i have to come back to read all the thots but had to chime in and say THANK YOU SHANNON! i have a small budget and get a lot of pressure to thrift as a result, but for a number of reasons it does not work for me. Thrifting has some truly great upsides but it has some significant downsides as well. It is by no means an effective strategy for everyone.

Thank you and happy closet cleaning steph

Interesting observations.
From your WIW I think that you have great items and enough variety in your wardrobe. The items you bought at this NAS are truly amazing and you have a great head start for Fall and probably winter.
The old question of quantity vs quality(if this can be equivalent in terms of quality , as in more money means more quality)makes me think if we truly budget.
If we had say $500 per season as a budget and we knew that or budget would always be this or even less would we buy several items or would we buy good quality, well fitting items, things that we would still love next year and give ourselves the bonus of next fall not to have to substitute this item but buy something different and then have more quantity, what would we do?
Although I don't thrift I also buy things just because they are cheaper and because I do love the thrill of the 'hunt'.And then I arrive at the end of the season thinking that if i hadn't bought 10 not so interesting items just because they were cheap I could have bought ,say, those incredible boots that were more expensive and would have actually been useful during the past season.
I the last year I have been using the same kind of reasoning that Suz as , thinking about what activities I have for a certain period of time and what I need for them

Sorry for writing so much.

Steph - you're welcome!

Celia - please don't apologize for writing your thoughts. That's exactly the conclusion I came to while cleaning my closet. If I hadn't bought 10 so-so items at $10 each, I could have purchased something better that could have had a significant impact on my wardrobe.

Just wish I wasn't so slow to learn some of this!!!

Wow this is a good thread!

I toss, I just realized as I went through it in my head, almost ALL the items I buy on sale. Oh good lord. I should stay away from sales ... Or stay away from them unless I'm feeling so fabulous that day I'll be immune to bargain hunting thrills and chills. Maybe get on YLF right before I go :p

But! I love my thrifted items. I almost never give them up until they've been worn through. They are the bulk of my beloved items. When I buy more expensive pieces I tend to wear them because I feel like I should an they look fine, not because I love them. My thrifted items I love. Why on earth? My only theory is that I buy more boring and quote unquote versatile when I'm paying more. And the items bore me. There's some truth I that I think.

Still, thrift-and-tailor shopping is my tried and true strategy. You get variety of time period and brand and nothing is too trendy or clone-like and everything fits because you spent the money to make it fit.