The official thrift/discount store bragging thread

[coachvu]

Paul Stuart paisley tie, $5 from Keezer's, and a $35 cotton/cashmere blend sweater, Robert Talbott, from Filene's Basement.

 

[pejsek]

I've been doing a fair bit of travelling this summer. This never fails to sharpen my appreciation for living in SF CA--easy and rich thrift pickings which must be something like fishing for bluefin tuna in the North Atlantic once was (well, if Robert Hughes is to be believed, anyway). I started out in East Anglia (Suffolk County, to be more precise): a vast Gobi Desert of thrifting that made me recall wistfully the treasures to be found in, say, Slovak, Hungarian, or Baltic secondhand clothes markets in the early 1990s. Next I moved on to Arlington, VA. Sorry to say, the cliches are all true. A great place to be if your tastes run, unaccountably, to worn blue poly-blend button down shirts. Otherwise, best to just move on. Great book hunting, though. Now I'm down in Santa Cruz, CA, the sort of transformed coastal town that must have just the right balance of self-respecting old geezers to keep a trickle of interesting stuff cycling through the thrifts. Yesterday at the stripmall Goodwill I found a great old Princeton orange and navy blue stripe cotton dressing gown made in England for Neiman Marcus of Sea Island cotton; judging by the labels I'd say it goes back to the mid 1980s, judging by the condition I'd say it's been waiting all these years to be worn by me ($6.99). I also found (but passed on) a summer pajama set made by Derek Rose for Bullock & Jones. Perhaps I'm peculiar, but I've never quite understood the charms of a collarless short-sleeve top paired with shorts; I'm also a firm believer that thrifting karma accrues to those who choose according to their "needs" and tastes rather than simply hoovering up everything they find. Finally, I did bite on a pristine vintage mohair cardigan in a vaguely argylle pattern in various shades of heathery green with great mop buttons and side tabs ($2.99). It bears the label of a long-deceased menswear shop in downtown Santa Cruz, the sort of place the town's long-vanished burghers must have gone to pick up leisure wear before surfing supplanted golf as the sport of choice for prosperous fifty-year olds.

 

[pejsek]

I'm always leaving something out, it seems. Back in San Francisco for a couple of days I popped into the Goodwill and came up with two small items: (1) a magnificent Garrick Anderson tie in an emerald green and black herringbone with the signature shocking pink lining ($2.99) (let's see, if I put this into my rotation today I may wear it sometime after the next three decades), (2) perfectly fitting T&A bespoke country shirt w/ three-button barrel cuffs($6.99)--the pattern is a plaid in various tones of olive and green; fabric feels like cashmere, but could be just wool or even a particularly nice Viyella, standard care tag says 'wash as wool.'

 

[drizzt3117]

I picked up a few vintage Le Tigre shirts on ebay for ~10 each, nothing too special, but I did find a nice Malo cashmere sweater at Marshall's for $19, it's a plain navy sweater, pretty thick, and the fabric is wonderful.

 

[AlanC]

Originally Posted by SGladwell

Mallrat brands were marked $9 a shirt, but apparently their pricers hadn't heard of T&A or even Armani!
This frequently seems to be the case.

 

[DShareef]

I stopped in to a few local thrift shops and was very discouraged. Nothing at all worth considering. Does anyone know of any spots in the Albany, NY area? Thanks.

 

[norcaltransplant]

Originally Posted by drizzt3117

I did find a nice Malo cashmere sweater at Marshall's for $19, it's a plain navy sweater, pretty thick, and the fabric is wonderful.

NCT is jealous. If you ever find any smalls, I'll double the price!

