what I bought (and wanted!) in July

No breaking news this month—just some fun photos from a couple in-person vintage shopping adventures! It feels so good to go vintage shopping in person, not even necessarily to buy anything (especially in a body that is changing weekly). But it’s so satisfying to go in without a direct goal, to be able to touch and feel things directly. Highly recommend going with a friend so you can show each other the particularly weird and wonderful things you come across!

Before I share the things I bought with you… here are all the things I wanted to get:

Vintage Sixers t-shirt on eBay: I did a deep dive on eBay for Sixers t-shirts about a week before LeBron announced his move, so I’m sure anything I hearted has sold or gone up in price by now! But there wasn’t anything I wanted badly enough to buy it immediately, so I’m okay missing out for now.

Lots of other vintage things!: I visited a lot of vintage stores in Philly for the first time while my friend was in town last weekend and we were both impressed by the selection at Ace Outpost. I was charmed by a few t-shirts, but wasn’t wild about the way they looked with a bump and uncertain how they’d hang postpartum so I left them behind. (That “I broke bread with Pope John Paul II” shirt is 100% cotton, though… someone should get it.)

This peasant top at Urban Outfitters: I tried it on and loved it, told myself I should wait 24 hours and think about it before buying—went back the next day, having decided to purchase it, and it was already off the floor and no longer sold at that location. 😂 I haven’t been buying much online because we haven’t yet figured out a good system for receiving packages (apparently packages do get stolen from stoops pretty quickly here, unlike our Sesame Street oasis in the middle of Brooklyn), so I decided to just move on rather than order it from the Urban Outfitters website. Ideal scenario would be finding a secondhand approximation!

As for what I did buy in July…

These Urban Outfitters pants (in two colors): These were the other item I told myself I’d think on for 24 hours before buying, and unlike the shirt, they were still in stock when I went back for them. They’re very fun, and make for good pregnancy pants, but they’re quite long! Unless you wear them with platform shoes or have very long legs, you might run into some dragging issues. I also promptly ripped the grey pair within a couple hours of wearing them—snagged on a loose nail sticking out of the brick wall in my hallway.

Vintage black and white checked jacket: I saw this unlined silk jacket at Wayward Collection and knew before I even tried it on that I would love it.

Vintage camo jacket: Have had the camo debate with multiple friends now (and will always think about both this tweet and Em Seely-Katz’s excellent post on military style when I think about wearing camo) but I did finally succumb after trying on an impeccably structured vintage camo jacket at Ace Outpost. It was a bit overpriced (one of the only items I saw that I thought was overpriced, actually! everything else felt very reasonable), so I took a picture of it for posterity and to think about whether camo was really something I wanted to put on my body and then I found the same vintage jacket on eBay for $20 in one size up.

And on the last day of July, about five hours before the end of the month… I stumbled upon a vintage market happening on my way to the grocery store! I ended up leaving with a very weird (complimentary) shirt and bag from the same seller, Eternity Vintage. The shirt reminds me of the kind of things I used to find while I was thrifting in high school. I definitely didn’t need the bag (which I’m pretty sure is originally from J.Crew, and not *true* vintage) but I got caught up in the in-person moment and I don’t regret it!

What I’m eyeing for next month… some more big t-shirts. Still getting away with not looking pregnant as long as the shirt is big enough and want to take advantage of that while I can. July was for Philly vintage shopping… maybe August will be for Philly/South Jersey thrifting?