Hello Fall! This time of year is one of my favorites. I just love the season of beautiful changing colored leaves, sunshine, crisp air, apple picking, cider donuts and pumpkin spice! It also means it's time for fall fashion and boots, coats and sweater weather. Bring on the layers!

Over the weekend, I visited my favorite local thrift store, Value Village™, to update my fall wardrobe with some budget friendly finds. Value Village has a few different brands, so depending on where you live, you might also know them as Savers® or Unique® Thrift. All are fabulous for scoring some thrift treasures!

Since high school, I have been thrifting at Value Village for their great value and selection. From Abercrombie pants in high school to Patagonia fleeces in college to vintage in my 20's, Value Village has always been my go-to place to shop for unique, fashionable, high quality, customizable and budget friendly clothing at a price point my bank account doesn't cry over. This season, Value Village is my go-to for fall fashion trends!

With over 100,000 items on the sales floor and thousands of quality items arriving daily, I can pretty much guarantee I'll score some great deals from their amazing selection. Seriously, there are incredible deals, unique finds and treasures at every turn!

Want to score some of your own fall fashion finds from Value Village?! I am so excited to offer you the chance to win a $50 gift card to Savers Value Village to go shopping for some your own fall fashion treasures (all the details and enter to win at the end of this post!)

Curate a Sustainable Closet and Save Money with Summer Thrifting

Thank you Value Village for graciously coordinating a shopping excursion to my local Value Village for some Summer thrifting! Items gifted and sent for editorial consideration are marked c/o. Affiliate links are occasionally used throughout this site, which means I might make a small commission if you click on a link & make a purchase. Thank you for supporting Story of My Dress!

Pineapple Moon Palm Tree Shirt c/o Value Village (thrifted, similar) | Oat + Fawn Shorts c/o Value Village (thrifted, similar) | Johnston & Murphy Jules Lace-Up Sneaker c/o | Target Blocked Panama Hat | Marc Jacobs Sunglasses (sold out, similar) | Market Net Bag

It's the season of sunshine! And it is seriously hot hot hot here in Seattle. We will be at, above or close to 90 degrees Fahrenheit for at least the next week. Definitely not complaining though, as I personally love the heat and sunshine.

However, to keep things cool as the thermometer turns up and to make sure I don't get too roasty toasty (as our home does not have A/C) , I plan to enjoy lots of iced coffee, seek out spots with A/C, and, of course, head to the beach in my summer wardrobe favorites!

For my summer and beach wardrobe, I am all about thrifting. It's a great way to save money for summer adventures and also an easy way to curate a more sustainable closet and lower my clothing footprint. Secondhand clothing is the most sustainable clothing because it already exists! Win-Win for the planet. Win-Win for my bank account. Win-Win for my summer wardrobe!

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Earth Month: Reuse and Restyle Challenge With Value Village

Thank you Value Village for graciously coordinating a shopping excursion to my local Value Village for an Earth Month Style Challenge! Affiliate links are occasionally used throughout this site, which means I might make a small commission if you click on a link & make a purchase. Thank you for supporting Story of My Dress! 

Thrifted Vintage Liz Claiborne California Dreaming Blouse c/o Value Village (similar) | Thrifted Vintage Plastic Retro Basket c/o Value Village (similar) | Thrifted Callisto of California Shoes c/o Value Village (similar)  | Jag Jeans c/o MyFitCode (sold out, similar) | Moorea Seal Straw Cross-body Bag (similar) | Marc Jacobs Sunglasses (sold out, similar)| BKR Glass Water Bottle

Happy Earth Month! April 2018 is the 48th Anniversary of Earth Month and this Sunday, April 22, is Earth Day! The first Earth Day was held on April 22, 1970 and is now celebrated in more than 193 countries annually. In 2018, it's more important than ever to demonstrate support for environment protection, responsibility and stewardship of our planet, and work together towards a sustainable future. 

For Earth Month this year, I've partnered with Value Village on a style challenge to style an outfit with thrifted pieces of clothing alongside re-styled pieces from my closet to bring attention to the life-cycle of clothing. Shopping secondhand and consciously curating your wardrobe has a positive impact on the environment and planet and is a super easy way to go green year-round.

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Photography: Karya Schanilec Photography

DIY Dessert Bar: The Month of Love in Paris

Thank you Value Village for partnering on this post and graciously coordinating a shopping excursion to my local Value Village! All opinions are my own!

Is there anything more romantic than spending Valentine's Day and the month of love in Paris?! If you're dreaming of spending the month of love in the city of love and romance, why not create that amorous atmosphere at home for your sweetheart with a Parisian month of love themed DIY dessert bar?

This year for Valentine's Day and the month of love I partnered with Value Village to create a DIY city of love themed dessert bar I surprised my husband with on Valentine's Day, after our dinner out for wood-fired pizza and vino. First we had dinner in Italy, than dessert in Paris! Value Village is the perfect place to pick up holiday and party ready decor that's both good for the environment and great for your wallet!

