The official thrift/discount store bragging thread

[Nexus6]

Originally Posted by jkidd41011

Actually most people who shop at thrifts will pick up a Abercrombie and Fitch shirt before they will a Isaia or something like that because it's a brand they know. I've also noticed people who look they they generally need items flock to the stuff that get sent by Macy's or JC Penney that still has the tags on them.

Plus if they didn't think people were going there looking fo high end stuff they wouldn't be able to create boutique racks where they raise the prices on the items. End of the day I think everyone benefits.

Where I live,
the shoppers are getting a lot smarter.
Good finds rare.

With internet, and websites like this,
they have no shortage of information.

The 'wild west' days of thrifting are coming to an end.


And the Ebay Power Seller vermin go to thrifts stores
every day and do 8 hour shifts.

They bribe the sales staff.

By the time you get out of work and get to one,
its all gone.

Corruption abounds.
I have seen it.
Many many many many times.

 

[Staatsoper]

Originally Posted by Nexus6

Where I live, the shoppers are getting a lot smarter. Good finds rare. With internet, and websites like this, they have no shortage of information. The 'wild west' days of thrifting are coming to an end. And the Ebay Power Seller vermin go to thrifts stores every day and do 8 hour shifts. They bribe the sales staff. By the time you get out of work and get to one, its all gone. Corruption abounds. I have seen it. Many many many many times.
I'm quite hurt. I resent being called "vermin" afflicted with "corruption." I possibly might accept "morally ambiguous thrift-store-scrounging deadbeat."

 

[pejsek]

Thrift shopping has become downright unpleasant. I no longer go to the main GW store here in the morning because it has become a rugby scrum. People literally block and shove to get access to things as soon as they come out the door. I'm just not going to strong-arm my way to stuff.
Today at the GW a man was close to hysteria, demanding that the manager give him a discount on a few pairs of really bad shoes because he was going to sell them on ebay and needed a better margin. Things are tough all over, I guess, but this is just sad. Still, for under $10 I walked out of there with a vintage Ghurka bag (The Expediter, canvas and leather version) and a Thierry Mugler dress for my wife. The crappy plastic shoes were $14.99 a pair.
Last Friday I encountered an old friend of sorts--a blue shetland Henry Poole jacket that I first saw at the Junior League shop at least ten years ago. As I was considering the purchase (I did that back then) another guy came in and took it out from under me. Well, the jacket was back in a different thrift store and only a little worse for the wear. Plus ca change. It has a little moth damage at the bottom of one of the front quarters. I guess my options are to edge it with something, shorten it an inch, or just let my moth-eaten freak flag fly. I'm leaning toward the edging. It's a really beautiful three-button blue tweed with blue leather buttons and a throat latch, formerly owned by a man who had a real bespoke jones. I've seen dozens of items over the years, with dates from the fifties up through the eighties. Before settling on Poole's he had a great mid-sixties flirtation with Chipp. Wish I had bought some of those suits and jackets.

 

[Staatsoper]

