YOU GUYS.
THIS IS THE TENTH CHEAP OUTFIT POST.
When I did my very first cheap outfit post a billion years ago, I never even gave a thought to it being a recurring thing. I thought, “Hey! I’m poor and resourceful, so why not show off my cheap fashion skillz?” Though I am (thankfully) less poor than I was then, I think I am actually MORE resourceful – I find better stuff from better stores, and I still keep my costs so very very low.
I’m not going to wax too nostalgic about the series quite yet, as I’m planning a sort of retrospective of the best outfits of each post. So let’s get right to business with this tenth post.
This is my eighth blog post in which the outfits are $35 or less. You can find the other seven by following the links: part I, part II, part III, part IV, part V, part VI, and part VII.Before I settled on $35 as my perfect dollar amount, I also wrote posts about outfits that were $30 or less and $40 or less.
Here, also, are the shortened rules. If you’ve read this series before, you know my rules, and I am therefore sparing you from all that cumbersome text. If you are unfamiliar, feel free to read the full rules: the most recent full-text edition can be found in volume VII.
1.) Any outfit on this blog will be one that I am proud of and would wear in public – it is not here just for the sake of adding up to $35.
2.) All of the clothing items you see here are new to the blog, with two exceptions: shoes and belts.
3.) I will use the same pair of shoes as often as I damn well please.
4.) I will include gifts, but under only two circumstances: jewelry with no price or clothing with a price. Jewelry gifts are not added to the total cost of the outfit, but items of clothing are.
5.) Foundation garments (socks, tights, tank tops) will not be used as part of the outfit total.
6.) The prices on each item are exact, thankyouverymuch.
7.) I will only elaborate upon clothing items that have a story, or that I find particularly interesting/exciting. Less filler text = better for everyone.
8.) I try to include clothing from a smorgasbord of places, but I definitely have my usual stores. This series wouldn’t be possible without them.
And there you have it. Please enjoy the tenth (!!!) edition of ten cheap outfits!
pants – Target – $17.49 (25% off plus $5 gift card from food)
shoes – Modcloth – $16.79 (additional 40% off clearance)
TOTAL: $34.28
Another Country Peddler find for the books. I love the swiss dots and the neckline on this shirt – now, if I could only find a navy blue tank top to match. I tell you, matching navies is TOUGH. These pants are now staples of my closet. This fall, Target had a whole ton of fun utility pants, and I stocked up. They’re thick (which means I can wear them to work and they won’t rip as easily as most pants), comfortable (also a work essential), and have great detailing. These grey pants are merely the first of many.
jeans – AE – $29.97 (40% off)
shoes - DSW - FREE! ($29.99, $20.15 and $10 off)
TOTAL: $29.97
I am a HUGE fan of these big blankety cardigans, especially as the Artic Midwestern weather keeps trying to kill us. I got this sweater way back in August 2016, and I had to wait patiently to wear it until the sub-zero temperatures hit. (Because any real Midwesterner will keep on wearing shorts and sandals until they can’t stand it anymore, as they know they’ll be stuck in sweaters and wool socks for at least five months.) American Eagle jeans have been SO GREAT lately – they have more or less done away with the low-rise style that was the bane of anyone larger than a size zero. These are also jeggings, which sound ridiculous, but it mostly means they just have more Spandex. Nothing wrong with that.
short – Maurices – $8.20 (20% off + $15 in coupons)
shorts – AE – $13.98 (clearance + 30% off)
sandals – Target – $11.50 (buy one get one 50% off)
necklace – made by James
TOTAL: $33.68
SO MANY of my clothes come from Maurices – not just because I like their designs (because I do), but because there are always deals to be had. I don’t think I have ever, in all my years of shopping at Maurices, paid full price for an item of clothing. (I did pay full price for a feather pen there once, but that’s a story for another time.) My necklace is one that James made for me out of antique watch parts. Is that not AMAZING? He is one hell of a talented guy.
dress – Filly Flair – $33
shoes – Modcloth – FREE! (came with weird heel, couldn’t exchange, full credit)
belt – Country Peddler – FREE! (was $5, used credit)
hair clip – Michaels – FREE! (buy one, get one free)
TOTAL: $33.00
This dress? Like wearing pajamas. It is so soft and comfy, and the length is just right. (If you’ve been paying attention over the last nine cheap clothing blogs, you know how challenging it is for me to find a dress long enough and at a reasonable price.) The only thing it’s missing are pockets, but I guess I can’t have everything. The gold hair clip came from Michael’s – they were having a buy one get one free hair accessory sale, so of course, I had to jump on that. This was the free one as it was cheaper – the one I had to pay for is a gold leaf headband, which I’m sure will pop up later on. Very Grecian-chic. Because that’s a thing.
