You Paid How much?

So I’m starting a new segment of my blog about …. Fashion! I know, me, writing blogs about Fashion. But this is all about cheap fashion, so that might make more sense to those who know me. I love a bargain and a sale. I am my mother’s daughter that way. And I love to save money.

We’ve all seen those magazine pages where a famous person’s attire is broken down by price, or they compare the expensive to the cheap. When I look at those, the first thing I think of is “how can you spend several hundred dollars on a shirt?” and then the cheap section shows it for under a hundred. In my mind – not better. Show me something for under 10, and I’ll consider it. Let me fill a garbage bag full of clothes for 15, and I’m good. Because that’s what we’re talking about here – really and truly cheap clothes that look great.

My first segment is dedicated to Dresses. Here are some of my favourite dresses that I got for favourite prices :) 

$3.50 Salvation Army. This brown t-shirt waist dress is one of my favourite Sally Ann finds. It has a wrap around belt and fits my body type perfectly. I also get compliments when I wear it. 

50 cents, St. Margaret's Bay Thrift Store. This is my favourite place to shop. They have lots of clothes, all the money goes directly to the food bank to support local people in need, and the clothes are nice and very affordable. Plus they have everything you could ever need besides clothes! Expect many more clothes from this store, all under a dollar.

$3.50 Salvation Army. Another great Sally Ann find. This is cute, light, and I can't wait to wear it this summer.



 $15 Crimson Clover Boutique. This is a really nice designer consignment shop in downtown Halifax. Every year after Christmas they have a 50% off sale, which is when I got this dress. I love it and get lots of compliments whenever I wear it.


  

New Life vs. New Year Resolution

At the start of each year, many people take up a “New Year’s Resolution” with the hope that this year will be a year of positive change. They will exercise more, eat better, spend less time at work and more with family, write that major project, and so on. You know them all! You’ve seen them at the gym for the first two months of the New Year, and then they slowly trail away. While these resolutions are made with sincere dedicate, it does not take long before they are eroded or forgotten.

So why do so many people fall off the wagon so soon, and so easily?

For those living in Nova Scotia, or a climate-similar part of the world, January is bloody bleak. That New Year’s Eve Party may be full of colour and fun, but on the next day, snow still covers everything and it’s still cold. Those who make the resolution to “get in shape” are going to find it difficult to gather the motivation to make it to the gym or outside for a run when the sidewalks are impassable, it’s freezing, and probably snowing out. It’s too cold today is a valid and easy excuse.

Those who plan to start a major project often forget how busy January is. People often check out mentally over the holidays. They rush to get their to-do list done by the Christmas break, making it someone else’s list in early January. When we return to work, there is usually a lot awaiting us that takes most of our time, and our project falls to our back burner once again.

Christmas usually taps most people financially, leaving little to no budget for starting a new way of life. And most people don’t get a whole lot of time to relax during the break (aka hockey parents) and begin a new year feeling drained.

Clearly, January is not a good time to be making a serious resolution for a new way of life? So when is?

A time of year when people feel energized by the new life budding around them. Spring. Let’s have a “New Life Resolution” instead of a “New Year Resolution.” New Year = bleak, busy, cold, poor = lack of motivation. New Life = excitement, colour, warmth inside and out, and a bit more money. Spring is the perfect time to start a new way of life.

There is nothing to keep people from getting outside and making it to the gym, or going for a run. There is a magic energy that comes with the spring when the world shakes off the gloom of winter and new life sprouts all around. People should harness that energy and focus it on the resolutions they want to bring forth.

Let’s avoid the twinge of guilt we feel every December 31 because we promised this would be the year, and nothing came to fruit. Have a New Life Resolution when new life is blooming all around. Combine this importance sense of self with nature, and those resolutions will be much more successful.