Originally Posted by pejsek

Thrift shopping has become downright unpleasant. I no longer go to the main GW store here in the morning because it has become a rugby scrum. People literally block and shove to get access to things as soon as they come out the door. I'm just not going to strong-arm my way to stuff. Today at the GW a man was close to hysteria, demanding that the manager give him a discount on a few pairs of really bad shoes because he was going to sell them on ebay and needed a better margin. Things are tough all over, I guess, but this is just sad. Still, for under $10 I walked out of there with a vintage Ghurka bag (The Expediter, canvas and leather version) and a Thierry Mugler dress for my wife. The crappy plastic shoes were $14.99 a pair. Last Friday I encountered an old friend of sorts--a blue shetland Henry Poole jacket that I first saw at the Junior League shop at least ten years ago. As I was considering the purchase (I did that back then) another guy came in and took it out from under me. Well, the jacket was back in a different thrift store and only a little worse for the wear. Plus ca change. It has a little moth damage at the bottom of one of the front quarters. I guess my options are to edge it with something, shorten it an inch, or just let my moth-eaten freak flag fly. I'm leaning toward the edging. It's a really beautiful three-button blue tweed with blue leather buttons and a throat latch, formerly owned by a man who had a real bespoke jones. I've seen dozens of items over the years, with dates from the fifties up through the eighties. Before settling on Poole's he had a great mid-sixties flirtation with Chipp. Wish I had bought some of those suits and jackets.
Pejsek, haven't run into this mania yet, even mornings at the main GW or VV--which can be crowded, but everybody is polite, even laid back. At least, for now. As for the Henry Poole, I humbly (I'm always humble when it comes to HP) suggest you shorten it only if that works for your build, or add some piping in either suede, or leather to match the buttons. I have a minty 1987 HP suit I got on eBay for $102 (poorly described!), and nothing else I have comes close! Well, except maybe for the 2002 Maurice Sedwell sportcoat I got for $12.50...

 

[musicguy]

Just got back from Daffy's and picked up three very nice italian made Mabitex for VO pants. I was interested by one in particular labeled Waterproof. It's 60% Wool and 40% silk. Very slim fitting.

What's the deal with the waterproof label?

I'll probably post pics later.

 

[Nataku]

Found a very cool Ann Demeulemeester Striped/textured 2 btn blazer. All pockets still sewn shut. $8.99

Wierd, as I never find designers such as Demeulemeester around here. Then again I'm not too surprised as I found a couple Margiela shirts this past summer at a local Goodwill. I didn't think anyone in Minnesota knew of Margiela, let alone Ann Demeulemeester....

 

[creampiggy]

Found a pair of shoes. Marked "Phillips Character Shoes" on the insole. The heels are beautiful. No mark of size, but I think they are 11.5D, compared to a pair of Churchs' I have.

Anyway here are the pictures. Does anyone has more information on them?

 

[jkidd41011]

I've heard similar stories about the the Last Chance out in Phoenix. People getting there early and bribing staff so they could flip the stuff on E-Bay. I got some good stuff there in ny just under a year living there.

 

[cpmac7]

I had a pretty good day, picked up a oxxford super 100s suit with nothing wrong. Can anyone tell me what 42 T translates too?

Also I got a Hamilton shirt with MOP buttons all for under $20.

Please PM if you are interested in either of them.

-CP

 

[Staatsoper]

Originally Posted by cpmac7

I had a pretty good day, picked up a oxxford super 100s suit with nothing wrong. Can anyone tell me what 42 T translates too?

Also I got a Hamilton shirt with MOP buttons all for under $20.

Please PM if you are interested in either of them.

-CP
T=long.

 

[cpmac7]

after measuring the sleeves I kind of figured that. Thanks again!

-cp

 

[Staatsoper]

You're welcome, since I'm a short, that's a dreaded letter on Oxxfords when I find them!

 

[Nataku]

Had a couple of cool finds I thought someone here may want. I didn't buy them (I'll get to that in a bit), but they were $15 and were 46R. One Hickey Freeman Bespoke dinner jacket/orphaned tux jacket. Black. Notch lapel, single vent. The other was a Hickey Freeman Collection gray blazer/orphaned coat. Black buttons, 3 btn front, peak lapel, single breasted. Dual rear vents. Both were from Saks.

Both were at one of the discount stores I frequent. They announce the days they are closed for re-stock, so obviously everyone knows the following day will have new stuff. This is both good and bad. Well, yesterday they were closed for restocking and I decided to wander in today. Man, what a nuthouse. You could barely move. People speaking in 15 different languages, kids sleeping on piles of clothes on the floor.....

The line ran in a zig-zag around the store and "started" in several places. There are no bags/carts, so people were also lugging around garbage bags full of clothes. Needless to say, I didn't find anything that was worth standing in a line for over an hour while screaming kids trampled my feet and having some lady who smells like a garbage can scream jiberish into her cell phone behind me.

