Meli's Thrift Journal

An End of an Era

… or is it?

This blog started out as a semester long project for my Fundamentals of Digital and Online Media class. However, unlike most assignments, I was very excited to start blogging about what thrifting means to me and sharing my view of why secondhand shopping is important. The best experience throughout this journey would be how my creativity has expanded. Posting specific numbers of blogs by a set deadline has pushed me to come up with new ways to talk about a topic that can be seen as boring or unoriginal at first glance. I also love the fact that these blogs have pushed me out of my comfort zone in terms of sharing my personal stories online. This experience is beneficial because I now have more knowledge on writing blogs, promoting things on social media platforms, and how to have time management. The tools that I have learned from running this blog will be implemented in my future as I aspire to work in the field of advertising and social media management. Having the experience of building a blog site from the ground up, although a very small one, is helpful for when I run a professional website for a specific brand or company!

I would love to improve the pictures that I post on my site. Before starting this blog, I only took thrift pictures so that I can share them with my friends. Due to this, the pictures don’t portray the beauty of each thrift article as much as I want them to. If I continue my blog, I would take more informative pictures so that readers will get a clearer image of each item. In the beginning of the semester, I would update my Twitter feed and Instagram story when a new blog post has been published. However, I got lazy and ended up only updating my Twitter platform and left Instagram behind. I feel that because my follower count is much higher on Instagram, if I continued to update my story about the blog, it would have had more traffic coming in.

Statistically, my website was most popular on the week of February 3rd, 2020. On that week, my blog received 65 views and 33 visitors. ‘Get To Know Me & My Passion’ was the most popular post attaining 27 views. To be quite honest, I believe that this post got the number of views it did because it was the first and only post that I promoted on Instagram. One surprising thing I found out was that some of my views came from the country of Indonesia. Additionally, a friend that I made in college this year retweeted one of my promotions because she loved the blog posts I published during quarantine.

This may or may not be the end of my blog journey, but I will say that what I have done so far has been an amazing experience. Like always, stay safe, take care of yourself, and be happy!

Quarantine Update

Gifted instead of thrifted.

I’m still in quarantine and haven’t gone thrifting since January. More stores are opening up as the weeks go by because the quarantine is slowly being lifted. I can’t wait to be able to drive to my nearest Goodwill to find new pieces to add to my closet. For the time being, in the beginning of the week, my mom’s friend cleaned out her closet and gave me whatever she didn’t want anymore. I came home with two trash bags full of clothes and about one-third of the items in the bags still had a price tag on it.

My mom’s friend is in her 50’s and her fashion sense doesn’t really match well with mine. However, I’m always broadening my taste in clothes and am constantly trying to find new ways to style different articles of clothing. This experience was even better than going thrifting because I got everything for free! In fact, cleaning out your closet could be a fun activity to do during this time of self-isolation. Getting rid of all the old clothes that don’t get worn anymore is such a satisfying feeling. If you and all your friends do this, instead of buying new clothes when the quarantine is over, everyone can just trade the clothes that’s no longer wanted anymore. You and your friends could end up with a totally new closet at the price of nothing. Here is a picture of one of the tops that was given to me. I paired it with an orange skirt and tucked it in to give it a more fitted look since it was extremely big.

On other news, I made a thrifting lookbook video last week and posted it on YouTube. The video shows a glimpse of what my fashion sense is like and how I style some of my favorite thrift finds of 2019-2020. Everyone should go and check it out! I hope that life goes back to normal soon and that I can physically go thrifting again. Until then, although more public areas and businesses are opening up, please still try to practice social distancing as COVID-19 hasn’t been completely neutralized yet.

Online Thrifting

Quarantine, but make it fashion.

We are all still living in a world of quarantine. Unable to leave the house except if it’s absolutely necessary. As an almost 19-year-old girl, I’m slowly going crazy and am constantly finding stuff to do to pass the time. A few things I’ve done include: binge watching, exercising, eating, and online shopping. A few things that I’ve picked up during quarantine include: drawing, making TikTok, and cooking.

What do I miss most throughout this whole pandemic? Other than my college friends and the sweet taste of freedom that I had in San Marcos, I miss thrifting. To fill the void, I’ve been watching a lot of YouTube thrift videos, living vicariously through them. I’ve stumbled upon videos of people online thrifting and realized that I can do it to fulfill my thrifting urges. Yes, I’ve known about websites that people can buy second-hand clothing from (ThredUp and Poshmark), but there are way more online options for thrifting than I thought.

