I have recently been welcomed into a wonderful group of fashion and lifestyle bloggers that focuses on styling preloved clothing and accessories in themed monthly posts (third Monday of the month). I hope that this showcase of secondhand items and outfits provides some shopping and style inspiration for anyone who is interested in creating great looks in a way that is sustainable for our planet and our pocketbooks.

Today's topic is Hats...quite appropriate for the January weather but not an easy theme for me because I really only wear hats outdoors for functionality and I wasn't even sure if I owned a thrifted hat. I had to do a search of the apartment, and luckily I turned up exactly one second-hand hat!
But let's start today's outfit with the indoor WFH part of my day's look in which I combined a column of dark brown with a red cardigan and bridge piece scarf in shades of brown and red/pink.

My brown column is made up three pieces that I purchased in late December (my last purchases before my 2025 Clothing No Buy Year started). I purchased these items with a great deal of intentionality; I had been wanting to fill in gaps in my brown collection for a while, and I was able to find a 3/4 sleeve top, skirt, and ankle boots to add the cold weather brown collection (that already had tall boots, straight leg jeans, a pullover sweater, and a quilted vest). The only piece from my brown shopping list I wasn't able to find was a dark brown cardigan. There were a lot of lighter brown options (tans and rusty warm browns) but I wasn't able to buy a dark brown one. So that remains at the top of my wish list when I start shopping again. Of course, ideally I would find a second-hand one! In the meantime, I'll be able to do a lot with these new pieces as well as the brown oval print top my mom sent me for my birthday. I haven't always been such an aficionado of dark brown, but since my hair is not as sun-bleached a blonde as it used to be (and I frequently wear it slicked back in a ponytail as I did this day, which makes it look even darker), it seems to coordinate with my coloring better than it used to. And of course I do love a dark neutral based outfit for winter so this brown gives me an alternative to my usual navy, black, and grey.


I purchased this light red Lands End wool blend cable knit cardigan from Goodwill for $5.24 in February 2018, and it's still going strong. I haven't worn it as much as I could have (9 wears, current CPW $0.58), but now that I have a winter-wear brown top to layer underneath it, I hope to fix that; given the brown buttons on the cardigan, worn with a brown top it's A+. The leopard print scarf has gotten some love since I bought it at Goodwill in July 2016 since it's my one scarf that combines brown and red (16 wears, current CPW $0.19). The gold tassel necklace is that go-to piece you've seen so many times (106 wears, current CPW $0.19). I think I've finally figured out what is so magical about this necklace: the length of the tassel is perfect. A lot of tassels are shorter, which is fine but doesn't really fill up that expanse of space as well as this longer one does. This is something for me to remember for making my own tassel necklaces.

I don't have a paper bead bracelet set in brown and red (I know! it feels like I must have every possible combination, so how can this be, right?) so I just built a fun bracelet stack from various red and brown (with or without gold) bead bracelets I have made over the last few years. I thought the stack turned out really great, actually! {stretch bracelet tutorial}

My earrings are a new bead soup pair that I made specifically to coordinate with this scarf using brown and beige wood beads, red glass beads, light pink glass pearls, and gold spacer beads in simple "beads on a stick" design.

Now for the hats portion of this post! The one second-hand hat I could find was this stocking cap that my husband and I picked up from a Goodwill shopping trip somewhere along the way. It's a dark hard-to-distinguish neutral color (brown-charcoal-black) with a bit of lighter color in the knit for a slightly heathered look. It felt like nice quality, either of us could wear it, it was inexpensive, and in Minnesota, it's not like you can have too many cold weather hats! I styled it with the pale grey loden coat/cape that hangs on the coat rack next to our balcony door.

And I went out on the balcony to rest my eyes on the snowy landscape and watch dogs walk by (sometimes in cute boots and jackets). The expanse of white between me and the bluffs in the background is snow on the ground and then, beyond the fence line, snow that has collected on the frozen Mississippi River.

Here's some details on the loden coat/cape that I thrifted at Goodwill in Tulsa...goodness, when I was high school? I mean, I must have owned it for over 30 years at this point. And it was clearly older when I bought it (though in immaculate condition). I have done some searching online, and every similar coat from this brand I have found dates to the early 1980s or earlier. So it's not a stretch to imagine that it might be as old as I am. (Maybe I need to stop calling myself middle-aged and go with "vintage" instead.) I will say that the quality on this thing is insane. I mean, it seemed really high quality (and inexplicably cheap for how nice it was) when I bought it in the early 1990s, and by today's quality standards...well, it's almost unfathomably well made.

As a nice surprise, when I checked the pockets, I found this brochure for the Zoolightful winter safari at the Tulsa Zoo circa the late 1990s. I still remember how freaking cold it was that night! It was a fun outing with my parents, sister, and my now-husband, but man, we definitely needed the hot chocolate we drank that night.

