Gold Rush

Uptown Cheapskate (the consignment shop where I once famously scored a very affordable sleeveless floral blouse) opened a location in College Park a few months ago, and I finally had cause to visit it last week (despite being under 2 miles from my home, it's far off my particular beaten paths).

While the jaw-dropping bargains were hard to find, I still snagged this gold sweater for $1.80. Speaking of "snag," that's what it was covered with. I spent over an hour on Tuesday tidying it up with a razor, scissors, and electric clippers, trying to remove all the pills clinging to the fabric. It still looks scruffy, and I fully intend to have another go at it the next time I have the patience and better lighting, but it was good enough to wear once!

I was originally aiming for a gold-on-gold color scheme, but my efforts soon steered me towards this neutral beige dress instead.

The problem with the sweater is it's awfully big. Thicker than most knits I usually wear and not tailored in the least, it looked shapeless on me, especially over the baggy skirt. I decided to try cinching the waist with a belt, and that helped a lot!

Now, with the braided leather belt and the heavy knotted fringe on the cardigan, I was feeling a little Wild and Wooly West, and I knew just the boots to finish off the look—the ones with the sweater cuff...and more braided leather!

I'm still a fan of these boots, but I've run out of novel ways to wear them, and they fit a bit large, so I was planning on wearing them one more time this winter and then selling them. This is the "one more time," and they look great in this ensemble (it even inspired a coworker to tell me I'm an "outfit artist," which is really the highest compliment I could receive!).

They look so great that I'm almost rethinking my decision to let them go...but naaaah. They got to be a true treasure in their final outfit, and now they can go on to be someone else's prize!