Thrift Power!

I’m gonna pop some tags, only got twenty dollars in my pocket

I’m, I’m, I’m hunting, looking for a come up, this is fucking awesome!

For those who know me well, I hate spending money on clothes. I am really cheap, and although I do appreciate a well made piece of clothing, I rarely splurge on something that is over $20. So, it should not come as a surprise that my favorite clothing stores are actually thrift shops. I have three of them within 15 minute driving distance: Talize, Value Village and The Salvation Army, ordered by the quality of their merchandise. What I really like about these stores is that you can find brand name clothing that fits well for dirt cheap. If I were to buy the exact same piece of clothing new, it would cost me 10 times more, so why bother? And no, I don't care about bugs, that's what a good washer and dryer are for. Never had a single problem in the 10 years that I've been buying most of my clothes from these stores.

Anyway, you'd think that I should not be spending any money now that I am unemployed, but it's actually good therapy when you know that you only shop twice a year and now you have a good reason for it. I don't have many clothes that are "corporate" attire, given that my previous company was all about jeans and tees and I needed a bit of mental boost in looking for clothes to wear at my next (hopefully coming soon) interview. I already had the black dress pants, I bought those at Ricki's before I went to CES in January. This week I was on a hunt for shoes and a top. I came across a pair of shoes last week at Sears in downtown Toronto for 75% off in the sales section, and found a second, more relaxed pair as well, so I took both for $80 (bottom two pairs, the top two were found at Talize for less than $8).

But back to the thrift stores, yesterday I adventured myself in Talize, my favorite of all (very good quality, as you can see from the pictures). With all this talk about Lulu Lemon, I was curious if I'd come across something from there, as in a hoodie or a pair of shorts. I actually did find a hoodie, but was so small, only one of my boobs would fit in, plus the color was poopy (literally) and the fabric was  hard, thick cotton. It had a Lulu patch on the arm, but I didn't have scissors with me to make it mine. However, in the process I did come across a few "technical" hoodies (with more or less hood), which fit perfectly (did I mention that I needed clothes that actually fit me now that I've lost weight?) and one official Team Canada Olympic Games  which I had been eyeing for years, in red nonetheless!! 

I may have gone overboard with 4 hoodies, but these are going to last me for a long, long time. You can't go wrong with $25 for the four of them. Plus, everyone around me must be really tired of my Pink Floyd hoodie, my only hoodie until today. Next, as I said, I went looking for shorts, especially running shorty shorts because I was curious to try a pair of those without spending $75 as I saw at the Running Room (no chaffing is ever worth that much!). No Lulu shorts again, but found a pair of Sugoi! They are dark brown, which is not one of my favorite colors, but since I have a yellow tee, I don't risk to upset the fashion gods too much, they kinda go together well. I also came across a pair of Champion shorts, which I hope won't run up my legs. I will test them today!

Last but not least, knowing how swim suits go for $80 and up, I went to check those as well and there were so many of them, I had a really hard time choosing, so I picked up 3. One of them is a brand new Speedo, that will soon replace the one I use in the pool right now and which is in the process of disintegrating, the other two I will use at the beach because they also fit me really well (no boob spillage!) and they have a little vintage look that I like.

Are we done yet? What about the dress top? Oh yeah, found that one too, a very nice, light and funky top from Le Chateau, for the price of $4.99. No need to iron it! How much you said? Less than 5 bucks, alright, because that's how I roll! Now here is my interview combo, ladies and gentlemen, hope it will bring me luck!

In total, I spent $75 at Talize yesterday and I came home with everything you see. With the other $80 spent at Sears, I think I did pretty good and stayed on a budget. You can certainly congratulate me for not having bought the vintage spin bike or one of the fabulous leggings below. Now that's will power!

What did you splurge on recently? Do you ever shop at thrift stores?

UPDATE: Because inquiring minds most likely want to know. Did the Champion shorts ride up or not? Tadaaaa:

Not at all! Or not enough for me to notice. Which means, I may be running in these on Sunday at the Goodlife Toronto Half Marathon. Win!!