Winning the Thrift Shop Lottery
The thrift shop is my casino I keep going back to. Sometimes I buy clothes I don’t really need, or ones that end up not working out. But at $3 a pop I can afford the bet, whether I win or lose. The payoff is silk, linen, rayon, cotton, and merino wool in my favorite shades of magenta, rose, honeysuckle gold, indigo, turquoise, and azure.
Most of my friends don’t like thrift shopping. They don’t want to browse through church lady clothes and all that polyester. But I don’t have to dig for my treasure. I’ve gotten so good I don’t even use my hands to leaf through the rows. Scanning up and down the aisles with my eyes, I can spot a special fabric or color like a butterfly zeros in on a flower. I have radar for brand names. I consider them a jackpot, not for any show-off notion of status, but because they are made well and tend to fit better.
Thrift shopping makes up for growing up as one of nine kids with knee socks that always fell down because the elastic was worn out. At the Goodwill, I can afford cashmere, to be dramatic, to take fashion risks. And I’m not limited to the cookie-cutter fashion of the season. I get to pick through decades of styles.
It’s also a way for me to practice the Law of Attraction. I start thinking about what I want before I start looking. And I like the idea that thrift shopping is a form of recycling. It’s cheap. It’s fun. It hurts no one.
There’s only one problem. My collection of thrift shop clothes keeps growing, but I don’t have a walk-in closet. Not even close.
Post note: Yesterday while in Christiansburg getting my haircut, I hit the Goodwill and came away with nine new items, only one of which I have to hem. I also heard a great mix of songs on the loud speaker and I like to sing while I shop. They always play the really best hits and not the ones you hear at weddings. I can hardly think of anything more fun than thrift shopping while listening to Warren Zevon sing the Werewolves in London (which made me smile and think of Janet). It’s the simple moments in life, like that, that end up being so memorable.
July 8th, 2008 10:10 am
I love how you said you can zero in on things…I can do that to, with proofreading, with photos, with what I should see.
hehehe and you thought of me! Did you dance, too?
July 8th, 2008 10:14 am
Yes, I dance in place while I shop. I think the lyrics to that song are so masterful and the beat is so funky, it just puts me in a good mood and then I shop better!
Listen here:
July 8th, 2008 10:32 am
Judy and I like going to thrifts…Judy is especially fond of it, but we both get happy when we find something. Some sort by sizes – I like that instead of by color.
July 8th, 2008 10:56 am
That photo is of one in the Roanoke Goodwill Thrift Shop. The one in Christiansburg doesn’t sort by color or size. When I scan for pants I look for the short legged ones, the rest I go by color and pattern first.
July 8th, 2008 12:45 pm
I LOVE going to the Goodwill! Which one is that in Roanoke? I usually go to the Cave Spring one (Off of 419). We usually come home with lots of stuff. The kids love looking through all the toys and books. I’ve found lots of neat books there!
July 8th, 2008 12:48 pm
I buy books at Goodwill, and sometimes vases. I have bought clothing, but not much of it is in my size, so I am limited. We have 2-3 highclass consignment stores around here, but they hardly ever go above a size 12 – so I’m out of luck there too.
July 8th, 2008 1:52 pm
Okay, you’ve convinced me! You might remember I’ve talked about my disdain for thrift shopping (part of my poverty goggles syndrome), but you make it sound like so much fun, I’m heading over to Goodwill this weekend! I’ll find something in indigo and think of you 🙂
July 8th, 2008 1:57 pm
Yes, that’s the Cave Springs Goodwill, Tammy.
Poe, to me it’s play, in color. If you find something marvelous in indigo I hope you’ll post it, Poe!
xo
July 8th, 2008 2:13 pm
I think it’s fun to sort through items. I posted on my blog about my daughter going to Plato’s Closet – it’s a used clothing store for teenagers.
July 8th, 2008 3:31 pm
I attempted thrift shops but never found anything I could bring home. That was long ago. Maybe I should try again.
July 8th, 2008 3:32 pm
They must be playing the same station at your Goodwill as they are at mine! They always play the best, catchy, long-forgotten songs, don’t they?
I have solved the problem of thrift-store bog-down–when something new comes into the house, something has to go back for donation. That way, I always have room and I never get tired of anything. The only catch is, sometimes I end up coming home with something I’ve donated previously – my memory’s not what it once was.
The culling, for me, is almost as much fun as the finding.
Kat
July 8th, 2008 3:45 pm
This is a great post. I really feel like I am with you when you write about yourself and the things you like.
I still don’t like consignment shopping yet. I never find things fit right. I think it fits right for the particular person who bought it. Plus, I never liked hand me downs, because that is all I had. I like new and original. But the way you make it sound, maybe I’ll try it again too.
July 8th, 2008 4:37 pm
She and Country Dew, I think like anything, the more you do it the better you get at it. I started shopping as a teenager and have been pulled by new clothes ever since, but I make many costly mistakes or get bored of my clothes and so this is fun way to have a lot of turnover.
Poe, When I got to our woman’s clothing exchanges I often bring back stuff that I got the year before and see my own stuff back in the pile that someone else is recycling yet again.
A long time ago I asked one of the cashiers what station they were playing because I wanted to start listening to it. She said it was a special Goodwill mix, so I bet you do hear the same cool songs up there where you are.
July 8th, 2008 4:44 pm
You and my sister – she can spot good stuff in a thrift store a mile away! Me – I go in there and can’t find a thing…it’s just not in my genes, I guess.
July 9th, 2008 4:24 am
i love thrift store shopping. the thrill of the deal is addictive!
July 10th, 2008 8:45 am
I LOVE Thrift Shopping and have got the best stuff that everyone compliments me on there! It’s such a rush when you get real finds for so little money. I’m still looking for a nice cashmere sweater in a colour that suits me. Best thing is, at that price, it allows me to buy more in different sizes as my size changes quicky and just goes in and out of size 10, 12, 14!
July 13th, 2008 10:25 am
You need to come to our Fall re-opening after our July break at My Friend’s Closet. We really have some pretty things…often brand new for next to nothing. And the money goes to the food bank, Hospice, the free clinic etc. Come on a Thursday and see me! I get things there all the time.
July 13th, 2008 11:45 am
Keep me posted on this, Deana. I’d love to come!