To those of you that are familiar with my style philosophy, you will not be surprised that I found a $10, 100% wool double breasted suit at a local Goodwill store that I rock like it’s straight off the rack. Being an advocate of saving money, I fully support grabbing some pieces from a thrift store from time to time. There are many hidden gems that can be found at vintage, Goodwill and consignment shops. On a whim, I decided to go into a particular Goodwill store after curiously driving by it for at least one entire year. In an attempt to make this shopping trip very expedient, I rifled through some of the suits without getting to in-depth in my search.
After taking a second look, I pull this double-breasted suit out and like magic it was a 38 jacket with 32 x 30 altered pair of trousers. Thinking it was too good to be true, I tried on the suit and you would have sworn it was tailor-made for me. The only issue that I needed to address with this suit was getting the legs tapered on the trousers.
The overall lesson to be learned is that no matter what you pay for clothes, your style comes from how you carry yourself no matter what you are wearing. This suit is paired with pieces that range from $10 up to $400. As a passer-by looking at this suit, you would assume that it was the most expensive part of this outfit. Defining your personal style will ultimately help you make decision on how and where shop, which could lead to some creative and money saving ideas in the process. Below you will find some of my rules on thrifting.
Rules to Thrifting:
- Be patient. If you take your time and look through what’s available, you are bound to find something suitable.
- Visit areas where the clientele of the thrift, goodwill or consignment shops are slightly more affluent and may be willing to part with more quality items.
- Get you items cleaned once purchased.
- Thrifting is a great way to keep some money in your pockets and it would be a great opportunity to donate some clothing that you no longer want too.
Check out this video about my personal style philosophy. You can watch this video in HD by click HERE (Vimeo).
[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/33097466 w=650&h=450]
Suited with a Cashmere Scarf by Psycho Bunny
Lower Half Details
Shoes by Johnston & Murphy – Cabarris Penny (Cognac)
The Stroll Details:
Custom Dress Shirt by Ratio Clothing
Wool Tie by Nautica
Rose Gold Watch by Alias Kim
The Lunch Bag
Brown Leather Lunch Bag by Logan Zane
This leather lunch bag is a stylish and “green” alternative to using paper bags everyday. It can be difficult at time to find a suitable lunch bag that fits with a suited look and this bag definitely alleviates that problem.
Sunglasses:
Tortoise-shell frame sunglasses via Ebay.com (Style Without Labels Ebay Store)
Photo/Video Credit: Marina T. Peele
Look Styled/Modeled: Sabir M. Peele
Best,
Sabir
