The official thrift/discount store bragging thread

[grendel]

Because you keep selling them!

One of the blue pinstripes I referenced above -- maybe the one I like best -- I bought from YOU.
Ha! Inartfully phrased, no doubt. Intent was clear, though, I think.
Missed this first time around. I've stopped buying on Ebay. I've found tons of good stuff myself or here on the thread, and the "unexpected and unfortunate damage" factor has been low, while via ebay, literally everything I've ever bought has showed up in crappier condition than expected.

Weird, I've had very good luck with eBay and only one thing, ever, in poor condition.

 

[yossi]

I started a new job recently and now I'm weeks behind on the thread. Ah well. The new job has me all over LA, so I'm hoping that'll lead to more thrift time.

Here's a digest of about a dozen 15-minute stops over the last few weeks. Mostly unavailable, except where noted. My wife's been asking a lot of pointed questions recently about when this allegedly lucrative hobby will start meaning something other than new clothes for me, so basically all this stuff is headed for eBay. But if something blows up your skirt, let me know. God, I love saying that.

Shirts:

Lorenzini, Paul Stuart (available, tagged L, blue herringbone wool), Borrelli 17/44

Burberry, PRL flannel, Carroll & Co (picked up for myself but short arms, so available - probably about a 16/16.5 - 33)

Agnes B homme

Ties: Charvet, Made in Italy for Carroll & Co (available), Alan Flusser (available), Coogi new old stock. Why? Not sure why.

Wool-Cashmere PRL rollneck

Shooz, clockwise from top left and not polished or treated in any way yet: Alden for Brooks 10.5 E, "Made in England (BY WHOM? ARGH) for Britches of Georgetown" 10.5 D, Alden Cape Cod Collection 11D (LOVE these, wish they were a size bigger), Baxley goodyear welted in 11.5 (new brand to me, but good quality and available), PRL Made in Italy in 6.5 E(!).

Brookstweed

Harris Tweed (Colonial Men's Shop of Salem, MA)

Oxxford Tux for meself

DAKS vintage cotton suit. Good shape, nice deets.

J Press staple navy for meself.

AND I don't always buy unvented, brown, 80s-era suits, but when I do they're vintage Issey Miyake.

Is this as cool as I think it is?

Spoiler: Cool bellows pockets, a couple of small dings but it's been really well-maintained.

And one awesome/WTF shirt, an old Sears westernwear number.

On which has been embroidered a sexy elf drinking wine:

And a mountaineering shellfish.

Available if you can convince me you'll actually wear it.

 

[grendel]

I started a new job recently and now I'm weeks behind on the thread. Ah well. The new job has me all over LA, so I'm hoping that'll lead to more thrift time.

Here's a digest of about a dozen 15-minute stops over the last few weeks. Mostly unavailable, except where noted. My wife's been asking a lot of pointed questions recently about when this allegedly lucrative hobby will start meaning something other than new clothes for me, so basically all this stuff is headed for eBay. But if something blows up your skirt, let me know. God, I love saying that.

Harris Tweed (Colonial Men's Shop of Salem, MA)

This is awesome. What size?

 

[HansderHund]

Follow up...good morning, Austria.

 

[Nataku]



On which has been embroidered a sexy elf drinking wine:

And a mountaineering shellfish.

Available if you can convince me you'll actually wear it.

This is awesome!!

Wish I could pull it off. Hell, I'd buy it just for those cool embroideries.

 

[barrelntrigger]

I started a new job recently and now I'm weeks behind on the thread. Ah well. The new job has me all over LA, so I'm hoping that'll lead to more thrift time.

Here's a digest of about a dozen 15-minute stops over the last few weeks. Mostly unavailable, except where noted. My wife's been asking a lot of pointed questions recently about when this allegedly lucrative hobby will start meaning something other than new clothes for me, so basically all this stuff is headed for eBay. But if something blows up your skirt, let me know. God, I love saying that.

Shirts:

Lorenzini, Paul Stuart (available, tagged L, blue herringbone wool), Borrelli 17/44


Burberry, PRL flannel, Carroll & Co (picked up for myself but short arms, so available - probably about a 16/16.5 - 33)


Agnes B homme



Ties: Charvet, Made in Italy for Carroll & Co (available), Alan Flusser (available), Coogi new old stock. Why? Not sure why.


Wool-Cashmere PRL rollneck


Shooz, clockwise from top left and not polished or treated in any way yet: Alden for Brooks 10.5 E, "Made in England (BY WHOM? ARGH) for Britches of Georgetown" 10.5 D, Alden Cape Cod Collection 11D (LOVE these, wish they were a size bigger), Baxley goodyear welted in 11.5 (new brand to me, but good quality and available), PRL Made in Italy in 6.5 E(!).


Brookstweed


Harris Tweed (Colonial Men's Shop of Salem, MA)


Oxxford Tux for meself


DAKS vintage cotton suit. Good shape, nice deets.


J Press staple navy for meself.



AND I don't always buy unvented, brown, 80s-era suits, but when I do they're vintage Issey Miyake.

