Metallics with The Thrifty Six

When Emma announced metallics for this month’s Thrifty Six theme, I immediately thought of this ombre velour dress. I thrifted it at my favorite secondhand store in Las Vegas, Alt Rebel, a few years ago. While I love shiny things, I don’t have much in the way of shiny clothes, so this almost iridescent dress seemed like the next best thing.

I bought this dress while shopping with one of my best friends. She actually tried it on first, and while it was super cute on her, she decided “she didn’t need any more clothes.” I don’t think I’ve ever said that in my entire life, so of course I snatched the dress up, especially for the $13 price tag.

Admittedly, it’s not a very flattering shape on me. I’ve talked about this on the blog before, but because my hips are the widest part of me, I’ve found that shift silhouettes and waistless items make me look wider than I really am. I knew this when I purchased the dress, but I just couldn’t help myself—I’m so drawn to the fishlike shimmering of it. Sure, I could belt it, but the dress is already on the shorter end as it is and would only get shorter with a belt.

To complete this winter date night look, I layered on a black denim jacket (not thrifted) and sheer tights. Last time I wore this outfit, I paired it with a leather jacket, but I like the more casual vibe of the denim, too. I would have preferred the look without tights, and it was warm enough on this day to go barelegged—but I had just gotten laser hair removal done before I took these pics, so my legs were all red and splotchy!

I also wore my thrifted snakeskin booties (one of my finds while studying abroad in Scotland—Glasgow had some of the best secondhand stores) and a black beaded purse that my parents thrifted for me for my birthday. Not metallic, but sparkly at least. I didn’t realize how much the purse blended into the bottom of my dress before taking these photos, so I would probably carry a different bag next time—I just liked that this one was also secondhand.

My final subtle touch of metallics is the earrings I’m wearing. They belonged to my grandma but I converted them to clip-ons so I could wear them. Just a touch of secondhand shine!

I’m actually not sure I love the metallics trend—I think it can be great in shoes or purses, but I don’t care for it as much in clothing… It’s generally a little too flashy for me. (Side note: What are your thoughts on metallic cowgirl boots? I’m not a fan.) But with that said, I really like how my faux velour metallic look came together, and I think my thrifty friends might just convince me otherwise…

Check out their outfits and blog posts at the links below:

Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge:

“The only preloved garment that I have in metallic is the dress I wore for last month’s Winter Wedding prompt so I had to find something else for this challenge. Fortunately, I had recently picked up this gorgeous wrap in teal and gold for $1 at a local thrift store. When I bought this scarf, I had intended to cut it up to add to a rag curtain but it was just too pretty so I kept it to wear instead. I am so glad that I did because I have been wearing it on repeat! My skirt was thrifted years ago and has a tiny bit of shimmering metallic thread going through it. The turtleneck, which has barely visible pinstripes in silver, was in a bag of clothing donated to me for my rag curtain projects. I ended up keeping a few things for myself from that donation! My copper and turquoise earrings were purchased from a booth specializing in preloved jewelry at a local flea market. I gifted them to myself for Christmas this year. My necklace was handmade by my dear friend Michelle, my gold bag (which is actually a wine cooler) was gifted to me many years ago, and everything else I purchased new at some point. Keep shining bright, my radiant friends!”

Jane of Preloved Vintage Handmade:

“My Metallic Chameleon… Metallics is the T6 theme for January, perfect for me, I have it in spades! I chose this skirt because it’s one of the oddest things in my wardrobe, I call it my Chameleon skirt! You’d be forgiven for thinking it was purple but it’s much more complicated than that… it seems to change colour depending on its surroundings and the intensity of the light… it can appear to be blue, green, black and sometimes even neon pink but it’s always metallic!”

Jodie of Jodie’s Touch of Style:

“I have a ton of metallic items, but this pair of silver jeans caught my fancy when I was thrifting last year. Of course, it didn’t hurt that they were only $1. I wore a column of color with the grey turtleneck and then added this fabulous fuzzy, pink jacket that I found on Poshmark. Even though the metallic jeans are skinnies, I think the combat boots make them more contemporary. You should see the pink ring up close. It’s from Nancy’s giveaway years ago and I love it to death!” 

Emma of  Style Splash:

“I bought this vintage 1950s jacket on eBay ages ago but couldn’t decide how to wear it. When I chose the theme of metallics, I didn’t immediately think of this jacket but it gave me the push to style it. I’ve layered it over a blouse from The Hippie Shake and added a belt I bought in a charity shop. I had a hard time deciding what trousers to wear – not wanting to choose black because that would have been the easy option! So I opted for leopard print instead… it is a neutral after all!”

Nancy of Nancy’s Fashion Style:

“The dress is gold and silver and the material is quite hard to wear and does not provide any warmth at all, hey, but it is beautiful. The jacket has copper and gold wire and was actually in my giveaway bag. Until I saw this photo and thought, no, I’ll keep it for a while! The boots are not pre loved but they are gun metal! So this is an uber metallic outfit!”

. . . . .

What do you think of metallics? Are you a fan or nah? Thanks for stopping by the blog today!

Miles of smiles,

Grace

Velour Dress: Alt Rebel, $13 ($6.50 per wear) | Black Denim Jacket: Topshop via Nordstrom, $55 ($1.83 per wear), last worn here | Snakeskin Booties: Thrifted, $11 ($1.57 per wear), last worn here | Black Beaded Purse: Thrifted, gift