thrifting adjacent…

Lucky Brand dress, $30

This was listed as ‘like new, worn once’ and the seller accepted my $30 offer. If this dress looks familiar, it’s because I have it in a different colorway:

And it’s literally one of my favorite dresses that has been worn so much that my cost-per-wear is down in the single digits.

The only problem is… I accidently bought the wrong size. The dress I own and love is a size large and the new green version is a size XL. Oops. Normally a little extra fabric isn’t a big deal with this type of fit and flare dress, but it actually does look much too big on me.

So I need to make a decision:

  • Relist the dress on Poshmark and buy a large when one pops up.
  • Add a belt and call it a day
  • Sew the bodice area and waist a bit smaller, so it fits me better.

Since I already own the new dress, I’m leaning towards option 3 and customizing the dress for my shape. So it may be added to my sewing pile to attack some time over the next few weeks!