i'm over here in the green section, see you by the hats

Now I know where they've all disappeared to.

totally scored at my hometown thrift over the weekend! got the following:

-- small cross-body purse for going out
-- gold sequined j crew miniskirt w/ elastic waistband in my size
-- diagonally striped button up rayon shirt in pastel ice cream colors
-- really cute pink and green summer dress with cute details on the pockets

and a teacher's discount = total cost $12.51

Nice! I'm not good at thrift stores. I need a tutorial.

First step: stop telling yourself you're not good at thrift stores :)

i totally forgot about this thread a few months back when I got my ironic baby blue "super bacon" t-shirt and grey sweater with a french bulldog with a rhinestone studded collar on it.

also the useful thrift store staple: black knit mini-skirts with elastic waists from the 80s

i have a theory that thrift store stock has really improved with the increase in people buying clothes online. i definitely recognized more than a handful of modcloth items on the racks.

the quantity of wacky dresses/other is definitely higher than it was 10 years ago or so. i'd credit forever 21 and places like that too. i honestly can't believe the range of styles i see when i do enter a retail store, which is rarely but enough to remind me why i don't go more often (too expensive for such crappy stuff!) i've worn other people's hand-me-downs a lot lately too.

grey sweater with a french bulldog with a rhinestone studded collar on it.
O_O amazing <3

i also feel like the selection at your standard thrift store: goodwill, out of the closet, etc. is often better and more interesting than the "curated" vintage stores. Maybe it's just because I live somewhere where real estate is expensive and vintage stores have less space? But I went to LA in May, and their vintage stores were so much larger, and my theory still held.

Being a larger sized person definitely makes a difference though. If I were a size 8 again, maybe I'd feel differently ...

Every so often (but not often enough) I have the idea of having a vintage/thrift store for larger women's clothes because I'm sure there'd be a market for it.

i think that's a great idea - consignment shop!!

yeah sometimes the curated vintage stores have a lot of old 60s party dresses or whatever but that is not what i'm looking for -- i just want everyday clothes for the most part. of course it's good to find a comfortable sequined skirt at the thrift because i wouldn't want to pay $40 for it, but i already have a pretty good selection of ridiculous party dresses. why shell out for another one? that's just me and my needs though.

also ljub i wasn't trying to be dismissive of your request -- i do genuinely think that is the first step to success in many (most?) endeavors at learning how to do something new.

you're not wrong! And I need to find some stores I actually like. When I come across those stores it tends to be in hipster areas, and I feel all wrong in there and everything in me screams 'leave'.

it's actually something I've thought about -- thrift store strategies -- and it of course depends on how you feel about buying clothes, in general, and what your values and anxieties are.

exactly -- everyone has different priorities/needs. if you can figure out what yours are, you are most of the way there.
if you feel the need to leave, you should leave!

that's how i feel at virtually every retail clothing store
get me OUT OF HERE NOW

Have definitely had that experience in retail stores too. They are harder for me in N America than in the UK, because of the solicitous attention... I enjoy clothes shopping about 200% less in general than I did ten years ago.

does anyone here have feelings or opinions about thredup or swap.com?

The wife loves thredup. Haven't tried swap.com

I'm sure they are useful websites. Personally I try not to look at anything that will allow me to buy used clothing on the computer -- I can't control myself! I only eBay specific things and rely on irl swapping and thrift shopping for unplanned purchases.

i bought a few vintage items from an etsy store a few days ago -- I don't know whether it's the limitations of the etsy storefront architecture but there wasn't any way to select by size. I was reminded yet again why I spent so much money and bought so much used vintage clothing when I was in my early 20s and a size 8, and of course now, most vintage clothes are too small for me. So it was a lot of scrolling --- so cute! waist size ... uh, no.

Thredup is cool in that not only can you sort by size, but you can pick designers/brands you like and that's what it will show you -- most of the time. It also does the standard try and predict what you would like thing based on what you click on or buy. There was an interesting looking gray skirt that I clicked on so that I could try and figure out what the fabric was like, and then Thredup gave me a page of gray skirts, and nothing but gray skirts. Which made me think that as far as clothing goes, there are so many different criteria and factors that make me like an item of clothing that aren't just "gray" and "skirt" and made by a certain company.