 

[jml90]

Vintage MOP Snap cufflinks $20.50
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWN%3AIT&rd=1

Rhodium Plated Knots $.02
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWN%3AIT&rd=1

Vintage Gold double sided links 2.99
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWN%3AIT&rd=1

Seven vintage collar bars $5.39
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWN%3AIT&rd=1

 

[DocHolliday]

Found a tie tonight at TJ Maxx that I absolutely love. Very intricately woven -- navy background with tiny red squares and even tinier silver squares. It's by a no-name maker, Nicola Ferri of Milan, but it's got good heft, such that the cashier commented that maybe no one had bought it because it was too thick. Best of all was the price: $5.

Odd that it was marked down, as I'd never even seen it there before.

 

[thinman]

I met with Jan Libourel and Andy Gilchrist at Carroll & Co. in Beverly Hills yesterday. Then we went to lunch and I continued on to a meeting with Patrick Chu of WW Chan. But I digress. Carroll & Co. was having a sale and I bought the only pair of shoes in my size, Alden color 8 shell cordovan leisure handsewns for $75. They duplicate a pair I already have, but the old pair dates from before my orthotics, so the new pair is a much better fit. And who can pass up shell cordovan shoes for $75?? Thanks, Jan, for suggesting the meeting place!!

 

[LegB4Wicket]

Not a recent purchase but someting I managed to find at thrift store in Victoria, B.C. a few months ago.

I'm not too sure who makes them (Alfred Sargent or Tricker's perhaps) but they are a pair of light brown country brougues made in England for a store called Cormack's & Crawford's in Dingwall. They are called Highlander Shoes and feature Ishtide Commando soles and looks like they were barely worn.

I'm not too sure how to read lasts, but the numbers in the shoe are as follows: 38047 K28 R344TR.

I believe I paid either $5 of $6 Cdn for them.

No pictures I'm afraid. The only camera I own is on my mobile phone and it would not do the shoes justice.

Regards,

LBW

 

[norcaltransplant]

More GVH for me...
(1) C&J (??) Polo 3-eyelet Antique Tan Derbies

Ebay:
(1) C&J (??) Polo 2-eyelet Antique Black Derbies (old style)

Interestingly, the black shoes have a stiched aloft sole.

 

[skalogre]

Finally had some relatively decent luck. Dark tan AE Fairfax & black AE Hastings wholecuts. Uppers in really good shape, think they were display models (sole of left shoe of each has two holes, I assume for a display). Should be easy to patch. Got those with a pile of shoe bags (including some Converse/Varvatos ones, lol) and a pair of shoe trees for $98.

 

[rnoldh]

Great thread. Part of the fun is the timliness and utility of the Thrift store purchase. I needed a nice Brown shoe and was looking to find something like a Brown AE Park Ave style in my size. That's a tall order.

I went to my local Thrift. Salvation Army in Houston, Tx on Washington Ave. and found a pair of Churches Custom Grade Brown shoes in my size that looked like they had never been worn. And while I don't know Church's style names, they were very close to AE Park Ave's in style! They were $20 plus tax. If it were Ebay they'd be NWOT.

I'll try to post pictures later. What is sweet is not only did I get what I thought was a fantastic deal on the price. But I also got exactly the style and size I was hoping for. How often does that happen?

 

[VMan]

Originally Posted by rnoldh

Great thread. Part of the fun is the timliness and utility of the Thrift store purchase. I needed a nice Brown shoe and was looking to find something like a Brown AE Park Ave style in my size. That's a tall order.

I went to my local Thrift. Salvation Army in Houston, Tx on Washington Ave. and found a pair of Churches Custom Grade Brown shoes in my size that looked like they had never been worn. And while I don't know Church's style names, they were very close to AE Park Ave's in style! They were $20 plus tax. If it were Ebay they'd be NWOT.

I'll try to post pictures later. What is sweet is not only did I get what I thought was a fantastic deal on the price. But I also got exactly the style and size I was hoping for. How often does that happen?

Yeah, I love it when that happens. It seems like a lot of times I'll look for a specific shirt or tie or pair of shoes at a retail store and have no luck. Then, a week or two later, I will find exactly what I wanted at a thrift store for $2 or $4 or $10.