Thrifting: It’s An Art Form!

Thrifting - shopping at secondhand stores and estate/garage sales for bargains - can do more to stretch a tight budget than shopping at Wal-Mart ever could. Even better, many secondhand outlets are charity sponsored, so the money you do spend goes to worthy causes. I am particularly fond of the smaller Catholic Charities and a couple of Kiwanis/Lions outlets in my town, but for basics and a large selection you can’t beat Goodwill and the Salvation Army.

Once you get into the spirit of thrifting it can become addictive, so do be careful to keep yourself to a set budget, only occasionally allowing yourself to make that ‘extra’ purchase because you might never find that item again if you don’t get it right now. When they say “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” they mean women, mostly. I have bought so many bargains at secondhand stores in my life that my motto is “she who dies with the most junk wins.”

Everybody needs clothes, and I’ve found that no matter what styles you need or favor, you can always get good quality at a low price if you choose your outlets carefully. This includes business wear - your basic suits for men and women, accessories like scarves and ties, dress shirts and blouses, even ‘tasteful’ faux pearl necklaces and earrings. A higher end consignment shop will offer good quality items and they’ll cost a little more too, but there are basic styles that never really go out and if you can get a nice 3-piece suit for $25 or a week’s worth of skirts, blouses and blazers for $30-$40, nobody will be able to tell that you bought them secondhand.

School clothes for children and teenagers is always a chunk of income this time of year, so it helps if all you have to purchase new are the socks and underwear. There are literally 4 gigantic racks of jeans and slacks at our area Goodwill that are practically new, come in all sizes, and are fine for school wear. Shirts, blouses, t-shirts, sweaters, blazers and vests. All new enough and stylish enough to please just about any kid.

When I’m thrifting (usually with my daughter who calls herself a “professional thrifter) I’ve always got my eye out for those absolutely hideous ’70s style caftans, formal dresses and/or robes that harbor yards and yards of often rich material that can be easily recycled into costumes for the troupe or personalized gift-quilts. A good thick brocade fabric can cost more than $10 a yard at the fabric store, or you can buy that formal skirt with 3 or more yards in it for $5. I try very hard to stay away from the kitchen and knick-knack aisles, as I’ve entire cabinets full of cute, amazing bargain stuff I still haven’t found a good use for!

Thrifting comes with an attitude, so be forewarned that the competition out there is stiff. But there’s just nothing like the feeling that you’ve saved a boatload of money on some fine ‘new’ clothes (well, they’re new to you, aren’t they?), directly supported useful charities, helped some rich people get rid of their barely-used old stuff so they can go out and purchase brand new stuff - at the usual retail markup - and contributed significantly to NOT trashing the planet with overeager consumerism and conspicuous consumption habits.

A note to those who will be thrifting with or without the kids is to look out for Christmas-worthy items because it’ll be that shopping season soon and it never hurts to be ahead of the game. There will be decorations and seasonal items, some of which will help make your home more Christmas-y, some of which will make good gifts for friends and relatives or for exchanges at school and work, and some of which may be later re-worked in a crafty way to become something entirely new.

So… start your engines, and let’s go thrifting!

Links:

Apron Thrift Girl Blog

The Thrift Shopper Website

Books:Secondhand Chic by Christa Weil; Retro Chic by Diana Eden and Gloria Lintermans

Filed under Clothing, Fashion, Recycling, Thrifting |