I scored some good stuff today.

* Spring green velvet blazer that's slightly too big so it doesn't look overly fussy/can be worn over things
* cropped patterned wool sweater w short turtleneck, "made in Scotland"!
* red cotton cable knit cardi for a friend
* brown sweater vest & western-style dress shirt for mr

Good day!

i was just thinking about this thread!

i got my first box from thredup the other day, including this amazing dark purple cardigan with a dark purple and black fur collar.

blazer sounds great! Now I feel like I need something along those lines, that's a color other than black ... maybe? idk

Ha yeah the way I see it, if I'm wearing a green blazer and the rest of my outfit is a total snooze/slobby at least I'm wearing a fresh green jacket. lol!

oh totally! I have a few things like that -- including this new/used purple cardigan. The other, which is more for receptions and fancy occasions is this cream and black striped sequined jacket that I inherited from my grandmother. I can wear it with leggings and a black t-shirt dress from target and still look dressed up.

This is reminding me that my tshirts are getting pretty gnarly

i have too many t-shirts. this past summer I spent a day doing artful cutting of t-shirts: turning them into tank tops, making party vents, making them into scoop necks and v-necks because the standard t-shirt collar isn't all that flattering on me ... I still only regularly wear a small percentage of the t-shirts.

shopping at thrift stores since i've been in tokyo i've added lots of things to my wardrobe that i always wanted to wear like weird as fuck japanese/euro pieces from koenji 2nd hand shops, like i can wear margiela! i never imagined wearing margiela replica boots and being able to pay my rent and then when i get tired of them, sell them back at don don down for 20% less and buy a stupid yves st laurent marching band jacket or facetasm fake fur shawl. i can wear ann demeulemeester! and that sweet spot of 2000s japanese designer stuff like issey/yohji/comme and subsidiaries like sacai, undercover, etc. is cheap because? 1) it was cheaper in the first place, compared to buying it in paris or new york? 2) nobody buys yohji but gothy 17 year old instagram kids who buy recent stuff and whatever the new cheaper yohji brand is and wear it with limi feu and rick owens boots and gothy older men. koenji is dominated by 70s jean jackets and flannel shirts from shops that always make me a bit sad, like the jacket will have the name of the old owner penned in the collar and the feeling is like pictures of my dad from 1983 in general--or by niche niche obsessive: only like three british brands from 1965 in one shop and only purest 19th century french moleskin/patched cotton workwear in another. but recycle shops in older neighborhoods are like the thrift store i'm more familiar with: old beer signs, blenders, ski boots-- all those bubble era suits for ten bucks, going from really conservative tweedy british stuff to bizarrely cut italian suits and like the other day gianni versace tuxedo with silk psychedelic 1994 miami mansion rave pattern, hermes scarves under a stack of school uniforms, and like a prada fur collecting dust since the showa for fifty bucks-- all that money sloshing around and men wearing suits and i guess most of them are dead? and their kids found a bunch of italian suits and packed them up with their spoon collection and hawaiian guitar records and sold them for fifty bucks. you can get a used humidifier and a nice suit for twenty bucks.

when I was an exchange student in Japan in the 90s, I was told that buying secondhand clothes had a strong stigma in Japanese culture. Is that still true, or has it changed? I remember going to the equivalent of rummage sales at a temple in Kyoto or Nara and was seriously in awe of how cheap I could get things.

i don't think so? there're chains like off, mode off (and spinoffs BOOK OFF for books and LIQUOR OFF for used liquor), don don down + kichioji has dozens of second hand stores that range from cheap three dollar sweaters to niche collector shops and shimokita and nakano have the same vibe, 90% of clothes shops are vintage/2nd hand. harajuku is 45% shops selling old bape hoodies. shibuya, shinjuku. local recycle shops.

all the money that paid for those designer clothes in the 80s and 90s dried up, so it makes sense.... i guess.

Although the Japanese consumer has a history of high purchasing power and discriminating tastes, currently consumers report having less to spend on clothing. Price sensitivity is increasing, changing the way consumers in Japan shop for apparel.

