The Thrifty Six in Graphic Prints

The Thrifty Six is a group of international women with a passion for preloved fashion who meet once a month in our little space on the internet to share our thrifty outfits. On the third Monday of every month, we will all share an outfit based on a theme that features preloved wardrobe pieces. Shopping and reselling preloved clothing is so much better for the environment and you can find some of the best fashions in thrift or charity shops. The Thrifty Six are here to inspire you to shop second hand! 

Nancy chose March’s thrifty theme which she calls Traffic Stopping Graphics! I don’t think I really hit the mark of stopping traffic with this quirky assemblage of graphics and I didn’t want to mislead you, so I chose a slightly different title for my blog post.

I did get a bit confused by the term graphics in the context of fashion, which seems like a simple concept that should not easily confuse anyone. But there I was, trying to figure out if graphics meant clothing printed with a message like a graphic tee shirt or a big bold pattern with no obvious message at all like a bright red floral kimono robe. After a quick bit of online research, I discovered that graphics in fashion design can be both of those things. So I combined a graphic tee with a variety of bold and not so bold patterns to create a rather strange combination that I didn’t love. But this was fun anyway!

It all started with this amazing geometric patterned trench coat that I found in a thrift shop in North Carolina during my February road trip. As soon as we entered the thrift store, this sweet baby was prominently displayed on the end of a rack and I swear it heard it yell, “Shelbee, look at me!” I looked and when I saw the $9.99 price tag, I grabbed it right up and tried it on. To my delight it fit and now it’s mine. It is faux leather and made by a plus sized fast fashion brand made for Walmart. I am not familiar with Walmart clothing brands anymore as I haven’t shopped there in years. But that doesn’t really matter. It is still a wicked cool trench coat and I saved it from a landfill!

For my graphic tee, I snagged one of these colorful “No Bad Vibes” shirts from a bag of clothing my sister gave to me. These were her Oogie’s Ice Cream tee shirts a few summers back so I have at least two dozen of them ready to be turned into scraps to make a custom rag curtain for her.

At first I tried on a size large tee shirt which was very fitted on me and I felt super uncomfortable. So I grabbed one in a 3XL, chopped off the sleeves and neck band, and tied it at the hip. It looked really cute with bare arms and my lacy bralette peeking out of the armholes, but it is still very much winter here so I added a long sleeve tee underneath.

On the bottom, I wore a pair of thrifted jeans with engineer stripes to add another print into this eclectic mix. Wanting to include as many preloved pieces that I could, I accessorized with secondhand ankle boots in a rich caramel color, a thrifted neckerchief that is brown with a green floral print, and earrings my favorite local flea market. I topped it all off with a dark blue knit beret, which is the only element of this outfit other than my long sleeve black tee, that was not preloved.

While I did not love this outfit, I do actually really like each element on its own. I may keep the oversized tee shirt with the giant armholes to wear in the summer. I think it will look so cute just hanging loose over a pair of shorts or leggings and I do love the positive message. The striped jeans are abundantly soft and comfortable but I haven’t yet figured out how to style them. They have a very low rise which is not a very functional design for my body. But they do look cute with a longer tunic style top and I keep forgetting that! And, of course, the trench coat is just brilliant but I only just got it so I need to figure out where and how it fits into my wardrobe and current style aesthetic.

Sometimes a style challenge ends in a fabulous outfit and sometimes it ends with a dud.

But don’t let that discourage you from being a little adventurous with your personal style. Look at how brilliantly my thrifty friends have risen to this traffic stopping challenge!

The Thrifters:

• Emma of Style Splash
• Grace of Graceful Rags
• Jane of Preloved-Vintage-Handmade
• Jodie of Jodie’s Touch of Style
• Nancy of Nancy’s Fashion Style
• Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge

Emma of Style Splash

Grace of Graceful Rags

Jane of Preloved-Vintage-Handmade

Jodie of Jodie’s Touch of Style

Nancy of Nancy’s Fashion Style

And Me!

How would you have interpreted graphics in this context? Do you wear lots of prints, prefer solids, or enjoy a combination of all the things?

Also, Grace will be leaving our group soon due to scheduling and life things so we are looking for a sixth thrifter for our Thrifty Six group. If you are interested in joining us on a monthly basis to share your preloved outfits, please let any one of us know.

Keeping it on the edge,

Shelbee

Joining these Fabulous Link Parties.

Outfit Details: Long Sleeve Tee-Torrid / Hat-Wona Trading / Coat, Graphic Tee, Pants, Boots, Scarf, Earrings-Thrifted or Otherwise Preloved