Thrift Store Shopping...

[zacharydschroeder]

I go quite sporadically. Some weeks 3 times, some weeks not at all. I probably average once a week.

 

[The Deacon]

At one point I was going every single day to various Goodwill Shops in my area.

Shoes I've picked up include the following:

Vintage AE Arlington new for $14
Vint. Martegani Captoe $3
" Park Ave for $3
vint. AE Weave lace ups $3
3 pair of Brown Vint Aristocraft wings near new $3 ea.
2 pair Cheaney for Church wingtips VG $3 ea
vint. Tan Nettleton loafers $3
Alden cordovan Cap toe oxfords $3
3 pair shell cordovan Hanover wingtip and plain toe oxfords w/ heel cleats total cost $30
Vintage Nunn Bush spade sole captoe oxfords with leather heel and leather sole and heel cleat near new $3
Barrie new captoe oxfords $24
vint. AE Tom Dick and Harry near new $3
and a host of other Bostonians, AE's, ALdens, Skechers, Timberlands, Sorels, Cabellas, Army boots,
also
Numerous new and near new tweed jackets that have saved me from buying winter suits this past season

Amazing deals and I'm very grateful. I will frequent thrifts for the rest of my days.

 

[knucks]

I need to find a better place to thrift at, but this Salvation Army is sooo close. I need to hit one up in Ann Arbor..

yesterday:

lacoste golf jacket $7
mid 80s track zip $6

 

[feynmix]

I am gonna bring this thread back, since I have a few questions about thrift/consignment shops.

So, it turns out the RTP area has a decent amount of thrift shops and a very good consignment shops. I have never set my foot before in one of those except to drop off some stuff, so I was curious and very excited about things I might be able to find seeing how some people here had found great stuff. I was also looking to get some used furniture for my apartment, so I decided to check it out.

The first one I went to didn't have a huge selection of men's clothes, and most of the clothes were pretty crappy. I did find a gorgeous kitchen desk however, and after much debate, I decided to buy it for $60 and use it as a small dining table in my kitchen area. So, buoyed by my first purchase, and thinking I just saved myself a good chunk of money on a dining table if I had decided to get a new one, I was pretty excited when I then went to visit a consignment shop, with apparently high brand name clothing according to their website.

Again, the men's section in this store was small too, but I was surprised at all kinds of stuff they had: 2 Hickey Freeman suits for $269 (retail was $1600 apparently), Jones NY suits, a lot of Polo, JCrew, Jos A. Bank shirts, a Club Monaco sweater, etc etc. The women's section had some real good stuff, jeans from PDC, a jacket from theory, etc and I was convinced I would come back here again to check it out in more detail.

What bothered me a bit though, was the idea of wearing 2nd hand clothes. I mean, who knows where these clothes have been, you know? I mean, I know that when I go buy something at the store, people before me have tried it before, and I still buy it if I like it. Maybe I am having these feeling since I have never shopped like this before. Its going to take me awhile before I will be able to differentiate high quality stuff from the mediocre, but I would like to get started at some point. Any tips on how I should think about this, to get around the whole "who knows where this stuff has been" idea? Thanks for all the help.

 

[mainy]

Originally Posted by feynmix

I am gonna bring this thread back, since I have a few questions about thrift/consignment shops.

So, it turns out the RTP area has a decent amount of thrift shops and a very good consignment shops. I have never set my foot before in one of those except to drop off some stuff, so I was curious and very excited about things I might be able to find seeing how some people here had found great stuff. I was also looking to get some used furniture for my apartment, so I decided to check it out.

The first one I went to didn't have a huge selection of men's clothes, and most of the clothes were pretty crappy. I did find a gorgeous kitchen desk however, and after much debate, I decided to buy it for $60 and use it as a small dining table in my kitchen area. So, buoyed by my first purchase, and thinking I just saved myself a good chunk of money on a dining table if I had decided to get a new one, I was pretty excited when I then went to visit a consignment shop, with apparently high brand name clothing according to their website.

Again, the men's section in this store was small too, but I was surprised at all kinds of stuff they had: 2 Hickey Freeman suits for $269 (retail was $1600 apparently), Jones NY suits, a lot of Polo, JCrew, Jos A. Bank shirts, a Club Monaco sweater, etc etc. The women's section had some real good stuff, jeans from PDC, a jacket from theory, etc and I was convinced I would come back here again to check it out in more detail.

