The official thrift/discount store bragging thread

[Nataku]

Wow, that's one helluva find!!!!

 

[83glt]

^^Very nice score. Well done!

 

[Swan Song]

Nice Jacket

 

[EriQ009]

I'm impressed with some of these fantastic thrift finds. I was at two Goodwills recently and had no luck. Racks upon racks of terrible clothing and not a gem to be found.

 

[makewayhomer]

anyone want to comment on the best thrift stores in Cambridge/Boston?

(or direct me to the right place to ask)

 

[antirabbit]

Originally Posted by mike540

Been busy lately so haven't posted in a while but have made some good finds. A mainline Zileri suit, a Zegna sportcoat, 2 Canali SC, a Brioni ecru dress shirt, and a 100% cashmere Harry Rosen sweater. All great fits. Stopped in at a Goodwill on saturday and found a Giorgio Armani tux, perfect fit, looks like it may have never been worn. It's older, with the white label "Giorgio Armani, made in Italy" in black which I think predates the Collezioni stuff but is a classic double breasted design. I don't know where I'll ever wear a tux but for $15.00 I couldn't pass it up. I guess I'll have to start hanging with a more "Black Tie" type of crowd. I'm sure I'll spend several times what I paid for the tux on a proper shirt, studs etc.

Also, my Love/Hate relationship with Value Village continues. A couple months ago I saw my first $100 suit. It was a black Hugo Boss so I didn't think too much about it. A couple weeks later I saw a nice, recent but otherwise unremarkable Harry Rosen gray pinstripe for $149 at a different one. A couple weeks after that I saw a navy blue 30 year old no name piece of crap for $159 at a third Value Village. I nearly walked out. Good thing I didn't because 3 hangers further along I found this:

NWOT Caruso Sartorio Parma wool/cashmere, patch pockets, surgeons cuffs. A perfect fit and only $9.99. I guess we just have to treat their ignorance and seemingly random pricing as part of the fun of thrifting!

What Size?


AMAZING!

 

[amerikajinda]

Originally Posted by mike540

Been busy lately so haven't posted in a while but have made some good finds. A mainline Zileri suit, a Zegna sportcoat, 2 Canali SC, a Brioni ecru dress shirt, and a 100% cashmere Harry Rosen sweater. All great fits. Stopped in at a Goodwill on saturday and found a Giorgio Armani tux, perfect fit, looks like it may have never been worn. It's older, with the white label "Giorgio Armani, made in Italy" in black which I think predates the Collezioni stuff but is a classic double breasted design. I don't know where I'll ever wear a tux but for $15.00 I couldn't pass it up. I guess I'll have to start hanging with a more "Black Tie" type of crowd. I'm sure I'll spend several times what I paid for the tux on a proper shirt, studs etc.

Also, my Love/Hate relationship with Value Village continues. A couple months ago I saw my first $100 suit. It was a black Hugo Boss so I didn't think too much about it. A couple weeks later I saw a nice, recent but otherwise unremarkable Harry Rosen gray pinstripe for $149 at a different one. A couple weeks after that I saw a navy blue 30 year old no name piece of crap for $159 at a third Value Village. I nearly walked out. Good thing I didn't because 3 hangers further along I found this:

NWOT Caruso Sartorio Parma wool/cashmere, patch pockets, surgeons cuffs. A perfect fit and only $9.99. I guess we just have to treat their ignorance and seemingly random pricing as part of the fun of thrifting!

$9.99!!! That's CRAZY!!!!!!!!

I totally know what you mean about the random pricing -- at a place called Uniqlo they do the same thing around here. Polo shirts are like $14.99 but you can sometimes find a Canali or a Barba for $6.99 because they are ignorant!!!

 

[Swan Song]

I found this Canali Navy Birdseye patterned jacket today.

Sportcoat or orphaned Suit jacket?



the buttons are deep navy in color, which makes me think it is orphaned, yet it has the peak lapels.

What do you think?

 

[Nataku]

Originally Posted by amerikajinda

$9.99!!! That's CRAZY!!!!!!!! I totally know what you mean about the random pricing -- at a place called Uniqlo they do the same thing around here. Polo shirts are like $14.99 but you can sometimes find a Canali or a Barba for $6.99 because they are ignorant!!!
Wait...what? You mean this Uniqlo?

