The official thrift/discount store bragging thread - Part II (May 2015 - Sept. 2018)

[Orgetorix]



Finally found my Barbour. Need to get the sleeves shortened a little bit. Grail achieved.

Congratulations!

Now, when are you going to find my Barbour?

 

[Clay J]

Paging @Fueco Is it possible to discern the model of a Mountain Hardware jacket? There are no tags on the inside other than the Gore-tex tag, and washing instructions, and size tag.

 

[Principle]

Has anyone here done a bicycle tour across the US before?

I'll be graduating in the spring, and if I can align internships and jobs into the next Fall, I'll be doing a trip from the PA rail trail (whichever city that starts in) to Seattle. I had two close friends complete one last summer, and I think I can budget it with time and money (hopefully thrift funded, too). Any and all pointers would be appreciated. Knowing there's thrifty people here, I figure the community knows how to adventure on a budget, too!

Any scenic locations would also be appreciated, I figure I'll hit a few national parks, but there's a lot of stuff inbetween that only locals would know.

- Plans to stealth camp
- Plans to dumpster dive for food when appropriate
- Plans to drink beer with strangers on any and all occasions
- Plans to document as much as possible with photos (will probably blog the trip if weight allows for it)

I'll be updating with photos of my set-up as these plans crystallize.

Cheers!

 

[dazedstate]

Apologies to my gift exchange recipient. Things have been super hectic. I just got your package in the mail today. I hope you enjoy it as it was challenging for some obvious reasons...

Received my gift but have yet to open it. Will update when I do.

Found some old beat up Aldens. Are these considered whole-cuts?

 

[dukedishin]

Are these considered whole-cuts?

I'd say yes, as long as they're not stitching multiple pieces of leather together.

 

[HansderHund]



I'd be more than happy to participate in any EU trading. I'm in a bad thrift country, but find good stuff from time to time (and also thrift whenever I travel, which is a lot). Would be interested to buy stuff, too.

BTW, Slovenia here, so @HansderHund we're practically neighbours

PS.: had a personal grail-level hit recently. Will post pics when I have a bit more time...

Wow, didn't know there were any Slovenians here! We are nearly neighbors, I can enter Slovenia to fill up my gas tank! Are you in/near Ljubljana?

 

[Gajsek]

Wow, didn't know there were any Slovenians here! We are nearly neighbors, I can enter Slovenia to fill up my gas tank!

Are you in/near Ljubljana?

Yeah, in Ljubljana now, originally from Celje. You?

I might be going to Vienna this weekend... Any good spots you can recommend - that are open on Saturdays?

BTW, let's switch to PM, we're completely off-topic

 

[matty long legs]

Thriftmas bud,
I had dreams of gifting you grails I'd thrifted for pennies. Alas, that didn't pan out. Your item should in your mailbox by the end of the week.

Edit: One post away from 1000. Don't know if that's something to celebrate or worry about.

 

[Van Veen]

 
[CONTENTEMBED=/t/480919/the-official-thrift-discount-store-bragging-thread-part-ii-return-to-the-thunderdome/22500_100#post_8217580 layout=inline]. . . slide the button into place and work slowly, getting the needle to poke through as near to the points on the 'x' as you're able to . . . [/CONTENTEMBED]

Yeah, slow and steady wins the race. Like with most things, hand stitching gets easier with patience and practice .

I'd like to do it without going through the back layer. Wish that JefferyD's guide showed him actually doing a stitch.

 

[borbor]

Wtf are these ROFL

 

[richnet12]

^ $$$$$

 

[dazedstate]



I'd say yes, as long as they're not stitching multiple pieces of leather together.

Thanks bud. I thought so.

 

[Nobleprofessor]

Definitely can be hit or miss, but the potential for a big hit makes it worth it. Its also classic, exactly what a true "outlet" should be. Literally middle of nowhere in a town that doesn't even have a stoplight. Cramped. Random. You'll find a lot of crappy 386 line stuff, but occasionally some incredible Black Fleece too. What I've found interesting of late is non-Brooks Brothers brands. Club Monaco, Ike Behar, and John Varvatos, and some completely unknown but high quality shirts the last time I was there. My assumption is that the Garland Shirt Factory, which makes BB's USA made shirts, also makes for these lines as well, and sends their seconds/overruns/etc out as well.

Looking forward to a trip report.

Let me start with the simplest statement regarding the BB Clearance Center.

Do not waste your time.

I was fully prepared for it to be hit or miss. AND, I was okay with that. I knew if I didn't go, I would stress about it and obsess and imagine all the wonderful deals I missed both for myself and for potential Profit on ebay. So, let me be clear. I AM GLAD I WENT because now I can say I have been there and I do not need to obsess about going again. I can now scratch it off my list.

