Adventures in Thrifting Part 32: Blue Pineapple Dress

I just realized that I have been highlighting my preloved wardrobe pieces in this Adventures in Thrifting series for almost 5 years! Clearly, I don’t post these with any sort of regular frequency, otherwise, it probably would have way more than 32 parts. Oh well. Here goes number 32…

I found this adorable navy blue pineapple dress back in the early spring but had to wait until the summer weather arrived to wear it. I styled this look at the end of June to keep cool in the immense heat and humidity that blanketed us for most of the summer. I even contemplated wearing this outfit for the 4th of July which is the reason I added some red into the mix.

But first the preloved dress. I found it in one of my favorite local secondhand shops for $7.99. The brand is St. John’s Bay which is primarily carried by JC Penney as well as other department stores. It’s not an expensive brand with their dresses retailing between $40-80 but $7.99 is even better!

The dress isn’t a style that I normally gravitate toward but the blue, turquoise and white pineapple print made me smile enough to give it a try. The size is XL which fit just right and the fabric is a 95% rayon/5% spandex blend but it feels more like a soft tee shirt material. It’s sleeveless with a generous slit in the hem to help with cooling issues on sweltering days.

Even super hot days require light layers. Most especially for sun protection on my arms, shoulders, back, and neck. I also can’t stand when my skin sweats and then sticks to more of my skin. It seriously offends my senses in a really uncomfortable way! And this is the reason that I have about a million lightweight robes and kimonos. Well, not the only reason. Not even the primary reason. But a really good reason nonetheless.

So I created a little pattern mix with my pineapple dress and this navy and white floral mesh robe. I purchased the robe a year or two ago new on clearance for about $15 and this is the first time I’ve worn it. I thought it was black and white when I ordered it and I continued to think it was black and white until I was looking for a topper to coordinate with the pineapple dress. Serendipitously, I recognized that the robe is, in fact, dark blue not black.

The dress and robe created a monochromatic flow in blues and whites but I wanted to bring in more turquoise so I added one of my forever favorite scarves. I quite liked the addition of the dark red trim on the scarf so I tied that in with my dark red rope sandals and topped my head with my elephant fisherman hat that is in the same color palette with blue, turquoise, and red. I accessorized with all thrifted jewelry including turquoise feather earrings and multiple strands of beads in blue, turquoise, white, and red (the red beads were not thrifted but they are about 25 years old). Suddenly, it looked like a perfect 4th of July outfit. However, I ended up wearing this outfit for the patriotic holiday instead.

Although the dress silhouette is a bit out of my norm, the long layers still felt very me just like the pattern mixing and bright color palette. And those darn pineapples are just so cute, I can’t wait to find new ways to style this fun dress! Perhaps the pineapples want some cold weather styling. But would that be weird? Pineapples in winter? Who knows? We’ll see!

Keeping it on the edge,

Shelbee