I originally posted this diary in October during the height of the "Palin's $150K wardrobe" outrage. I had been planning to write a lengthy comment in one of the outrage diaries. Then, thinking about the current (worsening) state of the economy, and worries over family budgets, it occurred to me that some of my experience with thrift store buying might be of general benefit. In this version, I'm incorporating some suggestions which came from comments in that original thread.
Follow me below the fold for some hints at looking great on dollars an outfit (as in singles, not 100s).
My original comment was about my 18 year old daughter's wardrobe of nearly 70 pair of shoes. Yes. 70. The vast majority of those were bought at resale stores, for about $3.00 a pair. (However, I must confess, we splurged on two pair from Marshall's last weekend. $7 a pop. (But, they were Etienne Aigners!)). Comments pointed out that only 'nearly new' shoes are wise, because broken in shoes may cause foot and joint problems because they're not your feet they're worn to. This is a great point, and, in addition to the potential 'yuk' factor, why we only buy hardly- or never-worn shoes at resale shops.
I started re-saling for my daughter's clothes when she was tiny. Almost all her froo froo dresses as a young one came from one resale store or another. One particular find was a Christian Dior dress (who the heck buys Christian Dior dresses for 3 year olds?) for $15. When she was about 3, one of my favorite thrift stores went out of business, and everything was 50% off. I bought close to $200 in clothes she could grow into. That buy kept her in froo froo (and other) clothes till she was about 8. Needless to say, my taste tends to run more toward 'classical' rather than trendy. By this time, I was (and have remained) a single mom. So, in addition to liking thrift store buying, I pretty much needed to.
It's probably a good thing to mention at this point, that, as my Mom used to tell me "You have champagne appetite and a beer barrel budget". Never have understood why this happens, but if something catches my eye, you can be guaranteed it's the most expensive item on the rack. I'm also pretty good at sewing, and that influences what makes sense to buy and what doesn't. Needs minor repairs? Ok. Fabulous formal wear that needs alteration? Ok too.
As a grade schooler, the clothes for her weeks at 'away camp' (sometimes on scholarship) usually also came from thrifts. I wasn't crazy about the idea of new/nice clothes getting trashed while she was being a kid, but a $.90 pair of shorts? I didn't really care if they got ruined.
When she was entering HS, I knew clothes would be of more interest to her than they'd been in grade school, but decided I wasn't spending tons of money on clothes while her fashion sense morphed on a weekly basis. (Fortunately, I remember being a teen.)
So, we started frequenting resale stores. At first, she wasn't really wild about it. Usually we hit the Salvation Army, because I love the whole circular benefits nature of their Family Thrift Stores (I get tax deduction for donations, they get revenue from sales for their rehab programs, rehab programs provide work for folks who need it, but may not be able to get work elsewhere, I get clothes at rock bottom prices. It's ALL good.)
I don't like shopping at the 'for profit' thrifts, because the clothes are too expensive. Average prices of $7-8 on everyday clothes, instead of SA's $2-3. Yes, I am spoiled. More than once, we serendipitously wound up at the SA when they were having a whole-store 50% off sale. IIRC, we came away with 42 articles of clothing for $32. Yep. Less than a dollar a piece! The haul included nearly new leather trousers, a suede skirt, and an Italian suede blouse.
So, some hints:
1). Forget consignment stores.
They're too expensive.
2). If you live in a major metropolitan area, shop at stores which are near but not in upscale neighborhoods
Why? In the neighborhood, the prices will be higher. Near the neighborhood you'll still get upscale clothes, but they'll be priced lower.
3). Be prepared.
Some thrift stores (particularly SAs) don't have changing rooms. She wears snug leggings and a tank top so she can try stuff on over those, and still get a realistic idea about the fit.
4). Have a plan.
Be prepared to spend a couple hours in the store. We have a system. She looks for cute/eccentric stuff and what she thinks she 'needs'. I look for timeless, formal stuff. We pile loads of clothes into the cart, and when we're tired of piling, we stake out an area in the furniture section, and she starts trying on. Rejects get put back on hangers, and hung off the cart. Stuff we're buying gets folded and put in the cart. Empty hangers, in the cart's infant seat. We're good citizens and put everything we're not buying back where we found it.
4). Don't buy just what you need.
Buy what you think you'll probably eventually have a use for. This is one area in which 'classical taste' comes in handy. It never really goes out of style. Most recent anecdote: we were ready to check out, when a little black dress caught my eye. She tried it on. Perfect fit. It was an Evan Picone: $7. Did she need that dress in August? No. But it will come in handy for the black/white semi-formal dance in January. The shoes that will be worn with it we got last Fall at a different thrift for $3.00. They had never been worn.
5). Make sure when you've found a 'keeper' that you examine it closely.
Sometimes, you can find an 'issue' which explains why it ended up in someone's donation pile. There might be tears, stains or something else that can't really be fixed. If you're handy with a sewing machine, open seams are a quick and easy fix, for example.
6). Know what you can fix by washing/dry cleaning.
