I just swung by my favorite thrift store to get an interim pair of jeans – my “fat” pair is totally falling off me, and I’m 15 pounds (at least) till I can get back into a “thin” pair. No dressing rooms there, so I couldn’t try 'em on, and they were totally mislabeled – remind me to take a tape measure with me when I go back. But, what the hell, they were $1.25, so I’ll just hold onto them as a backup “thin” pair.
I also got a really nice off-white silk-and-cotton sweater in a cable knit for $1.00.
And a charcoal gray cashmere sweater for $2.00. It’s reallly, really soft, because it’s made out of, yanno, cashmere.
Thrift stores here in Cleveland are crap. Full of junk and outdated clothes from the 70’s. My wife is from Toronto and prides herself on her thrift store prowess, and her ears always perk up when we watch those home makeover shows and they gush about their sweet thrift store finds. But every single trip we’ve made to no less than 4 thrift stores around here have been busts.
I haven’t been for a while, 'cause I’m working full-time and am not out and about during the day with my friend with the kids to clothe on the cheap, but the Value Village 50% off sale has been very good to me.
I’ve picked up perfectly presentable jackets for work (office work) at less than $5.00 each, and there was the one I bought for $2.00 that garnered compliments from expensively-dressed realtors. *
The 8-10-12s sold out quickly, but alas, I was wandering the higher-sized portion of the racks, and there seemed to be fewer people shopping for my size.
I recently took my daughter shopping for dress shoes. She has very small child-sized feet, you know, what with being a child and all that, but she wanted a pair of high heels to wear at my wedding. After going to every shoe store we could think of, including about eighteen stores in the mall, we started on the thrift shops. Found the shoes right away, and they cost four bucks.
I’ll pay you $3 for your cashmere sweater, twicks!
The only second hand stores near me all seem to double as “antique shops”, and everything is overpriced. I wouldn’t be able to find a $2 cotton sweater. Damnit.
Now, when I lived in Boulevard Park in south Seattle, they had second hand stores! One in particular I used to find gems in - all of their clothes were 50 cents. Jackets were about $3. Shoes were $2. I found some great stuff there. No cashmere, though.
Lucky you,** twickster**. Hope you find more good stuff!
There is a Goodwill store near us. When it first opened, it had some great stuff and great deals…now they seem to have a new manager who must smoke crack in the morning after drinking their LSD laced coffee. The prices are insane…Target donates a lot of their stuff to Goodwill and this insane manager marks these slightly damaged goods at MORE than the original price! Plus, they have prices on computer parts from the 1980’s that would make you burst out laughing…$100 for a filthy monitor that isn’t even color…$20 for keyboards with keys missing!
When I started dieting, I decided not to buy any new clothes until I was done. Everything since (excluding maternity clothes, underwear, and workout-type clothing) has been from a thrift or eBay. I am so used to it now that I may never go back to new clothing.
Also? Expresso/capuccino maker for $5.00. Happened to be half-off day, too, so I think we paid $2.50.
I use my local thrift store for electronics: keyboards and mice, mostly. And with all the coffee spittin’ here, it’s come in handy. [Actually, I’m more of a coffee spiller. I’ve wrecked at least 3 keyboards that way]. So, right now I’m typing on a fabulous $5 keyboard, assisted by a perfectly marvelous $1.00 mouse.
The other great thing I found was a plain old fashioned cassette player (for audio books) for $4. My expensive one has a radio that leaks through in the background and drives me nuts.
Did I mention the VHS players? Man, I love my thrift store!
I am such a big thrift-store shopper that it was hard for my husband to get me to buy retail maternity clothes (I had zero luck finding maternity clothes in thrift stores around here). I’m sure I’ll go back to my old ways after this baby comes.
I LOVE finding him something like a J Crew 100% lambswool sweater for $4 or Dockers khakis for $3. I always try to come home with something for him, so he doesn’t mind all of my trips to Goodwill. He loves to come home from work and tell me about all the compliments he gets on things that I buy for him at thrift stores. It’s very validating.
Hell, my step-dad wears suits constantly (because he likes to), and my mom never pays more than $20 for one. I think she even found him a tuxedo once!
I have a fabulous crystal bowl that I use for a fruit bowl - it was $2.50 at Goodwill. The cashier commented on what a pretty glass bowl it was, and I flicked the edge (to get that lovely sound) and said, “It’s crystal - that’s why I’m buying it.”
I found the centerpiece for my friend’s bridal shower buffett table at Goodwill for $3.50. It’s a big (but not huge or gaudy) silk floral arrangement that would have cost $60 or $70 at a Michael’s. She kept it, and it sits on top of her entertainment center now. The colors were a perfect match to her wedding colors.
My in-laws go on at least one cruise a year. My MIL likes to wear super-heavily beaded & sequined blouses (like this) over chiffon skirts for dancing. I found her an Oscar de la Renta White Tie blouse (that weighed about 3.5 pounds) for $7. It’s one of her favorites.
I could go on for hours talking about what I’ve bought at thrift stores!
Sometimes, I want to buy things that would never, ever fit me, just because they’re so incredibly beautiful and high quality that I want to “rescue” them. I just need to open an eBay store, dammit!
I got the shirt I am wearing right now at that store. It’s a button-down Abercrombe & Fitch shirt. I paid 25 cents for it, and it still had the tags on it when I bought it!
I usually go in for stuff for the kidlets or putzing around the household department for anthing that catches my eye, but this past week I decided I needed some new duds.
I got a pair of Columbia pants ( the zip off at mid thigh should I have a need to do so, cause you never know when the creek or shit’s gonna rise!) brand new for $7.00 and a pair of linen Sigrid Olsen pants for $2.00 that had the dry cleaning tag still on them.
I also scored a butt load of button down shirts ( most were $2) and I am tired of jersy knit shirts and wanted a change.
And I also scored two awesome cardigans just for moi.
Two nonmangled barbies for $1.
Oh, and just so you all can be jealous, I picked up an album entitled: Six Fat Dutchmen’s Polka Album.
Our local thrift store has 1/2 price day every Saturday. We love to go there, kill time and occasionally find an incredible deal - like my Solomon ski boots for $2.00. I don’t ski often, but it’s sooooo nice to have boots that fit and are actually comfortable. Rental ski boots suck. I’m on the lookout now for a decent set of ski blades.
My local thrift store is across the street and one block up from my office. I go there at lunch a lot. I got a pink casmere sweater for $5.
I recently got a 18" x 36" piece of wood with a blow up of the October 11, 1982 Newsweek cover on it. The one with a cover story on “Wild ‘CATS’–London’s smash musical pounces on Broadway.” I have no idea how that came to exist and find its way to the thrift store, but I snapped it up for $20!
Most of my wardrobe is from Goodwill and eBay. I’m so proud of that, and I’m not afraid to tell people when they compliment me on an outfit and ask where I got it. I love getting clothes for cheap and having lots of them!
Two of my best finds were a silk Donna Karan tie for my husband for $3.85 and a first-edition copy of Rosemary’s Baby that I picked up for $3.45.
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Hope you find more good stuff!