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Save More Money, Save The Earth, & Look Cute Doing It Too (&&& A $250 Giveaway Too!)

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Have you guys seen the newish documentary on Minimalism? Marlowe and I liked it so much we watched it twice. The second time we watched it? It was because she asked. Is that a mom brag? I don’t care, I love that kid. Minimizing is hard in a buy buy buy world. I know I just talked about this— but I want to find a way to move beyond the fast fashion, fast consumerism world.

I don’t buy clothes often. Not by modern day standards anyway. But I do like clothes— specifically comfortable clothes (bonus points if they’re cute). I’ve been working hard on filling my closet with intentional purchases. Things that I will use often, without a second thought. And honestly, one of the only reasons I’ve had to buy clothes at all in the past two years was because of C. diff. The clothes I had before, especially the bottoms no longer fit me… and probably never will. And thats okay. I’ve been slowly letting go of the pieces that will never fit me again. And even more slowly, allowing new pieces to come into my space that will serve a functional purpose.

In the next few weeks, I’m hoping to narrow down my closet even more– slowly letting go of items that are too big or just not loved and worn often.

Writing about one of my favorite sustainable companies in this post, thredUP— already heard of them? Been wanting to try? Want to skip over my overly long post about clothes and just shop for second hand items you love? Click HERE and use code OHDEAR40 for 40%! off your order. Want a chance to win 250$ to thredUP? Just click the link, pick out something you love and leave a link in the comment section below to win! (Don’t forget to leave your email address too!) 

Okay long winding thoughts and words, lets go:

It’s a bit crazy to me, that even today, in 2017 we find such push– actually a bigger push than ever before to keep up with the Jones’. The Jones’ were so 70 years ago. We should know better now. We don’t have to keep up with anything or anyone. We are not what we own. We are not what we wear. We are what drives us, what makes us happy, what keeps our heart beating everyday. What we wear is gravy, its complimentary. I want to be a hardworking, loving, and honest woman— who happens to be incredibly comfortable and look put together while doing it. I want to know that what I’m wearing is putting as little ecological strain on the earth– it’s reusing what has already been made and creating less demand. And hey, if it happens to be a badass outfit in the process? Then thats awesome. The thing is that buying secondhand doesn’t mean you’re worth less or less than. Buying secondhand means you’re putting thought into the purchases you make. thredUP proves that secondhand shopping can be thoughtful, economical, and fun.

This isn’t my first time using thredUP. And it won’t be my last. As seasons change and my body changes or items becoming worn and need replacing, I plan to look and shop first at secondhand. Call it a resolution if you’d like. It sort of is, but not just for this year, but every year. What I prefer about thredUP to your regular thrift store (besides the fact that I don’t have to put on shoes and go to a store) is this:
-I can look for exactly what I want. Secondhand shopping with a search bar? I ‘ll take it!
-I’m more likely to find styles that I would wear everyday. A thirst store will be filled with clothing for a wide variety of age groups and decades. I can expect to find more clothing options that fit my generation (and likely yours too).
-I can return the clothes if they end up not working out! You def. can’t do that at a thrift store.

This is not to say that thrift stores or bad or pointless— thrift stores are wonderful for finding amazing things— but if it’s up to me (and it is, duh) then I’m going to choose to look online and type in exactly what I’m looking for, before spending hours shuffling through racks of items. Ya know?

So what is thredUP (if you haven’t gotten the gist of it yet?) It’s a huge online marketplace to find women’s, kids, and mens clothing at up to 90% off the in store price. The shop is mainly filled with top name brands and high end designers too. They inspect all their clothes before selling them to make sure they’re like new. A lot of the clothes are like new, having the tags still on! I’ve purchased a few items with tags on them still 🙂

You search the site, you can narrow by size, color, designer, whatever to find what you’re looking for. For me, at 30+ years old, I’m finally learning what brands actually fit me and what don’t– so I very easily and happily type in those brands to shop first.

I’m excited about my recent purchases. Super excited. I purchased a black dress with the cutest back. Everyone needs one simple black dress, right? And two rompers. I can live in rompers, so this is perfect for me. And comfortable shorts, because you guys are probably tired of seeing me in my one pair of jean shorts all the time, right? haha. I’m super excited to be adding these items to my mix of clothes and removing the items I’ve been holding onto that are cute, but don’t fit quite right anymore. It’s weird, but I’m actually looking forward to going through my closet and counting every piece I own and minimizing to the max.