If you happen to find yourself within a 15 minute drive of Garland, North Carolina, you might as well go. If you are further than 30 minutes, don't fret. You aren't missing anything. If you lived in garland, it would probably be worth a weekly trip on the off chance that the one awesome thing was just unearthed.

We were in Raleigh for a Car Auction and decided to go to the BBCC. After a 90 minute drive, we arrived at a clean organized well lit small store. When I first looked into the windows, I was excited. There were 3-4 LONG rows of sport coats and blazers and a bunch of shirts and a bunch of ties. In the back were 6-8 racks of slacks, suit pants, trousers, etc. There is another room next door that is half women's clothes and also has more pants, some coats, one VERY small rack of heavily discounted shirts and some womens shoes.

In the first room, ALL the ties were priced at $17.90. They had hundreds. But, nothing special. Most were run of the mill. NO golden fleece ties.

There were HUNDREDS of shirts. Most were staple colors by size from 15-18. In my size (18) the choices were white and blue. They were all must iron OCBD. I was warned by the lady working there to try EVERYTHING on and many things were seconds, or mis-marked. I tried on 3 white 18-36-37 they all fit differently. One the sleeves were about 2 inches different from left to right. One fit okay, but was probably a slim fit. One fit okay. The two blue shirts were also 18 36/37. One was way too small and one fit nicely. I ended up buying it.

The shirts were $24.90 -- which isn't exactly a screaming deal for a clearance center.

The sport coats and blazers were all $79. There were A LOT of them IF you were looking for 40-44. Smaller than that or larger than that were harder to come by. There were some. But, not a ton. ALL of the suits were MTM that were returned or not measured correctly. Most were pretty odd sizes. I did find a GORGEOUS Golden Fleece Chalk Stripe Suit in some of the nicest fabric I have felt. It was a 52 EXTRA SHORT. WAY too short for me. Each of the suits were not the size that they were tagged. One pair of pants picked up, the left leg was 4 inches shorter than the other.

My brother who wears a 42 or 44 was able to find a WONDERFUL grey cashmere Windowpane Made in Italy that looked great on him and he got a nice tweedy suit in a handsome staple gray.
My wife was totally disappointed. The women's clothes section sucked.

They did have about 15 coats including about 8 Harris Tweed overcoats that I definitely would have bought if they had my size. They were all $129.99. They had a REALLY weird Harris Tweed Sports Coat with that must have been some sort of experiment by Brooks Brothers. It had a Brooks Brothers price tag for $885. It also had a separate tag that indicated it was some sort of special edition sport coat that had been embellished with weird embroidery with Brooks Brothers logos. It also had a soft (I'm guessing cashmere) hoody sewn into it. So, you could wear the hoody part while wearing the blazer or you could just let it hang down inside the jacket. At first, I thought it was just weird enough that it could be real $ for resale. But, it was $195. The extra tag said the embroidery additions were done by Bella Sisters. I looked it up on ebay, and got Nothing. So, I passed.

The 10-14 shirts that were heavily discounted ($9.90) were all sized completely wrong. I picked up the only one that was close to my size and it was labeled 19 38. I tried it one and it was VERY SMALL. It was too small for my brother who wears a 16-34. The room with the womens' clothes also had a couple hundred Men's shirts from Extra Small up to XXL. They were also 24.90. Many were real BB not the 346. Most were non-iron. But, the only thing in XXL was blue OCBD and Pink OCBD both were must iron.

I did find one section where I thought I consider if I could make some money flipping. They had a section of about 100 shirts in size 15.5 through 17.5. They had the typical BB labels, but they had all been marked through. I considered some of these shirts because about half of them were made in Italy and 90% of them were Egyptian Cotton. The ones not made in italy were made in the USA. There were NO shirts labeled as Black Fleece. These shirts were all $29.90. I decided there wasn't enough meat on the bone.

So, my conclusion is, if you are looking for yourself AND you are close by, you can find some good deals IF you don't want a lot of variety and if you are a very common middle range size.

Other observations:

They had EXACTLY two pocket squares. They had ZERO Socks, ZERO men's shoes, ZERO belts, no small accessories.

If you are lucky enough to find the right size, you could find a spectacular custom made Golden Fleece suit. But, I would guess that is very rare. The two ladies working there had both worked there for a LONG time and were very friendly. But, the selection was very limited.

 

[matty long legs]

Damn, prices have gone up. When I was there in August, 2013 I got an overcoat with LP Storm System fabric for $80. Girlfriend got a F/W dress ($30) she wears once a month and navy quilted jacket with corduroy trim ($40) she wears at least twice a week.


POST 1,000!

 

[Nobleprofessor]

Hey Thriftmasee,

If you recieved a notice this weekend that the post office attempted to deliver a package, it is not a summons for Court or something you do not want. It's your Thriftmas Exchange gift. Go get it! Or you can request re-delivery by going to to the following:

https://redelivery.usps.com/redelivery/