Nifty Thrifty - May 20, 2015

Lately my kid has been exhibiting some behavior that just isn't in any of the blogs/books about CP. I don't want to get into it too deeply (yet?) but I will say that when I tell people "She has an unusual form of cerebral palsy, and you can't assume that all people with CP are the same," I am not kidding. So she's been driving me pretty much up the wall and I desperately needed a break. Enter Amy and a short thrifty day (I took the subway in both directions so we had less time than when I subway it up and get a ride home).

We went to two stores. The infamous favorite doggie-kitty-prices-are-so-low store and a Value Village. As ALWAYS AND FOREVER, Value Village continues to destroy clothing by stabbing price tags on plastic cords into the worst spots and making holes. But on the other hand, as I've noted, VV doesn't have consistent "all of these things are the same price" pricing, so the treasure hunt aspect is fun.

Not shown: I was actually mainly shopping for my husband (HA, SURE) but I'm not posting pictures of what he kept. Men are hard to buy for and of course it's hard to buy clothing for someone who isn't present - fit and style are so personal. But I took some risks. I bought him three shirts and a pair of shorts. One shirt he rejected from the picture I sent him after I'd already bought it. I lied - I'll show you that one:

OK, to be fair, I knew it was silly and I knew it wasn't entirely his style but I had hoped....  And then his emailed reply came too late for me to do anything about my purchase. So Amy bought it from me to gift to a more suitable recipient.

(I also did not buy him this one:

...which was an 80s Esprit shirt that was adorable....but I knew he'd never actually wear it. But SUMO WRESTLERS PLAYING TENNIS OR SOMETHING WHAT?)

Of the two shirts and the pair of shorts that I brought home, he only rejected one shirt and that is because *sigh sigh sigh* it had a tiny hole on the neck, just below the collar in the back. It looked like....a Value Village hole! I don't blame him for rejecting it, I'm just pissed that I didn't notice before I bought it - and the shirt itself was otherwise perfect. But for $4, he kept a pair of Eddie Bauer shorts and an Izod shirt. Not too shabby.

Here's what I got for me...

THE COAT OF MY DREAMS. There is a story about this and the story is that THIS is the coat that I wrote about in the previous post. I never forgot about it and I actually found it on ebay in a better size, but the price just wasn't right for something that was more of a novelty to me. When I walked into the store this time around, I went over to the coat rack to see and.....IT WAS STILL THERE. And it fits...enough. And it was $2.50 (it was in a section where prices are a bit confusing and subjective, so I asked and that's what I was told by the woman who sort of runs the place and I said "OH!" and she said, "Oh, wait....yeah, $2.50" and I said HOORAY). I have already twirled around the house in it many times. It's by True Meaning, which apparently is a schmancy brand to start with. I may someday splurge on the proper size but for now, this is happymaking. 

Amy found this for me and it's a smiiiiidge too small but you can't actually tell when it's on, I swear (it's very stretchy). It's BCBG/Max Azria, which, again, is apparently schmancy. It has the dry cleaner's tag in it and the care tag says "Dry Clean Only" but it's polyester. I'm washing it on delicate. Or maybe doing Dryel or something similar. $2. 

Ann Taylor Loft foofy skirt. The waistband is actually very cute but I couldn't be bothered to fix it for the picture. $2. 

Tommy Hilfiger jean shorts. $2.

J Crew "Boy Shirt" that I think will be very cute over a tank top. I think this might have been $1.50.

Love love love this yoga shirt but, well, I don't know what it says on the side. But it's from a high-end brand (it's part bamboo!) and it's so soft and comfy and fits so perfectly. Can you translate it? $1.50.

And then this is from Value Village. It was 20 cents and I bought it because those are my initials. HA. Turns out it's the logo of a Chicago bank, of all things. There were about 10 of these mugs in pristine condition but I don't really even need one mug...

Lastly, and not the best picture - sorry not sorry - an H&M shirt that was 75 cents because it was the half-price color of the day. It's purple and basic so even though you can't try things on at VV, I took a chance. (I haven't yet tried it on but it's probably fine.)

And for the kid....

Value Village! $2.50. Children's Place shirt.

$1.50. Evy of California shirt which apparently is also higher-end children's clothing. I didn't care about that, I just loved the skull.

Another near-perfect Children's Place shirt for $2.50. I asked my daughter what the design was. "Dragon!" she said. Close enough.

And from the doggie-kitty store, shorts for 75 cents.

It's such a rush going thrifting, isn't it?