One of my favorite places to shop is at this fantastic clothing exchange store in the Sacramento area called Freestyle. It opened up around the time I began college in 2008, and it was a beautiful fashion haven for college students who preferred to be less spendy. If I’m passing through town, I always try to stop by. I sell them my clothes. I buy other people’s clothes. How ideal. :)

dress – thrifted (f21), hat – anthro, sweater – anthro, boots – target

But sometimes when I find something secondhand, it seems perfect in the fitting room and then eventually I’m like, “Oh. That’s why someone got rid of this.” One woman’s trash is another woman’s treasure for like two seconds until the other woman realizes it will become her trash as well. And so it goes… The cycle of secondhand clothing never ends.

A couple weeks ago, I found this floral dress and wore it on the sunniest day we’ve had this year. It was so nice at first, but I realized the dress was feeling pretty short. I blamed it on the wind. In Target, I embarrassed myself a bunch trying to reach for things on the lower shelves. Another day, I wore it to work and concluded that, even with tights, it is quite short and unpractical for my body type. No picking things up off the floor for me! So unfortunate. Hopefully I can find a way to make it work.

Looks like I took a reeaally long break from Dress Up posts! My last intentional post was in July. Sheesh. Throughout the past couple of months, I thought about doing some outfit posts, but it was too cold outside and I’m a whimp. Lucky for me, it feels nothing like winter these days. The sun is out, people are wearing short sleeves, and I’m compulsively buying flowers. :)

Good morning! Today I’m participating in ModCloth‘s Uniquely You campaign. When they asked me to join in on the fun, I may or may not have danced around in my kitchen. It isn’t every day that one of your favorite shops stumbles upon your blog – woohoo! Anyway, I was asked to assemble an outfit around the Coach Tour Dress in Noir, which I think it super classy and wintery.

I tend to gravitate toward neutrals. Normally, I would add a big slouchy ivory cardigan and a leather brown bag. I like simple things. But I decided to change my perspective a little.

Where would I (love to) wear this? New York City! In autumn. I went for a “Blair Waldorf in a macaron shop” kind of look. I debated adding the more colorful elements, but ultimately I had to say yes to them. Goldenrod, mint, and pale pink are my favorite pops of color. :)

Now I’m off to Apple Hill for a photo sesh with my bloggy friend Charity and her family!

Can I just say that I really, really love my job? I love it a lot. Some days are really stressful…I make mistakes. There are all these time crunches. But the other day was just such a good day. I love meeting customers (and their dogs!) and learning about all of the beautiful crafty products. I especially love when someone returns a dress that is not in our store (in my exact size). That happened last week. This Sikuli Diamond Dress caught my eye as soon as we got it in the store, but it was just too long! Also, we only had it in green. Then one day, someone returned a black petite dress in my size, and I snagged it. So YAY! That’s my story. :)