# Thrifting Magazine **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** magazines-newspapers\ **Created:** [May 29, 2025, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thrifting-magazine/1018931 "2025-05-29T01:33:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thrifting-magazine/1018931/1 "2025-05-29T01:33:44Z")
Was browsing at the bookstore when I saw _Thrifting Magazine_ attractively priced at $18. That gets you “America’s Best Cities To Thrift!”, a list of thrift chain stores, “Items Never To Buy At Thrift Stores” (underwear! half-used cosmetics!), a story about a guy who found something improbable like a Fabrege egg or dinosaur skull (I forget what it was, maybe more mundane), and a back pat for being “socially and environmentally conscious” (which is not quite true). I was wondering who would buy this magazine? Macklemore’s mother? Only thing I learned was the slightly disturbing suggestion that a Size Zero women’s dress today is bigger than a Size Eight dress was in the 1950s. Which may or may not be true. I’m not really sure what that means. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thrifting-magazine/1018931/2 "2025-05-29T01:48:52Z")
That strikes me as rather expensive for any magazine let alone one dedicated to thrifting. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thrifting-magazine/1018931/3 "2025-05-29T02:03:21Z")
Well yeah. I mean, even at a thrift shop I am unlikely to pay more than $15 out of principle. They did show pictures of “some trendy LA thrift shops!”. But paying $90 for an old wooden Coke box ain’t thrifting. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thrifting-magazine/1018931/4 "2025-05-29T02:11:14Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Only thing I learned was the slightly disturbing suggestion that a Size Zero women’s dress today is bigger than a Size Eight dress was in the 1950s. Which may or may not be true. I’m not really sure what that means. I don’t think that there’s any consistency at all about women’s dress sizes, in any age. Maybe if it’s from the same company. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thrifting-magazine/1018931/5 "2025-05-29T02:36:37Z")
If you are willing to pay that much for a new magazine and actually find any of the information in it useful, thrifting is not for you. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thrifting-magazine/1018931/6 "2025-05-29T02:40:54Z")
Some blame “vanity sizing”… Women like smaller numbers. But women are bustier and bigger too. In medical school, problems still used “the average sized adult man of 70kg=154 lbs.”which only describes a modest fraction of them, at least in my province. > **[Why a Size 8 in the 1950s Would Be a Size 00 Today](https://time.com/4477888/clothing-vanity-sizing/)** > > See vanity sizing over time > **[Chart shows shocking change in clothing sizes](https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/fashion-beauty/a556302/chart-shows-shocking-change-in-clothing-sizes/)** > > You won’t believe how much women’s clothing sizes have changed over the past 50 years. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thrifting-magazine/1018931/7 "2025-05-29T02:44:23Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > That strikes me as rather expensive for any magazine let alone one dedicated to thrifting. > 😉 Almost as lacking in self-awareness as the issue of _Ad Busters_ I bought a couple of decades ago only to find the pages of anti-mercantile rhetoric regularly interspaced with progressively more obnoxious advertisements for their shitty “AD BUSTERS!!!” sneakers “MADE WTH _RECYCLED_ TIRE TREAD **AND** POLYESTER FROM GROCERY BAGS!!! GET YOURS NOW NOW NOW!!! OR ELSE BE PERPETUALLY BRANDED A REACTIONARY CRYPTO-FASCIST!!!” Meanwhile, the ghost of Abbie Hoffman looms over abandoned shopping malls still soundlessly imploring non-existent shoppers to [steal his book](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/184085.Steal_This_Book). Stranger ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thrifting-magazine/1018931/8 "2025-05-29T15:19:45Z")
I’d maybe buy a used copy of the magazine. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thrifting-magazine/1018931/9 "2025-05-29T16:33:42Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > _Thrifting Magazine_ attractively priced at $18. Yeah, I’m sitting here in my thrifted-yet-stylish safari shirt and cargo pants… that magazine is more expensive than my entire wardrobe today. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thrifting-magazine/1018931/10 "2025-05-29T16:38:45Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I don’t think that there’s any consistency at all about women’s dress sizes, in any age. Maybe if it’s from the same company. This is so. I have four pairs of jeans which fit me about the same. Three different “sizes”. Dresses are even worse. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thrifting-magazine/1018931/11 "2025-05-29T17:08:39Z")
We Google thrift stores when we visit a new place, so I can kind of see the appeal, though not at $18. I’ll look for it in the magazine section of one of the thrift stores we go to. There are plenty of examples of finding treasures in thrift stores on both the American and British versions of Antiques Roadshow. As for clothes sizes, my wife has a problem buying jeans. The same style of jeans comes in different sizes (in terms of fit) depending on where it was manufactured. Lees, not Levis. Someone doesn’t have good control over their factories. ---