Is this as cool as I think it is?












And one awesome/WTF shirt, an old Sears westernwear number.


On which has been embroidered a sexy elf drinking wine:


And a mountaineering shellfish.


Available if you can convince me you'll actually wear it.

HAhahaha, WTF, man! Y U NO POST THIS 2 YEARS EARLIER?! I was totally in my "western shirt" phase. I would of bought this and wore the crap out of it!

 

[eazye]



It depends what you're looking for in a wardrobe. I've managed to cobble together a decent-quality, well-rounded wardrobe of staples during the past two years of thrifting—though my style leans toward American trad, and I wear a lot of Brooks Brothers and similar brands that are relatively abundant. I've been very selective about condition, fit, and styling.

That said, I've sunk a lot of time and effort into this, and it would have been easier shopping online. I've enjoyed doing it this way though.

Yeah, I just straight up disagree with Mainy and Klobber. My closet currently has 4 solid gray suits, 3 solid blue suits, and double that many each blue and gray pinstripe suits -- solid staples. All are dual or single vented, high lapels, most flat front and some with ticket pocket, and all are Samuelsohn or better. If "high end" means only Kiton, then yeah, but that's a function of not finding KITON very often. Did I have to pay a little more for some of these than the standard thrift store $10? Yes. Did I have to be patient and/or lucky? Absolutely. Did I find all of them myself? Of course not; everybody here's closet has the fingerprints of other members, but that's why we love the thread. Did I have to use Oxy on all the white shirts and many of the others? Yessir. But unless we're playing "troll the noob" and I missed the memo, I simply disagree with the notion you can't build a comprehensive wardrobe (including basics) via thrifting.

I've had a couple beers and I'm feeling good too, so I'm going to put in my 10 cents. I've been thrifting for a few years now, but it wasn't until I stumbled upon this thread that I not only learned to separate the wheat from the chaff so-to-speak, but that I learned about proper fit and what looks good with what (something I'm still working on, and something that I'm sure is going to be a life long process). I've said it before, but I think that the best thing for a newcomer to do (one that really is interested about this hobby) is to read the entire thread from the beginning. I know that sounds like a tall order, but I did it, and not only did I learn more about clothes than I had learned in my entire lifetime prior to discovering this thread, it was also a fun and very entertaining read. I also started out making a ton of Noob mistakes, like everybody else. But I like to think I've come quite along way from those first fit pics I posted. Not only that, I've met some really great people (IRL and from the interwebs).

Ok, now to get back on track. My original reason for this post was to say that it's totally possible to compile a complete wardrobe from thrifting. Granted, I prefer the vintage stuff to the high end Italian stuff, but I've found plenty of that too. Which brings me to my second point. I'd say 70 percent of my currant wardrobe consists of items I've traded or bought from other members here. The generosity of these guys on the thread really is something, but you have to contribute as much as you take away, and the rewards always come in unexpected ways, that is the beauty of this thing. Just today, I recieved an unbelievable plaid jacket in the mail from the Capt. The thing is beauitiful and fits me perfectly. Got it through a trade. I also recieved a couple kick ass tie from CeaserC. We had a trade worked out in which the package I sent him got lost along the way. It sucked but no biggie. But dude is such a stand up guy, he still sent his part of the bargain. Tomorrow I'm expecting a package from Apollotrader just because he though it was awesome and one of us on here needed it, no charge. That's how it ebbs and flows. My first transaction on here was sending Nat a sweet pair of boots on the cuff for future consideration, not expecting anything. Months later I got it back and then some with an amazing Borsalano tweed walking hat. In short, my wordrobe is now awesome as ****, I've made some amazing connections and I'm now drunk.

 

[mainy]



I've had a couple beers and I'm feeling good too, so I'm going to put in my 10 cents. I've been thrifting for a few years now, but it wasn't until I stumbled upon this thread that I not only learned to separate the wheat from the chaff so-to-speak, but that I learned about proper fit and what looks good with what (something I'm still working on, and something that I'm sure is going to be a life long process). I've said it before, but I think that the best thing for a newcomer to do (one that really is interested about this hobby) is to read the entire thread from the beginning. I know that sounds like a tall order, but I did it, and not only did I learn more about clothes than I had learned in my entire lifetime prior to discovering this thread, it was also a fun and very entertaining read. I also started out making a ton of Noob mistakes, like everybody else. But I like to think I've come quite along way from those first fit pics I posted. Not only that, I've met some really great people (IRL and from the interwebs).