I like to put things out here to be held to it… but I’m really hoping this year to make a pledge of sorts. I had one friend once pledge to not buy ANY new pieces for an entire year. The only clothing items that would be brought in were to be secondhand. I’m hoping to do something of this sort. I’m hoping to have the only pieces I bring in be secondhand items OR new organic items. No new non-organic items. Better my closet and minimize my impact.

Did you know that if 1 out of 100 households shopped secondhand, they would collectively save 1.6 billion dollars every year? Thats crazy. Thats a lot of money to be saved! And that would make aHUGE impact on the waste going out in the world. So yeah, I pledge to buy only organic and/or sustainable clothing this year. Maybe you can too? Yeah?


Have you been needing a new party dress? Or maybe the perfect top to match a skirt? Let’s make a shift to have our first step to new purchases be to buy secondhand. Secondhand first, ya? It makes sense to me—- and for our earth 🙂


And hey, you can look cute while doing it too. I mean, I might not wear this top with these shorts— I purchased this top to go with my jeans and these shorts to go with my solid colored tops— but this works too, right? Sure. I mean, if you haven’t noticed I basically live in blue, black, grey, and white– with the occasional plash of muted pink haha…. or some sort of striped version of that 🙂 This way everything (almost) always goes together 😉

Want to know how much I saved with these thredUP purchases?
42$ on the blue striped Madewell shirt
50$ on the cute skimpy Gentle Fawn shorts (my new vacation shorts, haha)
83$ on the black Madewell jumper
33$ on black Billabong dress
86$ on blue Madewell romper
and 53$ on the black floppy Vince Camuto hat.

Thats 348$ saved. Thats more than the cost of two plane tickets for me to go to Mexico. Thats basically two plane tickets to Mexico + two nice bottles of tequila, haha. And then with the 40% off discount you get by using the code OHDEAR40? Well, thats 2 plane tickets to Mexico and a plane ticket to Puerto Rico too. Thats crazy.

And yes, I absolutely count all money I spend by comparing prices on plane tickets, haha.

So yeah, secondhand shopping makes sense. And if you’re looking for specific clothes, cute clothes, newish trends, or looking to just never leave your house to shop, thredUP makes even more sense 🙂



Discount code!:
Click HERE and get 40% off your order today by using code: OHDEAR40

*first 100 readers. new customers only. discount up to 50$



GIVEAWAY:
Want to win 250$ to spend at thredUP? (That gets you A LOT of clothes for your family) All you have to do is click THIS LINK and pick out something you love. Then be sure to come back here and leave a link to that item below (in the comment section) to win!
(Don’t forget to leave your email address too!)

Alright friends, hope you guys have a great week! What do you think, want to pledge for secondhand first with me? Let’s do ittttttt!

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52 Comments

  16. Xio Munoz

    hey! love this post, and the romper/dress!
    I just got my first order on thredup (will use your code next time!) and will continue shopping on their site because its so convenient. I also sent a bag of clothing to them last year for their Cleanout program and the process is so easy and it felt so good that the items got approved and are now on (re)sale on their site instead of going to a landfill. What doesnt get approved gets sent to a textile recycling center.
    Also watched the minimalism doc over the holidays and got pumped to continue the process of paring down and continue designing intentionally and for comfort.
    Hope to see you this weekend at the launch party!

  33. RAH

    Hello from Los Angeles! Long time reader, first time commenter. Thred-Up is such a great company, and eco-fashion is definitely starting to trend (as well as the new name for 'thrift shopping'). I'm a photographer and currently working with a new eco-fashion designer – ELLERALI. She makes clothes out of old t-shirts, including really cute dresses, etc. Definitely your style and mission! Saving for those plane tickets! 😉 https://www.instagram.com/ellerali/

  47. Claudia Guerreiro

    ha! those two guys from that documentary bugged the shit out of me with their whole "i'm a hugger" thing. too much. too forced. i get the whole minimizing thing though.

  48. Inscrutably Phrased

    Exactly! It's rather queer to think that most people shame secondhand clothing, just for the sake of prestige and class. Keep going Drea! The Earth needs you! It's definitely splendid to find a really high quality, sustainable brand which makes clothes usable for longer.. that means less industry, less transport and a happier Earth! 🙂
    Say hello to Marlowe from the fellow Earthkeepers! 😉