The $40 Interview Outfit

I had an interview yesterday! First one in 11 years. Gulp.

Afterward my husband and I met for lunch and I asked him to take some quick photos, one because I liked my ruffly blouse, but also because I think this outfit illustrates a few good points about how to make thrift shopping work for you.

My main point has to do with this pencil skirt. It’s from Ann Taylor, fully lined, suit quality, and I bought it for $9 from Goodwill. I bought it two years ago, when I was a full time stay at home mom with no need in sight to wear this skirt. But since it fit so well, was good quality, and filled a hole in my wardrobe, I bought it.

I didn’t have a blouse to wear with it, though, so yesterday I went shopping and found this BCBGMAXAZRIA shirt with a huge ruffle collar, also at Goodwill. My kids took one look at it and said I should be a pirate for Halloween.

Check out the cute kick pleat in the back of the skirt.

The thing about thrift shopping, though, is that it’s not as predictable as regular shopping. I got lucky in this instance in that I was able to find an appropriate shirt that fit on the day I needed it. But if I had needed to find the whole outfit, well, then I would have been getting close to Impossibleland.

When it comes to thrift shopping, the best attitude to have is this: Think of your wardrobe as a whole, and then go shopping with a general idea of your needs, staying open to what you might find. That way you will build your wardrobe piece by piece.

Here is the cost breakdown of my outfit:

$9        Pencil skirt (Ann Taylor, via Goodwill)
$10      Ruffle collar blouse (BCBGMAXAZRIA, Goodwill)
$21      Brown tweed pumps (Target, forever ago)
$40     Total

I didn’t include the cost of my handbag in my breakdown. Is that cheating? It would have blown it wide open! I bought it used, but it is Coach. Even on ebay, Coach bags don’t come cheap (in this case, $120, but it’s awesome and so worth it). Usually I use it as my everyday, crossbody bag since I’m a mom and need my hands free, but for the interview I adjusted the length of the strap to transform it into a shoulder bag. It’s funny what can make you feel grown up.

© Amy Daniewicz