In My Shoes: My Eleven Dollar Easter Dress

Thursday, March 31, 2016

My Eleven Dollar Easter Dress

Every time I step into Goodwill or the Salvation Army I am greeted with popular Christian music. I think both stores subscribe to “The Fish” radio station- another perk of thrifting! While many people think that thrift stores only carry used items, I find things with the prices still attached all the time- like my Easter day dress. This is the Gap bandana, chambray, drop-waist dress covered in a groovy paisley pattern. My dress came with the original 70 dollar price tag still attached and I paid 11 bucks for it brand new! I live in Orange County and based on my thrift finds I have to say that my region is a highly disposable territory. While there are more pressing issues than our environment – I still think that as good stewards we are called to address all problems - trivial as they might be. While I profit from the overconsumption ways of my county, it still saddens me to see what we have become. People who are addicted to shopping, people who follow trends and easily dispose of things without further thought to the problems our greedy actions create, people who use material things to cope with deeper issues… I am guilty of this too because even though I thrift, I still find myself shopping second hand often. I have this cycle of thrifting and donating. After acknowledging that I too am a huge consumer, I’ve decided that I will only buy things that are top quality and will last me a really long time. My goal is to create a classic wardrobe with pieces that will last years and will help me diminish my consumeristic ways. I been updating my room and I am shocked by all the stuff that I am finding- I am a packrat and for someone who loves Franciscan spirituality this is unacceptable. True change happens slowly, so while I continue to redo my room I am learning a great deal about changes that I need to make. Change is good when it promotes growth. Recently I have learned that just because an item is a great deal it doesn’t translate into a good purchase if it doesn’t have a long lifeline. Also, I am learning to become a selective thrifter and that’s a good lesson to begin with... In the meantime I love this dress it's so comfortable and cute. Looking forward to getting many wears out of it this summer.