Many people think that thrift stores are dark, grungy, smelly and cluttered places, but that’s not entirely true (just look at Front and Company)! There might be a few like that in every town, but for the most part, thrift stores are fairly clean, bright, and well organized. Thrifting can be great fun, and if you’re into vintage stuff, you can find some really cool stuff for cheap. So here I’m sharing a few tips with you on some basics to thrift shopping!

1. BE OPEN MINDED

To me, the most important thing before and after entering a thrift store, is to keep an open mind. You never know what you can find! Don’t be afraid of used, the majority of items that end up on the racks are in perfectly good condition.

2. TAKE YOUR TIME

Look through every rack. Sometimes thrift stores can be a bit overwhelming, but you just might find that perfect blouse buried in piles of stuff you’d never consider buying. Think of it as a journey, be patient.

3. CARRY A BASKET

Get a basket when you enter the store, pile on the maybes’ as you sift through the racks. Decide later if you want to keep them all. A lot of the times when you want to go back to find that sweater you saw 10 minutes ago, it’s long gone.

4. BE CREATIVE

Think alteration, repurpose, and ways to wear it! Look beyond the surface. A long skirt can be cut short for a different look, shoulder pads can be removed,  and scarves can be worn as headbands.

5. GO OFTEN

It’s hit or miss with thrift stores. The good thing is that the inventory changes all the time, so if you don’t find anything this time, try again in a few weeks.

6. GO WITH A FRIEND… OR NOT

I like going to the thrift store with a friend who knows my taste. Two set of eyes are better than one. But I find that I pick out unique items when I visit the stores by myself. I guess if you have been thrifting for awhile and know your stuff, then it’s perfectly fine to tackle it alone.

7. TRY EVERYTHING ON… OR NOT

Unless you know for sure something will look good on you, TRY IT ON. If you know me you know that I hate trying clothes on in the stores (just can’t be bothered). So I made the mistake of not trying things on when I first started shopping at thrift stores and ended up with several items that looked cute on the racks but ridiculous on me!

Ledbetter – Thrift Store Queen

Okay so I think that’s it for now. I will probably write more about thrift store shopping in the future as I really enjoy the experience. I’d like to think that the pieces I find at thrift stores traveled through time and space, to become one-of-a-kind, fated-to-be mine items. How romantic?

Let me know if you found this helpful, and if you have any tips on thrift store shopping I’d love to hear them x

most of you have probably seen this Oliver Peoples campaign with Zooey Deschanel. i still want to share it with those who have not seen it because it is just too adorable =)

Zooey Deschanel is the love of my love. period.

(credits: flickr & polkadot)

– Contest now CLOSED. see HERE for winner announcement! –

This month’s giveaway comes to us courtesy of my good friend J at WITH LOVE JEWELRY, a new Facebook boutique bursting with cute, wearable, and super affordable jewelry and accessories. I know J personally and even helped “designed” the packaging =)

They are testing the water with their ready-made jewelry and hair pieces since the boutique has just launched last week. In the future they will be adding hand-crafted and beautiful vintage pieces at the same affordable prices. I’m totally looking forward to that as you know how much I love one-of-a-kind pieces!

To celebrate the launch of WITH LOVE JEWELRY, the boutique is generously offering one lucky winner a FREE CDN $50 gift certificate (and with that you can get more than 10 pairs of cute earrings!). Contest open to readers WORLDWIDE. For your chance to win, simply do these two things:

1. Visit WITH LOVE JEWELRY & leave a comment below indicating your favorite item
2.  Like WITH LOVE JEWELRY on FACEBOOK

For up to 3 additional entries & opportunities to win:

+1 Like WHAT ANNIE WEARS on FACEBOOK & leave one additional comment
+1 TWEET about the giveaway (include @whatanniewears in your tweet) & leave one additional comment
+1 Blog about this giveaway (with a link to this post) & leave one additional comment (include link to your blog post)

Contest closes on Sunday, Feb 13 at 10:00 p.m. PST. The randomly selected winner will be announced before Feb 16 but will NOT be notified by e-mail or contacted privately so please check back to see the result. The winner will have 3 days to contact me to claim the prize. Good luck, and thanks for entering!

(pictures courtesy of With Love Jewelry)

No purchase necessary. One winner will be selected from among qualifying entries at random. The prize is given out of generosity from WITH LOVE JEWELRY. No compensation is being made to me.

This giveaway is featured on Free!grechen