-Anecdote: Very nicely styled Ann Taylor linen tailored blouse. REALLY dingy "Dry clean only". I soaked it overnight in a full strength solution of Tide and washed it by hand the next day. It turned out blindingly white. It now gets washed on the delicate cycle, so no dry cleaning bills) She wears it now, but it will also be a great blouse to wear when she's at internship jobs in college (remember: timeless). We've had similar results with authentic Irish knit and Dale of Norway sweaters (those things cost hundreds of dollars new. We got them for $3 each.)
7). Don't forget to give at least a cursory glance to accessories.
We've found (and bought) a Coach clutch for $2.50, Fendi and Fossil purses for $3 each. Her shoe finds include Enzo Anglioni's, Aigners, BCBG, etc. We only buy these things when they are in next to perfect condition.
We also collect gloves. Particularly vintage gloves and have found some wonderful ones for $1-2 a pair.
8). Develop relationships with your favorite dry cleaners.
I have some experience in the custom clothing business, so I know what cleaners can do. You might need more than one cleaner.
-- Basic pieces, skirts, pants, blouses go to CD where everything costs $2 to clean
-- Nicer contemporary pieces (like the recent Vera Wang find) go to the neighborhood Korean lady, who shakes her head and starts asking questions every time we come in).
-- Vintage pieces go to the 5 Star couture cleaners just up the street.
Sorry, but I have to share one more story here. For the formal her freshman year, we found a 1950's party dress like she'd wanted (but we'd only seen too expensive). It had some stains on the hem, which I was pretty sure could be rehabilitated. The dress was only $20 (came from a vintage specialty re-sale, they're always higher priced), but the cleaning was $85. My eyes bugged out. Still, it was worth it. (The shoes came from a resale store too. Pink satin 50's style pumps. Unworn and perfect at $2.50.) The next dress they saw was a lace column dress which needed some special work on the hem. I saw that at a trip to the store when my daughter wasn't with me, and my 'tape measure eyes' nailed the size. It fit as though it were made for her. So, when friends gave us an extravagant 1950's party dress which she decided to wear for prom last year, before I ever started the substantial alterations, I brought it to Pat to see whether they'd be able to restore it. There was a lot of discoloration, etc. given its age. Due to the sheer volume of the fabric (typical 50's circle skirt), I was expecting a price of $100. When she told me she could salvage the dress, I asked her the cost. Remember: relationship. Pat already knows us. She lowered her voice and said $35. My eyes bugged out, and she gave me 'the look' not to say anything. Unbelievable bargain! The gloves to complete the outfit? They were already in the glove drawer. We actually had to buy new shoes for that occasion. Total cost of Prom outfit: $65.
Another one: I picked a formal dress from the rack. The then 14 year old went "YUK, the color is awful!" I said "Please humor me by trying it on". It was a remarkably good knockoff of this dress. She fell in love once she saw it on: $7.00. A couple months later, we found embroidered shoes to match: $3 Total cost for Homecoming outfit: $17, including cleaning.
Brand names in her wardrobe: Express, Ann Taylor, Oscar de la Renta, Evan Picone, Ralph Lauren, Ann Klein, Calvin Klein, Escada and many more. Probably the best thing yet, was an original, 1960's vintage Karl Lagerfeld which we got in a Boston thrift store when we were there on a college visit. At $.75, it broke the bank. Yes, you read correctly: 75 cents.
Bottom line: You can look like 150,000 bucks even on a very tight budget. Guys, and job hunters, this goes for you too. Lots of great suits and/or blazers to be found. Another anecdote: Her Constitutional Law class presented supreme court cases before 'real live judges' in the Federal courthouse. She wore a Dana Buchman skirt ($3), an Ann Taylor jacket ($5), a Lauren silk sweater ($2). Ten dollars. Dry cleaning added another $10 to the price. The pearls were also from a resale store.
Side benefits: When we're at 'regular' stores, my daughter finds $20 for a blouse which is made poorly from cheap fabrics 'ridiculously expensive'. Reusing clothes is good for the environment.
A word to those who are not a perfect size 4. Neither am I! I'm tall and 'plus sized'. I don't find the same array of clothes my slender daughter finds, but I still keep an eye out for things that will work for me. Recent finds, denim skirt, denim dress (my 'uniform' pieces), tweed blazer, sweater, etc.
Things to bring with you to a thrift store:
-A taste for timeless/out of the ordinary clothes
-Time
-Openness to what the universe will dump in your lap
-No predisposition to find what you saw in the Nordstrom's ad last week.
-A 'stock up' mentality
By the way, I hate to shop. I usually don't find things in the regular stores which meet my: taste, waist, amount I'm willing to spend. So, we do massive thrift swings about 3 to 4 times a year, and what makes it fun for me, is knowing that I've found what we call 'key buys'; great stuff, for next to nothing.
On a non-clothing topic, there's a nearby church that holds a giant rummage sale 2x/year. We never do well there with clothes, but usually hit a Bonanza of accessories, household items and BOOKS. We're both avid readers, and we find some literary classics which somehow or another aren't in our library. Additionally, there are usually some great antique books, which my daughter, for some unknown reason has been collecting since she was 8. The people manning the book section give us 'volume' discounts due to their amusement at our exclamations over our (voluminous) finds. The last time, we got 16 books for $22.
Hopefully, this has been helpful to some people. Happy bargain hunting!