Ok, now to get back on track. My original reason for this post was to say that it's totally possible to compile a complete wardrobe from thrifting. Granted, I prefer the vintage stuff to the high end Italian stuff, but I've found plenty of that too. Which brings me to my second point. I'd say 70 percent of my currant wardrobe consists of items I've traded or bought from other members here. The generosity of these guys on the thread really is something, but you have to contribute as much as you take away, and the rewards always come in unexpected ways, that is the beauty of this thing. Just today, I recieved an unbelievable plaid jacket in the mail from the Capt. The thing is beauitiful and fits me perfectly. Got it through a trade. I also recieved a couple kick ass tie from CeaserC. We had a trade worked out in which the package I sent him got lost along the way. It sucked but no biggie. But dude is such a stand up guy, he still sent his part of the bargain. Tomorrow I'm expecting a package from Apollotrader just because he though it was awesome and one of us on here needed it, no charge. That's how it ebbs and flows. My first transaction on here was sending Nat a sweet pair of boots on the cuff for future consideration, not expecting anything. Months later I got it back and then some with an amazing Borsalano tweed walking hat. In short, my wordrobe is now awesome as ****, I've made some amazing connections and I'm now drunk.

+1for being drunk on my birthday

did i mention today is my birthday (friday)?

just wait til you guys see what i'm going to post to celebrate. it involves free ****. lol

 

[tubby34]



+1 assuming you're a somewhat normal size and willing to become a frequent trading partner. Oh, and you have a good tailor.

I'm a 48 in coats and a 10.5 EEE in shoes, but can comfortably wear a 12 in a normal width.

In the last week of thrift I picked up two suits, and the shoes- and passed on a lot of stuff I know could be flipped/ traded because I don't know exactly what.

Usually when I flip, I only reuse the money to support hobbies. Buy a $5 jersey, and profit goes to a jersey I want, new or used. I find a broken keyboard, ill but a broken keyboard though.

By the way, here are those shoes I was told I should throw away, but after a polish I think they look great for the money.

And I agree with the price rule, once they know there's a demand- they'll charge more for the supply. I've seen it at local goodwill a with jerseys. Ill buy one for 5, them go back and find a similar one for 10. Unless I can make $50 on it, it gets left behind. Not worth having stuff I can't fit or like laying around.

 

[barrelntrigger]

+1for being drunk on my birthday

did i mention today is my birthday (friday)?

just wait til you guys see what i'm going to post to celebrate. it involves free ****. lol

Happy birthday, man! Hope all is well.

 

[barrelntrigger]

Shout outs to suited for hooking me up with a BB Maker suit. He also threw in 2 ties for free! What a kick ass guy!

 

[woodchuck312]

I must be the exception to the rule here but I've only been thrifting 2-3 months and i'm finding tons of staple clothing that fits me, maybe i'm just insanely lucky though.
White shirts -BB, Canali, etc
Blue - JPress, BB, Hickey, etc

Staple Suits - Canali, BB, Zegna

Shoes, I'm up to about 6 pair of dress shoes in like new condition Mostly Allen Edmonds, but also Church and Alan McAfee.

Since when does staple clothing need to be Loro Piana and Brioni clothing. An average Joe who normally spends $100's of dollars at Macy's or JC Penney could go to a Goodwill and get the same stuff or better for a fraction of the cost. In just about any Thrift Store you can find some decent quality Jcrew, Banana Republic and JOS A Bank. Not to mention a plethora of Bostonian and Hanover shoes.

This whole conversation stemmed from a guy who is wearing Mike Piazza jerseys. Do you realy think he needs to be sporting Edward Green shoes and Loro Piana? I'm sure if he could get a couple nice JOS A Bank suits, 3-5 BB or JCrew shirts, some ties, a couple Bostonians, and a few pair of pants he would be stoked. And he could get all that for well under $100.

Post of the day award goes to Mainy.

I have never ever ever ever found in many years of thrifting the following:

- Staple black or brown shoes (not loafers) in good condition from a high end brand and not in a crazy size.
- A solid Navy / Charcoal staple suit from a high end brand that was not horribly outdated or trashed.
- A solid white shirt from a high end brand (I will further say "solid anything" in high end shirting).

Thrifting is not a way to build a wardrobe from scratch - it is a good way to collect a bunch of crap that you will never wear. Mainy hit the nail - it is for rounding. Despite finding lots of stuff occasionally, last year I only kept only 11 thrifted pieces out of hundreds I found. I have a poor keep rate and am very fussy.

If I had to rely on thrifting for my wardrobe, I would be campaigning for public nudity in San Francisco since I would have no clothes to wear.

 

[jkidd41011]

Happy B-Day Mainy & EazyE

As for the thrifting for a wardrobe. The only things in my normal rotation that I found are a couple shirts and a decent amount of ties. If found some nice pants of the occasional wear variety. All of my thrifted suits and shoes have come from members here on the thread

 

[Randy]

. . . if you want to end up wearing double pleated zanellas with an old ass zegna shirt with a beat up pair of allen edmonds, and I guess to some people that is an acceptable outcome since the "retail" value of all these items was really high, but ultimately you will look like a doofus

Great and memorable advice, well said. Even so, my experience demonstrates that you can build up a terrifically nice wardrobe of relatively high end (or even just high end) staples through a combination of thrifting, buying or trading with others from this thread (both at a distance and locally), and eBay.

 

[Randy]

Quote:
But they don't. This is a corner of a forum in a corner of a search engine in a corner of the internet. The three corner rule protects us.