Thrifted Shoes in the Wild: $1000 worth of Shoes for under $100

I”m always saying on here how I’m not a shoe girl… I take it all back, maybe I just didn’t have any good shoes, maybe I just didn’t understand the utter glory and joy that only shoes can bring (okay, that was a little bit excessive, but ladies- I think you feel me here.) I recently had two magical trips to Goodwill where I was able to remedy this whole “I’m not a shoe girl” attitude and share the, “Where do I put all of these wonderful shoes?” problem with the rest of the women in the world.

Girls and Shoes — #GirlProbs… #ThriftLife

So what do I love so much about thrifted shoes? Well obviously- they are thrifted, so you already know my feelings on that… but what else?

1) They are already broken in. Seriously- you can spare yourself the pain. In these Thrift Hauls I found several pairs of very gently used leather shoes and they had this sort of “perfectly-worn-soft-and-snuggly” vibe happening that I was oh so in love with. The cowboy boots were already made for walkin- so I don’t ever have to experience the “OMG- I’m gonna mess these up” phase and I can just rock them in all of their rugged cowboy glory with no regrets.

2) You will fall in love with shoes that you NEVER would have thought to get had you not been thrifting. For instance- on my last trip I found two pairs of adorable leather close toed sandals with a velcro- yes velcro– ankle strap. Now I’m pretty sure that these are marketed to the Advanced Style crowd out there in retail land, but they are comfy AF and I think my feet and ankles are going to be like, “damn gurl! We about this life and you look good tho!” #amiright?

3) You will find shoes that you straight up wouldn’t be able to find out there in the world. I happen to live in a part of town where there are a lot of people from Africa and the middle East- so my local Goodwill often has wonderfully authentic items that you wouldn’t find in America. For instance I found these beautiful hand crafted Kaya sandals- that are only found in the Middle East.

The price is right. I don’t think I need to explain this- I mean, the entire post pretty much proves this point.

5 tips for striking your own incredible shoe jackpot:

1) Stay on topic: One of the reasons I have so much success finding great stuff when I’m thrifting- is that I usually stick to one area of the store. For instance- I go that day and only look at shoes (okay- maybe I check the dress section too because I can’t ever help myself- but you get the point) That way you kind find the cream of the crop in whatever section you are specializing in without getting overwhelmed by time and items.

2) Scan-decide-inspect-try on-decide: I am pretty systematic with my shopping. I literally go through the shoe rack- section by section, scanning quickly, top to bottom. If I see a shoe that catches my eye- I grab it- inspect for condition, (I don’t worry so much about brand- although that is a plus) size (I will try on shoes that are a little bigger or even a half size smaller- because sometimes they fit well and look great.) Then I try them on and using “thriftuition” (see below) as well as my budget to determine my final choices.

Thriftuition: The second you try on a shoe (or clothing item for that matter) you are going to have an instantaneous feeling or concept of “yes” or “no.” It’s literally instant- there is no thinking involved- it’s an instant decision of “I know I like this” or “I don’t like this” Follow that instinct always. You can actually apply this concept to your entire life if I’m being honest- but since we are talking about thrifting here, I’ll just keep it at that.

Buy out of season: I learned this tactic, funny enough, from my Father. We were on a summer vacation years ago in late August and a pair of summer sandals had gone on sale. He bought them for me saying, “next season they will be wonderful.” Sure enough, those are some of my favorite and most cherished summer sandals.

Have a mental (or actual checklist): Due to my commitment to thrift- my thrift journey is perhaps slightly different than others. Although I do find and enjoy novelty items- I am most interested in building an actual wardrobe that works for me and is practical. When I thrift, I have a mental concept of what I am looking for. What holes am I looking to fill? What qualities am I looking for? For me- it was: Boots, Mules, Leather, Neutral Tones, Comfort, Quality. You can create this type of checklist for any thrift trip. It makes shopping a lot less overwhelming when you have a distinct concept of what you are looking for.

So…in celebration of this deal of a deal I did what any normal girl would do and wandered (errr…trespassed) into to my abandoned neighborhood Amphitheater to take some photos of all of my new footwear booty. Enjoy!