Friday, May 31, 2013

Jen & Pippa More Friday Thrift Shop Finds!

It's that time again!  Check out the latest installment of "Jen & Pippa Friday Thrift Shop Finds" on Shop with Pippa's blog!  

In this post Pippa gives a sneak peek at one of the dresses I styled Rebecca Spera in for a segment on the Livewell Network's Mirror/Mirror show.  The show should air sometime in July.  So excited to see the final product!


ABC show Mirror/Mirror host Rebecca Sperra .... Suzi Chin Dress (NEW w/ tags) @ Goodwill for $9.99!  Watch in July when Jen gives her tips for Thrift Shopping!


Thursday, May 30, 2013

Monique Lhuillier Runway Dress vs. Thrifted Dress.

Just a quick post today to show off the gorgeous red dress that I scored at Goodwill yesterday!  The designer is Mary Ching.  I've never heard of her and could only find an accessories and shoe designer by the same name.  The quality of the dress is great.   When I first saw it, with its jeweled neckline, it instantly reminded me of the stunning red dress Monique Lhuillier showed on the runway this year.  I think it was a great find for $9.99!  What do you think?



Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Weekly Shopping Trip with Pippa from Shop With Pippa!

One day while I was shopping in Goodwill, a lovely Houston blogger named Pippa stopped me and asked if I was the the lady that had been interviewed for a research project by Rice University MBA students.  Indeed I was.  Turns out she had been interviewed by these same students and therefore had learned about me.  Fast forward to a week or so later and "Jen & Pippa's Friday Thrift Store Finds" was born!  



Every week Pippa chronicles our visits to different thrift stores in Houston, taking pictures of the amazing treasures that the shops in our city hold.  If you love thrifting, then I encourage you to follow Pippa's blog, Shop with Pippa.  She offers great tips and will blow you away with the things she pulls out of thrift stores that I had initially written off as "bad."

Check out this week's new blog post.  We found AWESOME stuff!

Jen & Pippa Thrift Store Shopping Finds in Houston, May 29, 2013.

Facconable Velvet Jacket, a rich, refined take on a casual classic.  The irresistible texture of velvet transforms jean-jacket styling.  RETAILED  for $525 ... at Houston Thrift Store for $9.99

 

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Road Trip! Thrifting in Dallas.

Last weekend, my girlfriends and I made a trip to Dallas for a girls' weekend.  Of course, I couldn't go to another city without checking out the thrift scene.  We decided to visit a few Goodwills, since I'm pretty partial to them.

Our first stop was the Goodwill located in Garland at 1661 E. Northwest Hwy.  

 
I found this Pins and Needles cardigan from Urban Outfitters for $2.99.  That's it.  After two hours.  Not exactly the haul I was looking for.  On to the next stop.

Pins and Needles cardigan, retail - $45, thrift price - $2.99!




Our second stop was also in Garland at 3106 N. Shiloh Rd.  



 
This store was enormous so I was really hopeful that we were going to be lucky.  I left with two items this time, a Ralph Lauren blazer for $9.99 and an Original Penguin silk dress for $5.99.  That's it, after several hours combing the racks.  Not to be deterred, we headed to one final location before they closed.

Ralph Lauren blazer with crest and fab gold buttons, retail - $300, thrift price - $9.99.
 



Original Penguin silk dress, retail - $250, thrift price - $5.99.


At this point, I'll have to admit, I was feeling quite discouraged.  I knew that there had to be a Goodwill in the city where the good, name brands ended up.  There always is.  The problem was I only had one day to find this elusive Goodwill.  So, I pulled out my top secret thrifting notebook and...I'm kidding, I just asked the cashier where the best Goodwill in the city was.  Luckily, she was kind enough to steer me toward their corporate store at 3020 N. Westmoreland.  After the dismal day we had had, I have to admit that I didn't hold out much hope for this location either.  Maybe Houston really was an enigma and the thrift stores in other cities just weren't going to be as great.  



We pulled up to the store one hour before closing.  I usually need two+ hours to thoroughly shop so I was going to have to be strategic and quick.  Within the first five minutes I had hit the mother load!  I had finally found the "good" Goodwill in the city.  Over the next hour I pulled high-end label, after high-end label off of the racks, Carolina Herrera, Juicy Couture, Robert Rodriguez, Escada, Lilly Pulitzer, Christian Louboutin (really bad condition), etc., etc.  Now, not everything was in tip-top shape so they didn't all come home with me, but quite a few did.  

Juicy Couture corduroy blazer, retail - $225, thrift price - $4.99!

Escada denim skirt, retail price - $380, thrift price - $2.99!

Lilly Pulitzer Eliot blouse, retail price - $118, thrift price - $2.99!

Brand new Robert Rodriguez raffia jacket, retail price - $525, thrift price - $4.99!

Anthroprologie We Love Vera blouse, retail price - $88, thrift price - $2.99!
So, in the end, it was a GREAT thrifting day, but it didn't come easy.  We shopped from 1:00 to 7:00, non-stop and looked through massive amounts of clothing to find these few gems.  The lesson of the trip was to not get discouraged if your first few outings don't pan out.  It's thrifting, and it's unpredictable.  Eventually, if you have enough patience, you'll score a major find...and then you'll be hooked like me!




Thursday, May 9, 2013

High-quality Style on a Low-end Budget!

I've been styling my friends this week in preparation for a segment I'll be filming for Mirror/Mirror next week.  We have had so much fun visiting different Goodwill stores and finding all of the high-quality treasures hidden in the racks.  The items are there.  I guarantee it.  You just have to look.  Here are a few of the outfits that I put together this week.


Look 1 - J. Crew "Perfect Shirt" and Banana Republic capris.  Look 2 - Matty M sweater, Matty M (brand new!) sequin tank, and same Banana Republic capris.  Look 3 - Loeffler Randall sweater, Anne Klein New York tank and French Connection skirt. 



Look 1 - Faconnable shirt, Esprit scarf (brand new!), and Gap capris.  Look 2 - Tahari tank and Dana Buchman silk maxi skirt.  Look 3 - Moth from Anthropologie "Thousand Carats" sweater and Tory Burch skirt!

What great finds!  All of these looks were put together from Goodwill.