Keep & Sweep

Many questions come my way. One keeps popping up, “What should I buy at thrift stores and what should I leave?” Here’s a quick list of Golightly’s top ten keeps and sweeps from your shopping cart at the thrift store. Other thrifters, please chime and comment.

Keep Holiday & Birthday Gifts: Purchase gifts in advance to avoid that nasty gift pinch where we end up spending more than intended out of panic to deliver on time. Box and store gifts in one place so they so don’t get lost in the household mix. Shopping ahead provides time for a meaningful thought to be attached to the gift. It is my belief that, “It’s the thought that counts” has been replaced with “It’s the amount of money spent,” as described in “Wow! This is so you! What’s Happened to the Art of Giving?” Americans are letting retailers do the thinking when it comes to gift purchases. Let’s take back that choice since we know personally know the gift recipient and retail marketers do not.

Keep Other Gifts: Be gracious. For a hostess, teacher or an unexpected event, purchase items in advance and have them on hold. For example, whenever I find “Gift from the Sea” by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, I snag it. That’s a great book for girlfriends in all kinds of situations. I feel that classics are better served up either vintage or in anniversary editions. Having these gifts al a thrift saves money and when thoughtful, express gratitude, something we probably do not do enough of these days. If not a gift, a hand written note can deliver the same intent – prefabricated cards don’t make much of a difference in my world. Stationary can also easily found at thrift stores for that meaningful and personal note. Even better, hand make cards using thifted paper.

Keep Cookware & Bakeware: Make certain it’s quality. Copper should be heavy and have secure brass handles. Never mind if it’s horribly tarnished. Barkeeper’s Friend and a lot of elbow grease will fix that. Vintage enamelware is wonderful and one of my favorite finds. But Calaphon and Kitchen Aide and other modern products are in supply. There is always a huge assortment of bakeware. I feel the best cookware is vintage cookware because it’s haunted.

Keep Rare Finds: Like my husband’s Givenchy tux, he may not wear it often but he has one and is ready to go. Besides this might open up opportunities to use it. For $8.99 in its in beautiful, perfect-fitting condition, it’s worth it. Or my piece of America, my suede covered “Song of Hiawatha” that I imagine some pioneer keeping it close to read and read again while exploring the new west.

Keep Picture Frames: There is always a great selection of picture frames in both size and style and they can be painted in any color. Just remove what’s already in the frame and replace it. However, there are times when we just might buy the frame for what’s in it.

Keep Items For The Classroom: With chronic budget cuts, teachers are always in need of supplies. Ask teachers for lists. Items could be staplers, three-ring hole punchers, scales, books or craft supplies like yarn, ribbon, crayons – all available at thrift stores.

Keep Jewelry: Look in the glass cases by the cash registers there is always a mix of new items, vintage items and artisan items.

Keep Books: New release, old and rare are readily available at thrift stores often in the $2 range. For more information see the post On Books. Children's books are usually sold for a lower price - another item that classrooms need and teachers appreciate.

Keep Tabletop For Parties & Events: Punch bowls (buy two, one for spiked and one for tame), pedestals, vases, candlestick holders, pitchers, plate stands are available at thrift stores. This is the place to shop for dinner parties. And baskets, there are baskets a plenty at thrift stores. There's a funny story about my preparations for a semi-formal baby shower and acquiring such items in the post "Where's the bait & what's the switch?"

Keep Items Easily Lost: We often lose mittens, gloves, hats, scarves and sunglasses. It doesn’t hurt so much when our children lose a pair of mittens that cost a dollar instead of ten. For example I bought six pairs of new Dana Buchman sunglasses for $12. I saved hundreds. Some sunglasses store did an inventory dump at a thrift store and I was happy to be there.

Sweep Things We Already Have: If we have 10 dress shirts, do we really need four more? Depends on the lifestyle.

Sweep Items In Need Of Dry Cleaning: Unless we absolutely love it or need it, like a suit, leave the stuff that needs to be dry-cleaned.

Sweep Moth-Eaten Items: Be certain to check woolen items over. However, the fabric can be recycled into mittens and other items when one knows their way around a sewing machine. I have a friend who takes thrifted wool sweaters and washes them in hot water for boiled wool and makes the warmest mittens imaginable. She even lines them with recycled fabric from thrift. She's a saint, known to us as Joan of ARC (after the many ARC Thrift Stores that dot Denver). Some people even take sweaters and unravel the yarn to reuse. Sounds tedious but quality yarn isn’t cheap and if we’re going to invest loads of time into knitting something, shouldn’t the yarn be quality?

