Ballerina-Inspired with The Thrifty Six

It’s time for another Thrifty Six collab, where five other bloggers and I showcase our secondhand fashion finds. This month’s theme was “ballerina-inspired”, and I have to admit that I struggled to interpret that at first! Since I hardly have any pink in my closet, I decided to style this yellow secondhand dress because the flowy vibes seemed loosely reminiscent of a ballet dancer. Did I absolutely crush this theme? No. But I still love this dress and how the outfit turned out!

If you can believe it, I thrifted this dress for $1—it’s originally a BCBG Max Azria dress that retailed for over $200. The catch was that the dress is definitely too small for me. The boobs hardly fit—I’ve decided I could never wear this to a wedding because I would almost certainly flash someone while dancing—and the zipper just barely closes around my ribcage in the back. But I figured, what the hell, it’s only $1!

When I think of ballerinas, I think of elegance, graceful movements, tutus, the color pink, etc. This dress is neither pink nor tulle, but it flows gently and has feminine details, such as pleats and bows in the back, that made it the most ballerina-esque item in my closet.

Fun fact, I actually have a history of screwing up ballet recitals. I tried ballet for a few years when I was very young, like lots of girls do, before deciding I wanted to play soccer instead. But later, in grade school, I won a scholarship for some ballet classes at the local dance school. I was born a natural dancer—so much so that I couldn’t keep track of the music and started my plies four counts early in the one and only dance recital for the class. So embarrassing to accidentally start the entire routine before everybody else… There was no recovery from that. Then, a few years later, I was a guest dancer in Boise’s opening night of the Nutcracker. It wasn’t just parents watching this time, people actually paid money to see this performance! I had one job and one job only—to stand up from the couch in the opening scene when the head ballerina made eye contact with me. But no, yet again, I decided to eagerly jump up from the couch before I was supposed to… I had to awkwardly sit down and then stand back up a few counts later, so there was no casual way to pretend like that was the plan all along. Clearly, I was born for the stage.

Now that I covered my exceptional ballet history, let’s get back to the outfit. I have to be honest and say I have not yet worn this dress out in the wild. I thrifted it in December 2019, right before Covid, but of course then all the fancy events were cancelled. I think I will finally break this bad-boy out while going out to a nicer dinner with friends this summer! Like I said, I can’t dance in this dress, so dinner seems like an appropriate place to wear it… as long as I don’t bend over (the halter style and too-small cups create an interesting puckering that might reveal a *little* too much at certain angles).

I decided to pair the dress with the nude heels I wore to my brother’s wedding and my lavender floral Kate Spade purse, which has been on repeat lately. This outfit felt very feminine and flowy, and that was about as ‘ballerina’ as I could get. More than a ballet dancer, this dress gives me Marilyn Monroe vibes. Can’t you just imagine me flirtatiously covering my skirt while standing over a windy grate?

I know I’m a few days late in posting this, but be sure to check out the other bloggers’ ballerina-inspired outfits at the links below. I especially love Emma’s look this month!

Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge:

“Nancy really pushed me on this one! I have never considered myself anything close to a ballerina type girl! So I went thrift shopping and found this beautiful new with tags White House Black Market pleated chiffon maxi skirt in the most ballerina color ever for just $6.99. I paired it with a preloved Ralph Lauren sparkly tank top that I have had for a few years. Everything else I am wearing was purchased at retail but none of it is new. It turns out I am more of a ballerina type girl than I ever imagined!”

Lucy of Lucy Bertoldi:

“From ballet in my past, to a world of fashion today, I can totally see and understand the link. We are exactly where we are supposed to be. And today it’s ballet for this collab! These days I may not own much that’s ballet related… except for ballerina shoes, which we all own a pair, I’m sure. But then I remembered this sweatshirt that I found in Florida! Just a top with a splashed-on sketch of a lanky girl in tulle, just trudging along… kinda reminds me of someone who journeyed through dance, fell in love with art, to then totally embrace fashion of course!”

Nancy of Nancy’s Fashion Style:

“I was looking for ballerina shoes actually when I thought, hey I have the cutest ballerina dress! That’s a lovely idea for The Thrifty Six. And I didn’t buy ballerina shoes by the way. This lovely dress is so cute. It’s a lovely shade of green printed all over with ballerinas. Bought it at Vinted and is from the brand I used to work for. So quality and sizing guaranteed good. Now I interpret the theme with a dress. Let’s take a look at my lovely friends to see how they did with the theme!”

Jane of Preloved-Vintage-Handmade:

“Being a ballerina for mummy… When I was five my mum took me to ballet class so I could learn poise and elegance like a little girl should… but she soon realised I was the kind of girl who wanted to jump in muddy puddles and climb trees with the boys! This month the Thrifty Six styling theme is ‘Ballerina’ so here I am, all these years later, being a ballerina for mummy… I think it’s about as close as I will ever get – lol.”

Emma of Style Splash:

“Nancy’s ballerina theme really had me stumped! I don’t own a tulle skirt, which would have been my preference, so instead I chose this pink flared satin midi skirt that cost £5 in a charity shop. I teamed it with my one shoulder corsage top and feathery bag that I bought on eBay ages ago. I won’t be doing any pirouettes or jetés, but I do feel elegant!”

. . . . .

I hope you’re having a great week so far! I’d love to hear your thoughts on the color yellow in the comments. I know some girls vehemently hate it, but there are certain shades of the color that I absolutely love! This pastel yellow is perfect for the springtime, for example.

Miles of smiles,
Grace

Yellow Dress: Thrifted, $1 ($1 per wear), last worn here | Nude Heels: Amazon, $46 ($15.33 per wear), last worn here | Lavender Floral Purse: Kate Spade New York, $100 ($12.50 per wear), last worn here