My husband's aunt gave me a gorgeous beaded necklace and bracelet for Christmas. I love the colors but I had nothing to wear that would match.  I'm not one to go out and buy an entire outfit to match a gift I've received, but I kept it at the back of my mind to keep an eye out when thrift store shopping. I'm also not one to shop frequently for clothing, but since I've been on the GAPS diet I've been slowly but steadily losing weight so I have to keep replenishing my wardrobe.

One day I was near an independent thrift store I've blogged about before, the Children's Angel Foundation Thrift and Boutique.  I thought I would stop by just to see what they had.  They have fairly reasonable prices, but they have this one section of the store that has some higher quality dresses and suits.  I came across this gorgeous green dress. But it was twelve dollars. I rarely pay that much for clothing from a thrift store and I decided I couldn't buy it. But it was so beautiful, and I thought it might match the necklace and bracelet set perfectly.

I thought to myself… I'll just try it on. If it fits, then I'll make a decision. Well, it fit me perfectly. The brand is Carol Little, but that means nothing to me. I decided I would buy it.

I've had it hanging in the closet, but my next problem was I didn't have any shoes to wear with it.   For a long time I could only stand to wear this one certain brand and style of men's casual shoe, Nevados Madison.  Thanks to the GAPS diet, my feet completely stopped hurting within two weeks of starting the diet. I can even wear heels!   I had some Aerosoles from prior to the time my feet got messed up, but they are too big now as a result of the weight I've lost.  Most recently I've been switching off between two cute pairs of boots, and they just wouldn't work for the dress, so I was on the lookout for the right pair of shoes.

The other problem is the dress is sleeveless, and it doesn't look right to wear sleeveless clothing in the winter.

I decided to stop by Savers to see if I could find a cardigan type sweater to wear with the dress, and I found this cute and beautiful sweater for $6.99:

I just love the hand crocheted scallop around the edges of the entire sweater down to the sleeves. It has small buttons that run the length of it, and it goes perfectly with the dress.

Also while at Savers, I saw a neat pair of Aerosoles Women's Cinch Worm Stacked Heel Mule in olive green suede .  They fit me perfectly, but  I didn't think the color would match the dress.  I decided not to buy them because I didn't think they would work, and I don't like to buy clothing just because I think it looks neat. I really want to love the clothes and shoes that I buy and get use from them. Not wear them once and there they hang in the closet.

Once I got home, upon closer examination of the dress, I saw that it had olive green in it! OH! I decided to stop by and get the shoes the next day, and hoped they would still be available.

Thankfully they were, and I snatched them up immediately. These babies were only $4.99!  When you consider Aerosoles go for $20-$30 at Ross Dress For Less and $60 brand new, these are a steal!   The 2 3/4″ heel is a bit higher than I am accustomed to, but I was able to wear them at work all day long and they were fairly comfortable, surprisingly.

This outfit cost me $23.98!

I've also decided that I need a bigger purse, since I am having trouble managing all of the plastic cards I need to carry. Not only debit and credit cards, but Triple A, my health insurance, dental insurance, driver's license and more.  I bought this Women's Leather Credit Cards Holder Purse Organizer from Amazon and my little black purse wouldn't hold it, okay it would just hold the wallet.  But I decided I needed something bigger.

I wish it were black, but this is what I ended up with. So far it's working well.  The brand is St. John's Bay and it says it is all leather. It cost $6.99 at Savers. It did not look as if it had been used. The insides were totally clean, no fuzz or ink stains.   I'm very pleased with it.

I wore my new outfit to work last Thursday and everyone raved about it.

Don't you just love it when  a frugal outfit comes together so perfectly?   I'd love to hear about your experiences with frugal fashion!

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