Sweep Cheap Reproductions: Be patient, originals pop up at thrift stores. I’ve seen several reproductions of Wedgwood and have also found the original, a cake stand in perfect condition for $3.

Sweep Chipped Items: Dodge chipped items unless the chip is hardly noticeable and the item is of a fine maker, like Limoges. However, I understand that some chips in crystal can be sanded smooth.

Sweep Items That Create Projects: That bookshelf is amazing but needs refinishing. If the project queue is full, will the bookshelf ever be refinished? Or, will end up being donating back to the store? If the project list is short and there is time, go for it!

Sweep New Items Still In The Box: A new item still in the box at a thrift store is a score but happens more than one might think. Unless needed, leave it. Items still in the box make many appearances at thrift stores – a lesson in how wasteful Americans have become.

Sweep Baby Furniture: Laws on many baby items have changed. Investigate specifications online.

I Sweep Underwear & Swimsuits: Perhaps it’s because I was an only child and didn’t receive super personal hand-me-downs. However, new swimsuits and undies can be found with tags still dangling in thrift stores. Besides, I think we are fooling ourselves about new swimsuit purchases. I seriously doubt all women follow the rules and leave on their panties when they try on suits in department stores. And that little plastic panty liner? Like that is some assurance! Plu-ease!

Sweep Seasonal Impulse Buys: Sweep fondue pots, spinning popcorn poppers, chocolate fountains and other seasonal impulse buys from years past. Should you decide you suddenly want one, you can always find it at the thrift store. It’s where impulse items go to die.

Pulling a little weed

The March 2^nd opinion piece for the Christian Science Monitor, “Green shopping: Don’t say ‘eww’ to thrift stores” was picked up by several news sources including Yahoo News, Business Exchange, Lucianne, The Daily Kos and many other sites and independent blogs. I’ve always read comments to my opinions on TV, radio and news blogs like MSN Money. I never jump in, just sit back to learn what others are thinking. Some comments make me chuckle. Some make me proud. Other make my scalp sore from head scratching. When I read a funky comment, I enjoy watching another swoop in to bust it. But I’d never felt bitten until the Monitor piece ran. A reader reported that thrift stores spray fungicide on their clothing. He cited no reference. Just wrote it without documented evidence and from what I know that is called a genuine rumor.

I had a bad reaction to this bite. It became an irritation. So I asked my friends at Denver Goodwill to clarify. Follows is their formal response:

"Goodwill Industries of Denver is redefining the thrift store experience. Stores are cleaner, brighter, more organized than ever and shoppers expect an experience similar to a traditional big box retail store. Our stores have never used any fungicidal spray or treatment on clothes. Our donations are carefully screened to bring the best quality goods to the floor for our customers and we ensure that each piece meets certain standards. This is not your grandmother’s thrift store!"
Meaghan Carabello
Public Relations and Communications Coordinator, Goodwill Industries of Denver

Another myth I asked my friends at Goodwill to dispel is the one where people claim that thrift stores only want “poor” people shopping their stores. I asked Goodwill Denver to comment and it ran in our January 21^st post. I’m always amused by this notion of only “poor” people allowed in thrift stores and visualize the security stanchions like the inventory control systems of retail stationed at the front doors of thrift, monitoring shoppers as they enter the store. Imagine walking into a thrift store and an alarm sounds and a fakey, loud, slow female voice barks out "PLEASE leave the store, you are NOT POOR!"

I guess that would assume that we've all been implanted with net-worth chips. Wait! Perhaps that’s how other people walk in restaurants and get seated before my family. Who knew? This must not be good because we don’t visit fancy joints.

Perhaps New is Ewww!

For those of you who think thrift stores are dirty places, I offer this bite, excuse me, bit of news from the Associated Press, Wal-Mart customer finds teeth in wallet. I'm certain attorneys will work with this gentleman for an undisclosed amount of money to hush this up right fast. Just a sampling to reveal the new products retail market just might not be as clean as one might expect like the situation I faced in What's the bait and where's the switch?

This information came vis a vis blogger extraordinaire and National Thrift Store Petition backer, The Q Speaks. When Amanda Quraishi speaks, one might want to listen as she has recently been listed as a 2009 Honoree for National Women’s History Month. If I ever write an alphabet book for girls, Q is for Quraishi.

