December has flown by in a mix of telework, a few days in office, and fun holiday events. My office style was a mix of comfortable, warm and a little bit of velvet + sparkles. Since joining my new company with much more of my job being remote, I’m feeling on the cusp of a bit of a style change… so I’m curious to see where it evolves in 2025.
Here are my December 2024 work looks:
As for my non-work looks, it’s been a mix of sparkles and getting bundled up!
I wore this pretty sparkly polka dot dress and rhinestone covered cardigan to the Baltimore Symphony orchestra with a friend. Fleece-lined tights and knee-high boots kept me warm underneath for the chilly walk from the parking garage to the venue.
For outdoor events, I’ve been depending on my fluffy puff hat, from a Trunk Club purchase that I made years ago. That leopard print coat has also been in heavy rotation for years and years after being thrifted!
New vs Secondhand Tally
This month, I count 4 items that I purchased retail and 14 items I purchased secondhand!
As the year winds down, I like to take the opportunity to look back at my thrifting purchases. While I still make a thrifting mistake here and there, thrifting is a pretty low stakes (and low cost) way to determine if something is going to work for you, your closet, or your home. So let’s take a look at my thrifting winners and losers for 2024!
My Favorite Thrifted Home Items for 2024:
DRU Holland Dutch Oven, $6.99 – January 2024
Handmade Pottery Tray, $6.49 – April 2024
Starbucks ceramic mug, $3.99 – June 2024
Pampered Chef Bar Pan, $5.99 – July 2024
MCM Bamboo bowl, $12 – August 2024
Rifle Paper Co x Corkcicle travel mugs, $18 each – August 2024
My winning home items from 2024 were a mix of super useful and super adorable. The Starbucks mug, Pampered Chef bar pan and Corkcicle travel mugs have been used heavily since I purchased them — ranging from every day to a couple times a week. The handmade pottery tray and the bamboo bowl are also super useful, holding stuff in my den. The DRU Holland Dutch Oven is more of a ‘makes my heart sing’ sort of item, that I just love!
My Favorite Thrifted Clothing Items for 2024:
Laura Ashley skirt, $7 – February 2024
L.L. Bean 100% Cotton cardigan, $3 – February 2024
Vintage skirt, $8.29 – April 2024
Madewell Walker Chelsea suede ankle boots, $5.99 – May 2024
Coach Dakota purse, $29 – June 2024
Sorel sandals, $20 – August 2024
Target Pleated Running Skort, $5.99 – September 2024
Lands End Squall Waterproof Parka, $17.99 – December 2024
These are my absolute favorite clothing thrifted scores over the last year! The Laura Ashley skirt and Vintage skirt have both become my absolute favorites in my closet. The L.L. Been cardigan and Lands End parka (a recent addition) are more ‘sleeper winners’ in that they are super useful and keep me nice and warm. The shoe winners of the year – the Madewell suede ankle boots and the Sorel sandals are both comfortable and cute, and have gotten lots of wear. The Target skort is super cute and will go into heavy rotation once the weather warms back up. Lastly, that Coach purse. SWOON! It gave me the opportunity to try out my rehab skills and it’s oh so gorgeous and timeless!
And here were some of my 2024 mistakes that I will learn from:
Athleta Arrival skirt, $13.49 – January 2024
Kate Spade Viva Colores Sidney Skirt, $11.29 – June 2024
Anthropologie Skirt, $5.29 – June 2024
Halara workout dress, $12.99 – July 2024
Made in France bowl set, $9– October 2024
Johnny Was dress, $9 – October 2024
For the three skirts and two dresses, I have the same issue… I need to TRY ITEMS ON. However, with all the dressing rooms closed, I take a gamble. While I can get back to my local thrift store within a week to make returns, when I thrift further from my house I can’t always get back out before the return window closes. So, to learn from my mistakes: I will be more selective when thrifting if I don’t know if an item will fit. And if possible, make sure to make those returns in time!
My mistake with the bowl is that I totally overlooked two huge cracks (they were covered by tape). Sigh. Lesson learned!
Moving into 2025, some wins that I’ve learned from is to ALWAYS do the vacation thrifting! Some of my favorite items of the year were purchased on our travels and in addition to being great items, they also have some fun memories built in. As for lessons to learn, I need to be more selective with items that may not fit and make returns when possible.
I can’t wait to see what kind of treasures we find in 2025!
I’ll be doing a 2024 thrifting wrap up post soon, but before we start winding down the year I need to share one last thrifting trip with you!
I only had one thrift store visit this month, but I’m super pleased with my two items:
Lands End Squall Waterproof Parka and bonus REI gloves, $17.99
I totally manifested this purchase and I’m so, so happy with it! The day before I went thrifting I was outside for an evening event and thought that I could really use a heavier winter coat that is long enough to keep my bum warm. Well, I found this coat the very next day!
It’s the Lands End Squall Waterproof Parka in Deep Sea Navy and it retails for $199. This particular coat is from Winter 2022 (you can tell by the inside tag), it is in fantastic condition and even has adjustable elastic in the waist so you can give it a little shape if you want. It’s the size I would have preferred, a color I enjoy and the exact cut that I was hoping for.
Even better, when I came home and threw it in the wash, I found that it came with a pair of bonus REI gloves in the pocket, which retail for $40. So that’s $240 of coat and glove goodness for just $17.99! Yay for secondhand. And now I’m planning to donate my previous winter coat (that was too short and too constricting on me when wearing a sweater) to a local nonprofit’s coat drive.
Kenneth Cole Reaction skirt, $6.99
I’m a skirt girl, so when I saw this circle skirt in a substantial material I went in for a closer look. It’s super flowy with pockets and I enjoy the grey/beige + white + black pattern. The waistline is a little bit big for me, so I stuck a belt on it to wear it to work last week.
I may take the time to figure out a new waistband situation on my sewing machine at some point… or I may just keep topping it with a belt so it can be adjustable based on my holiday eating!
