So my Executive Pastor and great spiritual mentor Pastor Dr. Tonya McGill of Antioch Christian Church, approached me with a desire to host a thrift tour with our women's ministry. She expressed how cool the experience would be for an outing. Co-hosting this event with my Pastor was a complete honor! As you may already know Thrift inStyle Tour is an one day social and shopping mobile event for thrift newbies, thrift enthusiasts, and eco-conscious women to hit up some of the best places the thrift, find vintage and network! This event is one of many that raise funds to now purposely support my outreach projects that are geared to build confidence through clothes!
I was a bit busy behind the scenes mostly, but I managed to physically see how pleased and satisfied everyone was with the selection of stores, and the overall experience.
I could go on and on about how awesome it feels to help bring women together to not only do something we all enjoy doing (shopping) but to practice frugality and promote personal style, while empowering other women in a judge free environment. So I'll save you the reads! But no, I'll jump right into the day. A few Saturdays ago we began the day off with a little Thrift 101 Basics.
As you know I never profess to be an expert in styling others (just yet), so getting great stylists to join me is always a highlight for the tour! It also is a great way to give them a platform to share their skills to the perfect audience. This time, I collaborated with my new boo and amazing Stylist/ Social Media Influencer Crystal Crain.
I was a bit busy behind the scenes mostly, but I managed to physically see how pleased and satisfied everyone was with the selection of stores, and the overall experience.
I could go on and on about how awesome it feels to help bring women together to not only do something we all enjoy doing (shopping) but to practice frugality and promote personal style, while empowering other women in a judge free environment. So I'll save you the reads! But no, I'll jump right into the day. A few Saturdays ago we began the day off with a little Thrift 101 Basics.
As you know I never profess to be an expert in styling others (just yet), so getting great stylists to join me is always a highlight for the tour! It also is a great way to give them a platform to share their skills to the perfect audience. This time, I collaborated with my new boo and amazing Stylist/ Social Media Influencer Crystal Crain.
Crystal was perfect for the audience, We both have similar views to this whole concept of making what you wear for you and not for anyone else. Style is all about how you wear it and not so much who you wear. I say it all the time, "Labels can't define you, your individuality will". So happy I finally met her as most of my amazing connections start via instagram or social events! She was surely as beautiful inside and out in person as she was on IG(instagram). The ladies loved her witty, informative support during the tour. I was so grateful she saw my vision and decided to join me.
We had a blast! Excited to see what God is doing for her in the upcoming new year!
To my surprise, there are always a few people that gather with us, that have never been thrift shopping. Most of the ladies were thrift enthusiasts, so we wrapped it up quickly as they were already hip to the thrift flow! Which gave us a chance to elaborate on the important stuff like, determining what to take home vs what not to put in your cart because it was on sale; examining merchandise; and as Pastor Tonya mentioned, "being real with our sisterfrands about what just don't work for her.
So we finished the mini workshop, got our swag bags, which happened to be pink and packed with goodness from hand wipes to water, beauty items and power food, and headed to Plano (which is generally a great area to discover great thrift store finds).
Our first stop was St. Vincent de Paul of Plano. Love love both stores, the Dallas store should know me by name, but the Plano store shows great customer service and served us well as always! The ladies were stoked about the in store discount! They also had an entire rack of blazers for 1.99! Blazers are a huge hit for me, They tend to be easiest to convert into an outfit with a few basics pieces. So that was a win! Great finds, great service made this store worth coming back!
Oh & anytime you can find a vintage cross bag in the purse section you are bound to feel like a true treasure hunter!
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| This was Pastor Tonya McGill very first time shopping thrifted, and look what she scored for a measly buck and some change! Love this jacket! Can't wait to see her style it! After all it's the art of styling thrifted garb that makes your outfit stylish! |
We headed down the street (literally down the street) to Plato's Closet of Plano! Plato's Closet is one the most visited Resale shops in DFW! This location is known for it's trendy brand name selection! I call it the cheaper version of Forever 21. The price range varies and most items are fairly priced. We were there during peak hours so the service was a bit free flow, but still inviting. Crystal and I met briefly with the Store Regional Manager while we were there! Love love her warm, informative and inviting presence!
The last stop (and highlight for me) was right next door of Plato's Closet.
I've been to Clothes Mentor of Plano previously during the "stuff the bag event"earlier this year and I fell in love with that event but more importantly the customer service! *Stuff your bag for only $15 bucks!
I believe the ladies really enjoy having someone to eagerly encourage them as they shopped in addition to us. The team greeted us with warm regards and offered the help if needed! My type of party. I'm all for customer service, even if it's in a resale shop.
The clothing selection is a bit more higher end, so the pricing is pretty fair. I love the selection personally because of the variety of unique brands, the quality and styles of clothing. The store is well organized and curated very stylishly. While there were no special sales or daily special the ladies were given exclusive saving discounts to come back as apart of the thrift tour! Who doesn't love a great store savings!?
The owner of this location happened to be in the Saturday we came. The Store Manager Debbie and I have been communicating about some really cool collaborations since my last visit, so to met the Franchise Owner was pretty cool! Charles presence was very personable. You can tell he really takes pride in and genuinely promote the belief that the store values the customer. So the planning, curating, and service provided was very important to him. I was impressed and quite surprised to know he had done a little research on my social presence and the tour itself! It was even more heartfelt to receive a donation check on behalf of the store to Alley's House organization, (an organization I support and sponsored during the last tour). To know that my mission reaches the hearts of others made me want to go even harder next year.
After the Clothes Mentor stop we headed back to the church for lunch and a thrift style recap! We were saved by our swag bags as they came equipped with fuel to get us through the shopping frenzy as we traveled back! Once there, we enjoyed an amazing boxed lunch provided by Heaven's Mana. Over bites and silence for a few seconds, we took turns sharing our thoughts on the day.
So many great reviews on the planning, the seamless travel time and opportunity to fellowship! Which could not have happened without the support of my favorite big sister and galpal Ylana Rhynes. The opportunity to share my platform was appreciated so much, thanks to my Pastor Tonya for thinking of me. Thank you for sharing your heart and reflecting such authentic and compassionate love for other women in any setting!
I was so excited that everyone had a blast and it's been confirmed that this won't be the last thrift tour for the ministry! So excited about that!
I can not wait to see all the cute outfits. You can find them socially using the hashtag (that I butchered horribly on accident) #savingnslaying. I got a few pieces from each place and will be posting my outfits in the next couple of weeks. Let's just say I saved and will be slaying some stylish garb for a fraction of the retail price. Thank you if you made it through this post! I tried hard to share as much without it being to much! lol
I enjoy collaborating with groups, individuals and organizations with similar platforms! Workshops and more frugal style events are coming next year, let's connect!
Want to stay updated on the next tour, and happenings subscribe, follow and be my friend will ya!
To my Fab FruGals thanks for your continual support during this evolution!
Stay stylish,
Ty J
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