Bag of Free Clothes

 Dress - Chaps (thrifted); Shoes - Payless; Necklace and Belt - Steinmart

My local Plato's Closet had a clearance sale recently.  $15 was all it would cost for each plastic shopping bag (smallish) that you filled with clearance items.  I was pleased to find that the clearance items were all sorted and in their own section.  I was not pleased to find the limited amount of items in my size that were on clearance.  Well, I guess I shouldn't have been two surprised...it is Plato's Closet.  But I digress.  I found this sundress pretty early on and for the cute plaid pattern and good construction of the dress, I would have paid $15 for it.  Which basically made everything else in my bag free.  I've already worn the dress twice since the sale, so it was definitely worth it.  While not everything in my bag ended up being a winner (I took some long shots since they were essentially free...I'll probably end up donating them), I ended up with quite a few really nice pieces in addition to the dress.

Shirt and Scarf- NY & Co (thrifted); Skirt - Ralph Lauren (Macy's) ; Shoes - Payless; Belt - NY & Co

This purple sweater was one of my gem 'freebies' from the bag.  It totally matched the scarf I had thrifted from there last year and is pretty seasonless, as I see myself putting this over a buttondown and wearing with a skirt and boots in the winter as well.  In fact, most of the items I own from NY&Co have been thrifted from this Plato's.  I have a theory that there is a plus sized teenager whose gramdma buys here beautiful conservative things from NY & Co, but she would rather wear flannels, tees and tanks, so she brings them in to trade. Did I mention that many of the items have NEVER been worn and still have original tags??

I don't really care how they got there, though.  I'll take it!

Fit to Be Tied

Dress - Merona (thrifted); Cardi - NY & Co (thrifted); Bracelets - Thrifted; Earrings - NY & Co; Sandals - Clarks

I loved the bright floral print of this dress, mostly because I can go so many ways with color and have a different outfit each time. Last worn with baby blue, this halter dress, which I figured was not work appropriate, found me quite comfortable in the office.  Sweater removed, I was nice and cool on my walk to campus for class.  The only thing I don't like about the dress is that the cinched waist is courtesy of a belt of the same materials that feeds through the waist and adds no contrast when a card is worn with it.  I think next time I'll try covering the tie with a wide belt.