This month was #SecondhandSeptember so I tried to keep all my clothing and accessories purchases secondhand. So how did I do? Pretty good if I do say so myself. Honestly the secondhand market is my favorite place to shop so it wasn’t hard at all. But did I actually save money? That would be a resounding “no.” I purchased a couple high-ticket secondhand items (though of course they’re much less than what they would have been retail), but September was still a “high buy” month for me. But I gotta say I loooooove everything I got this month and some of these secondhand items are real treasures!

What I Bought

Heath Ceramics Vase: This was actually my first purchase of the month and wasn’t secondhand (oops, but really I’m only counting my clothes for Secondhand September). Emi and I went on a little field trip to Sausalito and I couldn’t resist a gorgeous jade green vase. It was love at first sight lol.

Secondhand Celine Blade Bag from the RealReal: Ok so I definitely took a risk when buying a bag from the RealReal (they have a lot of fakes and a no bag return policy). But I decided to take a chance because I knew this style of bag wasn’t popular so it wasn’t faked very often (and not in this navy color as far as I know. They were faked in black, yellow, pink and a bright blue according to my research so I would stay away from those colors if you see them on TRR or eBay). And the price was just too good to pass up. The Blade bag originally retailed for $3100 when they were first released in 2013, and even though I would never pay that much for this bag I have to say it’s quite lux and has the Phoebe Philo touch. I absolutely love this bag and how much it can hold (just as much as my Mansur Gavriel mini travel bag). The only drawback is that it’s quite heavy even empty (2lbs. 6oz.) and the clasp can be a bit tricky to close. You can find a selection of secondhand Celine blade bags here at TRR, here at Fashionphile, and here on eBay.

Secondhand SEA New York sweater from the RealReal: I used to want to buy SEA NY stuff when I browsed Barney’s, but I could never afford their stuff. Well I happened to be browsing on TRR and found this lovely SEA NY sweater and indulged. I have no regrets.

Samsung Electric Range: So this is the one item I bought during Labor Day Sales, but I have to say it was very (very) much needed. When we bought this house it came with a range from at least the 80s (granted it was a JennAir and that’s probably why it lasted so long). But it was starting to rust, took FOREVER to heat up, had a broken vent, and was just generally not used often (I mostly use a portable induction range top since it’s so fast!). But I really wanted an easy to clean, modern glass top stove and we finally decided it was time. Yay to saying good-bye to a stove that also look like DJ turntables.

Everlane Renew Transit bag, Lemaire cardigan, Madewell top all secondhand from Crossroads: Earlier in the month I took Emi to her first thrifting trip at Crossroads. She found a taco truck bag and I found these three items I’ve been looking to try. I had been eyeing the Everlane fanny pack for a bit now but never pulled the trigger, so I was really happy to find it used (but in excellent condition). I’ve also been eyeing Lemaire for awhile now in the RealReal (since no way can I afford their items new), ever since I heard of Christophe Lemaire, the designer at Hermes from 2010-2014. So I was super thrilled to see this Lemaire cardigan for $32 at Crossroads! And finally I decided to see if mustard yellow is something I can pull off, so I got this Madewell top. And even though I’m pretty sure yellow isn’t my color, for $9.25 it was a relatively low risk buy.

Delft Vase: For one reason or another I was reminiscing about our trip to Amsterdam, and it led me to this Delft ceramics maker in the Netherlands. Since I never purchased anything on our actual trip to Amsterdam (due to budgetary and luggage constraints) I let myself get a couple things. And with the favorable Euro to USD conversion, my vases were a lot less than expected, win!

What I Didn’t Buy/Returned

Ganni Combat shoes from the RealReal: As much as I love the look of the Doc Martens and combat boots that are trending these days, I know from my past experience with the Everlane Chelsea boots that I can’t really pull off the high-ankle boots (I think my legs are too short). So when I saw these combat loafer from the RealReal I thought they were the perfect solution. Unfortunately the size 38 (size 8) shoes were way too small for me (I’m usually a solid 8 in most shoes). So back they went. They were worth a shot, but now I’m on the hunt for a pair of “combat shoes.”