Shortly after I wrote this, a thrifty reader found another item of dirty interest from Wal-Mart and sent it my way. I am not specifically picking on Wal-Mart, they just happen to be in the news this week. Looks like there will be another undisclosed settlement.

But there is a lesson here. Maybe, just maybe new product retailers are not as up front with us as we'd like to think.

On the flip side, there is a certain gentlemen following every news agency that ran the opinion piece I wrote for The Christian Science Monitor declaring that thrift stores spray pesticide and fungicide on all their clothing. This gentleman cites no source but I'm sadly certain his rumor is discussed. My friends at Goodwill and ARC are developing their response to this bit that sniffs of myth.

Six Baccarat Tumblers

There is a growing mentality in America that success happens overnight. Companies go public one day and 50 new millionaires are running about Silicon Valley. Television shows like “Extreme Home Makeover” roll their bus into town and in a few days, a family’s life is forever changed by a new home with gizmos and gadgets the family never dreamed of. We say things like, “When I win the lotto.” I am guilty of that and the funny thing is I have never purchased a lotto ticket. Not one.

We focus on the success and forget about the sweat equity put into achieving it. That’s assuming the sweat equity was fair, transparent and honest. For years we’ve given praise, bought stock and believed in companies that were jokes, frauds. Of course now, we pay the price for these crooks and their schemes to make quick money.

Here’s a very scary part to this mentality, we shop to it. We shop like our bills are paid, the mortgage is paid, the college savings is ready and retirement will afford us 50 years of luxury and bliss. We stack up credit like, something’s big will happen in our future that will settle it all and leave us even more to spend.

So what does this have to do with thrift? First off thrift is a noun, so every time I use it as a verb or adjective my spell check scolds me. The first definition of thrift in Dictionary.com is: economical management; economy; frugality.

Spending with the intent that someday you will win the lottery, your company will go public, that big promotion is just a few months away or your bonus will be huge is wrong. No, it’s stupid. No excuse for it.

I have a set of six leaded crystal tumblers that my great grandmother, born in 1880, purchased. I believe they are Baccarat. Each tumbler is different. Why? Because my Mamaw, though college educated and well off with an educated husband who traveled the country working for various Pulitzer Newspapers, could not smartly afford to buy six at once. She saved money and when she had enough, she bought another and did so until she had a set of six. Today I’m certain the acquisition of a set of six Baccarat tumblers would have been managed quite differently and my grandmother would be appalled. Of course she would mange her words with care for she studied elocution in college, but her disappointment would be clear.

I also imagine that the reverence for the product bought on today's terms would be significantly diminished. I'm not certain what research has been done, but I imagine items that are saved for are held with a higher degree of worth than items that are simply tossed onto a mix of inflated credit accounts. Over one hundred years after their purchase, I still hold those tumblers in esteem for the effort and patience my great grandmother put into acquiring them. I knew my Mamaw, she lived well past one hundred and told me stories of days before people knew cars.

The Golightly home is over 100 years old and is an eclectic mix of items of things purchased at estate sales, yard sales, thrift stores and stuff pulled from the alley. Our snug home did not happen in one week of visits to posh furniture stores to replicate a prefabricated design, it came from years of digging, salvaging and refinishing. And it’s still not finished. It never will be.

Like a life, a home is not built in one obscene week of shopping. A home is a living thing that slowly changes over time. There is no race to finish it, so don’t shop like there is. Make each purchase mean something special to you. Make it treasure. Don't replicate pages of a catalog. Here’s a money saving hint: most treasure is not found at the mall. Treasure requires effort and effort often grows appreciation.

Fond Memories of Thrift

Earlier this week, I received the following comment from the January 17th post, “Children want spending power too!”

"Twenty years ago, when I was seven, my parents started thrift store shopping. They were looking for the obscure. My two younger siblings and I were each given a quarter every Saturday to spend. We ran to the outdoor area known as the As Is Yard. It was a horrific mess! We loved it! I could pile my arms high with pieces of Barbie's Dream House and castaway dolls. The man at the front would write a ticket for the price for all the items we collected. Eventually, he caught on that we had a quarter each to spend. Funny how our tickets always added up to just that amount.

As with age, my allowance grew and I learned to save for the wonderful pre-priced paper back books found inside the store. Over three quarters of my toys were handmade or came from the As-Is Yard at Goodwill."
~ Kat Shumar of Indianapolis, IN

I realize that some adults do not have fond memories of thrifting as children. But I also know there are many who do.

