Dress, vintage, thrifted, and shortened three inches. Belt, Gap (thrifted). Earrings, thrifted. Pumps, thrifted. Purse, thrifted.
Earrings (in case you couldn't tell). All jewelry was $1 and these were part of a 2-pack, so they were only 50 cents!
I tried, I really tried, to create an outfit with only $20. I found everything but the purse last Saturday at the St Vincent de Paul shop on Colerain Avenue. My receipt is incredibly hard to decipher, so I can’t tell you how much each item cost, but the total (including the bag I found at Goodwill a few years ago) was under $16.
I blew my budget when I took the pumps to the shoe repair shop for new heel tips. The shoes are all leather and have very little wear, but the old plastic heel tips had disintegrated with age. New tips set me back $10.65, putting me over the $20 limit.Despite exceeding my budget, I was excited to wear my 100% thrifted (if not less than $20) outfit to a showing of Brother Bailey’s Pageant of Moral Superiority and Creation Science Island Jamboree. My newly renovated shoes never made it to the show, though. After about 30 minutes of wear, my feet were killing me, and I changed into some back-up sandals (not pictured, but definitely more than $20 alone, even at TJ Maxx).
As I expected, the shoes were the troublesome element of a $20 outfit. Still, it was a good exercise in thrift, forced me to consider secondhand shoes, and was an education on how much of a bargain (or not) shoe repairs can be.
I received an incredible number of responses from readers with photos and links of their own $20 outfits. I’ll post a round-up just as soon as I can so you can see how they dealt with the tricky footwear issue.
great outfit!!
ReplyDeleteI'm going to post about my $20 Challenge tonight! And it's really, really good!
Oh my gosh, you look beautiful! i love that dress, dreamy! The purse is just lovely too as well as the shoes. Absolutely love everything :)
ReplyDeleteOoooh, so close!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see the roundup of submissions ...
That's a shame about the shoes- they sure are cute! What made them so uncomfortable? Will you still wear them?
ReplyDeleteJess - they are too narrow. I am going to wear them around the house for short periods of time and see if they stretch to fit my feet.
ReplyDeleteYou may be slightly "over budget", but I don't think it matters much, as the outfit is fantastic, especially the shoes. I don't think I have any footwear under $20, as I have never been good at thrifting shoes.
ReplyDeleteWhat a cute outfit -- great finds all around!
ReplyDeleteI actually had the opposite problem when I set out to do the $20 outfit: I found a pair of shoes that fit and I liked, but I couldn't find a dang outfit to go with them to save my life. I'll definitely have to try again!
That's an adorable dress!
ReplyDeleteI still haven't done the $20 challenge! I typically pair my cheaper items with more expensive ones, so it's a tough one!
ReplyDeleteI think your look is adorable :)
Are you up for thrifting this weekend?
Well, you did try...I would have flunked from the moment someone said 'go shop'...lol The outfit is really pretty by the way...it is super flattering on you.
ReplyDeleteGood for you for getting new heel tips. I did this for a few of my shoes (along with new soles) and wow, life was breathed back into them!
ReplyDeletexo
sabina
I think that even if you spent more than the $20, getting new heel tips instead of buying all-new shoes is part of the spirit of the challenge. So I'd call it a success.
ReplyDeleteDid you ever post a round-up of other $20 outfits? Thanks!
ReplyDeletezazazu - here is the link to the round-up post:
ReplyDelete$20 Outfit Results