Best Buys of 2019

I feel like I have lived several lifetimes this year. From applying to divinity school at the last minute in January to getting in and realizing I could actually make it work in the Spring to moving to New Haven in July to completing (unbelievable!) my first semester.

As much as I enjoyed my 5 years at the thrift shop, it has been a blessing to no longer work in a tempting retail environment. I got to experiment with lots of styles thanks to access to low priced, secondhand goods, but it also kept me from being really pragmatic about what worked for me. And years of hoarding meant I had a lot of clearing out to do before moving.

Downsizing to a one bedroom apartment with only one functional closet (and dealing with the inconvenience of a 3rd-floor walkup) has been a really helpful exercise for me. I only have so much room, so if it’s not working, I don’t need to keep it. I was such a clutter bug in the larger space, and it’s surprisingly WAY easier to be a neat freak when you only have as much room as you need.

I’ve also felt less compelled to keep up the Joneses since I stopped using Instagram for “influencing,” and that has made shopping and getting dressed a lot less stressful. I trust my gut more.

I wanted to do a retrospective on the things that have worked well for me this year. It’s always hard not to favor the season I’m in when doing these types of posts, but I did my best to look back over the year’s posts to jog my memory.

Most of these purchases are ethical according to my criteria of being secondhand or ethically/sustainably produced, though the AE Jeans and Doc Martens are debatable, purchased for their usefulness rather than their straightforward ethics. This post contains affiliate links.