Originally Posted by Swan Song

I found this Canali Navy Birdseye patterned jacket today. Sportcoat or orphaned Suit jacket? the buttons are deep navy in color, which makes me think it is orphaned, yet it has the peak lapels. What do you think?
That's a cool jacket! Looks like a very recent piece, too. As for the sportcoat/orphaned jacket thing, I'm not sure but I think it'd look great as is.

 

[lemmywinks]

After I read about all these cool finds I went to 2 thrift stores in LA today. The first was called Jet Rag and it was huge and when I walked it it smelled like old clothes and I had no idea where to start looking. The clothes are sorted by color and there were just so many damn clothes. The suit/dressier stuff section was all old clothes smelling and all the dress shoes there were super worn rubber soled dress shoes.

At the second thrift store it was a lot more manageable and I found some random Hickey Freeman shirt that didn't really stand out to me. I saw a Brooks Brothers OCBD which I tried on and it was way to tent-ish and then I found a black Fred Perry polo but it was $13 which isn't like amazing and it was washed too much and the shape was slightly warped.

I'm going to give my local Goodwill another shot when I go there to pick some clothes to dress up for during Homecoming but thrift shoppers really need a lot of patience.

 

[Francisco]

Found this in one of the outlet shops named as Rodeo Drive. A brand new with shoes bags and box for US$160.

 

[83glt]

Originally Posted by lemmywinks

... but thrift shoppers really need a lot of patience.

Dude, you don't know the half of it. It's been said here many times before, but for every item that's posted here (meaning it's a high quality find), there are hundreds of items that need first be scoured through. It takes practice and patience. Do it enough and you start to learn labels and signatures of different brands making it easier to spot good stuff and allowing you to go faster though the racks and racks of clothes. I bet that first store seems daunting now. Keep thrifting for a few months and then go back, and see if you can handle it. Although the store smelled of musty old clothes, there may be a Kiton suit or Brioni sportcoat that was just hung out there this morning. You just don't know!

 

[JohnShaft]

Absolutely. Patience, Grasshopper.

Have a non-energy drink to 'slow your roll' and go back to the store divided by colour. I know, it's an awful concept but those stores are where the deals live. My favourite one in town is divided that way; the clothes are pressed so tightly together you can barely look through them and the 'salespeople' don't even speak english except for dollar amounts (not unusual in Houston though). But I regularly walk out of there with quality lounge, casual, daily, and sports wear for insanely low prices.

As I sip my morning coffee and speak with you now, I'm wearing a lightweight cashmere blend BR pullover for which some poor fool paid over $100, I'm certain. I paid $4. If I accidentally spill my coffee while typing, it nearly cost less than the coffee. lol To be honest, it's become something of a game for me; dressing well for obscenely low prices. I thank God for the many wastrels in our modern, consumerist society. LOL

My best piece of advice for those types of stores: use your hands. Touch each piece as you go along the rack to feel the 'hand' of the fabric. With some practice, this will tell you when you've found something worth checking the label. After all, even if it's a good label, if it feels like sandpaper you won't want to wear it.

Checking size first is less useful for the same reason. So it fits you? Big deal if it's crap.

The only exception to this is starch. If an item looks nice but doesn't feel good because it's heavily starched, check it. Many of the great unwashed ruin perfectly good clothes with too much starch. But if the garment is in otherwise good condition, that can sometimes be washed out and the garment restored to near its former glory.

 

[Benzito]

^^^ Patience, of course, and a little luck. My tailor works out of a consignment / thrift type shop and I happened to mention that I was looking for a particular shade of blue trousers to match a sportcoat. He grabbed a perfectly sized HF pair that was marked $30, less 50% for some reason, and he threw in the tailoring (just hems) for free. Not quite of a steal as others on this thread, but not bad for Made in Italy, 100% wool, etc.

 

[amerikajinda]

Originally Posted by Nataku

Wait...what? You mean this Uniqlo?

Whoops - meant "Unique", not Uniqlo! ahahaha Well today I found a Hickey Freeman grey suitjacket in my size (42R) at the Sterling Goodwill, and on the inside it had the Syms tag still attached -- $699. I searched in vain for the pants... good chance the pants never made it into the store along with the suitjacket, as it was just marked with a colored tag, not a price, so no way of knowing if it was always a jacket, or if it got separated from its pants in the store.... oh well... had to leave it... even though it was brand spanking new.