My Go-To ‘Night Out’ Look

Today is another collaboration with the Magnificent 8, a group of bloggers across generations who get together once a quarter to show how style can be ageless. The group was super considerate of the fact that I don’t have much of a wardrobe to choose from here in Scotland, so this quarter’s theme was ‘thrifted’—easy-peasy for me since I do the Thrifty Six collaboration once a month. I was originally going to style the one spring dress I brought with me abroad (which I haven’t worn once, by the way) with these secondhand orange wedges I just bought. But then I realized I don’t have a purse to go with that outfit and didn’t want to post an incomplete look… So I decided to share my go-to going out top instead.

I thrifted this top with my friend last summer. She was planning to visit me in Denver that fall, so we went thrifting for the sole purpose of finding ‘going out’ attire, as both of us are more homebodies than we are partiers. She found a really cute black lace crop top, and I found this completely mesh top. When I first tried it on, we both laughed, and my friend told me I should absolutely not buy it—it was too scandalous. But then I thought about it for a while… and decided I actually really like the top. Plus, it was only $10, so I knew it wouldn’t be the end of the world if I didn’t wear it a ton.

I think my friend still jokingly disapproves of it, but I have been making a conscious effort lately to wear more revealing and ‘young’ clothing items. I’ve always had a more put-together style for my age and grew up dressing rather modestly. I figure now is the time to let loose a little and wear things that are out of my comfort zone!

My friend did end up visiting me in Denver in October, and we had a lot of fun doing our makeup and putting on our ‘scandalous tops’ for a night out at the bars. I’ve now worn this top three additional times, once to go bar hopping with some other friends, once to a party, and once to go clubbing last week. I’ve only worn it with my hair down to places that I knew would be poorly-lit, but I did feel verrry out of place wearing it to the party… To me, ‘party’ meant throwing on something cute and saucy, but all the other girls were just wearing t-shirts. I was way overdressed! Or perhaps, underdressed? Since this shirt is totally see-through, lol.

Either way, it has become my go-to going out top. I have since thrifted a more summery ‘night out’ shirt that I haven’t had a chance to wear yet, but I think I will continue to only buy these types of tops secondhand. It’s not like I have that many reasons to wear clothes like this, so it’s nice to know I didn’t spend a ton on them and that I don’t have to try so hard to decrease my cost per wear. In fact, I have been informed that the dress code for my brother’s fiancé’s bachelorette party is black going out tops (which I don’t have), so I have been keeping my eyes peeled in the thrift stores lately!

In the past, I’ve worn this shirt with black skinny jeans, but I really like the way it looks with grey mom jeans, too. The looser fit of the pants helps to balance out how revealing the top is. Realistically, I wouldn’t wear this purse on a night at the clubs or any kind of bar that involves dancing (I prefer a small cardholder that I can keep in my pocket), but the purse does complete the look for the sake of these photos.

Also, sidenote, I love how my hair looks in these pics—while the purple dye didn’t last very long, I do really like the sort of rose gold/bleached color that it has faded into.

Now, onto the other seven ladies’ thrifted looks for this quarter’s collab. Check out the links below to see what kind of secondhand goods they’re styling today!

Let me introduce the other seven ladies of The Magnificent 8.

Mica of Away from the Blue   //   Roxanne of Glass of Glam   //   Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge   //   Rena of Fine Whatever   //   Eugenia of Age of Grace   //   Lesley of Jodie’s Touch of Style   //   Charlotte of Jodie’s Touch of Style

We are showing that you can’t put a number on style!

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If you like to thrift, what’s your favorite clothing item you’ve bought secondhand? Let me know in the comments! As always, thanks for stopping by the blog today.

Miles of smiles,

Grace

Mesh Top: Thrifted, $10 ($2.50 per wear) | Grey Mom Jeans: Express, $19 ($0.51 per wear), last worn here | Black Knee Boots: Clarks via DSW, $100 ($0.93 per wear), last worn here | Maroon Purse: Nordstrom Rack, $50 ($3.13 per wear), last worn here