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Sat 3 Jun, 2006 06:40 pm
Yep, I just scored on some good used clothing this week--
Pants: (one of each) Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, Express, Gap, Levi's, Bebe (some she-she boutique)
Shirts: about 10 of them, all for work, oh, except the white cotton comfy Gap shirt
Camisoles: 7 of them, all for work.
Total price: about $80
If I'd bought this crap directly from the stores named I'd of payed at least $600.
Yeehah, now I don't have to shop for a while, I'll wear these clothes until they are tattered and torn and repeat shopping excursion only when necessary. I loathe shopping. Give me a pair of worn in oversized Men's khakis and a t-shirt and I am happy. Name brands only mean something when they come at a bargain, although I am sure there are some very wealthy folks out there who would disagree.
Ooops, I was so self-congratulatory I forgot to ask you all to share your Goodwill prize finds.
At this point, I've been giving alot of things to the Goodwill but back in the mid-90's, during my men's sportsjacket phase, I had several very nice pieces purchased from them. Now it's men's shirts, the flannel ones especially, and checking out the book section is always great. You just never know what might turn up.
Goodwilling. Love it.
I used to work next door to one, would go on my lunch breaks, oh the stuff I found with a daily sweep! My favorite is probably a 1940's gray silk suit, fitted short-sleeved jacket and knee-length skirt, exquisite condition. I also have some favorite shoes from there, brown 9 West heels, they were brand-new, barely scuffed soles. (Of all places to scavenge, L.A. has to be one of the best for the combination of conspicuous consumption and the need for up-to-the-second fashion...)
That suit sounds wonderful soz.
My best purchase was an irridescent bronzy-brown vintage men's raincoat from Lord & Taylor. Raglan sleeve, hit just above the knee, it was fabulous. It cost eight bucks and my dear friend saw it first and sacrificed it because it was my birthday!!!
I'd completely forgotten about that.
Little Bean and I went there for her school clothes.
At the time, the goodwill we were shopping it was having its grand opening.
I got her 14 pieces of clothes.
All for 1.55$ a piece. :-)
I found her an art table. Her height, 4 dollars.
A small plastic chair to go with it 1.00
I have been hunting for a table for her to use forever.
I even thought about going to hobby lobby and getting one of their horrid card tables ( the ones that break after 2 uses?) cutting off the legs to make it shorter and giving that to her as a table.
<sigh>
yes..... we LUUURVE the goodwill.
I bought a pair of jeans at Value Villiage the other day for $1.50 that fit better than any jeans in my closet.
I also bought two T-shirst for .99 each. One says "Where Am I Going" and one says "I Eat Chalk". I have no idea what they mean or where they came from but they just seemed almost as cool as the "Boys Cheat" shirt I picked up there a while back.
Haven't been in one for years, but useta hit 'em all - Goodwill, St. Vincent DePaul, Salvation Army, independent thrift shops. Bought lotsa OK-to-beat-up work clothes, furnished a couple "batchelor pads" (back when I was one) just about exclusively through them, and, again back in the batchelor days, buying kitchenware from them was ever so much more convenient than washing, drying, storing, and re-using it
Thrift Shoppe Queen here.
Salvation Army on Eleventh in Santa Monica, best for a long time. Discovery Shop on Doheny and Pico... Armani for little, once in a while.
St. Vincent's in Eureka, eh, drecko, on clothes, but good for cabinets, chairs, etc.
Most of my clothes are from thrift shops, though I sometimes buy new and occasionally expensive (to me) items, those usually being shoes but not always.
I still have my St. Laurent coat, my Armani blazer, yadda yadda, but much of my shopping joy comes from the easy come easy go element of thrift shop shopping, and not from the names on labels even if I get a kick out of good ones once in a while. Mostly I like the variety...
I often take some cartons to donate and then hit the shop out front...
Here in my new city of Albuquerque, there are a bunch of Goodwill stores. That's where I got my faux pony hide danskos (clogs, about $135. new) for $9.00. Whinnnnneeeeee!!!
Still, nothing compares with my old fav Salv Army in Santa Monica. Last time I was in LA I went there first, just after I rented a car. I know, I know, I've got it bad.
I used to visit the GoodWill. Plenty of really nice things, if the Goodwill is located in an affluent area.
ossobuco wrote:Still, nothing compares with my old fav Salv Army in Santa Monica. Last time I was in LA I went there first, just after I rented a car. I know, I know, I've got it bad.
See, that's what I'm saying. L.A., baby.
I know what you mean about easy come easy go. It's so much harder to enjoy shoes that you really spent $135 on (ack, a spot! ack, a scuff!) as compared to ones that are
worth that but you bought for a fraction. That was a cornerpiece of my fashion philosophy when I was a teenager, I wore all of these expensive clothes (that I'd found for cheap) with a careless air.
We rarely visit Goodwill anymore, because it is tough to get through the traffic around there.
Sometimes hospital auxiliary thrift shops are small treasure places... not usually as big as a Goodwill or Salvation Army store, but still having the possibility for good 'finds'.
Besides being a goodwill 'frequent-er' hehehe
Im a flea market addict too..
When I was in summer camp (um, maybe 1977 or so), I got a fantastic brown Norwegian fisherman's sweater with a boatneck at a thrift store in Bingham, Maine. It was wonderful. I wore it into about Law School days, so we're talking 8 or 9 years until it finally gave up the ghost.
I miss that sweater.
Now, flea markets, garage, yard, and tag sales, auctions ... those get me every time - just gotta stop and check 'em out. Sometimes nothing comes of it, sometimes I wind up going home and getting the trailer ... and sometimes that turns into loading it up, dragging it home, unloading it, and hauling it back for more
Last night, at good will
I found a steam cleaner.
I have been considering one to add to my arsenal of cleaning products to boost business.
21.99
A bissell quick steam BRAND NEW!
I almost fell off my wagon with that.
Works like a charm too.
at Wally world, on the shelf they are 80.00+
Oh timber, Im glad we dont live close.
If you have a trailer? I would be knocking on your door all the time
dragging you to garbage sales..
My greatest haul from a garbage ( YES garbage! ) sale was a solid silver bowel.
Retails for around 300.00.
I got for 25.00
Back in my early twenties, I was screwing (sorry. that's the only way to put it
) this older bohemian artist that used to scavenge downtown Chicago department store trash. We'd be in his old beat-up Ford truck at 11 or 12:00 at night cruising the alleys between Sears and Wieboldt's and Carson Pirie Scott and he'd find some pretty good stuff. I still use an old file cabinet in my office that he found. He was crazy, fighting the rats for fun, and I'd sit in that truck and wonder what in the hell was I doing there??? It was ironic. I worked in these stores during the day and at night, I was with this guy rummaging through their trash.
shewolfnm wrote:My greatest haul from a garbage ( YES garbage! ) sale was a solid silver bowel.
Retails for around 300.00.
Someone shat solid silver? Excellent.