The zebra shirt is a recent a Poshmark find and was a great deal as I got three Anthro & J. Crew tops for $45. Jeans are Levi’s from ThredUp. Second look has the same jeans, a Tradlands cardigan (a rare full-price new purchase), and Sam Edelman flats (ThredUp again). The hand-painted tank top is by one of my favorite artists: https://www.kindahkhalidy.com/ & the earrings were a gift from my partner, made by a very cool designer: https://wedreamincolour.com/

I received my preordered Bebebark purse from LaFlore Paris and love it. I’ll do a full review, but my intention is to use it more for fall-winter, so I still wanted a summer purse. I was overcome by the charm of Susan Alexandra and finally decided on the watermelon beaded bag. I’m impatiently awaiting its arrival. https://www.susanalexandra.com/

The Hutch dress is another successful ThredUp find. I’m not a big wearer of black, but I wanted something a little sexier for an upcoming anniversary dinner. The dots are actually little embroidered daisies, so it’s still playful enough for me. It fits perfectly and was super marked down because they resell items received from Rent the Runway. I love searching for those items specifically since you can see all the reviews from RTR customers before you decide.

Recent rejects: most of my last ThredUp order! Sent back a big return, the Hutch dress was the main success. And sadly the periwinkle sweatshirt dress that I was just so excited about and only wore once shrank a ton in the wash. At this point it is a short tunic or top, not a dress. I debated keeping it, feeling the sunk cost, but ultimately I decided that it would just make me upset to think about it shrinking. I put it in a free pile for someone else to appreciate, and they’ll never know that it could have been a dress. My husband also accidentally washed an ink pen with our laundry the other week. Most of the damage ended up on his tshirts, but I did have a striped Gap tshirt get ruined. I found the same shirt secondhand so I replaced it.

I also cleaned out my studio closet (our third floor is my art studio and has a large closet) and finally gave away all of the vintage clothing, vintage hats, and items I’d saved since high school that will never fit me anymore. At first a local vintage buyer contacted me about purchasing everything in bulk. I went to the effort of photographing it all for her and discussing it back and forth for a bit before she just ghosted me and never replied, not even to politely decline. It really annoyed me, so I decided I would be happier if I gave the stuff away to a friend instead of haggling over it. Luckily a friend of mine who still collects vintage and fits the sizes took two big boxes’ worth! The high school clothes weren’t anything valuable, but just good stuff that I’d been vaguely saving for future kids. But since there’s no way I will have a teen until at least a dozen years from now, I finally let this stuff go and gave to a friend’s daughter.

Much better that it all gets worn! Now I have room in my studio closet to keep our off-season items, coats, and formal clothes. It was a little emotional to admit that I don’t use my vintage clothing much despite loving it aesthetically. But for my lifestyle, it’s a lot easier to use vintage housewares than delicate clothing. I did keep my homecoming dress, prom dress, and the strawberry dress I wore when we signed our marriage license - all 1950s party frocks that I have hanging in the house as decoration. It’s a lot more manageable of a collection. The last pic is me in the strawberry dress, with the homecoming dress on the wall, in our old apartment. It was a lot more crowded! Partly that’s because I have a whole house to spread out I’m now, and partly I’ve become much more of a minimalist.