Summer Black and Blue Outfit with the Thrifty Six: Summer Sparkle

I have 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 Summer Sparkle...and this was a tough one for me because I don't wear sparkly clothes like sequins, metallics, and the like. So it was sparkly accessories to the rescue.

I created my outfit around these thrifted sparkly tweed flats with a black, blue, and silver color palette. I decided to keep my outfit on the simple side so I chose a thrifted linen skirt in black (which I am happy to report has survived the summer closet edit).

I also wanted to add some blue to my outfit, so I summoned my inner bluebird...

Afton State Park, Minnesota, May 2016

...and topped my black inner column (skirt plus sleeveless tank) with a thrifted bright blue short-sleeved cardigan (which I wore with white and navy in the fringe-themed T6 challenge earlier this year). I love how the blue pops against the dark background, and I think the combination of silhouettes from the cardigan and the flared skirt is visually interesting. I know it's a bit of a shock to see me not wearing any print pieces, but I definitely wanted to have a simple background to showcase my sparkly jewelry.

OOTD 8/11/26

This photo offers the best detailed view of the flats, which have sequins sewn onto the tweed fabric. I also like the chain wrapped around the middle of the bow for some extra shine.

I layered two necklaces for my outfit:

(1) A capital-S Statement necklace in a bib style with lots of clear and opeal white crystals with blue accents (retail, Baublebar); and

(2) A thrifted black pendant necklace with shiny metal, glowing white pearls, and sparkly dangles.

My all-DIY daily bracelet stack was based on a paper bead bracelet set I made in shades of blue with silver (page to bead images here). I filled out the stack with three DIY bracelets - white glass, mixed blue and clear glass, and cobalt blue striped beads - plus two purchased bracelets - silver tone metal with blue glass and white pearls with a sparkly focal bead. {stretch bracelet tutorial} {bicone paper bead tutorial} {tube paper bead tutorial}

Why stop with a sparkly statement necklace when you can wear your matching sparkly earrings? I bought both of these pieces for my mother-in-law's evening wedding, but they look great with more casual outfits as well. I have worn the necklace 58 times, and only one of them was for a fancy event.

Outfit details:

-Black crochet tank (retail CJ Banks), $10.00, 12/2023, 7 wears, current CPW $1.43

-Black flared skirt (thrifted Coldwater Creek), $3.74, 9/2018, 12 wears, current CPW $0.31

-Cobalt blue short-sleeved cardigan (thrifted Lane Bryant), $5.24, 2/2016, 13 wears, current CPW $0.40

-Blue/crystal bib statement necklace (retail Baublebar), $52.00, 9/2015, 58 wears, current CPW $0.90

-Black pseudo-floral drop necklace (thrifted), $4.20, 12/2019, 25 wears, current CPW $0.17

-Blue/black sparkly flats (thrifted Target), $5.24, 2/2016, 19 wears, current CPW $0.28

The cost per wear for this outfit (excluding the earrings and bracelets, which I do not track) was $3.49. This is well below my <$5 CPW goal for outfits. The black tank is still relatively new so it's still above $1 CPW, and I am continuing to work down the CPW on the statement necklace, but the other 4 pieces are below both my $1 CPW and my $0.65 CPW goal.

Now let's review the summer sparkle 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

"Never one to approach a theme with subtlety, I chose a striped sequin jacket for my summer sparkle outfit. I usually wear it during the festive period, but it's too fabulous to save just for winter! I've layered it over a plum-coloured co-ord and added a gold bag and sandals."

Jane of Preloved-Vintage-Handmade

“I chose ‘Summer Sparkle’ as the T6 theme for August so I could dazzle the world with this breath-taking dress adorned with jewels, sequins, and even tiny glass mirrors.

It’s an occasion dress from South Asia and it’s a sight to behold – I’ve had to turn down the volume by adding denim, but I do love the juxtaposition of the two opposing fabrics.

However, what the eye sees, the camera does not – I’m sad to say that my effervescence completely eludes these pictures…

…so, you’ll just have to take my word for it, IRL this dress is beyond sparkly, it’s a spectacular spangle-fest of epic proportions!!!”

Jodie of Jodie's Touch of Style

"I had my crew style sequins subtly. For myself, my Mickey tee has sequins as his pants (the kind that are one color when down and another color when up) and everything else is thrifted also."

Nancy of Nancy's Fashion Style

“To me, 'sparkles' means glitter, metallics, and gold, even though you can certainly sparkle with colour, too. But that’s just not for me. I absolutely love this gold "summer sparkle" top. It’s from years ago, I think I bought it at a second-hand shop. It’s such a beautiful shade of gold, and it fastens with buttons at the back of the neck, I always find that look so elegant. I wear it with gold jewelry and gold espadrilles. And a fantastic skirt, it’s a mystery to me why I don’t have that one anymore.”

Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge

“For my Summer Sparkle, I restyled a thrifted white sequined dress that I recently wore for a Songful Style challenge. Instead of tying the little wrap pieces around my waist as they are intended, I pulled them up and tied them around my neck to create a funky tunic top. I tucked up the hem a little bit, paired it with new white linen trousers, and added sparkly accessories for a shimmery monochromatic white outfit.”

And me...

“My Summer Sparkle outfit starts with the shoes, a fun blingy pair of tweed flats (thrifted, Target). I pulled out the blue and black colors with three secondhand pieces: a short-sleeved cardigan (thrifted, Lane Bryant), an ancient linen skirt (thrifted, Coldwater Creek), and a long pendant necklace (thrifted at ThredUp). My sparkly statement necklace and earrings are Baublebar purchases from over a decade ago that I got for my mother-in-law’s evening wedding and have continued to wear in all kinds of outfits. Of course I finished the look with a bracelet stack centered on DIY paper beads. Simple outfit + dazzling statement accessories = Summer Sparkle Sally-Style!”

Next month's topic is to be determined...but I'm sure it will be a fun theme to interpret!

In the meantime, visit these lovely bloggers for the details of their thrifted summer sparkle 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 to wear sparkly pieces? Clothing, accessories, or both? Do you wear sparkle in the summer, or do you tend to wear it more in the winter holiday season? Do you like wearing black in the summer? Do you like black with blue as an outfit color combo?

Blogs I link up with are listed here.