It all started as a random comment from one of my followers on Instagram. You can follow me there too if you want…@whosaprettygirl. Anyhow…he was telling me how for his daughter’s 14th birthday, she and a group of girlfriend’s went to their local thrift store and had a competition to see who could come up with the cutest outfit with a budget of $10.00. What a brilliant idea! So I ‘borrowed’ it for MY birthday celebration.

Let’s get this party started, shall we?

The first thing I did was make a thrifted ‘wish list’ for each team:

 

I gave them a lot of choices. Originally, I was only giving them 30 minutes to shop, but over dinner and drinks my friend and thrifting buddy Doris said she wanted an hour…so an hour it was! Each team was to look for a complete outfit/s with a budget of $30.00. The winner/winning team would be determined by whose ‘look’ I ended up buying.

Are you ready to meet the teams?

 

Team One (the tall’s) consists of L-R: Jeri…who hates to thrift but knows her way around a thrift store. Kathy…she loves to thrift and as a former art major, knows her way around the color wheel. Last, but not least, Cyndi…who has never stepped foot inside a thrift store! She almost went to the wrong thrift store. 🙁

 

 

 

Team Two (the small’s) consists of only two members, but have no fear! On the left is my thrifting buddy Doris. We have spent hours, and when I say hours, I mean HOURS together at the thrift stores here in Albuquerque. My friend Rebekah has been thrifting for YEARS and her daughter Mary worked at Thrift Town over the summer. BTW, Mary says it’s a great place to work. So even though it’s 3 vs. 2, I believe the teams are even.

We walked through the door at Thrift Town at 6PM and they immediately got down to business. To take some of the pressure off of them, I was in charge of finding shoes, bags and accessories.

Check out all the vintage bags I scored for a total cost of $19.00!

 

That cream beaded evening bag is Handmade in Hong Kong. The black evening bag is a Coblentz Original. The tan envelope clutch in the middle? It’s made out of Eel skin! The label inside says ‘Mercante’.

I really like the black handbag. I couldn’t find any markings on it at all. Here’s what it looks like inside:

It looks and feels like suede.

 

Hmm, let’s check in on the teams and see how they’re doing…

There’s Doris. She headed straight to the ‘Better Clothing’ rack. Smart girl!

 

 

Kathy and Jeri are in the ‘Better Clothing’ section too! Oh…they know me so well!

 

I found Cyndi down the aisle looking at the suits.

Where’s Rebekah?

 

There she is! Checking out the dress section.

 

So, ten minutes in…team one tells me they’re done, but then they decided they weren’t done. Thirty minutes into the challenge they actually were done, so off to the dressing room we headed.

I was expecting a heaping buggy of clothes, because that’s how I shop. This is what they showed up with:

It doesn’t look like much, but they had put several looks together…all nice and neat…still on the hangers.

 

Are you ready to see?

Here goes:

They hit a home run with these Style & Co. black jeans…the Forever 21 top? Not so much. It was too big.

 

They had picked out several tops to go with the jeans:

Umm…no.

 

I liked this jacket but it was too small. If that matte gold Talbot’s top was two sizes smaller, I would have totally bought it!

 

I really liked this top too, but it didn’t fit quite right. The Loft faux fur collar cardigan on the other hand…LOVE it!

 

Why do I look so happy? It’s because of this Banana Republic skirt that was part of their Mad Men Collection from 2011.

Last up…

I loved the color of this blouse, but not the style. Cyndi didn’t like it at all. They had another blouse in this color too, but it was too big.

 

Umm, where’s team two? Times up…

 

Let’s check out their buggy.

Okay…I seriously need to take some pointers from both teams. Doris and Rebekah have all their clothing folded neatly into outfits.

 

Let’s see how team two did!

 

Okay, it’s cold outside and they bring me a summer outfit but O…MG…I LOVE IT! and well, people take vacations to warm weather places in the winter time, right?

 

Oh…how I wanted this vest to fit me!!! It was NEW with an original price of $110.00! Alas, it didn’t fit right in the armpit area…but those New Balance pants fit JUST right!

 

Doris knows I like me some gray and yellow. Unfortunately, the shade of yellow and size of this Chico’s jacket wasn’t quite right. I loved the texture though. The gray pants? I LOVED these Calvin Klein pants, but they didn’t love me back…too small. Doris tried them on too, but they were too big for her.

Doesn’t this whole night remind you of Goldilocks and the Three Bears? Too big…too small…and just right. That’s how thrifting goes, doesn’t it.

 

Let’s see what’s up next:

Umm…no. Doris was in the dressing room with me and told me to suck in my stomach for the picture. Yeah, I didn’t do a very good job. They picked this out because it’s my colors.

Next!

I LOVED these Style & Co. teal corduroys! I was like…”take a picture of my butt!” The jacket went great with the pants but it was WAY too big.

 

Then…I came out of the dressing room with this on…

and Jeri from team one says…that’s the winner, isn’t it. Is it? I adored this Worthington coat, but not for $40.00!!

 

Now, this Loft dress on the other hand…was only $7.99 and it wasNEW! I paired it with the eel skin clutch and a pair of shoes I had picked out. Cute look, huh!

So…who won?

Well…EVERYONE!! I ended up buying something that each person picked out.

Here is what I bought from team one:

Cyndi picked out the Style and Co jeans @7.99 and Loft cardigan @12.99. Jeri picked out the skirt @5.00 ( the only item that was 50% off ) and Kathy picked out that really cool wooden inlaid bracelet @2.99.

 

Here is what I purchased from team two:

Doris picked out the Style and Co. teal corduroys @9.99 and New Balance workout pants @9.99 and Rebekah picked out the Loft dress @7.99, Ralph Lauren white crop pants @3.99 and ‘346’ Brooks Brothers pink tunic @2.99.

There you have it…my first annual birthday thrift-a-palooza! I think you, my fellow thrifters, should try this on your next birthday. Better yet…if you’re 60+, do it on a Monday so you can get the 30% off senior discount on all clothing!

 

 

 

Darlene Fadem is a wife and mother with two boys in college. She’s OBVIOUSLY over 50, hence the name Thrifty Over 50. She admits to being a label hunter when thrifting, but pleads the fifth to everything else. 😉 You can also find her styling looks on her fashion blog for older women whosaprettygirl