Let's Converse (About Converse!)

Oh, hai guys. I've missed you! Mark and I quickly snapped these photos on our way home after having dinner with friends. We were chasing the daylight a bit.

WARNING: I LOOK LIKE AN ASS IN THE FOLLOWING PHOTOS because I don't know how to prop myself on a ledge. I figured the outtakes would make good fodder this time around.

Outfit: Dress and denim jacket, H&M (old); pins and shoes, thrifted.

Anyway, isn't it weird some of the trivial stuff that you remember from years ago? Well, the way I got these shoes is kinda like that.

I was a freshman in college, shopping at Goodwill on the South Side with some new friends, when I found this score for $4. (For those of you keeping score at home, this happened almost nine years ago.) I always had imagined having the quintessential pair of canvas Converse shoes of my own, but never around to buying them.

A lot of my college friends I had then liked shopping at Urban Outfitters. Clearance racks were all I could really scrounge there, so finding something that could easily sell there for 10 times what I paid at the thrift store made me euphoric. I can't say these are shoes that I wear often, but I haven't ever had the heart to get rid of them because it reminds me of a time that a thrift store find made me feel like I fit in.

In my life, I've rarely had situations where I've felt I could relate to others. I always felt misunderstood.

I recently unearthed these from my closet, and all of those thoughts came back to me. I also thought, wow, how timeless Converse really are! These things never go out of style, huh?

Hope to be seeing more of you all on the blogosphere soon.

We need to talk about (my) flair

This ensemble is mostly a typical office outfit, thanks to some Christmas gifts from loves ones that know all too well my appreciation for Modcloth wears. But a recent little secondhand store find made it just a little better.

Outfit: Dress, cardigan and shoes, Modcloth (old); brooch, vintage via Avalon Exchange; tights, Target.

Did you find my find yet? It's the little skate pin, of course, to reflect my newfound roller derby hobby! I found this gem at a local buy/sell/trade store Avalon Exchange for three bucks. Not bad, considering I had just sold them a bunch of stuff and got a bunch of cute things for under $20 after sales.

A few co-workers found out about my new extracurricular the day I wore this outfit because they asked about the pin. It obviously works as a great conversation starter.

I think this guy unofficially set off a new pin collection, too. Since wearing this outfit last week, I found yet another skating pin over the weekend, as shown on my Instagram feed:

A photo posted by Kate (@thriftburgher) on Apr 12, 2015 at 7:14pm PDT

Yikes, look past my chewed up nails and super red palms. I blame the lighting.

I think pins are a great fun way to add some character to an outfit inexpensively. I think it's something that can be easily overlooked, and it's a detail that I wrote off as too "grandma chic" for way too long. I think small, subtle ones are best as to not look over the top or cheesy.

And let's face it: I'm definitely on a roll with skating pins, pun intended. :)

Of course, you don't want to go overboard. I haven't watched the movie Office Space in ages, but this scene in particular has always been memorable to me, since I was once an angsty server in college. Which is impressive because this movie has so many great quotables.

Do you wear pins with outfits?