spring work looks on a budget

all basics (black and white)

| The Fashion Huntress

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The two most powerful warriors are patience and time. –Leo Tolstoy

Top: Poof via Nordstrom Rack ($1)

Jeans: Old Navy ($11 marked down from approx $35)

Blazer: Elizabeth and James via Rue La La ($55 marked down from $500)

Necklace: House of Harlow via Nordstrom Rack ($25 marked down from $60)

Shoes: Christian Siriano ($22 marked down from approx $40)  on clearance here 

Fashion Huntress tip: Winter, spring, who knows anymore?! But I’m enjoying looking through the ‘end of season’ sales that are happening right now! The sales at J Crew and Banana Republic are both great right now, if you’re looking for any winter items. For boots, the sale prices at 6pm.com are reaching seasonal lows!

awesomely eighties

| The Fashion Huntress
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Being a product of the 80s, let’s face it, I have a love of pretty much all things 80s. And while the 80s trend has kind-of “passed” and now we are onto the 90s, I still can’t let 80s fashion love go (except for shoulder pads. I can let those go). Anywho, I found these white vintage 80s pumps and it was love at first sight, readers. I knew with a little love (alcohol swabs and sanitizer), they would be looking brand new. Well, 80s brand new. You know what’s weird? When I styled them, they looked surprisingly fresh to me. I’m not sure how that really works, but I guess what’s old is new, sometimes, and that many loved pieces can be loved indefinitely…I find that thought very comforting. Thanks, shoes, for the reminder.

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Top: Peter Pilotto for Target ($6 marked down from approx $35)
Pants: Banana Republic ($20 marked down from $90)
Shoes: vintage via thrift ($2, they were $4, but 50% off sale)
Necklace: gift
Bag: Peter Pilotto for Target ($3 marked down from $40)
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Fashion Huntress tips:
1) There’s still a bit of the Peter Pilotto for Target on the Target website (including the bag featured here). If you go to the Target website, you can find many of the pieces on clearance, if you didn’t get a chance to get them when the collection came out!
2) Resale shops have sales? Yes, they sure do. It’s kind-of surprising, right? The sales vary by store, though a lot of resale shops (especially chains such as Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc) have email alerts, which allows you to track the sales. You can also ask at the store if there is a schedule for sales, many of which take place on “holiday weekends.” Given that resale prices are often already quite low, you don’t really need to hunt down the sales, but if you are so inclined, I say go for it! 
I know I should have probably cleaned these shoes with something less harsh than alcohol (on the exterior), but I just went for it. The white leather cleaned up really well with the rubbing alcohol.  You can always use leather softener after, if you want to make sure the leather doesn’t turn too brittle/get too dry. For the interior, don’t forget to use antibacterial wipes and/or an alcohol based sanitizer. I’ve read that a lot of people also use an anti-fungal spray as well, so that’s an option too. Best to over clean than under!

Anyone else have resale sale tips? Thank you so much for stopping by, readers! Happy Wednesday!

fancy floral (suit of armor)

| The Fashion Huntress

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One time, I wrote a whole post about About a Boy and the song “Rainy days and Mondays.” I’ll spare you guys rehashing that story again (I mean, if you’re really interested in hearing that monolouge, here’s the post). So, instead of talking about my love of About a Boy and rainy days, I’m going to just chatty chat about rainy day trenches. You may find this hard to believe, but I do not have a lot of coats in my fashion repertoire. I’m not really sure why, but for some reason, I don’t really feel drawn to coats like I do, for example, shoes. Despite this somewhat ambivalent attitude towards coats, I tried on this statement trench and realized I had officially fallen for a coat. …oh my…I hope this doesn’t open a whole new can of worms. But for now, my statement coat collection is limited to this trench, and I feel really good about it. It’s like a fancy floral suit of armor for walking around town- and, really, you just cannot go wrong with a fancy floral suit of armor out there in the world.

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Peplum top: Express (approx $11 marked down from $30)

Denim top: Forever 21 ($20)

Pants: Banana Republic ($20 marked down from approx $90)

Necklace: Banana Republic ($12 marked down from $80)

Jacket: Banana Republic ($30 marked down from $175)

Shoes: Gap ($12 marked down from $40)

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Fashion Huntress tips:

1) I had a somewhat odd experience at Banana Republic when I picked up this jacket. I found it in a size small regular for almost $75 more than the medium petite. Confusing, right? So I asked the salesperson and she told me that the regular sizes were more expensive than the petites and that they generally don’t get the same markdown. Huh. Okay. Well, I tried on a size up in the petite and it fit just fine. So, if you’re looking at pieces in a store, go through all of the sections and remember that you can always size up or down as needed. I think coats are a lot more forgiving than other pieces, but certainly it can’t hurt to look various sale sections for a lot of other pieces as well.

2) Denim under a peplum top? Yep! It totally worked, too! I saw a few other bloggers doing this; so, thanks for the tips! Adding the layer underneath the peplum allowed me to wear this “summer” top in spring. I did go ahead and fully tuck-in the denim shirt underneath the peplum to make sure the peplum kept its original shape. You can also layer a lot of tank tops this year, especially those with thick straps. Try it out!

Anyone else have layering tips? Sizing quirks when sale shopping?

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!