Summer’s a great time to stroll through racks of shorts, glassware, abandoned craft projects, and forlorn pillows at your local thrift store. That’s me, above, in an impromptu gun show outside a Goodwill in Florida. Not long ago, I spent a week at the beach with my folks, and they indulged my love of thrift one afternoon. I dig the mirrored mosaic covering the entryway of the store (which might have been a restaurant in an earlier incarnation?). And the palm trees are a nice touch, too.
I’m also working on shopping my own closet and using what I already have rather than always giving into the impulse to buy something new (or new-to-me). Once I found a pair of inexpensive jeans that I’d bought, stashed away, and forgotten about. I wore them to meet a friend who said “you are your own thrift store!”
Friends and family are often the best thrift stores, too. When I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Moldova, I shopped at secondhand clothing section of the nearby piatsa, or outdoor market. There was no fitting room. You tried it on as the saleswoman or your friend held up a curtain while you changed.When my friend Jessie visited me, (the same Jessie I recently visited in West Virginia), we riffled through the racks, and she found a green floral sundress for the equivalent of 50 cents.
In my WanderChic passive-aggressive way, I kept hinting how much I loved that dress. Finally, Jessie gave it to me, so I would shut up about it. In the photo above, I’m wearing that dress in Croatia in 2004, while traveling at the end of my Peace Corps service. I’d rethink that bandana now, but friends and I were living out of a tent and a van, so I can go easy on myself.
What I’m trying to say is that with thrifting, a little bit of puppy dog eyes can go a long way.