Now this paints a pretty picture. Carole Little Japanese flower print vest (it’s rayon and acetate, not actually silk you guys, so I really pulled one over with the title) – $0.99 (sale!), ReStyle thrift store | Vivienne Westwood red skirt – $20, Lux Fashion Lounge | Guess black patent leather with gold buckle stilettos – $11, Idaho Youth Ranch thrift store | red polka dot fan – Gift bag – Atomic Treasures (received for judging this year’s Boise’s Funniest Person competition) Vinyl of the day: “So Runs the World Away” by Josh Ritter Cheep!

I’m a real metal winner. (Mettle, too.) (Just no medals.) Hawaiian Moon sage green silk dress – gifted & thrifted | vintage Carmelton bronze sheer party top (made in USA) – $1, ReStyle thrift store  | Cindy Says green-gold hells, Piece Unique, $I can’t remember but they were half off  Cheep!

This is the first, and probably the last, time I’ll ever wear this hard-to-match orange-y knit top, these wonky over-sized, white pants. But with thrift store shopping, there’s zero buyer’s remorse when you make a mistake. You basically give a donation to a nonprofit for real good stuff. Then you make killer $7 outfits out of it. And when you’re done, you just “release it back into the stream,” as I call re-donating, like a down-home preacher would speak of a soul at a funeral. Real life is not so cut and dry. Your choices much more complex and layered. The missteps much more costly. But at least, every single day is another shot at a new outfit.Fiets Voor 2 orange creamsicle knit top, $3.75, Idaho Youth Ranch thrift store | Izod of London white pants, $5, ReStyle thrift store | Cindy Says green-gold hells, Piece Unique, $I can’t remember but they were half off  Cheep it up.

Sequins. Once to me the very definition of standout, of stage wear, of sexy. For all seasons. Lately, I’ve been staring at the thick of sequins in my closet, wondering, “Where did that girl go?” Lately, my tastes run a bit more up close and personal. To catch the gleam of the gold threading in the white flowers of this lace. To see the iridescent sheen of the transparent beads on this Christian Dior belt. To see earrings made of cotton candy pink enamel and gold dragonfly wings. I suppose I no longer want to demand—glittery style-wise—people to look at me. I want to draw them in. Or just amuse myself, alone. Liz Claiborne gold threaded lace top – $1 (sale), ReStyle thrift store | vintage Christian Dior iridescent beaded belt – $5, Repeat Boutique consignment store | vintage Pride & Joy blush rose pants (made in U.S.A.) – $1 (sale), ReStyle thrift store | Damiani (made in Italy) bronze & gold sandals, $5, Idaho Youth Ranch thrift store Cheep, cheep.

Iridescent sheen and murky waters. Sami New York purple silk camisole (that you can only really see when up close), $3, ReStyle | Banana Republic pale green sheer linen tank (ribbed for her pleasure) | vintage Pendleton brown plaid light wool jacket, gift from Bend, OR-thrifting-based BFF | Anne Klein II tan silk skirt, $4, ReStyle thrift store | Cindy Says green-gold hells, Piece Unique, $I can’t remember but they were half off | Green agate stone three strand necklace, $8,000,000 Turkish lira (in 2004, this was like, $6), Istanbul street vendor Cheep!