Building a Core Wardrobe – Frugally

If you haven’t read the first Frugal Fashionista post, click here to get the background!

One of the most difficult stumbling blocks in purchasing clothes at thrift stores is the huge amount of “junk” one has to go through in order to find the “jewel.”

Often I don’t have time to meticulously look at every piece.

With the frugal fashionista approach, we’ll save thousands.
Identifying ten key pieces (and mine will probably vary as I do this series) will allow us to mix and match to make numerous complete outfits, and then we’ll add in the flashy fun.

The great thing about these core pieces is that it does not matter what size you are.

I have shopped thrift spanning ten sizes, so I will be sensitive to that.

Don’t fall into the trap that says “clothes only look good on a size 2.”

There are various opinions on what should be in those essential pieces.

• Basic black dress (ohhh-I love these and have many
• Trench coat (yep, found three this year second hand)
• Classic dress pants (start with black, you’ll find many at thrift stores)
• Classic white (if you’re cool toned) or off-white (if you’re warm toned) shirt

• Skirt (A-line style looks great on everyone)
• Blazer/Jacket
• Day dress (come on – be fun and feminine or cute and sassy)
• Cashmere sweater/any occasion Top
• Jeans (some fabulous wearing ones)
• A comfortable alternative to a sweatsuit

My additions are: a great quality T-shirt – v-neck or crew, chic tank or camesole, fun accessory pieces such as a great shamina (pasmina), wraps or shawls, chunky necklace, one outrageously trendy piece, boots…well, I’m getting ahead of myself. Stay tuned.
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So here is my Frugal Fashionista outfit that I wore on Sunday.
We had the hardest time getting these pictures, and this is the only serious one my son took.
He realized that it was too sunny outside, so we decided to go in the shade a bit.

Well, it was a really windy day here in NC, and my hair kept flying in my face.

I didn’t know that my son kept taking pics, but they are pretty funny.

Besides the windy hair, I have a Yellow Lab who just wants to retrieve.

So I would quick try and throw the ball…..giving us enough time to take a picture.

Then she brought me the kick ball and I thought that would give me a more time…

But that didn’t work either…

I was getting hot. I was thinking these black boots weren’t meant for kick ball.

So the bottom line is that this frugal fashionista will have to try some new modeling techniques.
But it’s all part of balancing beauty and bedlam, right? So what is the price point on these items?
Glad you asked. Really, they look a bit classier without the kick ball setting.

*Basic black skirt – A-Line style…looks good on everyone.
$2 yard sale
*Banana Republic basic black T-shirt.
$1 yard sale
*Green wrap
$2 Carolina Thrift Store – brand new with tags
*Aerosole Leather Boots
$5 thrift store
*Matching necklace and earrings
$2 brand new in package, yard sale
TOTAL COST:
$12!!!
And if anything, it was less because I may have gotten the $2 yard sale items for $1, but I didn’t want to underexaggerate.
And if you want to dress it down, you just switch out the shoes, but wait for the legs to get a bit tanner, and then enjoy the cozy T-shirt. Now that I brought attention to my calves, I almost didn’t post this for fear of acknowledging their far from perfect status….but I did – anyhow.

Just keeping it real.

Next Frugal Fashionista edition: Designer outfits on thrift store budget