What bothered me a bit though, was the idea of wearing 2nd hand clothes. I mean, who knows where these clothes have been, you know? I mean, I know that when I go buy something at the store, people before me have tried it before, and I still buy it if I like it. Maybe I am having these feeling since I have never shopped like this before. Its going to take me awhile before I will be able to differentiate high quality stuff from the mediocre, but I would like to get started at some point. Any tips on how I should think about this, to get around the whole "who knows where this stuff has been" idea? Thanks for all the help.

Getting over it? Wash the items. Realize that all the germs are dead, and that you're subjected to far more gross things when you entrust other people with your food preparation. Once you find a few great deals on items that fit you, you shouldn't have too hard of a time clearing this mental hurdle.

 

[robin]

Originally Posted by j

Im in ur thrift killin all your deeeeeealz
See, this is why I don't go thrifting in Seattle anymore - J picks every place clean

 

[amerikajinda]

Originally Posted by j

Im in ur thrift killin all your deeeeeealz

 

[robbie]

Originally Posted by feynmix

Any tips on how I should think about this, to get around the whole "who knows where this stuff has been" idea? Thanks for all the help.

laundry detergent

 

[Arethusa]

Originally Posted by mainy

Getting over it? Wash the items. Realize that all the germs are dead, and that you're subjected to far more gross things when you entrust other people with your food preparation. Once you find a few great deals on items that fit you, you shouldn't have too hard of a time clearing this mental hurdle.
This, actually, isn't true at all. Washing kills or detaches a lot of bacteria, but it by no means sterilizes (or even comes close to sterilizing) your clothes. That aside, I more or less agree with the rest of what you said.

 

[mainy]

Originally Posted by Arethusa

This, actually, isn't true at all. Washing kills or detaches a lot of bacteria, but it by no means sterilizes (or even comes close to sterilizing) your clothes. That aside, I more or less agree with the rest of what you said.
Yeah, my main point was I don't know anybody that has ever contracted a disease from wearing used clothing. Just stay away from the pimp gear

 

[Ludeykrus]

Originally Posted by feynmix

What bothered me a bit though, was the idea of wearing 2nd hand clothes. I mean, who knows where these clothes have been, you know? I mean, I know that when I go buy something at the store, people before me have tried it before, and I still buy it if I like it. Maybe I am having these feeling since I have never shopped like this before. Its going to take me awhile before I will be able to differentiate high quality stuff from the mediocre, but I would like to get started at some point. Any tips on how I should think about this, to get around the whole "who knows where this stuff has been" idea? Thanks for all the help.


Get over yourself. No offense, but humans are animals. Nothing more, nothing less. Wash the clothes and you're golden. We come in contact with thousands of filthy things and filthy organisms each day, there is no way about it. The human body is made to repel and adapt to these things.

I tend to think about it this way: as long as these clothes have been washed beforehand, I am going to put them through more hell than the prevous owner ever could have imagined.

That usually makes everything peachy.

 

[Max]

Get over it or pay retail.

 

[Mr T]

My fear of used clothes went out the door after my first vintage Alden long wings found for $2. Since then the only item I would not buy was used trousers but last week a pair of olive Brooks Brothers cords overcame that fear too.

I have seen underwear at thrift stores. That's too much ick.

 

[cloudhands69]

There is definitely a bunch of trash at thrift stores but you can find nice things, no matter where you are. Most recently I got some shell cordovan wingtips by florsheim for 10 bucks.

I think it's cool that after you've been doing it for a while, you can run through an entire rack of shirts/sweaters/pants in a matter of seconds. You get an idea of what quality fabric and construction feel like and you can recognize it quickly. Obviously this helps you to be able to recognize quality stuff in a retail store also.

I'm trying to do more thrifting because I don't like the "consumer" lifestyle. Hunting through thrift stores takes time and patience but you're rewarded for it.

 

[VMan]

Thrifting for SW&D brands is usually a tall order, but once in a while I'll come across a stash of Nice Collective or Jil Sander stuff. Vintage western shirts, military stuff, and workshirts are pretty common, though.