To kick us off, I want to address what is probably the most common thing I hear, which is, "I tried to go thrifting, and I alway find junk. It feels like a waste of time."
Well, I get it. Sometimes you walk in and spend an hour, and you find nothing. But there are a couple of ways to change your thinking. I will expand upon these over the course of the next few weeks, but here are my basic thoughts:
*Break your trips up into categories. (IE: Shoes, Sweaters, Platters, Furniture, ect....)
*Set a time limit and leave when the time is up.
*If you have the time, look at every single item in a dept., and not just for yourself. Which brings me to my guest post.
A few weeks ago, I was out thrifting, and was looking for skirts. I am willing to give the midi skirt trend a try, but only for dirt cheap at this time, since I don't think they are flattering on my figure. Anyhoo, I came across a beautiful vintage Esprit skirt (I could tell by the tag and the way it was made.), and was so excited to try it on, but it too small in the waist for me. I immediately thought of tiny, little Lisa of Respect the Shoes. So I held on to it and contacted her to see if she would like to give it a try. I am happy to say it works perfectly on her! And she agreed to join us today to talk about it.
Introducing the lovely Lisa:
I consider myself a pre-novice thrifter. Meaning that my idea of thrifting is perusing Ebay for items that I’ve missed out on one or two seasons ago. I am admittedly full of excuses on why I don’t typically thrift: when I make an attempt at going to Goodwill or an actual thrift shop, I seem to always end up with the musty, ill-looking, well-worn pieces that for even a dollar I would not purchase. My friends aren’t really thrifters either, so they’re no support. I visit these stores maybe once in a blue moon, so sure, I’m apt to miss any gems. And unfortunately I don’t sew so I’ve yet to be able to pick up a piece of existing clothing and be able to envision what it could become with a nip, tuck, trim – I admire those gals for their talent and vision.
Of course I get a case of the Jealousies when I come upon advanced thrifters out there like modernmom. She’s worn a ton of gorgeous thrifted goodies that only end up costing a fingerfull of dollars. I don’t know how she does it, but I suspect modernmom keeps her eyes wide open when sorting through the racks of gently loved pieces. And the lucky-for-me part is that she’s not only looking for herself when she goes thrifting.
Case in point, this gorgeous Esprit pleated skirt, which didn’t quite work for her, but was such an awesome deal that she couldn’t pass it up. Who knows if this came out in the ‘80s, ‘90s or just last spring, but the shape is classic and the pattern is a fun play on regular muted plaid that is perfectly on-trend for fall. When modernmom generously offered me the skirt, I jumped at the opportunity – bold colors and a full skirt shape, I’m in! And better yet, it makes me want to give thrifting another go – now if I could only go with modernmom!
So the point of this lesson is to look for things that will work for your friends and family as well. My BFF Heather is a very busy working mom of two young kids, and is always on the lookout for quality items for her kids. So I look for work clothes and shoes for Heather and her kids, and frequently find them. Tuesday I found a pair of Sperry Top Siders for her little boy Hayes for $2.99- with NO wear on the bottom. Score!
Does this change your mind about thrifting at all? What types of things would you like to find?
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