Spring Trends That You Can Thrift

Jill Stuart, Giles, and Marc by Marc Jacobs Spring 2012

BOLD PRINTS

Dark floral prints (like my Black Floral Birthday outfit post), light floral prints and bold prints (like tropical, floral and any bold shape) are extremely hot this spring season in 2012. Translate to thrift shopping? This is so easy. You will see MANY bold prints out and about at thrift stores. They are usually the items you hold up to your girlfriend from across the room on a hanger, so you both can have a chuckle. But guess what? You can flip a switch--layer and pair with other classics--and suddenly that wild print becomes the signature peice of your outfit. Just this weekend I used a vintage (and very LOUD) Hawaiian print in black, green and red as the base for an outfit I wore to a gig. I received a lot of compliments! I apologize for the small picture, but I didn't have many photos of the evening and this one actually showed the Hawaiian print! I took the shirt and wore a cropped satin vintage jacket over it, with a black suede skirt (just above the knee length). I paired it with a layered, "bib" style black beaded necklace, polka dot tights, and black heels. Honestly, the shirt by itself might seem laughable...but the ensemble worked, and worked well! I knew it would as soon as I spotted it.

Please note that this photo, originally taken by blinkPHOTO, has been cropped and blown up by ME (resulting in pixelation) to illustrate the floral print. The original image was just lovely! (It was a pullback, wide shot of the whole band).

Spring 2012 prints have been:

- Colorful patterns

-light and dark floral

-Hawaiian and tropical print (see Beyonce doing it here)

-Primary, Mondrian stripes

-Paired with the everpresent "white" this season

-Animal print, like Micheal Kors Spring 2012 line seen here:

Bold and funky print is the cornerstone of any thrift clothing rack! This is an easy assignment! Check out your local thrift store and see if you can find one bright print piece to work into an outfit with other pieces. Your homework begins...now!