Happy National Thrift Shop Day! 5 Items I Always Look For When Thrifting

Thank you Value Village for partnering on this post and graciously coordinating a shopping excursion to my local Value Village to score some finds in honor of National Thrift Store Day! Affiliate links are used throughout this blog. Thank you for supporting Story of My Dress! All opinions are my own!

Aritzia Wilfred Top thrifted! | APC Denim Cutoff Shorts (DIY, similar) thrifted! | Jimmy Choo Kitten Heel Pump thrifted! | Moorea Seal Anniversary Tote c/o | Cole Haan Aviator Sunglasses | BZR Amethyst Sunglasses | Target Faux Fur Jacket (similar) thrifted!

Happy National Thrift Shop Day! I've long loved the thrill of visiting a thrift store and finding that "unicorn" item. Most of my outfits typically include at least one thrifted item and on many days my entire outfit is thrifted (recent outfits featuring thrifted items: here, here here and here)!

Since my early childhood days of thrifting at the local island thrift shop with my Mom to the discovery of Value Village as a teenager and all the Abercrombie and J.Crew I could fill my cart with (at a fraction of the cost compared to the Abercrombie at the mall on my measly summer camp counselor salary), I have always loved to thrift for not only the economical reasons, but also the environmental, fashionable and stylish ones!

With nearly 96% of retail items at Value Village priced under $10, shopping secondhand can seriously benefit your closet and bank account. However shopping secondhand also has a huge impact on the planet. It can take 700 gallons of water to make one new cotton t-shirt and the average American throws away 81 pounds of clothing each year. Thrifting can help your lower your clothing footprint. (Here are 5 steps to Give a Sh!rt and lower the ecological footprint of your closet.)

In additional to the economical and environmental impacts of thrifting, shopping secondhand also provides unlimited opportunities for creating unique outfits and discovering vintage and designer fashion. Whether it's finding that vintage band tee from the 70s or a designer item from a sold out past collection, there's just nothing like the thrill of the hunt (and the find!) for these treasures. My vintage Bottega Veneta Bag, Chloé sunglasses, vintage Levis, Rag & Bone Boots and favorite vintage Tees are some of my favorite items in my closet, and all are thrifted!

In fact, almost the entire outfit I am wearing in this post is thrifted! That Aritzia Wilfred top? Found at Value Village for $3.99! Those DIY APC denim shorts I'm wearing? Yup, thrifted at Value Village! Jimmy Choo kitten heels? Thrifted! Faux Fur Jacket? Thrifted! I only added a few accessories of sunglasses (both received as gifts) and my Moorea Seal Anniversary Tote c/o. This whole outfit cost less than $100! Seriously, I love thrifting!

In honor of National Thrift Shop Day, I'm heading out to my local Value Village in search of 5 items I'm pretty much always searching for when I visit a thrift store. While I might look in other departments (and I promise to share some of my favorite thrifting tips shortly!), these are the 5 items I always focus on, especially if I'm short on time or feeling overwhelmed with a cluttered secondhand store.

Give a Sh!rt: 5 Steps to Lower Your Clothing Footprint

Thank you Value Village for partnering on this post! Sustainable fashion is "in" and when it comes down to it, the most sustainable clothing on our planet is clothing that already exists! Give a sh!rt about your clothing footprint! Affiliate links are used throughout this blog. All opinions are my own!

Did you know the world now consumes more than 80 billion pieces of new clothing each year (4x as much as in 1980), with more and more ending up in landfills?! On top of that, the average American throws away 81 pounds of clothing each year! That is crazy talk.

Fashion is one of the most wasteful industries on our planet and one of the largest sources of pollution; it takes over 700 gallons of water to make just one t-shirt and over 1800 gallons of water to make just one pair of jeans. That's over 2500 gallons of water for just one outfit. And water is just one of many natural resources required to make new clothing, Yikes!

Knowing that I am living on a planet with a finite amount of resources and with billions of other people, I am always looking for ways to reduce my ecological footprint ~ "the impact of a person or community on the environment, expressed as the amount of land required to sustain their use of natural resources." - Oxford Dictionary

My Fiance and I have chosen to live in a small house (900 sq feet) in the City where we have access to public transportation (2 buses within a few blocks that can get us downtown in 15 minutes!) and restaurants, shops and parks within walking distance. We share one vehicle, an electric hybrid, and always consider where our food comes from and try to buy local (growing within 100 miles from where we live) when shopping for meals (hello farmer's markets, bread from our neighborhood bakery and local produce and dairy at grocery stores).

This year my goal is to lower the ecological footprint of my closet, because Earth Day is everyday!  Value Village just released the 2017 State of Reuse Report, examining perceptions around clothing consumption and reuse; I am taking note and giving a sh!rt about my clothing footprint!

Seattle Goodwill Redmond Store Grand Opening and Giveaway!

Have you heard the exciting news?! The Seattle Goodwill - Bellevue store has moved to Redmond! As you might know, I am a huge fan of thrifting, particularly for those Designer items from past collections no long available and vintage from the 60s and 70s; Seattle Goodwill stores are some of my favorite thrifting spots to find items for my closet. I am so excited to shop the new Redmond store and I've got the scoop on all the grand opening details and a very special giveaway!