One of my favorite Youtuber, AlexaSunshine83, made a video about buying an online thrifting mystery box. She bought a package of second-hand clothes that only states how many items of clothing (t-shirts, sweatshirts, etc.) she’s going to be given, not knowing what they look like until it arrives. She can of course choose the sizes, but everything else is a mystery. I find this to be a really fun idea, even though there’s a risk of not liking any of the items. The price of the mystery box was very reasonable and matches the pricing of most thrift stores I personally have gone to. Alexa didn’t like all of the clothes but there were a few that she fell in love with. She says that she might thrift flip the rest because they still had the potential to be something she could wear regularly.

I agree with the statement that online thrifting isn’t as fun as physically going to a shop and browsing through the racks. However, we all should be doing our part during this pandemic by staying home and practicing social distancing. Online thrift shopping will have to do for now and it’s still fun because at the end of the day, you get new clothes for a low price. Like Alexa, if you buy an item that doesn’t look so cute, try to thrift flip it. Stay safe during this time of uncertainty and keep a positive mindset. 🙂

Dina’s Days Is A Delight

As a new blogger of all things thrift related, I have a lot to learn. Reading up on other thrift blogs helps to expand my own knowledge of second-hand shopping. One blogger I have found and enjoyed keeping up with is Dina’s Days. She is a true thrifter who has been sharing her finds and tips with the world since 2009. However, I love the fact that Dina’s blogs are not specifically thrifting content. She blogs about lifestyle, motherhood, and has a podcast as well. We all love and support a woman of many talents and interests!

Dina’s Days has a series called 12 Months of Thrifting where she pays particular attention to a specific aspect of clothing each month. This March, she is focusing on adding a dash of embroidery to the pieces she finds. I think this is a really unique and fun idea because some people may never have thought of embroideries to be something to look for in thrifted articles. Additionally, Dina does not only talk about her thrift finds with us, but she also goes over how to wear and incorporate them into your own personal style. Along with her blogs, the images she adds on to her posts are very aesthetically pleasing to look at, and the bright colors make the details of every item pop off of the screen.

Dina has obviously been on the thrifting scene for quite some time, and is known by many people because of it. From print magazines to television debuts, she is highly recognized for her passion for second-hand shopping. It is a fact that I love Goodwill stores and that it is my go to thrifting location. Dina has received many awards in regards to Goodwill, and she is an amazing contributor to the company as well. I respect Dina’s Days for not only sharing and educating others about the art of thrifting, but also for doing more to spread the message of how fun and beneficial it is. During your leisure time, feel free to look up Dina’s Days and enjoy the fabulous quality content she has posted for us.

Corona Thrift Stop

The Coronavirus is a sad turn of events for all shoppers.

COVID-19, otherwise known as the Coronavirus, is a current epidemic that is scaring the majority of the population. Schools are extending breaks, universities are holding online classes, and supermarkets are rapidly running low on everyday supplies such as toilet paper. The best thing to do at a time like this is to self-quarantine so that the virus is unable to spread. For shoppers, this is bad news because trying on clothes before buying them is essential. Shopping online is also not a safe option because of the fear that the virus is airborne, and may be transferred by products coming in from out of the country.

Personally, I will continue to go to my local Goodwill during my extended spring break, if they decide to stay open. For those who do not want to take the risk of leaving the house, may I suggest that window shopping can be done online as well. Browse your favorite stores from the safety of your own home and keep it in the cart until this pandemic is over. If looking at clothing while stuck inside the house isn’t ideal, take the time to appreciate the pieces you already own. Looking at new ways to style outfits out of clothing items you already possess is also an option.

Please continue to look out for your own well-being. Shopping experiences may be put on hold but there are many other activities that can be done during a time like this. Learn more about the Coronavirus, stay informed, and stay safe. In the meanwhile, everyone has their favorite thing to buy, and mine are shoes. It’s hard for me to find shoes that are both my size and style at thrift stores, so they are one of the only things that I don’t buy second-hand. All three of the shoes that I have recently purchased were bought at Charlotte Russe. Although I buy shoes at popular retail stores, I am still a big fan of low prices.

Black and white snake print high heeled boots. $15
Black platform flats with straps. $30
White stretchy sneakers. $10