The seasons are changing and I am swapping out clothes in the kids' closets and mine. I had two bags of outgrown clothes and assorted stuff to give away, and stopped by the thrift store. Only to be greeted by a sign that said, "No donations today; we are full".
I went in to browse anyway. I can never resist digging for those thrift store finds, my favorites being the toy and game shelves for jigsaw puzzles, and the book section. It is the thrill of the hunt! I've found clothes from high end brands with the tags on. Books in pristine condition. Vintage toys. Cute holiday serving dishes. Unopened craft kits. If I am being honest, thrift store shopping is the only kind of shopping I actually enjoy. There is a special joy in having someone admire your Anthropologie top and be able to crow that you bought it for two dollars. Half my clothes are from thrift stores and consignment stores. There are those who would be horrified by this and to them I say...nothing. I can only shrug. To each their own. But for me reusing things is a very good thing, and so is giving away things that we don't use so that others can use them.
Living in a consumerist society overflowing with stuff means that unbelievably nice things get donated to thrift stores (I know this because I shop there, but also because I'm one of the people regularly donating nice, almost-new things to thrift stores.) SO many things that sometimes they have to put up signs saying "No more!"
One of the cutest viral videos I've seen was of a bunch of college girls going into a thrift store to buy the most over the top dresses they could find, trying them on with peals of laughter, then wearing those fancy dresses out to lunch at a diner. In my friend circle, swapping things is the norm. And my neighborhood email list has a constant stream of stuff being bought and sold. My only regret with not being on Facebook is that I miss being part of those "buy nothing" groups out there.
For my daughter, a Famous Five book (remember those??). For my spouse, The Martian by Andy Weir- one of my favorite science fiction novels.
And two books for myself, an Inspector Montalbano mystery, and A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, a novel I've heard about but never read.
Enjoy the weekend and see you tomorrow! If you're a thrifter or a garage sale diva, tell me what your favorite finds are.
Woo hoo! A new post everyday! I'm so looking forward to this. I absolutely had to comment when I saw this. Like you, I hate shopping and funnily enough, I enjoy going to second-hand stores. Where I live, there are very nice second-hand stores that sell toys and clothes for children. I've come away almost brand new puzzles, a whole toy kitchen with accessories and very high quality clothes. There's very little point (IMHO) in buying new toys for children because they outgrow them after a short time. The one thing that I do miss is a second-hand English bookstore. I've picked up some treasures browsing through a one such store that I used to frequent in my former home-city and one of them is, you'll never guess - A short history of tractors in Ukraine. I love the book and have read it many times over. A few passages stayed with me long after I read them...
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Shoots :)
Hi Shoots!! Back from your vacay?? Glad to know you are an enthusiastic second-hand shopper. It is that element of mystery and surprise, I think. So true that kid clothing and toys are fab to buy used, I also have done that since my kids were born. Over here I have an abundance of used book sales and thrift stores are crammed with books, I feel very lucky and enjoy rescuing copies of my favorite books (that I've read from the library but don't own).
DeleteI can't believe you're also found the tractors in Ukraine book! Get out! What a funny coincidence :)
I'm an avid thrifter (and an equally avid donor...love to declutter) and usually look for books - especially cookbooks, small kitchen stuff, vintage electronic items and speakers, and small silver decorative trays (I can count 7-8 in my collection). I never bought clothes (I'm really tall and don't have much luck) or shoes and don't even bother looking anymore. My favorite finds are an idli cooker (!), a pair of steel mixing bowls with rings that have been in rotation in my kitchen for at least a decade, and Canal House cookbooks. I will say that thrifting is no longer fun or even affordable. Prices shot up in the last couple of years and the stores are getting sparse in our area. I don't know what to make of it.
ReplyDeleteHa ha, yes to the cycle of donation and purchase- the real circle of life ;) I can't believe you found an idli cooker! I have been looking for a set of steel mixing bowls for ages. Years ago I bought a large (like commercial kitchen size) wide steel bowl from a garage sale for pennies and I use it all the time. It is dented and loved.
DeleteSo I've been hearing from others (like on the Reddit "thrift store hauls" group) that thrifting has lost its luster as you are saying. They call it thrift grift where stores are charging ridiculous rates, and people are buying up stuff from thrift stores to sell online...I still have a few thrift stores in town and I do hope they keep going. They keep so much stuff out of the landfill. The store I like to donate to offers FREE shopping to people escaping domestic violence so they can set up their new homes.
Hi Nupur, wow Anthropologie for a few dollars? Amazing. I do donate (overgrown kids clothes mainly) at our clothing thrift store maybe 2ce a year but many of the clothes there tend to be Forever 21, Shein etc, so not the best quality, not to mention labor practices… but in any case it’s so much fun to quickly look thru stuff even if I’m not buying anything!
ReplyDeleteYup! It is not like I find bougie brands all the time, but I have (in my not-fancy small town) found tops from J. Crew, Anthro, Madewell. The ones from Loft, Ann Taylor, Banana Republic are more common and of course there is a surfeit of fast fashion and brands like Old Navy and Target.
DeleteI will buy anything second-hand that is in good condition and that I like and will use, regardless of brand. The rationale being that someone else purchased it and my buying it is getting more use out of a fast fashion item, and not supporting the company. (I've heard of people similarly buying used leather who would not buy leather from a store).
I don't have sort of fashion sense, but it has been fun in recent years to buy tops/dresses for a couple of dollars and try them out to see if I like particular colors/fabrics/necklines/cuts. (I regularly donate back stuff I buy, so this is fast fashion for me, but of a more sustainable type.)
Yes, it is great fun even to just browse if you don't buy :)
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DeleteI absolutely love buying preloved stuff, whether they're books, kid gear, toys etc. especially in the last couple of years, almost everything I got for kid #2 was preloved and we also have a couple of excellent market places in India now that connect buyer s and sellers. Similarly I have also been able to sell quite a few things after the kid was done using them. Win-win. For my 8 year old who's reading more books than I can buy or get from the library I love browsing bookchor!
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