Florals with The Thrifty Six

Nothing reminds me how fast time is flying like our monthly Thrifty Six collaboration posts! It seems like just yesterday I posed in the snow and 20-degree weather to photograph this pretty magenta dress. While last month’s theme was ‘Stepping Back in Time‘, the theme for May is simply ‘florals’. I know, I know… Florals? For spring? Groundbreaking.

I’m sure I probably have something thrifted and floral back home in my closet, but since I’m still away at college, I had to venture out to find something new for this month’s post… Woe is me. I haven’t really done any thrifting here in Denver, so I typed into Google “best thrift stores in Denver” and sifted through the responses. I stumbled across a consignment store called Rags Consignment and decided to give it a try. I have to admit, I was kind of dreading this outing. In usual Grace fashion, I procrastinated and then was feeling very stressed that I wouldn’t find a good floral piece for today’s post, which was putting a damper on my shopping trip (oh, and I only had less than an hour to find something, so I guess the time crunch was making me anxious, too). I figured I must find something good at Rags Consignment, though, since my blog is Graceful Rags! It felt meant to be.

The store turned out to be super cute, and since it’s in the rich bougie part of town, a lot of the pieces were quite nice, too. Considering that I was on a mission, I walked in the front doors and basically picked up every floral item I could find to try on. Thankfully, near the back of the store, I stumbled across this beautiful and flirty romper. I saved it to try on last because it was the piece I was most excited for—does anyone else do that? When I first slipped my legs through, I thought for sure it felt too big. But as I started to close the zipper in the back, I realized it fit me perfectly! Isn’t that the best feeling to have a zipper close just right?!

The romper is by a brand I’ve never heard of before—Ali and Jay—which seems to have gone out of business. I paid $34 for this piece, and while that is more than I would usually pay for something secondhand, the romper is in perfect condition (and I absolutely love it!). Plus, it’s from a consignment store from a swanky part of town, so I wasn’t surprised by some of the higher prices.

It’s funny because I was initially a little apprehensive about getting this piece. I have never cared about being tan, but for some reason, trying this romper on in the dressing room made me think I would need to be tanner to pull it off. Usually I try to steer clear from blush and lighter tones like this romper because of my fare complexion. As much as I love the color blush, I know it looks horrible on me, so I was worried this off-white romper would have the same effect. However, I always think it’s so silly when girls say stuff like, “I can’t wear shorts yet, I’m not tan enough,” so I figured I better buy the romper anyway. I’m so glad I did! Would it look better with a tan? Probably. But I don’t really think it washes me out at all and I love the color for spring nonetheless.

Even though the romper is secondhand, it feels so trendy and in line for what’s in style right now. The cutout in the front, the fluttery sleeves… I wore my favorite sticky bra from Target underneath this piece, which I highly recommend for all your strappy spring/summer tops and dresses. I was really excited to pair the romper with my yellow sandals to match the yellow flowers in the print. And to top it off? My favorite lip color trick—I dab just a little bit of red lipstick around my lips, rub it in, and then finish with a red gloss on top. That way your lips have a nice red tint without being an overpowering and super bold shade. The best purse I had to style with this look was this blush bow clutch, but I could imagine pairing the romper with something a little more colorful in the future. I was so excited to wear this outfit out to happy hour with my friend the other night (you can see a pic in this post). However, I also think this romper would be perfect for brunch, a graduation, touring a winery… I just love imagining different places to wear outfits!

I feel like I could still keep talking about how cute this romper is, but I’ll hand it over to my five blogger friends now. Check out how they’re styling thrifted florals below, and be sure to click on all the links to read their full blog posts!

Emma of Style Splash: “My favourite floral prints are vintage 70s styles in warm hues of brown, orange and yellow. This dress – which I found on eBay – definitely fits the bill with its gorgeous floral pattern. I’ve completed the outfit with a preloved orange bag and tan belt…now I just need a garden party to go to!”

Jane of Preloved-Vintage-Handmade: “Florals on the edge of danger!… Florals are pretty, florals are romantic, feminine and soft. Florals are gentle, delicate, sweet and joyful… Uh-Oh – Reeewind! This is florals on the edge of danger! In nature yellow and black warns of hazard; just look at creatures with a deadly sting or bite! In human society, black leather and studs are badass! Culturally associated with bikers, punks, deviants and mavericks. Bring this all together and you get edgy, belligerent and powerful – Sometimes I like to take an idea and just shake it up a bit!”

Lucy of Lucy Bertoldi: “I’ve named this flowery dress/ jacket, a Dracket lol! I thrifted this one years ago, new tags and all – plus – it’s pure silk! Thought I’d pair it with these outrageous floral pants for a great hodgepodge look. The prints are totally different and yet they match due to common colours: Matching prints 101! It works perfectly here, don’t you think?! “

Nancy of Nancy’s Fashion Style: “These skirts are two different ones! You might think, well they look alike to me. They do! But the one on the left was a new one, bought somewhere in 2013/2014. I wore it so often, it was such a great skirt. But after a few years it was worn and washed out and I had to throw it away. The one on the right I bought pre loved in 2019! I was so happy to find it again! And I am wearing the same jacket on both photos! The jacket is from the time when I was still working, I stopped in 2012. This skirt is so versatile, I love to wear it with heels, sneakers, slippers! It’s super stretchy and so easy to wear! What a fab skirt!”

Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge: “I found this beautiful floral dress at the consignment shop when I worked there a few years ago. I love the color and the tiny print and the shirt dress style, but when I brought it home, it just didn’t fit quite right. Fast forward to now and I have lost a bit of weight making the fit much better for this dress. But when I styled it as a dress, It was cute but really kind of boring and so I opted to wear it as a jacket instead over my mostly thrifted outfit. Won’t you please stop by my blog for more details on these fun preloved pieces!”

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Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I hope you have a great start to your week. I’m off to take a midterm!

Miles of smiles,

Grace

Floral Romper: Rags Consignment, $34 | Yellow Sandals: Sole Society via DSW, $20 | Blush Purse: Target, gift, last worn here