shirt – Country Peddler – FREE! (was $10, used credit)
pants – Target – $17.49 (25% off plus $5 gift card from food)
shoes – Target – $12.50 (buy one get one 50% off)
necklace – Michaels/rock store in Spearfish – about $4 for supplies
TOTAL: $33.99
As promised, here is another pair of Target pants. I have worn these the most out of all of them, as this olive/army green is my favorite neutral. The necklace is one I made – it’s amazing what you can make if you’re willing to spend every spare minute/dime at Michael’s and hunting down jewelry supplies on Etsy. I wasn’t always very big on gold jewelry, but I have definitely changed my tune. I am obsessed with rosary chains and geodes, and I have to say, I’m pretty thrilled with how this necklace turned out. Full disclosure: it is pretty difficult to estimate how much it actually cost to make this item, as the chain came from a huge spool, and the rosary chain came from a 30-inch length. So forgive me if I’m not exact, but what do you do?
dress – Mason Jar Boutique – $29
belt - Modcloth - FREE! (came with dress)
shoes - DSW - FREE! ($29.99, $20.15 and $10 off)
necklace – Etsy – about $6 for supplies, and souvenir rock
TOTAL: $35
The Mason Jar Boutique is this teeny store in downtown Dell Rapids, and I’ve only actually been there once. I ordered this dress online, and it’s risky, as their return policy is store credit only. But this is a long-sleeved dress with POCKETS, so, you know. I made this necklace out of pyrite rosary chain that I ordered from Etsy and a super old hunk of pyrite that I bought a thousand years ago at a souvenir store in the Black Hills. (And by “a thousand years ago,” I mean about twenty.) I really like how it turned out, even though I had to coat the back of it in hot glue to keep the wire wrapped around the (somewhat heavy) pyrite. As long as you don’t look at the back, then, all is well.
shirt - Forever21 - $10.99
jeans – AE – $22.46 ($15 coupon)
shoes – Modcloth – FREE! (came with weird heel, couldn’t exchange, full credit)
earrings – Helzberg – FREE!
TOTAL: $33.45
I typically don’t use the word “blouse,” but I would say that this is a blouse. It’s made of chiffon-y material and is work appropriate… that is, if you work somewhere where you’re not in constant danger of snagging your clothing on library books and other miscellany. It’s got a decorative zipper, which, as you know, is one of my favorite things. The pearl earrings were a freebie from Helzberg, and I wear them all the time. You can’t ever go wrong with pearls.
shirt – ShopKo – $3.99 (gift from Mom)
shorts – Country Peddler – FREE! (was $15, used credit)
sandals - Target - $19.99
necklace – Spearfish rock shop/Etsy/Michaels – about $6 for supplies
TOTAL: $29.98
My shirt was a gift from my mom: a world-class bargain shopper if there ever was one. She found this for $3.99 – BRAND NEW. My shorts came from Country Peddler way before it was shorts season, but when you find a pair of shorts with sea creatures all over them, YOU BUY THEM. My necklace is one that I made out of a geode that I bought in a Spearfish rock shop when we were there over my birthday. I had every intent of putting it on sale in my Etsy shop… but I liked it so much that I ended up keeping it. It happens.
cardigan – Amazon – $13.77 (5% discount)
skirt – Modcloth – $20.99 (clearance and 30% off)
shoes - DSW - FREE! ($29.99, $20.15 and $10 off)
TOTAL: $34.76
These cardigans were all over in local boutiques last fall. I loved them (look at the buttons!), but I did NOT love the price tag. They tended to be in the neighborhood of $30, which is more than I want to pay for a basic cardigan. Enter: Amazon. I found the exact same cardigan for waaaaaay cheaper, AND I got a 5% discount for using my Prime card. The skirt came from one of Modcloth’s rare but amazing super clearance sales, in which you can get all the super expensive stuff you’ve been eyeing for a fraction of the price.
shirt – Maurices – $4.50 (25% off + $15 in coupons)
pants – Target – $22.49 (25% off)
shoes - DSW - FREE! ($29.99, $20.15 and $10 off)
necklace – Michaels – about $3 for supplies used
TOTAL: $29.99
This is the third and final pair of Target pants featured in this blog. These pants have just been SUPER for work, and I hope Target makes a zillion more. The necklace is one more made by me – I’ve found that in these turbulent political times (and during cold dark winter days), making jewelry is a great stress-reliever. This is another piece of Lake Poinsett sea glass, which is my favorite material. Keeping Lake Poinsett close is essential during winter – it reminds me of good summer things to come.
Well. We have reached the end of the tenth – TENTH – cheap outfit post. That means that I have put together ONE HUNDRED cheap outfits since I started this series way back in 2013. Thanks for sticking with me through four years, one hundred outfits, and all sorts of crazy stories in between.
Stick around for the next one hundred.
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