Hand Me Down, Please

I'm the only girl in my family, so growing up, I never really had to wear second hand, or hand-me-down clothes from my siblings.  Sure, there was the occasional dress I would borrow from a friend, but overall, if I wanted something new...I'd bargain with my Mom until she caved and took me to the mall. 

Flash forward into my 30s, and I'm still more likely to buy something new for every special (or not so special) occasion than I am to borrow from a friend.  Over the weekend, I started thinking about the year to come...and, I must admit...the thought of going through an entire year without being able to order new clothes from J.Crew or hit the sale section of Anthropologie set me into a bit of a panic.  What would I do if I needed something special to wear to an after hours work function or party?  I started having doubts about my ability to pull this off.  Then, I thought about all the fashionable friends I have and considered how fun it would be to bring them into the challenge...if only to help me out by passing along their unwanted items throughout the year.  We could have swap parties where we bring all our unwanted clothes and play dress up while drinking a few glasses of wine.  This made me feel better, and I started to regain some excitement about my not-quite-new year.  I'll have the chance to live like I have sisters...with all the hand-me-downs I can stand.  :)

Here's a lovely J.Crew wool blend sweater that I got from a friend over a year ago.  She ordered it online and it didn't fit...so she passed it along to me.  It's something that I wear quite frequently in the cooler months...and a bit of inspiration for next year.  And...I think of lovely Stef every time I wear it.  Free fashion from a friend...what could be better than that?