The famous French fashion designer, Christian Dior, once said, "It's not money that makes you well-dressed, it's understanding." And it is with this mantra that I approach this new project with Goodwill of San Antonio. I've been commissioned to write blog posts about the hidden treasures that can be found at your local Goodwill location - in both fashion and home goods. I am by no means an expert in style, but through my years of work with Tommy Hilfiger Inc., Estee Lauder Inc., and as a writer/artist, I have learned a thing or two about how to make things work. And I'm very much excited about being able to share this passion of mine - creating something from seemingly nothing - with you.
The challenge that I am presented with every month is creating style out of items found in the our local Goodwill stores with just twenty five dollars. I will do my best to highlight a variety of different Goodwill locations, as well as a variety of different looks. I'll not just focus on fashion, but also on DIY projects that you can do for your home.
This month, I visited the Goodwill location on Austin Highway. Because the selection of goods that flow in and out of Goodwill is so liquid, I of course, had no idea what I would find or what I would create. So with absolutely no expectations, and armed with my twenty five dollar gift certificate, I entered the store and immediately looked for anything to catch my eye.
Much to my delight, something caught my eye immediately! I found a pair of amazingly trendy harem pants hanging in the very front of the store, where they house all of the Julia's Attic apparel (Julia's Attic is sold in partnership with the Junior League of San Antonio; its inventory is priced slightly higher for the name brand goods that it carries). These pants were so amazing that I quit searching and decided to build the entire outfit around them.
Having accomplished the most difficult part - establishing a foundation for an outfit - I simply spent the rest of the time searching for tops to go with the pants. Half way through my search, the store announced that all shoes were, for that day only, 50% off the marked price! I immediately went to search for a pair of shoes that might go with the outfit. My last stop was the accessories cabinet where I found an amazing bronze cuff that I just had to have and a beautiful coral necklace - both would compliment the outfit very nicely.
With just $20 I was able to create three different looks with the Harem style pant as the foundation:
[caption id="attachment_1198" align="aligncenter" width="587" caption="Harem pant with Asian blouse for a "going out" look - $ 9.98"]
[caption id="attachment_1211" align="aligncenter" width="388" caption="Harem pant with sage green sweater shell for a "career" look - $ 13.48"]
[caption id="attachment_1208" align="aligncenter" width="368" caption="Harem pant with slinky lime green tank for a "casual" look - $ 8.98"]
The accessories - a bronzed cuff ($ 7.99) and a coral necklace ($9.99) - purchased altogether, put me a bit over my budget.
However, if you picked just one of these outfits & paired it with either the bronzed cuff or the coral necklace, you'd still end up under the $25 budget.
I hope you enjoyed reading this blog post. I certainly had a lot of fun shopping for it, taking pictures for it, and writing it! And because I'm so excited about this new endeavor, I'm hosting a give-a-way! That's right! If you'd like to win the coral necklace (pictured above), then simply comment on this blog post by midnight of 30 April, when a commenter will be randomly selected & notified. I'm very much looking forward to writing more for Goodwill of San Antonio over the next year. Please come back for more!
***
Also, a huge thank you to local artist, Brenda Burmeister, who so graciously volunteered her time to model for this post. Brenda creates all kinds of art - film, multimedia, and jewelry to name a few. In fact, she made the earrings that she wore during the shoot.
