Next on the agenda for rad day off: shop thrift stores. (Yes please. Please twice.)

(Did you read Part 1 about last Friday’s Rad Day Off? Check out all the great architectural salvage and reclamation I saw!)

Once I left Santa Ana, it was time to book it down to Costa Mesa’s Goodwill store on 19th street to shop thrift stores with Nicole Longstreath of The Wardrobe Code! I was in for a major surprise when I got there. When I asked Nicole if she wanted to go shopping on my day off, I didn’t think I’d show up to the thrift store to find her there with a cart overflowing with items she’d picked out for me to try on.

(Nicole points out the importance of details in a vintage blouse we found as we went through the Goodwill thrift store)

Let me back up a little bit and tell you about how I’ve gotten to know Nicole:

I’ve always had a hard time with shopping.

Growing up, there were a lot of control issues in my house. We were sort of expected to be trendy, and there was definitely a certain look that was wanted; you were expected to like and want that exact look. If you did not, there was stress and there was pressure. If you received an item of clothing as a present and didn’t like it, that was the worst.

I can remember arguments about not wanting to wear my jeans shoved into my 80s slouchy socks in middle school. That sort of thing. It’s not something I hold on to out of anger today, it’s just an example of how things were growing up.

As an adult, I compare it to a design project that’s being micromanaged. When your creativity is stifled to the umpteenth degree, the creativity packs a suitcase and goes right out the window along with any style or sense of fun. It results in something lifeless and stale. If you knew me in high school, you remember a green corduroy jacket I wore every single day of my junior and senior year. It was kind of my clothing security blanket, I think. It was easy and it was safe, and I think by that point the pressures being put on my to be, do, and like certain things had lost hope on my ever being any kind of stylish person.

Ok maybe I backed up a little too far, there. I just wanted you to get a feel for where my style is coming from. Sometimes ya gotta go in the wayback machine for explanations.

Fast forward to this year – I learned about Nicole and The Wardrobe Code at Craftcation Conference, where I sat in on her Wardrobe Development for Women Creatives class. And something about her presentation really CLICKED for me. As someone who was not really encouraged to figure out my own style growing up, here was this stylish creative person giving me an exact scientific formula for how to put together a cute outfit.

Maybe not scientific. But a formula for sure!! My own style that has been locked up pretty much all my life started to free up a little that day. And through conversations with Nicole Longstreath about what The Wardrobe Code does and how I can make style work for me, I can say something that I’ve never been able to say before.

I have started to actually enjoy shopping. (This makes my mom-in-law Carole ecstatic.)

The point is I have learned tons in the past few months from Nicole, especially from the “Make Your Wardrobe Mingle” segment she taped using my closet a few weeks ago. She pretty much got the lay of the land there – I had lots of cute pieces (thanks to mom-in-law Carole and from times my buddy Jenn and I got to shop thrift stores in Wisconsin years ago), but not a lot of ideas on how to put them together. She gave me tips and tricks to “make my wardrobe mingle”, but also got a sense for things my closet was missing.

That was what she was focusing on when we got together at Goodwill to shop thrift stores on Friday.

85 dollars later, I came out of there with this:

• 2 skirts
• 2 pair of pants
• 4 tops
• 3 sweaters
• 2 pair of heels
• and 1 washed red denim jacket

Nicole has been encouraging me to dress like a professional even though I work at home, and I’ve been digging it. Number 1, getting dressed is lots more fun now and it’s become a sort of creative exercise to get the brain going before sitting down to graphic design work. But number 2, quitting work for the day has a new vibe – taking off a couple of worky items (accessories, mostly, but maybe changing shoes too) has a relaxing “aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah” end of the day vibe to it that I’ve never really had before.

So let’s check out America’s Next Top Hobag in some new work outfits!

Necklace by PolishedTwo on Etsy, Top is a Cynthia Rowley tee I got at TJ Maxx a few weeks ago. Houndstooth skirt was from our Goodwill shopping trip, shoes are American Eagle patent leathers I got at Payless like 3 years ago.

Whole outfit is from our adventure to shop at thrift stores, except for the bracelet and the wide black belt that makes a brief appearance. I ended up ditching it because it didn’t jive with the thickness of the sweater. You need to know these things, I guess? Nicole and I talked about my penchant for really good repeat patterns while we shopped. Having been in repeat pattern design forever, I get turned off by a bad repeat pattern, and it’ll absolutely result in me passing on an item. Which you also need to know, I guess.

Merona top and The Limited pants are both from our Goodwill thrift store shopping extravaganza! Hey kids on my lawn, I SEE YOU!

But Steph, with all this newfound style knowledge from The Wardrobe Code, will you ever wear your Robocop shirt to work again?

Um, DUH. YES.

 

Pink Land’s End cardigan from Goodwill, Robocop shirt by United Pixelworkers, rest of it is stuff that’s been in my closet for years.

Now it’s your turn guys – you wanna shop for thrift store treasures with Nicole Longstreath? She’s got a Goodwill Hunting event coming up on June 23. $15 gets you into the event where Nicole has used her expertise to pick all the best gems from Santa Ana’s Goodwill store. Let her take the overwhelming “there’s stuff everywhere” factor out of it for you, and buy from her pared down selection of fabulous pieces! I’m not kidding. Her eye for stylish items is insane. Hope you can make it!

What’s the best thing you ever found at a thrift store?

(This is not a sponsored post, by the way. I just feel really strongly about what Nicole does, and that it could help lots of other gals out there find their own personal style. The end!)