5.20.2011

Frugal Fancy-pants #1

In lieu of the preceding statement about the frequent short-circuits between shotsnaps images and Real Life, I offer the following indulgent exercise, which I may make a regular feature of shotsnaps. By "regular," I of course mean "as regular as anything on a highly irregular blog can be."

-I was and am a tomboy (tom-mom?), whatever that means.
-I also love fashion, perhaps more than I should.
-I buy my clothes at rummage sales.
-I can stuff over 30 articles of clothing in a bag for $2.00, which makes my clothes < ten cents a pop.
-I fool people.
-I usually look fancy when we go to church.
-It takes me five minutes to get ready for church.
-I fool people.
-I take a shower about as often as the Elizabethans did.
-I fool people.
-I wear the same grubby clothes until they NEED to be washed.
[I change the necessary articles daily. (Please tell me you don't need this explained.)]
-No one sees me wearing the green bathrobe at home except for various branches of the Johnson family.
-I fool people.
-I may showcase the green bathrobe in the future.


This feature will combine the garbled truth of all above statements, while ensuring that I look fancy at least once a week.

Behold, the Frugal Fancy-pants!

Exhibit A
Suggestion: Wear this outfit while taking your children to a mini-opera about goats.





-Shoes: 67 cents
-Dress: gift from a friend at church (origin- Salvation Army)
-Red belt: rummage sale
-Hoodie: Debbie finally broke down and tossed it my way after I gave her one too many compliments (origin- rummage sale)
-Cookie-with-a-bite-missing necklace: A piece from my childhood that first belonged to my sister Becky. To my delight, she outgrew it and passed it along to me when she reached maturity. I've worn it since that point and have never outgrown it (likely because I have not yet reached maturity). It probably came from a rummage sale originally.
-Raggy bag: rummage sale
Total cost of outfit: @ 75 cents

Optional accessory: chicken mess on your heels- FREE

Exhibit B
Suggestion: Wear this outfit at home until barnacles attach themselves to it.


Boots, plastic bucket, sweatshirt: free or gifts
Jeans: rummage sale
Total cost of outfit: @ ten cents


Optional accessories:

1. Jack Red the rooster


2. Pizza sauce you made the night before (Time for this one to hit the wash...)

9 comments :

Laura said...

I adore this post!!!!

alltheposts said...

All-time favorite post!! I have the bird sweatshirt that reverses to grey too! Thrift store bag sale!!!

Anonymous said...

Youn are a hoot! just get a damp cloth & wipe it off! lol
~Mary~

Liana said...

i love all your outfits!

Abigail said...

Yeah! I was hoping somebody would like this post so that I'd have an excuse to do more. Millie and I kept giggling over them, and Mil was especially pleased that she included Jack Red in the last shot. (She's got a sharp sense of comic aesthetic, no?)

Torie,
No way! That's pretty cool.

I think mine came in a bag of hand-me-downs from either my niece or my mom-in-law's boss's daughter. (To be clear, my sister-in-law sends her daughter's clothes up for me to save for Millie and to pass out to MY nieces. Sometimes, however, I snitch something for myself. Sorry, Anna!)

Rebecca said...

You sure can fool people~ one would never ever in a million years every even think you wore secondhand, let alone things that cost mere pennies.

You knock my socks off every Sunday in your great outfits (and shoes!). I wonder if that sounds weird? Oh well. You know what I mean. You also know most often weird is what comes out of this mouth-you get it.

:-)

Abigail said...

We should form a sisterhood of Frugal Fancy-Pants! If I wasn't so lazy, I'd start a link-up.

Yup, I get it. I speak that same speak! :)

Farmgirl said...

I love this post! I relate--- after baby bellies, I gave up expensive clothing, and so have spent the better part of 3 summers wearing the same 3 skirts ... to the barn..... around the house..... in the fields..... scrubbing, mucking, etc..... because they 1)allowed my belly/hips/body to fit as needed (push them up or down) and 2) cost only $5. Oh, but do I look fancy in my barn-skirt. ;)

Abigail said...

Three cheers for fellow frugal fancy-pants! I think it's funny that you talk of baby bellies, because even with the blessed gift of healing and renewed health, God gave you the long, lean, structure that doesn't seem to change much with babies. You probably notice a difference, but I sure can't! You are stunning in those barn skirts! :)