**Author:** ![Eric1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3bc359/32.png) [@Eric1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eric1)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thrifting-magazine/1018931/12 "2025-05-29T17:45:53Z")
I used to love this mailed-in thrifting newsletter The Tightwad Gazette, a humorous mailer with frugal tips. Did anyone ever read those ones? ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thrifting-magazine/1018931/13 "2025-05-29T18:50:20Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > As for clothes sizes, my wife has a problem buying jeans. The same style of jeans comes in different sizes (in terms of fit) depending on where it was manufactured. Lees, not Levis. Someone doesn’t have good control over their factories. That surprises me. I’m a guy, and though clothes sizes are not as complicated for me as for women, the usual S-M-L-XL sizes for upper body wear are random enough to confuse me sometimes (I’m a skinny small guy, but I’ve had t-shirts in all those sizes). But in my experience, jeans are always labeled in inches, first waist size and second length. So I always know that a pair of jeans sized 30-30 or 30-32 fits me perfectly (I’ve never had significant weight changes in adulthood). Is this different for women’s jeans sizes? ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thrifting-magazine/1018931/14 "2025-05-29T19:05:48Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Is this different for women’s jeans sizes? Oooooh yes. You have your sizes XS-XXXL or 0 to 32, and they mean nothing specific, just general. Length is Short or petite, regular, tall or long and they are also not specific. And then some stores have their own sizing system like Torrid which is size 0-5 (10-32, roughly) but not always (their pants are often sized with actual 10-32). ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thrifting-magazine/1018931/15 "2025-05-29T19:27:20Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > (I’ve never had significant weight changes in adulthood). Is this different for women’s jeans sizes? I’ve never had a problem when ordering the same style and size of Levi’s. Always fit perfectly. The fit does change when you change styles, but that is to be expected. But my wife has had multiple problems. One example of how well stocked stores are better than on line. But well stocked is the thing. I order on line because the stores are always out of my very average sizes. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thrifting-magazine/1018931/16 "2025-05-29T19:29:03Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Oooooh yes. You have your sizes XS-XXXL or 0 to 32, and they mean nothing specific, just general. Length is Short or petite, regular, tall or long and they are also not specific. And then some stores have their own sizing system like Torrid which is size 0-5 (10-32, roughly) but not always (their pants are often sized with actual 10-32). That sucks. Really, it’s not the most egregious example, but another everyday thing that sucks only for women with no reason at all. Also, I’m an engineer (EE, not textile engineer, fortunately), and such a system goes against everything I learned and honor about defining dimensions and standards. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thrifting-magazine/1018931/17 "2025-05-29T20:28:51Z")
Thrift store sizes are often one higher or lower than expected. People sometimes get rid of stuff for a reason… I have the body of someone who has power lifted for thirty years. I can usually find something that fits pretty well in a thrift store or online; just sometimes in regular stores (for certain things). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thrifting-magazine/1018931/18 "2025-05-29T21:20:17Z")
Even in mens’ pants, measured in inches, you can get maybe an inch of variability from one brand to the next (that is to say, any given man might own pants that fit him equally comfortably that are listed as one inch above or below his usual). But a variation of one inch out of 40ish is a lot better than one company’s 0 being a different company’s 8, or whatever: A man who knows his size can just walk into a store and find some things that he knows will be at least close. By the way, useful trick for fitting lower garments (pants and skirts), especially in thrift shops, rummage sales, and the like: Fit the waistline around your forearm. There’s some variation from person to person, of course, so you’ll need to calibrate with a garment that you know fits you well, and then make a fist, half-fist, etc. as needed. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thrifting-magazine/1018931/19 "2025-05-29T23:04:52Z")
I can look at something in a thrift store and tell if it will fit without trying it on. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2025, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thrifting-magazine/1018931/20 "2025-05-30T03:57:13Z")
Of course $18 is the price for a new copy of Thrifting magazine. In the thrift store it might only be fifty cents. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thrifting-magazine/1018931.md?page=2)