Indie Cutz

Summary

Room for improvement:

I would want to improve on the approach I take towards my audience because sometimes I feel like I come off kind of hard or misleading.

While on that same note, I could have added more hashtags when posting about the blog on my social media. Telling more friends about my blog would have also helped me gain a wider audience.

Reminiscing on the Good Times

The best memories that I can recall would have to be the thrifting parts of the project. It allowed me to test and challenge myself to express different styles and step out of my comfort zone a little bit more

In addition to that the project also opened a lot more career opportunities for me with potential employers. It also allowed me get connect with a broader audience and making more connections with people who have the same interest as I do.

Learning Experience

The tools I learned in this assignment will benefit me greatly in my professional endeavors. Given that I am an Advertising major it would help me tremendously to learn how to create and keep up with the content being produced continuously. In addition to that, I also learned that content is crucial when trying to obtain and maintain wider variety of audience.

Some Highlights

My most popular week that I had was the week of March 2^nd-8^th it being in the lead with nine views and three visitors as seen below.

While one that same note the most popular post that I have is the about me post. I think that this post is the most popular because it is the first thing people read and see when they first visit the blog. The post being in the league with 8 views.

While looking through the highlights I was also shocked that I was receiving attention from some people in China. That just made me sit back and think how powerful the internet can be.

Twitter Analytics

The most traffic that I was receiving on these posts were “referrers” from twitter. As seen below my twitter impressions are quite high which is what helped is what helped my post gain some publicity.

For more information about your Twitter Analytics and how to find them just click on the hyperlink and it will direct to right to them.

The Hidden Creativity

Hello Friends! So just recently I adopted a kitten and he is a handful, but he keeps me entertained and company, so I guess he is a pretty cool cat. Also, before progressing forward with the block post I just want to send everyone good luck and health especially through challenging time such as the ones we are in at the moment. This week’s montage vintage style while in quarantine consisted of a blend different patterns and styles that I had thrifted before being placed on lock down. As always, I did alter some pieces to best fit the pictured image I am trying to achieve.

The Achievable Image

As I mentioned in the beginning that I adopted a kitten, (vinó is his name), and he decided to feature in this week’s blog post. Moving further along above is a grey polo shirt that I found at a local goodwill I would tuck the shirt in, but I grew old of the look, so I made the shirt into a cropped top. I have always liked the cropped top style 90’s so I really like to incorporate that into my style. I have been debating on taking the sleeves off, but I will safe that for another future post.

The Pain

Continuing, the overalls I am wearing I thrifted a couple of months earlier, but I always struggled finding something that flowed coherently with them. So, I decided to challenge the style wear them as pants instead, which actually worked out nicely. I went with the checkered black and out Vans because I liked how the colors aligned and both challenged the Demin from the overalls.

Conclusion

While coming to some final thoughts the overalls were definitely by far the most challenging piece of clothing only because they can fit you differently in many parts of your body. Although the aesthetic itself is super cute and the cropped top turned out as planned and I have grown very fond of it.

Below is a link to an article created by Vice that goes into a brief explanation as to why the crop top trend faded, but how it is making a come back.

https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/43kyqg/straight-men-crop-tops-90s-80s-fashion

The Shifted Mind Set

Hey guys! Before diving right into the content, I would just like to wish everyone good health and well-being throughout this global crisis. Now getting into the material I haven’t really had a chance to thrift anything new, although while in quarantine I was able to fix and completely morph some old clothes that I had thrifted throughout the semester.

Also, shout out to my roommate Yuli for letting me borrow her mirror ilysm (if you ever see this hehe) .

The Idea Behind Mindset:

The picture above is a little something that I was able to coordinate, and design solely based on old clothes that I have thrifted throughout the semester. My shorts were originally a pair of Wrangler pants that I found at a yard-sale that fit me awkwardly, so I decided to alter them into distressed shorts, which worked out as planned. It was an idea that I had thought of when I first bought the pants but was hesitant for a while to fix them because I’m not the most experienced when it comes to altering clothing, but YouTube was a big help. I then took a shoelace from an old pair of shoes and used that as a belt to make the shorts fit snug and sit just right.

Below is the Video I watched that helped me alter my pants into shorts.

Puzzle Pieces:

While on that note the CHAPS shirt I am wearing is also another good snag that I found while thrifting a couple of months ago. I never wore it because I couldn’t find anything that coherently flowed with the design and color of the shirt. That is until I altered the pants and the light washed denmin color of the shorts really flowed perfectly with the shirt.

Last Breakdown:

To commence this final Collab I decided to wear some old beat up white Vans with some white Nike tube socks. Also, My hat that I am wearing I bought online a couple of years ago from a brand called RipnDip. It wasn’t as expensive as it is now being one of the main brands that Zumiez carries in their stores that in addition to the pop-up stores they have around the Nation

Final Thoughts:

While this post is coming to an end just a key reminder to recycle your clothes and make as much use of it as you possibly can.

The Network!!

Hello all! Recently I’ve been home a lot because of the whole quarantine situation and haven’t really been out lately, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been surfing the high waves of the internet in search of others who have the same in common as me. Being home a lot more allowed me to branch out and find others who have the same interest as I do. That is when I happen to come across this cute and eye catching blog called “Central Texas Thrift Reviews” .

The way I came across this interesting blog was through a close ally while trying to think new ways of creating content. I really enjoyed reading through Ms. Lauren’s blog post and enjoyed how consistent her content was and not to mention her funny side jokes that really keeps the readers intrigued.

The post!

As you can see she if very clever and fun when it comes to presenting her content.

The “Top Drawer Review” post had a really nice flow to it not to mention it was one of my favorite blog post reviews she did. It was very smooth and coherent making it easy and enjoyable to read. I also loved the layout and little title captions Lauren puts on her post they not only catchy, but quirky and funny as well. In addition I highly recommend checking out this post because it not only has a lot of good information, but the presentation itself was laid out beautifully.

Final Take Aways

This blog contains a lot of good material in addition to that the blog itself was very consistent and coherent with the reviews. Something that I really enjoyed from this blog was how to the information was presented to its readers it made me intrigued and left me wanting to read more of her blog post.

If interested in learning more about Lauren’s blog I will add a link in below to her direct homepage.

Additional information:

website: https://centexthriftreviews.wordpress.com

The Famous Buffalo Exchange

Look how pretty the sun looks going down behind the building.

While running some errands downtown Austin I decided to make a quick thrifty run because I just so happened to be near the one and only Buffalo Exchange. I’ve shopped here countless times and continue to shop here because I tend to find many good fashion pieces for pretty reasonable prices given that it is a somewhat “high in” thrift store. Although the parking isn’t the best its content sometimes makes up for it, given why I am a loyal consumer.

Now that we’ve given this marvelous store an introduction let’s pick it apart.

Prices

The prices are sometimes a little up there for certain name brands, but there is always a hidden gem in the mist of the racks. A good trick that I use when I go is clean out my closet for any clothes I no longer use and “exchange” them at Buffalo for new ones. They tend to give you two options one being in store credit or cash back so you can either get some new fits or get some extra cash to make you wallet fat. This is one of the main reasons I have grown to be a loyal customer to this specific store.

Should you make the trip?

Honestly, I would invite you to go with me any day of the week. I would just recommend bringing some old clothes you no longer use to save you some money. The only things I wish was different was the parking situation because of how dangerous and small it is. I highly recommend this store to anyone especially if you are like me and get bored with your clothes really fast and are constantly changing your aesthetic.

Additional info:

website: https://www.buffaloexchange.com/location/guadalupe-austin/

Flying With the Flamingos

Welcome back fellow kind giants! These past couple of weeks have been turmoil, but I was still able to come up with some nice content this week. Recently I went shopping downtown Austin with some pals and came across this really cute thrift store with pink –Flamingos and ironically that was the name of this little gem within the heart of Austin, Texas. Their regular hours are between 10 am until 8 pm, which in my opinion is very convenient because that means that I have more time to really dive into the content and potential the store has to offer. Also did I mention everything is sold by the pound! Hence the phrase written on the side of the building, “vintage by the Pound”.

Now lets get into the needy greedy of this awesome little pop up store.

The first find

As soon as I walked into the store I saw this cute little crop top that caught my eye immediately I was confused at the price then I looked around and read a sign that said “every by the poundAs soon as I walked into the store, I saw this cute little crop top that caught my eye immediately I was confused at the price then I looked around and read a sign that said, “every by the pound”. Then I turned in the direction of the registers and saw a scale that the cashier was using to cash out the customers in line. Eventually all the dots connected, and I realized that everything was literally sold by the pound and I thought that was pretty cool. I know this sounds like a really good deal, but there is a catch every item within the store had a different price next to the pound abbreviations as seen in the picture above.

The Final breakdown.

Well to begin the lay out of the was very overwhelming there wasn’t any kind of organization to the store it was just a much of random pieces clothing hanging up on big racks. A lot of stuff was mixed together, and it was kind of hard to shop if I am being honest, but it was worth the time because I was able to find some really cute pieces that I added to my wardrobe. Now returning to the pricing situation; it is very misleading because if an item is somewhat heavy you end up paying more than you bargained for that is why I mentioned before that there was a catch.

Final thoughts

I would return to this store although if the layout remained the same I would not stay for long. Just because of how overwhelmed the layout made me feel.

If interested in checking out this store below is a link to there website.

https://www.vintagekilo.com/Vintage/home/inicio/index.jsp

The First Cut

Just recently I and a friend took a quick trip and explored the variety of thrift shops Austin had to offer. While on our little adventure I was able to distinguish two specific locations that caught my attention. Below are some quick snaps that I took while exploring these rad shops.

Both locations had a lot of unique pieces of clothing to offer, but at costly prices. Given that both locations are trendy little shops I was taken off guard when I found the same shirt at each location priced quite high in my opinion

Pricing and Quality

Coincidently I had already purchased this exact shirt at local Salvation Army months ago and didn’t pay more than .25 cents for the shirt so when seeing these prices on the shirts I was somewhat appalled. Given that both are located right next to The University of Texas one would think that prices would be low and reasonable, but this was not the case for either of these locations. I will give props to the second location, RAGSTOCK, for getting creative in presenting the product, although the quality of both garments were not very appealing to the eye. As you can even see one of the shirts even had a rip at the bottom so in my honest opinion both shirts are over ally priced and poor quality.

Are these shops worth your time?

Both shops have taken advantage of how convenient it is for any local college student to go “thrifting” at these shops because of the small commute they would make to even get there. Although, in realty it’s not worth their time or money to purchase used garments at such high prices when they could find better deals and maybe even sales at other local shops.

Would I return?

Yes, of course I would both shops had a lot to offer, but I would be very cautious when spending my money at thrift shops such as these.

Additional information:

Ragstock: https://ragstock.com/stores/austin-texas-dobie-center/

Monkies Vintage and Thrift: https://www.facebook.com/monkiesvintage/

Listed above are some quick links you can tap on for more information regarding these cute little thrift shops. Have fun shopping!

About me:

My name is Abraham, Abe for short, and the topic I am going to write about the variety of thrift shops located within the Austin and San Marcos area. While checking out these spots I will also be rating them based on price and the apparel that the location has available or its clientele.

Taken by Sofia Valladares at the HOPE Outdoor Gallery in Austin, TX.

Why?

Thrifting is a time-consuming hobby that I enjoy, but being a college student, my time is precious. For that reason specifically, I wanted to come up with a rating system based on the apparel I can find at a thrift shop as well as its price. The event that sparked this idea was a discussion I had with a fellow collogue about our unique sense of fashion. We began talking about the different thrift shops we went to and began rating which one was worth our time. This is where I was able to come up with the idea of Indie Cutz.

What will come of this?

While exploring I will be given the chance to pick apart each thrift store based on their content and prices. By creating this blog, I hope to broaden and transform my wardrobe with new and different types of styles as well as make connections with others who share the same interest as I do.

Who is this blog intended for?

My target audience is a younger demographic, more specifically, college students who’s daily agenda never consists of buying new clothes. This blog will help others find nice trendy clothes for reasonable prices, and in some cases, for free.

How to stay connected?

On my twitter account I will be uploading a little haul with some of the nice pieces of clothing I find at every location. Below is a quick link to my twitter account, and if interested, feel free to follow. https://twitter.com/Abraham___Rojas