My Style: October 2025

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.

October Thrift Haul

This month, I had two opportunities to go to my favorite thrift store. On the first try, Travis and I went together and walked away with just one item each. I visited again late in the month because I had a coupon for $15 off a $40 purchase and had much more luck!

Here’s what I found this month:

Talbots Shaker Stitch cardigan, $2.50

Travis and I hit up my favorite thrift store on 50% off day and holy guacamole was it crowded! We each ended up throwing a few items into the cart and then narrowing it down to just one item for each of us. I ended up with this shaker stitch cardigan from Talbots, tagged at $4.99… so it ended up being just $2.50. I LOVE the thick cotton knit and the fit of this sweater. At first, I didn’t love the blue (and was thinking about dying it green), but it’s growing on me. This particular cardigan was sold at Talbots for $99, so I’m very happy to add it to my comfy cardigan rotation at such a low price!

As for styling, this will absolutely be one that I throw over top of a t-shirt and joggers for telework days or with jeans for leaving the house.

Woolrich Corduroy shirt, $8

Not my typical style, but I really liked the heavy corduroy feel of this shirt. It’s a classic black with little pops of plaid inside the collar and if you roll up the sleeves. I’m planning to try this as a layering piece over a solid v-neck tee, or graphic tee and jeans. It seems like a good ‘in between’ sweater and coat piece, so I’m curious if it will work in my closet.

Cardigan with sequins, $9

This may look familiar, because I own multiple sequined cardigans. However, they really get so much wear and I’ve had a few in rotation since before Jack was born! I love the Cable & Gauge brand cardigans (you can find them at Nordstrom Rack) and this sequined version has black sequins on a black knit, which is a bit different than the ones I currently own.

LL Bean sweatshirt, $11

I really liked the color combo on this sweatshirt and it’s nice and oversized too! It is a bit of a thinner sweatshirt material, which I love for year-round wear. This one will get lots of wear with joggers and leggings.

Hygge socks, $6 for all

I don’t normally shop the socks section, but I was checking out the men’s belts and these jumped off the rack at me. They are nice and thick, obviously never worn, and super cute designs. I figured I’d give them a try!

Dog Treat puzzle, $2

This is one of the items that was on my thrift list, so I was thrilled to find it! I bought Cooper (our new rescue dog) an easy version of a dog puzzle a couple months ago and he solved it within a few minutes. However, I didn’t want to spend $20+ to buy him another version if he was just going to solve it immediately. I’ve been checking the kid’s toys sections for my last few visits, assuming that the thrift people would think a dog puzzle was a kid’s toy… and I was right!!! I got this puzzle (which I had been eyeing on Amazon) for just $2!

Vintage Woolrich 56×70 wool throw, $19

Also on my ‘thrift list’ is that I’ve been low-key looking for a Pendelton throw blanket forever. They are so gorgeously made and I love the designs, so I hold out hope that one day I’ll find one for cheaper than the current Poshmark prices. Well, in my latest search, I found this vintage Woolrich wool throw! It’s not Pendelton, but it is Pendelton-adjacent.

Orange is my favorite color, so I had no problem paying a bit ‘up’ for this purchase. As I do with all thrifted items, I threw it in the washer. And then realized that wool blankets were dry clean only or hand wash… but luckily it turned out fine and was not felted at all. I did realize my mistake before sticking it in the dryer, and I let it lay flat to dry. I did some research and I think this is a Woolrich heritage wool throw from around 2000 which sold for anywhere from $180-250. Resale values range from $150 – 250, especially because it was made in the US. As it is, I’m not planning to resell it, but to enjoy it for many years to come.

Closet Cleanout: Sales Update

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!