For those of you who were teased about having to thrift, I am sorry. I ask you to understand it was not the thrift store that was the problem, it was the spoiled children. These spoiled children were ruthless. I was cruelly teased because I wore Keds sneakers. These kids called them Roach Killers. So, after my mother left for work I would take her Adidias sneakers and stuff the tips with socks so I could fit into them. I may have been wearing shoes two sizes too big and looked ridiculous in clown feet but the teasing stopped. It really did.

Many Americans might find it appalling that I take my children thrifting. But, like Kat, they love it. Besides I think most Americans are completely unaware of how wasteful they’ve become. I’m ready to catch that new Sundance sweater, new handmade mukluks, new Anthropologie sweater, new Banana Republic jacket, new purse, and new shoes you so casually toss over your shoulders and I’ll pay less than 5% of the price you paid. Poe, my 12-year-old daughter, has more cashmere in her closet than the average American. Little Pie Goligthly grew her own pair of Snake Eyes and now can spot cashmere off a 10 ft packed rack of sweaters. Most seven-year-old’s don’t even know what cashmere is.

The other day, Little Pie Golightly found a brand new wallet that the thrift store without a price tag. Little Pie took it to the cashier and asked for the price. The cashier smiled, “You really like that wallet?” Pie nodded. “Hmm. How about 50 cents?” Little Pie reached into her pocket, paid for her wallet and walked out of the store with new treasure.

Thank you Kat Shumar for sharing your story.

Wow! This is so…You! What’s happened to the art of giving?

Many people don’t realize gift giving is a subtle art. Often people buy gifts that aren’t necessarily the recipient’s style. Ever received a gift that makes you want to declare, “Wow! This is so you! Why don’t you just keep it? You’ll get more use out of it than me.”

In no way am I trying to sound ungrateful, but I hate being wasteful. I also don’t like clutter. So, I’ll be quick to tote unwanted gifts off to the return desk or thrift store donation bins. This makes me sad because dollars were simply wasted and I wasn’t left feeling honored, just dejected. A little seed called, “You Don’t Know Me” starts to grow, and grow until have to I kill it with some kind of emoti-cide, usually in a prescription form.

Are my tastes so hard to clock? I wear black. Lots of urban black. I wear scarves and berets. I love quality scented candles, almost always have one burning. I wear artisan sterling jewelry. I read a lot. I collect childrens books. I garden like mad. I camp. So why do I get a floral flannel robe festooned with ruffles and cheap, itchy lace? Because the person who bought it for me was thinking of themselves. I won't even wear that thing if I make it to 80.

We do think of ourselves, a lot. Especially when we wait until the last minute to buy a gift, often during the holidays. This is exactly what retailers want because you are unknowingly lost and most relieved to discover that fork in the retail road. To the left is “I Like It Avenue.” To the Right is “Impulse Buy Boulevard”. Most take the Boulevard because it's broad and wide and the stores are piled high with easy-to grab-items of construction that would give the smallest Pyramid of Giza a run for its scale. The sales associates tell you this impulse buy is the hottest thing this season, least that's what management said. So how do these associates really know? Next time, ask them if they have a [inset impulse buy here]. Chances are they cannot afford one or wouldn't want it if they could.

Impulse items eventually land on the shelves of thrift stores where they end up not selling and are thus crated off to third world countries. So I wonder if there is a person in Bolivia in a hut with no electricity staring blankly at a chocolate fountain at this very moment. Where do impulse buys go to die? I mean, how many fondue pots does this world need? Since the '60's there are fondue pots from just about every decade sitting on the shelves at thrift stores. Is there an artist out there who can turn these fondue pots into art? Now that's a challenge! If you bought a chocolate fountain or a fondue pot please don't feel bad. We've all bought impulse buys and must find a way to break this cycle.

Whoops! I'm stepping up on soap box! America needs some serious retail reform! I'm talking hard core, urine test, stress test, blood test get a new personal trainer, doctor and diet reform! Consumers have but one major problem, uh, we've been jobless for months, some well over a year, and therefore no income which basically translates to, WE HAVE NO MONEY! The only change consumers need in our lives at this moment is employment.

So far, retailers keeps pointing their fingers shouting like Gilbert Gottfried, "They're not buying items at a rate that satisfies our profit expectations! Hey Feds we need a bail out!" This becomes national news in print, radio and TV. We watch it nightly. Sigh. Did you know the pornography industry sought a bail out? Another sigh.