You wouldn't guess it now, but when I was young, I had a small vintage hat collection hung up as decorations in my room (because my big ol' noggin doesn't usually fit into vintage hats). Actually, thinking about it, I probably still have a couple of my favorite ones in a box with my other mementos in the very back bottom corner of a closet that I am afraid to open because something usually jumps out and attacks me when I do. There was an olive green one that I really loved that's probably hidden in the dark recesses of that closet.
Now let's review the hats outfits that my thrifty friends have styled...
The Thrifty Six:
Emma of Style Splash
Jane of Preloved-Vintage-Handmade
Jodie of Jodie's Touch of Style
Nancy of Nancy's Fashion Style
Sally of Within a World of My Own [me]
Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge
Emma of Style Splash
"I bought this vintage green hat on eBay years ago. Often, vintage hats are too small for me, but this one fits perfectly. I've matched it to my Fenella Smith vegan leather bag to contrast against the cosy yellow faux fur coat by Jayley that was a more recent eBay purchase."

Jane of Preloved-Vintage-Handmade
"Yippee! - the T6 theme for January is hats…
A perfect opportunity to rock this authentic cowboy hat which I added to my already extensive hat collection last summer.
I’m often seen in a cap or a beret or a beanie but a cowboy hat is a huge statement even for me - I look like the baddie in a spaghetti western!
In this slightly sinister full length coat, all I need is a cheroot dangling from my lips and I’m Clint Eastwood!"

Jodie of Jodie's Touch of Style
"I have become a huge lover of hats, and the thrift store enables me to get the trendy ones for a fraction of the cost as well as they are the perfect hack for a bad hair day (and when you have curly hair there are tons of bad hair days). This entire look is thrifted!!"

Nancy of Nancy's Fashion Style
"There are a few things I will definitely not wear pre loved, like underwear and shoes. And hats are one of those too, because I never wear hats, at all! Not even when it is freezing. I have thick hair, lol.But Gerben always wears hats, and caps! So I had a choice of many actually. And he didn't buy them pre loved, but I nicked it from him so for me it is pre loved! Yeah, a girl has to be creative sometimes. Perfect with a feminine look for some cool contrast! I do wear his caps in summer when I am reading a book in the garden though."

Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge
"My love for hats runs deep. It all began when I discovered my grandmother's collection of 1950s/1960s hats in her attic when I was a teenager. I have been obsessed ever since and have curated my own very extensive hat collection over the years. However, hats are not a thing that I generally look for in secondhand shops because it kind of grosses me out. I will consider a preloved hat as long as I can properly and easily clean it before placing it on my own head. Like this cute knit hat that I found in my local consignment shop about 6 or 7 years ago. It came with the matching arm warmers as well. Everything in my outfit is preloved except for my leggings, tee shirt, boots, and necklace."


Next month's topic is still up in the air, but I'm sure it will be another fun styling challenge.
In the meantime, visit these lovely bloggers for the details of their thrifted hats outfits and more style inspiration:
Emma of Style Splash
Jane of Preloved-Vintage-Handmade
Jodie of Jodie's Touch of Style
Nancy of Nancy's Fashion Style
Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge
Do you like wearing hats? Do you wear them for style, practicality, or both? What's your favorite kind of hat to wear? Is there a type of hat you like on others but don't wear yourself? Would you buy a hat second-hand? Do you have (or have you ever had) a hat collection? Do you like dark brown as a neutral for winter? What do you think of the red + brown color combo?
Blogs I link up with are listed here.
I love your coat/cape! The quality of vintage pieces is often so much better than modern day equivalents...unless you spend big bucks!
Emma xxx
www.style-splash.com
I love your brown booties. I did add a couple brown top last fall and look forward to wearing them again when it warms up. Like you, I mostly only wear beanies for when it is cold outside. I do have some berets and a couple hats, and I wear the berets a little more.
www.chezmireillefashiontravelmom.com
I will be honest, I don't wear much brown. Used to wear more, but I've just realised I'm a black or grey predominately in winter....#TalkaboutitTuesday
Nice styling with the column of brown. Red and brown is such a good color combination, often overlooked. I can hardly believe the quality of your cape, and that you found it secondhand! I also have a vintage hat collection. It's boxed up in the cellar. 🙁 I hate to part with them, they were so much fun to wear at one time, but I can't picture myself wearing them today. I think it's time for me to give them a new home, because they are so wonderful. They are from the 40s and 50s, and omeone who dresses up from those decades could be enjoying them!
First of all, I think the color palette of your brown look with the print scarf is especially pretty on you. Great find on the suede skirt. And I cannot believe you don't have paper beads in this color palette but your stackable bracelets are perfect and now you have a new project - red and brown paper beads!! Your lip color is lovely. You really look fresh faced and so put together. Wish I had more confidence. Period. But in fashion as well as all other areas. I have hats but feel so silly wearing them. In your honor and in honor of the Thrifty Six, I am going to wear a hat this week, one way or the oth…