My Style: July 2025

UGH, it’s been so hot and humid here in Maryland. I only went into the office one day this month and the rest have been spent working in my home office. With that being said, I did have a variety of fun plans, including a 4th of July party, girl’s day out with my friend, a double-date for dinner, a niece birthday party at a splash pad, and various errands. So, let’s take a look at what I wore this month….

Office Style

As I said, I went into the office once, so it was the perfect opportunity to wear a new-to-me thrifted vintage skirt. I love this skirt SO MUCH with the fitted waist and roomy skirt. It’s a thick cotton blend, which holds its shape without wrinkling and has some super deep pockets. I’m already planning to style a witchy look for the fall with black tights and black heeled booties.

As for the rest of the outfit, I went with a gingham linen cropped blouse (Poshmark), cardigan (thrifted) and some sweet and comfortable Rothy’s Mary Janes (Poshmark).

Weekend Style

All the Stripes: First up, I have my 4th of July outfit, which is red, white and blue adjacent with coral stripes and a teal skirt. I love this combo and everything in this outfit is secondhand, including the silver Birkenstock sandals. For the second outfit, this was for running some errands and I paired a black stripped tee-shirt with my marigold linen skirt for an easy and comfy look.

Also, now that we have an extra dog it is quite hard to take outfit photos without at least one photo bomber…

Cropped by Me: All three of these tops have met my scissors. The blue top previously lived life as a caftan/dress and I thought it might get more wear as a flowy top. I was absolutely right and I have been wearing this once a week since I made the big chop.

My husband thrifted the Guns N’ Roses top and it ended up being too small for him, so I chopped the bottom and it is one of my favorite throw-on-and-wear tee’s right now. In fact, it spurred on a whole viral-ish situation over on Threads, since my son seems to think I look mean and intimidating when I wear it.

As for the green top, I thrifted it on one of our trips (I think Tuscan?) and it was always very oversized. I took in a few inches on the sides and cropped the length and now I love it so much more.

Out and About: The Popflex by Blogilates running dress was the perfect choice for a 2 year old’s splash pad party, especially because it was soo hot and humid outside. Ironically, my sisters all loved this dress and one said that she ‘wished she could pull it off’, which I find hilarious since she’s much more fit than me (and 13 years younger). So, here’s a reminder for you all… you CAN pull anything you want off. You just put the clothing on your body, wear it, and give no thought to what other people think.

The middle look included my FAVORITE thrifted skirt for a day around town (and the consignment shops) with my friend. And then last look was what I wore for a double-date at a delicious Mexican restaurant.

One last outfit… yesterday morning I had the opportunity to meet BK Borison at the grand opening of our local Barnes & Noble. If you follow along with my Book Lists and mini reviews (you can find them on the right sidebar), you’ll know I love everything she writes, so this was pretty awesome!

New vs Secondhand Tally

This month, I count 8 items that I purchased retail and 14 items I purchased secondhand!

July Thrift Haul

This month I totally had what I like to call a ‘medicinal thrifting trip’ for my mental health. I left everyone at home and went by myself to the thrift store and browsed EVERY SINGLE section to my heart’s content. And with that browsing, I ended up finding one dress and THREE pairs of shoes…

Cotton Dress, $10.99

I really liked the bold pattern of this dress and the tiered skirt. I wasn’t quite sure about the neckline though and felt like it might be a little too high on my shape. Since my thrift store no longer has dressing rooms, I brought it home and styled it with items in my closet:

I wish I would have also thrown on some sandals with the straw belt, because I think that will also be really cute. OH, and even though it’s a cotton dress, I think it will be adorable with black tights, boots and maybe my black denim moto jacket. After playing around with it a bit, this one gets to stay in my closet for some experimentation!

UGG Endell Black Suede Leather Shearling Lined Boots, $24.79

Yes, I paid up for these. At my local thrift store, any ‘recognizable’ name brand boots tend to be marked at $25ish. These UGG boots have the metal branded nameplate on the heel and the telltale shearling interior, so there was no way that they would have slipped through the ‘brand’ cracks as they were pricing. With that being said, these are absolutely gorgeous and really well made. Someone must have purchased them to sit in a closet unworn, because there is no wear to the interior shearling and the grippy rubber on the bottom is in great condition.

I realized last winter that I actually don’t currently own a pair of winter boots appropriate for snow (I had some workarounds, but nothing warm and waterproof), so these will be perfect for Maryland winters when there is snow or slush on the ground.

Johnston & Murphy Harness Moto Boots, $12.79

Well, the pricing person didn’t recognize this brand… so yay! One of my *tricks* when checking out the boot section is to pick up a boot that looks interesting. If it is relatively heavy, it gets a closer look (cheap boots are typically super light). This one was heavy and the leather is a really thick, chewy kind of leather, so I flipped the boot and BOOM Johnston & Murphy was embossed on the bottom. Similar boots sell on their retail website for $200 – 300.

These are a hybrid of a moto boot and a cowboy boot, with a nice, wide shaft. I think these will be really cute with some of my longer skirts/dresses in the fall, as well as layered with tights and shorter hemlines over the winter. You can see them on in my try-on photos above. They will also work great for my Renaissance pirate costume I’m putting together for a September or October faire visit.

Chuck Taylor All Star Lift Platform Sneakers, $17.79

Yes, it was quite the lucky shoe day for me! This is the first pair I picked up and I was absolutely thrilled that these are my exact size. I had been looking at these on the Converse website, because I like that they were a mix of classic and cool with the platforms. They are $70 retail, so even marked up at $17 made them make sense for me.

The platforms make them so, so comfortable with extra support! I love these so much and may add a little embroidery at some point.

3 Necklaces, Endless Options: My Gem Miners Show Creations

Last month we went to the Gem Miners Show when it came to a local fairground. I was like a kid in a sparkly candy store and picked out a few strands of beads and some pendants… with no specific plan.

I just wanted to make something that felt both beautiful and wearable. It’s pretty low risk, since I can just cut them back apart if I don’t end up loving them (or changing my mind in the future). So, here is what I came up with for my first few creations:

Beads: Crazy lace Agate (disks) and Rainbow Jade Burma (circles)

Pendants: Shattuckite (left) and Sunstone Iolite (right), both in sterling silver

A set of three necklaces that can be layered together, mixed and matched, or worn alone. I also added a fun detail – the silver clips. I was inspired by a necklace I purchased in Arizona with a small carabineer looking clip that holds charms. For my necklaces, the silver clip can be worn to the front as part of the design, turned around for a more streamlined look, or you can add on one of the pendants. As an added bonus, I have some little clip-on charms from other necklaces I’ve collected over the years, and they can be clipped on here too when I want to mix it up!

There is something really satisfying about making jewelry with your own hands. I love the way these first few necklaces turned out and I have so many plans for what to do with the rest of the beads…