Partying It Up in My Thrift Store Dress

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Sent from reader, Kaonu:

My family threw me a 40th birthday party last month, in which the theme was a masquerade ball. I looked for my dress for a few months at malls, department stores, Kohl’s, Target, Amazon, David’s Bridal, etc.

I did see some I really liked, but they were well above my budget (some were $200!). It was getting hopeless to find my perfect dress. The week before the party, I decided to stop by my favorite local thrift store called Freedom House. To my surprise, I found my dress there… for only $13!!!

I had never thought I’d buy a formal dress from a thrift store. I’m so glad I gave Freedom House a chance. Many guests at the party complimented the dress – that’s me in the silver dress and mask!


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Comments 24

  1. Kalia

    What a great find!

  2. Jessica

    Great dress 👗 and picture,

  3. Christina

    You look beautiful! I’m sure you had a blast

  4. Mymocha

    Happy belated 40! You look so glamorous! I bet it was a super fun party with everyone dressed up 😃

  5. debbie

    you look great… belated happy 40th b-day!

  6. Susan

    Beautiful picture and great find on the dress.

  7. Kat

    Believe it or not, I actually find a ton of clothes for my family at Goodwill outlet. (Be sure to bring gloves!) They sell everything for $1.50 a pound (in Cali) and a lot of the items are clothes that didn’t sell in the Goodwill stores. All you need to do is wash them when you get home and I often find like new clothing items from brand names for next to nothing. It’s basically like searching for buried treasure 🙂

    • sue

      my goodwill outlet is full of homeless people. I have never felt more uncomfortable before. I felt like I was just taking stuff from them. I did not know the carts on the edge were theirs. They took stuff out of bins and stored it in shopping carts along the walls. it was so weird. I’ll never go back to the goodwill outlet. never again. a regular thrift store is fine. but not the outlet.

      • Kat

        Lol there are definitely some sketchy characters sometimes but you just bring an alarm and pepper spray nbd. Most of the people I meet at the outlet are very friendly though, they’re just being thrifty like me. I’ve found so many tops there for next to nothing. Most of my favorite clothing items come from the outlet. I’ve even found brand new with the tags leather jackets. One of them was from Calvin Klein and the tag said it was $196 new, someone just gave that away! I probably paid maybe $3 at most. It wasn’t very heavy at all. I’m sorry to hear your experience wasn’t great though

    • Amy

      I tried the goodwill outlet near me once. I couldn’t get past all the dead mice laying around amongst the merchandise. You couldn’t have paid me to take that mess home to my family.

      • Kat

        Wow that’s crazy! I’ve never experienced anything like this and I’ve gone to several different Goodwill outlets in my area. Well I guess if you ever take a trip to northern California you could give it a shot, that’s too bad your stores are not kept very nice 🙁

  8. Michelle

    Love a good thrift store score! I never get tired of it.

  9. Karla

    Congratulations on your thrift store find! It looks lovely and at an amazing price. Thrift stores are my favorite shopping destinations. Happy birthday!

  10. Lpmousse

    A Star Hip2Saver is a recognized member of our Hip2Save community hand selected by our team for demonstrating a long history of engagement with helpful & friendly comments across Hip2Save.com and our social channels. Our Star Hip2Saver badge acts as a verification for readers who know the ins and outs of all Hip2Save sets out to accomplish — assisting our community to live extraordinary lives on ordinary budgets. Readers cannot pay or provide any sort of exchange in order to earn this badge. Rather, they are invited to participate by a member of the Hip2Save team and opt to have the Star Hip2Saver badge added to their profile & comments.

    We love our thrift store. My newest awesome find is football jerseys. I’ve gotten a ton of them for my kids, some for the future, and some for the dress up box for now. They’re retired players, but two of the jerseys match my husband’s jersey he’s had for year. ❤️ For $5 or $6 each. Amazing!!!!

    • Lpmousse

      A Star Hip2Saver is a recognized member of our Hip2Save community hand selected by our team for demonstrating a long history of engagement with helpful & friendly comments across Hip2Save.com and our social channels. Our Star Hip2Saver badge acts as a verification for readers who know the ins and outs of all Hip2Save sets out to accomplish — assisting our community to live extraordinary lives on ordinary budgets. Readers cannot pay or provide any sort of exchange in order to earn this badge. Rather, they are invited to participate by a member of the Hip2Save team and opt to have the Star Hip2Saver badge added to their profile & comments.

      PS- You look radiant!

  11. LS

    What a great find! You look fabulous at 40.

  12. Emily

    Back in the day I got my prom dress for $20 at Fashion Bug. 20 years later I still have it, it still fits, and it still is fashionable. It is classic black with a few decorative flowers. I love it.

    • Lora

      Fashion Bug … now that is going way back! I used to find great deals on their clearance racks.

    • Casey

      Oh my! I miss Fashion Bug. I’m a teacher and my most favorite dress pants came from there. 10 years later they still are awesome, but I’m bummed I can’t replace them!

    • EmilyMab

      I miss Fashion bug!!

  13. Keesh

    Wow how beautiful.

  14. Tammy

    So beautiful! I’m glad you were able to find your dream dress at such a great price! Nice work! Love thrift store finds like that.

  15. EmilyMab

    You look amazing! I love my local savers on half off days 😍 the kids and I have found some awesome finds!

  16. Amy

    Ever try Cato fashions? They are kinda like Fashion bug. They go into strip malls. Usually next to a Kroger. I buy stuff from them all the time. the have misses, juniors and plus sizes.

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