I buy most of my clothes at thrift stores and garage sales. Not underthings, but the overthings. Sweaters, shirts, pants, sometimes shoes. If it doesn't work for me after I bring it home (although I do try most things on), I release it back into circulation by putting it in the donation pile. I admit I have bought a couple of things I thought might look good on me because they were really cheap. I seem to forget that olive is not my color. I tend to wear cardigans to work a lot during the winter. The lab is really warm sometimes and we have to wear lab coats and gloves, so it's nice to easily take off a layer when I'm in there.
I have to be in the right frame of mind for shopping this way, because one does have to sort through a lot of unacceptable things. But I look around online for clothing occasionally and can't quite bring myself to spend $50 on a pair of jeans. This is better for the planet anyway, and I do like the thrill of the hunt.
Someone mentioned that a thrift store in the next town south of here had good stuff, so I drove the 20 minutes and did some shopping there this morning. They had a 50% off sale on items with certain tag colors, so I got most of my items for half price.
And did I find some items! Holy moly, I hit the sweater bonanza. Above you can see the SEVEN sweaters I bought after I soaked them in a gentle no-rinse soap and have laid them out to dry in my basement. Everything does seem to have a certain smell to it from the thrift store and I like to give everything a wash before I wear it. It's funny, four of the sweaters are from Christopher and Banks, a store whose clothing I associate with teacher-wear. But I like the styles and the fit so it works for me.
I also found two tops, a pair of shoes and a pair of snow boots. The snow boots I think are snowboarding boots. I don't snowboard, but I think they will work just fine for $5, thank you.
How about you, do you shop second hand?
What a haul! Yes, I get about 99 percent of my clothing from thrift stores or hand-me-downs from friends. I just can't bear the thought of paying more than $5 for a pair of jeans! I did, however, cough up a lot for a pair of barn boots - but my birthday money covered them!
ReplyDeleteYa know, I buy so few articles of clothing it's crazy. (I'm sure some people might say I need to get out of this rut and do some shopping!) I never buy anything that isn't on sale. Jeans and slacks are the hardest for me to find because I have a funny body. (I is what I is.) I don't like having a lot of clothes. But then I spent 90% of my time in the woods so it's not like I have to look presentable in the work place everyday. There was once a gal who lived up here in our rather isolated area and she maintained that all any female needed in the way of clothing was one nice winter outfit and one nice summer outfit. And you could wear that same outfit for 10 years to each "out and about" event and nobody batted an eye.
ReplyDeleteYes I do, but thrifting isn't huge here. Everyone's into the overpriced branded stuff!
ReplyDeleteWow that is a serious score! I/we love thrifting. I'm tall and have long arms & thrift stores are a treasure trove for me. Newer clothing has (for some reason) shorter sleeves. I love to repurpose garments for the kids too. Good source of nice quality fabrics
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