Oh well.....hopefully I can return on a more quiet day. I figured this place was a more well-kept secret. Guess not.

 

[pejsek]

Nothing earthshaking for me, but I did have some practical finds yesterday:

Rogan and Levis Silvertab jeans ($5.49 and $7.49). I actually really like the Silvertabs--raw denim, really quite fitted straight leg, simple, and very nicely constructed. No tags, marked sample, so not much way of telling when these might have been made or even if they were ever produced. I've always associated Silvertab with baggy and slouchy jeans made of low grade soft denim--the sort of thing that puts the perjorative in 'urban.' These are a nice surprise.

NWOT Nike Cortez trainers in red and white nylon and suede. $6.49 Don't know if these are vintage or not but they have all the right details. Now I can retire the pink Converse.

Hermes and Duchamp ties. $3.49 each. The Hermes makes me laugh: lavender blue zebras on an Hermes orange savannah. The Duchamp is typical. Both are in pristine condition.

Nataku, I feel your pain. Thrifting is becoming a degraded experience. Too many are trying to eke out an income from reselling. It's still interesting to watch, though. At one of the SA stores here a Filipino woman comes round to buy every single athletic shoe in the store whenever there's a shoe sale. Not sure what the racket is. I was heartened to see the GW manager push back against an ebay seller earlier this week. The trick is for the thrift stores to raise prices just enough to make reselling too precarious. Not that we're ever going to go back to some Golden Age.

 

[Tommy Trolley]

Hello all. I'm a new member here and found this forum while researching a few items I picked up at a Salvation Army thrift. I've never been one to make a big deal over designer labels or even high quality clothing. Mostly due to upbringing and financial limitations and figuring why covet that which is outside your budget. But I've always sensed that I had a good eye for quality, as an actor and sort of artistic guy, I've always noticed details and while never purchasing fine quality clothing, still browsed often and could tell why it was better than the average department store wares.

So as an actor who has spent some 20 years doing school, church and community theatre where you usually have to find your own costumes, I've frequented the local thrifts. In addition, my mother is a skilled seamstress who does alterations, has worked in quality control for a uniform company, and clothed us in plenty of second-hand. She taught me what to look for in terms of quality, craftsmanship, and what is unacceptible wear and tear when buying thrift.

Bringing me to last Fall... With an out of town wedding to attend and not having a good suit that the family hadn't seen me in at the last few funerals and weddings. So I dropped into the SA thrift. The five suits I bought were just my size but had to be let out in the waist. I knew they were excellent finds because I recognized the brand labels of 3 of the five. Went to Mom's to get them altered where she commented on the hand-stitching and fine hand of the garments. She told me they were canvassed which was a sign of quality (before I knew what that meant) and that I'd hit the jackpot.

Looked sharp at the wedding, and when I got back did a little research. Here's the bragging part:

each suit cost $15.00.
Grey Giorgio Armani Black Label- (with the Buergonuovo 21 indication)
Brown Armani Collezione- (not certain of the spelling- it's not in front of me.)
Ermenegildo Zenga- (a light color-taupe maybe, very lightweight material)
and
Two Vestimentas- one a dark slate blue and one a dark chocolate brown. (these I got without knowing the brand name, but because they fit well and I could tell were a nice quality.)

Someone in the suburbs of Chicago with great taste either died or his wife kicked him out and gave away his stuff.

after browsing the posts here, I felt the need to do my own bragging, but since I'm new to all this, what would those of you in the know suggest those five suits would've run me if I paid retail?

Also, along the same lines, when you wear your high quality thrift store finds, do you tell people the deal you got, or let them thing you paid full price?

I can't help but brag about the deal, but then again most of my friends know I'm a starving artist who couldn't have bought them of the rack.

I now firmly believe that quote from Cosmo Kramer, "Retail is for suckers"

Anyway, enjoying the forum so far. Happy Easter.