thrifting a wardrobe
keeping it earth friendly, beautiful, useful, and simple
Welcome to mama eats, a twice-weekly newsletter inspired by a simple + seasonal home life. This week’s post, thrifting a wardrobe, is free to all readers. It also contains affiliate links, which means I get a small commission if you choose to use them. I try to provide as much free content as possible, however, this newsletter is a labor of love and I am a busy mother to three. If you have the means, and find value in what I share, please consider becoming a paid subscriber, which also gives you access to the growing archive of posts older than a month.
outfits from the past month or so; everything you see here is thrifted except my LL Bean boat and tote and my Casio watch. Let me know if you’d like any brand names for any clothing items; often you can search and find the exact thing you’re looking for on Poshmark/Depop/Ebay or similar.
For the last few weeks or so on Instagram, I’ve been sharing a quick snap of my outfit for the day, and I’ve gotten lots of requests to share more here. Today’s newsletter will be a little bit of a more in-depth probe into how I approach my wardrobe.
My wardrobe is quite small, and about 90% thrifted/secondhand, it has been for maybe 6 or so years now- for the environment, for finances, for fun- and lots of you expressed interest in the how behind that. I really dislike shopping and thinking too much about clothes, but at the same time clothing is really important to how I feel. I am someone who loves to feel put together, comfortable, and presentable- it just sets the mood for me for the day.
I keep a small wardrobe for several reasons, but mainly because I generally like to wear the same things over and over and a large number of items feels extremely overwhelming to me. When I find something I really like, I stick with it (notice my white shorts, I wear them constantly). If I notice myself not wearing something often, I donate it.
my process for shopping: assess, think deeply, then shop
Here’s how clothes shopping plays out in real time for me. We are currently transitioning to autumn, and cooler season clothes are coming. First, I examine my cool weather wardrobe from last year, and find that I need just a few new pieces:
I finally wore out my boots last year, and they need to be replaced.
I need to repair some of my sweaters, so I’ll add that to my list of mending.
I need a new trench coat, my daughter borrowed mine last year and lost it.
I need new pants/jeans. I’ll think about what style/color I’m looking for, probably a wide leg corduroy of a dark brown, navy, or black and a more straight leg kind of denim.
I’ll figure out exactly what I need, then I add it to my list of items I’m on the look out