Buying On a Budget: Lilly Pulitzer
Elsa Top Lilly Pulitzer / Shorts J Crew (Similar. I actually cut them myself from these jeans) / Clutch Francesca's (similar here) / Earrings Forever 21 (Similar here and here) / Shoes J Crew Factory
Ever since the weather has warmed up, I have been craving bright, fun colors and looking for any and every excuse to wear Lilly! Up until recently, my (very small) Lilly collection has consisted exclusively of patterned shifts, so when I found this basically perfect condition Elsa top for $16 (originally $138) at Plato's Closet, I was ecstatic.
As much as I love Lilly, I have never once paid full price for it! While there's something to be said for brand new pieces from the latest collection, Lilly never really goes out of style, so I don't mind waiting until the After Party Sale, or finding gently used pieces at a huge discount in lieu of buying them brand new!
If you're looking to buy second hand or discount Lilly for Easter this weekend, or just Spring in general, I've come up with a list of my favorite places to find Lilly at a much more affordable price tag!
Plato's Closet
Plato's Closet can be very hit or miss for me, but if you go enough you can stumble across some pretty exciting hidden gems. I'm still shocked that I was able to find this top! An Elsa has been on my Lilly wishlist for a while now, so to find one for UNDER $20 was basically a dream come true.
TJ Maxx
I personally have never gotten lucky at TJ Maxx, at least not with Lilly, but lately I've been hearing more and more about people finding Lilly there pretty regularly, so it sounds like they've been getting it in more often. I have seen Lilly wine glasses there for like $10 though, and I'm still kicking myself for not picking them up!
Facebook Groups
Another great way to find inexpensive gently used Lilly is to join resale Facebook groups! A couple of my favorites are Lilly Pulitzer: Dressed to Impress, and Oh Shift! Lilly Pulitzer Shift BST. My one suggestion with these groups is to make sure you get full details on any imperfections there might be, find out whether the home is smoke free, and always use paypal (goods and services, not friends and family) just in case something does happen to go wrong.
Ebay
Another great place to buy Lilly secondhand is Ebay! The nice thing about buying on Ebay vs. buying from a BST facebook group is that you can search a specific dress you want and you'll usually find it at multiple different price options, sometimes even with a "Buy It Now" option!
Poshmark
At this point, I'm sure Poshmark is always the first place that comes to your mind when looking for gently used designer pieces, and they usually do have a pretty great Lilly selection. My only issue with Poshmark is that because they take such a large percentage of the sale, a lot of pieces are marked up by the seller to make up for the money that they're losing, so it won't necessarily be as cheap as it would be if you were to buy directly from the seller. However, I do love that if you buy through Poshmark you're covered in case something goes wrong.
6pm
6pm is great because all of the merchandise is brand new, so if you're a bit wary of shopping secondhand, this is for you! Basically they have a bunch of older Lilly (and other designers) that they get directly from the brand and sell at a huge discount!
Etsy
Another place to find great Lilly pieces is on Etsy! I left this towards the bottom, because the pieces that you find on Etsy most likely won't be official Lilly pieces, but there are so many talented people who use Lilly fabric to make amazing one of a kind pieces at what is usually a much lower price tag!
After Party Sale
Of course, last but not least there is the Lilly Pulitzer After Party Sale! This is a HUGE sale that happens on Lilly's website and in store twice a year, and a bunch of the pieces you've been eyeing all season are marked down to crazy low prices! The only issue with the After Party Sale are that A, it only happens twice a year, and B, it is STRESSFUL! You wait in a super long line to get in, and then you have to shop FAST so that the pieces in your cart don't sell out before you go to check out, but once it's all said and done, this is definitely one of my favorite sales every year!
Do you have any tips for shopping Lilly on a budget? Let me know either in the comments below, or send me an email and I'll post them and credit you in my Insta story!
xoxo,
Olivia
