Marisa Turns Thrift Store Finds into New Career
Wednesday, June 06, 2012 5:11AM
After losing her job as a writer for an online magazine, Marisa Lynch decided to take her creative skills and love for fashion to the next level. She challenged herself to purchase thrift store dresses that cost a dollar or less and turn them into chic, modern pieces. “My motto turned into 365 days, 365 dollars, 365 dresses.”
Although getting started was difficult, Lynch remained focused and started a blog to keep track of her progress. “I got rid of my gym membership and everything else that was costing my wasted money, and needed to focus on what made me happy.”
A year later, Lynch’s life changed dramatically: 365 dresses has landed her a new career. “I started to get really great press and I got a book agent. I sold my proposal last May, and the advance on the book is my new income -- my book comes out in October of 2012. My craftiness has become my career!”
Marisa’s advice for others who have experienced financial hardship is to “stay positive and be creative. It’s not the end of the world if you lose your job. That just means you have more opportunities to open new doors. You never know what will come from experiences that you might have, and adventures you might take. You just have to work hard and be creative.”
To find out more about Marisa’s dresses, visit her blog at NewDressADay.com.
Filed Under: As Seen On The Show
Comments
I just love this idea of a Dress a Day. After having a very paying job, I was forced to go on Permanent Disability an was nicely told by my surgeons that I will never be able to work again. I can't be depended on to be on a job every day with not knowing how I'll feel from one day to the next. After being told this, I went into quite a depression and have become the hermit within my own walls. I finally decided that I would have to change my way of thinking to get out of this funk, and decided that I desperately needed a hobby that I could do at my own pace. After losing so much weight due to my illness and stress, I went through some of my clothes and was donating them to Goodwill. It came to realiztion that all of these larger clothes can be made smaller, so I went on a paymnt plan and bought a sewing machine. (Mind you, I have not touched a sewing machine in 40 years!) So, I'm now going to start at square one hoping it will be like riding a bike and it will all come back to me, starting with repourposing my own clothes until I can afford to by materials, notions and such. Thank you so much for the wonderful idea and bringing a smile back to my face! GREAT show Anderson! xoxo
I lost respect for Farnoosh on todays show. That girl that did the couponing, was phenomenal. I am sure the four hours she spends on couponing is intertwined with caring for the children. My daughter is a couponer and has a full time job. She doesn't spend that much time on couponing and saves thousands of dollars a year. She helps out her friends by getting the bargains and passing them on to them. She always has a gift basket for people she comes into contact with. When she had a double knee replacement, she gave her favorite nurse a gift basket. If people on food stamps clipped coupons, they could make their food stamps go much further. How dare Faroosh put that young woman down for doing what she does. That is the only part of your show that I watched and I probably will no*****ch it when Faroosh is on in the future.
The segment on Marisa was brief, but very inspiring. I hate spending money on clothing and shoes - the cost rarely seems to outweigh the benefit for me, and I kind of hate shopping anyway, so it's a double negative. I love sewing, though, and really like Marisa's approach of picking up cheaper items than can be reworked into something new and original!
The family who challenged themselves to "Frugal February" were amazing. I don't think I'd be able to achieve $0 spent over and above rent and other basics, but I AM going to challenge myself to "Money-Saving May" and perhaps "Justify-It June".
And I just LOVED LOVED LOVED the tiny house!!! When I lived in a house, I rarely ever used the upstairs or the basement. To me, a larger space that is unused just means that one has to furni***** and light it and heat it, even if it is not being used. I am not sure I could share that small a space with three other people, mind you, but the fact that they don't have a mortgage really rocks! I think their house is brilliant.