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One of the most common myths about vintage fashion is that it’s expensive. Au contraire, mademoiselles. If you and I were to restrict all our buys to vintage or secondhand fashion, our spending would take a sharp nosedive. As a bonus, we’d find ourselves organizing looks that are infinitely more interesting and fun to wear.
Even a more moderate approach––combining vintage and secondhand fashions with high-quality, contemporary staples––can still yield remarkable style on a modest budget. Who wants to wear all vintage all the time, anyway? Boring!
How creative can you be on $75 for 11 weeks?
To prove my claim, I’m challenging readers to join me in My $75 Summer, a series of posts designed to show just how creative you can be by pairing your secondhand and vintage buys with contemporary clothes already hanging in your closet––all on a budget of $75––for the whole summer.
You know the saying: necessity is the mother of invention. The moment you put a dollar limit on your spending, the gears in your brain begin a sorting process every time you shop. What do I have and how can I make it more interesting?
Join the fun!
To participate in My $75 Summer, friend our Facebook page and share your look (or a link to your look) under the hashtag #My$75Summer. Or, if you prefer Twitter, use the same hashtag. I’ll run this series now through the end of August. That gives us roughly 11 weeks to spread our budgets. Don’t feel that you have to share something every week–although that would be awesome. Just show us your spectacular creativity on a budget whenever you feel like it. You can always keep track on your own and share whatever you like.
I’ll be posting my own additions to the series once a week, but for the sake of truth in advertising, let me add one caveat: I’m in the midst of a collaboration with another blogger. Our work may require a few buys that are not part of this series. I operate on a very lean budget, so those won’t amount to much. Those items will be called out as part of a different series, so I can still track how well I did on the $75 challenge. (I may be a head case, but at least I’m honest about it.)
Week One
The series begins today with this plaid wrap skirt, a vintage find for $4.29 at Goodwill. The worn places on the inside hem tape and waistband exposed something that wasn’t evident on the outside: this was once someone’s much-loved summer skirt. And now, it’s mine for four-twenty-nine. (FYI: I wrote that just for the rhyme.)
It’s an oldie––enough so that the thread was beginning to deteriorate. Fortunately, the wear-like-iron poly-cotton fabric still looks like new. I did some mending to repair the interior waistband and hem and then paired it with this Land’s End Shell, a basic that has given me unbelievable service. When I bought it, I felt that I paid too much. But that was before I saw how many ways I would wear it. Remember the pristine vintage Ferragamos I snagged last winter for a song? They complemented the skirt perfectly. That’s my Week 1 installment.
Now…where’s yours? Won’t you join me for My $75 Summer?
9 comments
latonya said:
June 14, 2013 at 3:57 pm
Last week was hectic and full of drama. Very happy to be reading you again and excited about your challenge. If you remember I am off for the summer. Looking forward to getting ideas for shopping on a budget.
cjhammon said:
June 17, 2013 at 2:35 pm
Thank you, LaTonya! Look forward to seeing your entries, too!
trina said:
June 16, 2013 at 12:18 am
Crystal,
You make this seem so easy and fun at the same time. My first reaction when I pulled up your blog was, Oh’ I want that summer plaid skirt. Great pairing with the yellow and fun necklace. I so wish I could take the pledge but I seriously think I would fail miserbly. Although, I’m staying tuned to see and learn from all you wonderful ladies.
cjhammon said:
June 17, 2013 at 2:34 pm
How could you! You have wonderful taste! You may have to hold my hand through this–I could have a serious case of withdrawals before this is over!
Maureen said:
June 17, 2013 at 3:29 pm
I’m down for this. The only thing I know I’ll be buying outside of the $75 is a dress for a wedding…and if I can find something great and used, that works too! (I want a great dress because my friends are getting married on my 45th birthday and I want to celebrate me as well as them. Heh.) There may be a concert T thrown in my budget too, but those are souvenirs not clothes, right? (I’m going to a bunch of music festivals this summer. )
cjhammon said:
June 17, 2013 at 3:33 pm
Absolutely! Can’t wait to see your good taste and thrift combined, Maureen. Of course, I had to exempt all the things I bought for summer prior to June 6, so who am I to monitor the rules! Have missed our exchanges!
Jill said:
June 17, 2013 at 5:24 pm
Easy as pie! I hope.
As I commented previously most of my stuff is in storage and I am getting pretty tired of the small amount of my wardrobe I have.
I haven’t purchased anything new for the summer yet since I am pinching pennies to buy a house.
I am going to see how I do on this one.
cjhammon said:
June 19, 2013 at 9:22 am
Excellent! I want a ringside seat. Be sure to let me know if you have trouble posting to Facebook.
Jill said:
June 20, 2013 at 9:04 pm
I went shopping!!!
At my storage place….see I had you for a minute. 🙂
I broke into a box and found some lovely sleeveless tops that I can add to my wardrobe.
The awesome cost…$0.00.
Oh, happy day!