Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Thrift Addiction



I love clothes. But I've always felt a bit of a tension between getting things I loved and being fearful of spending too much money on them. I've often been thrifty to the point of miserly, and sometimes that made me pass on things I should've bought, or buy certain things because they were both cheap and a "sure thing." Sometimes this tendency has kept me from taking too many fashion risks.

I've spent the bulk of my adulthood in New York City. It's a hub of American fashion and no mistake, but it also can be incredibly expensive, even when thrift shopping. The Goodwills and Salvation Armys I went to back then were okay, but nothing special. There was an amazing warehouse of a thrift shop in Williamsburg in the 90s called Domsey's Warehouse . I still remember the old school air pilot leather helmets with goggles that were on sale one day when I went that I passed up. Sigh. Domsey's vanished when the real estate got too expensive.

But for the most part the stuff I craved was at little house designers on East 7th St in the east village, or at consignment shops. As a rule I'd hit those when there was a sale, or when I had a big occasion to shop for. I still treasure the Mark Montano dress that my friend Rob urged me to try on and buy (alas, MM no longer designs clothes). I also hit Daffy's pretty frequently. Sadly Daffys too is no more.

During our first couple years of serious shoestring living in Seattle I took note of the city's particular style. Lots of girls in boots, everyone in beanies, & a lot of vintage clothing and a lot of flannel shirts 15 years after the height of the grunge era. I started trolling thrift shops more regularly, as much for entertainment as anything else. But for some reason the selection out here is a lot better. I've gotten a lot of good stuff in the last few months, and I'm starting to take more risks with the items I buy, veering toward slightly trendier things. At the same time, I'm 42 years old, and don't wanna look like I'm struggling to look like 25 when I obviously don't. But when thrift shopping out here I can take some risks without worrying too much about the expense.

Fit is also a factor. In the past I've often chosen clothes that are loose on me, because I didn't want them to be "too tight". In many cases I now realize that I was actually veering away from a true fit on my body. As I buy more clothes and play around with the sizing, I'm getting a better idea of what will work for my body type.



This is a perfect example of "fit discovery." I'm short-waisted as it is, and this skirt has a very high waist compared to what I'm used to.



But it does fit me properly. It flares over my hips at the right spot precisely because it has as high a waist as it does.



Plus it has pockets!



I'd usually never buy a suede skirt, but for $1.29 how could I say no? With the right sweaters in the fall I think it'll work out well.

5 comments:

  1. Love that skirt, Rachel! And I'm loving the pockets.

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  2. Thanks Karen! Pockets are all too rare on skirts these days. I'm thinking this one is possibly from the 80s, or from a design aesthetic that harks back to that...the label makes it look like it.

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  3. Pockets are key. I always regret clothing without pockets. The skirts looks lovely on you.

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    1. Hey thanks! Funny thing is after I tried this skirt on, I started noticing the lack of the pockets in my other skirts! I did a tailoring class years ago and pockets were a major part of the class. Might have to make a skirt with pockets so I don't miss them quite so much.

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  4. And as we all know, pockets are handy even in a wedding dress. And you may be 42 but I think you look a lot younger....good genes in the family I say.

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