Anthro Inspired Thrift Haul

Most of the fun in shopping at the thrift store is the thrill of finding “treasures”.  It can add to the thrill if you shop with a theme in mind or create a challenge for yourself.  For this thrift haul I challenged myself to find things that were inspired by items that can be found in high end stores like Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters.

The first thing to do is to gather information and ideas about what to look for. Go on line or to your favorite store an take note of what catches your eye. Usually there are some basic trends that store buyers follow. I started a pinterest board and loaded up images of the things I was going to look for. I noticed lots of velvet, metallics, the color turquoise, pompoms, and even some vintage looking things. Once you have an idea of what to scope out it’s time to shop!

It was easy pickins with the Holiday decorations.  Vintage ornaments were $3.50 a box or $.25 to .75 each.  The christmas balls are easily transformed to resemble the tinsel ornaments at anthropologie (example). (DIY for these here.)

I found some irredescent garland and cupcake ornaments that reminded me of this garland and these ornaments at Urban Outfitters.  The white vintage 80’s ornaments were just too fun to pass up. That mangled blue pipe cleaner star will get straightened out and added to a gift package.

It’s great to have some sparkle to wear to those holiday parties so be on the lookout for sequins. Velvet is so on trend right now – so that pink velvet purse was a steal for $4.  The sequined tank is perfect under a tailored jacket.  Look for items that have sparkle or added details like the crystal beading on the black blouse, seed beading on the cream sweater, sparkly shell necklace or the pink fur pompoms on the cashmere scarf.

The gray hat and rhinestone pin go together to create a knock off version of this anthro hat… at way less money!

Don’t forget the housewares – Anthropologie always has handstitched dish towels, mercury glass candle holders and candles, but why pay $14.00 for a dish towel when you can find all these items for a couple of bucks.

Here are some of the regular clothing items I got.  They all have some quality that was Anthro inspired, whether it was the crochet top, velvet shirt, gray button down sweater or the lace over top.  The trick is not to look for the exact thing you see at the high end store but look for something that reminds you of it – something that makes it unique and special.

The gray top will be used in a DIY coming up later and the other three tops above just fit my style.

I hope this inpires you to find some treasures while spending less, recycling and supporting local charities.