Typically I do a themed photoshoot for Valentine’s Day; like for Valentine’s Day 2023 (my bangs era), when I had a gorgeous vanilla/strawberry cake as my prop (shoutout to beet juice for dying the frosting pink).
Or Valentine’s Day 2024, when I went 100% in by cutting out paper hearts and sticking them to my wall, and gluing red confetti onto my cheeks (I did panic for a split second when I took the confetti off and saw that the glue had made them bleed heart-shaped red spots onto my face, but thankfully it washed off…although not before it seeped into my bloodstream and poisoned me, I’m quite certain).
This year I just wasn’t ✨inspired✨ to do a photoshoot, but I was inspired to do a little something different. I celebrated an entire Valentine’s Day Week™ on my YouTube Shorts page by posting a [mostly thrifted] Valentine’s Day outfit every day of the week.
Here are the looks, and the links to each video!
Valentine’s Day week: day 1
I set this video to This Will Be (An Everlasting Love) by Natalie Cole — because we definitely needed to include a truly classic love song in the lineup.
I thrifted this dress in 2023; it was originally a mid-length dress, but I thought it looked awkward on me so I altered it into a mini dress and wore it to the drive-in to see Barbie (which you might remember from this post).
I’ve been on the fence about selling it on Poshmark, since it’s not a dress that I wear consistently (it doesn’t have any stretch to it, so it’s more of a special-occasions dress), but after doing this video I decided to keep it in my closet for a while longer. I just love the pattern and color of it (and maybe I can let out my alterations a bit to allow more breathing room).
I paired it with a thrifted knit cardigan and my biggest tassel statement earrings.
Valentine’s Day week: day 2
I set this video to Love Grows (Where my Rosemary Goes) by Edison Lighthouse. I first heard this song a few years back when it went viral in the Instagram reel world (I believe I made a reel to it of me showing off my large houseplant collection). The first three lines are very Jordan Rae coded:
she ain’t got no money / her clothes are kind funny / her hair is kinda wild and free 🎶
This matching outfit was one of my own creations. I sewed the maxi skirt out of a vintage bedsheet (you can find my tutorial for the maxi skirt here!), and I sewed the top out of the matching pillowcase (it took me a while to perfect this pattern — I made it totally custom for me). I paired the set with a paper sun hat, and socks that Riley Mae knit me.
(the bonus to this outfit is that I have a throw pillow on my bed that matches it, since the bedsheets came with two pillow cases 🌸)
Valentine’s Day week: day 3
I set this video to the old Oogum Boogum Song by Brenton Wood. All of these outfit shorts were created to be “get ready with me” (aka GRWM) style videos, and the key takeaway from this outfit is that I styled a cardigan that I sewed out of a vintage bedspread (you can shop my cardigans in my Etsy shop!).
But we all know that the true center of attention were these bell-bottom jeans with the heart on the butt. They’ve gotten a bit more snug over the years, but I refuse to give them up. They’re one of my favorite items that I’ve ever thrifted.
The crop top was also thrifted, and I wore the knit socks again.
Valentine’s Day week: day 4
I set this video to Accidently In Love by Counting Crows. I don’t know if anyone can hear this song and not immediately picture that iconic scene in Shrek, and maybe that’s what adds to the impeccable vibes of the song.
I wore this thrifted MABLE dress to my cousin’s wedding in August and I absolutely love it. It’s fun, fluffy, and extremely comfy. If this dress was a human girl, it would be saying:
I’m not like other girls 💅🏼
The earrings were an antique-store find, and the up-do let the dress take the center stage, while still showing off my fabulous heatless sock curls.
Valentine’s Day
And to wrap up my Valentine’s Day Week™, today (Valentine’s Day itself) I posted a compilation of 6 thrifted Valentine’s Day outfits, set to the song Lovesick by Jenna Raine.
This video is actually the one that I made first, and it’s what sparked the idea to put together a Valentine’s week lineup.
I had fun with this, writing up a whole little screenplay, coming up with creative transitions, and matching up each outfit to specific parts of the song. It felt very much like the old days of writing music video screenplays for me, my sisters, and my cousins, but this only required me to work and cooperate with myself (which is hard enough as it is).
I’m really proud of all the work, and I think that GRWM videos might be something that I’ll want to do more of. Sometimes I just hit on a real good outfit and wish that I had more people to appreciate it, so naturally that’s something that should be shared with random strangers on the internet.
Happy heart day! 💘
art by jordan rae 