Overall, Japanese consumer apparel spending has declined steadily for many years. According to Euromonitor International, apparel spending fell 19% from 2000 to 2009 and is projected to fall 9% from 2009 to 2010.

http://www.cottoninc.com/corporate/market-data/supplychaininsights/the-shifting-japanese-apparel-consumer/japanese-consumer-10-10.pdf

uniqlo + 2nd hand

I think there's a lot more work that can be done on predictive algorithms as far as what clothes you may/would like. Multiple sites are doing this now, as well as thredUp. I just got a promo email from thredup with "we think you will like these items" - and none of them were things I'd want, all very basic, staple-y stuff that is kinda the opposite of what I like.

attn: tangenttangent -- this thread exists if you wanna talk about dresses

i scored some nice stuff at the goodwill near my grocery store recently. a few shirts for work, a red/black polka dotted cotton dress, a stretchy black a-line dress with a little white collar and sleeves that isn't too tight, and a replacement gray cardigan because mine had a hole in the armpit. can't write on a chalkboard under those circumstances!

if i had smaller feet, i would have walked away with the most amazing stash of shoes i have ever seen collected in a thrift store at once: off-white laceup granny boots (curved heel!), bright orange minnetonka moccasins, and silver pumps with the least-jacked-up dainty heel i have ever seen in a thrift store

I just watched the newest season of Love on netflix. It's really making me want to start scouring for vintage clothes again, although I got rid of so much 2 years ago when I realized that I am never that keen to wear all polyester.

scooooooooooooore today at the thrift -- muted silver pleather biker jacket in exactly my size
i got two other things as well but this jacket is totally the shit, i can't wait to wear it. it's 90+ degrees today (and thrift had broken a/c) so i give myself credit for thinking ahead to cooler temps and snagging this extremely cool jacket

also yesterday i brought home one of those classic thrifted women's cardigans with a little shell pattern on it, totally acrylic, you know these sweaters. mine is yellow but they come in easter egg colors like light blue, pink, white, yellow.

PICS PLEASE

i haven't posted a pic to ilx in ages -- idk how to do it anymore!?

this is the same jacket only it's gold and mine is silver and mine only cost $10! https://poshmark.com/listing/Express-Gold-Moto-Biker-Leather-Jacket-Small-5a49bd23daa8f68062036973?utm_source=gdm&l_con=PREOWNED%2FUSED&gdm_bottom=false&campaign_id=1068438942&utm_campaign=1068438942&enable_guest_buy_flow=true&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqf2ttMrY3AIVStbACh1RfQFYEAQYAyABEgKPEPD_BwE

the sweater is something you probably saw on someone you knew in high school or college -- these fully synthetic old lady sweaters have been floating around since i was in high school and almost everyone i knew had one. to the point where i never bought one because we can't all go around wearing the same sweater...until now!

oh man i want a silver jacket

i just googled and there are apparently abundant options -- you should get one! you can even get a puffy one a la missy

it was super weird because just a couple days ago i watched Single White Female (hilarious, awesome, template for so many USURPER Lifetime movies, that weird little orange hairdo) and Bridget Fonda's clothes were really cute in that movie (heels aside). She had a silver raincoat that would have been a holy grail type item if Jennifer Jason Leigh hadn't waltzed out with the same exact one! lol

i saw a little girl at the farmers matket yesterday in a silver windbreaker & i nearly squueeeed out loud in envy

this is within your grasp -- we are living in a rich era of wacky affordable clothing. i looked around at Target the other day and marveled at the variety. It almost made me want to stock up for those times when things become more austere.

I need a raincoat and am now looking up silver raincoats.

look at this thing

https://screengoblin.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/bridget-fonda-swf2.png

thing = her coat, not her specifically

https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/03_04/EastendersBBC_468x316.jpg

(jk - the leather one looks ace)

who are those miserable-seeming people?

the ginger lady is the iconic Bianca, from British aspirational soap opera 'Eastenders'

aha
i've heard of that but clearly not familiar with the characters

tbh i'm pretty useless at figuring out what people mean with solitary image posts

sorry, that silver puffa jacket is kind of famous over here!

no need to apologize! i wish we all could be more forgiving of people not knowing things/needing to ask questions, self included.