Well, a nun (even though I'm not Catholic) told me when I was five that when you point your finger there are three more pointing back at you. I guess the thumb isn't considered a pointer.

Okay, someone's thinking, "Damn! She's being hard on retail!" In the words of my family's matriarch, "Someone's gotta be!"

Okay, off my soapbox and back on point: Impulse items are mostly given by people who feel like they have an obligation to give. Now that sucks. Shouldn’t giving be fun?

There’s another crowd, those who want to honor people on certain occasions with reminders that we love them and give them things that might make them feel a little spoiled or make their life a little easier. I like to hang with these guys. But to do this, you have to be smart and think ahead and shop year-round. And, you have to know your family and friends. Really size them up and be selfless. And you know what's really cool about these people? They are not giving to get. They are just giving, no hidden agenda.

It’s not so hard to learn your friends' likes. Look at how they dress. Do they wear solids, prints, wool, cotton, urban, conservative? What is the style of their home? What are their hobbies? What kind of food do they like? Do they entertain? Do they travel? When they are chatting, what books do they mention they are reading? What are they listening to when you ride with them in their car or visit their home? Isn't this what friendship is about? Listening and learning about your friends? Knowing them?

Want examples? Fine. I have a family member or friend who:

• Could give any French baker a run for their money. She gets unusual cookie molds and copper cookware.
• Can BBQ, smoke, roast, saute anything pork, beef, chicken or lamb to sublime measure. I give him tools to assist with his art.
  
• Was in the Peace Corps in Thailand, has a cabin in the mountains and her home has walls painted a delicious pumpkin color. She gets items in a combination thereof.
• Is a major bibliophile. He gets rare and vintage books.
• Is a Franco-phile. He gets anything French.
• Enters more flower shows in a year than the number of countries in Central America. She gets unusual vases, anything that might provide an advantage over her competition. Hey, they don’t call her “Blue Ribbon Betty” cause she takes honorable mention.
• Loves anything manly, as in "Dogs Playing Poker" and manly BBQ trays.
  
• Has a home that looks fresh out of the pages of Victoria. She gets items that enhance that image.
• Has just about everything he wants. He asks for and gets written letters.
• Loves a spot of red. She gets things with a spot of red.
• A friend who collects scales and wants more cowbell.
  

Plug all this into a grid into your head and take it to the thrift store throughout the year. You’ll be astounded by the wonderful things you’ll find. Why the thrift store? Because it’s like a Morrocan Bazaar, a ParisianFlea Market or Portobello Road. Everything and anything is there, just waiting. Okay, maybe I'm being a bit romantic. I've never been fond of the white institutional feel of most thrift stores. So, use you're imagination, we don't use it enough anyway.

You’ll be fighting back the urge of giving their gift early because you’ll be so excited. It’s true. Ask Mr. Golightly. I do it to him all the time, poor guy. “Honey, here’s your birthday present two months early!” He hates it when I do that. I even have to physically corner him to release my selfish urge. But I don’t think it’s so bad because I find something else to add on to his birthday booty. So it’s not like his birthday arrives and he is left giftless. And, since I thrift, I spend about$20.

Thrift now. Up on the top left of this page, there is a “Thrifting Gift Guide” slide show full of over 200 items of thrift to whet your whistle. Below that is a “How to Thrift" section of posts that should help the novice along their path to becoming thriftmasters.

Here's one more incentive to go. Maybe, just maybe you'll make restitution with all those gifts that you had to be polite about. I assure that on your adventures, you'll find many things that will make you declare, "Oh! This is so me! I love it! Thank you!" And, it will most likely fall in the $0.99-$4.99 range.

Given all that I have just written, you should be a good two months into your holiday shopping and have bought a few birthday gifts early. You're with me, right? If you're not, don't come to me in January, 2010 and ask, "Why am I broke?" While all the gifts you gave are on the shelves at Goodwill. Godspeed!

Who is Shopping Golightly?

For kicks Bunny Glitter listed Golightly as their Interesting Person of the Week.

American Thrift needs a strong, hefty lift!

About four months ago, in a thrift-obsessed mania, I launched a Facebook petition calling for a commemorative month of American Thrift. It didn’t take long to realize this was a monumental project, naively approached with the build-it-and-they-will-come mentality. Like most super-sized deals it’s easy to order, hard to swallow and sticks to the gut for a long, long time.

Overwhelmed by its scale, I put it on the side bar. