You’re reading Jersey Girl Thrift’s bi-weekly newsletter! A quick and fun read, full of second-hand trends, style tips, local sales, store reviews, great reads, and a recipe or two. It’s everything you need to live a thrifty and luscious life.

strike a pose

If you know me, you know I LOVE having my picture taken. Ever since I was a little kid I have embraced a camera in my face- I couldn’t tell you why!

It’s not that I see myself as a supermodel, I just love capturing looks, special moments with friends and memories…and in order to do that, you need to get comfy with having your picture taken. Recently LaLaLarell and I had our first professional photoshoot done as a brand, and we had the B E S T time!

Here, I’m sharing my top tips for how to take a great photo:

Tip #1: Find your good side- Some people are beautiful from all angles….and those people are called M-O-D-E-L-S and they get paid an enormous sum of money for their 360 degree visage. I personally look best from one very strategic angle, which -unfortunately for us - is ALSO Larell’s good side, so in photos we always have to switch off who gets the better angle 😆 

The way I found my good side was simple: I just took notice of what photos of me looked best, and literally all of those photos were of the left side of my face. It’s so innate to me now, whenever I’m posing for a photo I just automatically gravitate towards the left.

To find your good side, I suggest perusing some of your favorite photos of yourself- were they most often when you were on the left, right, or straight on?

Tip #2: Accept that some photos will be bad- and that has no bearing on you, your beauty, or how well you photograph! Everyone takes bad photos (I work in production, and even the models do, it just happens!) You have to be willing to have 10 photos taken, knowing that 9 of them might be terrible, but there’s a really good chance the 10th will be great!

Tip #3: Make micro-movements- Nowadays when you go to take a photo, everyone is snapping away multiples at once. Next time someone is taking your picture, rather than stay still while they snap, try to make micromovements between frames, such as moving your jaw slightly up or down, turning your face slightly left or right, shifting your weight to a different foot, or popping a hip. Making small adjustments will ensure that you have a series of slightly different pictures to choose from, increasing the odds that you’ll find one you like!

Of course with anything in life, practice makes perfect! If there’s something that is tripping you up, look up some pose ideas on instagram or my personal favorite- Pinterest! It’s easy to forget in the moment all the poses that are available to you, but the internet has ideas! Whip out your phone when you’re alone and snap a few selfies, try different angles, seated, standing, find your light!

At the end of the day, photos are just meant to capture a moment in time! When everything feels so ephemeral and fleeting, it’s sometimes the one thing that remains, so it’s nice to have photos of yourself having a good time or a great hair day to enjoy.

currently styling

I’ve been putting some outfits together for an upcoming tropical trip and the palette is COLOR baby!! When I am packing for a trip, I always start with the palette: what is the landscape like, and what colors would look best against it? How can I bring a cohesive feeling to what I am packing so that I can easily switch between pieces?

For this trip, it’s all bright green, hot pink, sunshine yellow! Largely thrifted, of course!

Packing tip: I keep the little bags my bathing suits come in, and that’s how I store them in my closet AND pack them on trips. It keeps everything nice and organized!

estate sailing

Estate sale season is kicking into high gear and I am H E R E for it! Of course, you could easily spend a Saturday tooling around neighborhoods looking for Estate Sale signs in yards, but if you want to plan it out, one of my favorite email listservs to be on is ‘Ann’s Tag Sales’- they host estate sales for often extremely wealthy homes throughout North Jersey, and I’ve been to some real bangers they’ve hosted.

I always look forward to seeing Ann’s pop up in my my email and seeing where they’ll be next. I once scored a brand new Alice + Olivia top at a really nice estate sale in Pompton Plains for $15 that I wear all the time. Most recently they were at a spooky old house that is on the NJ historic homes registry, I didn’t find anything to take home but it was really fun just to walk around!

Fries with a Side of Disco

Last but not least, I had T H E B E S T meal recently at the iconic Tops Diner in Harrison! Tops was established in 1942, but recently underwent a beautiful renovation that made it feel somehow both nostalgic and incredibly modern. The food for brunch was off the charts (you must get the disco 🪩 fries!) and their creamy espresso martini is not to be missed! I’d highly recommend making reservations if you’re going for Sunday brunch, but this is a rec you’ll be thanking us for later!

Have a great week girlies~

xx Kelli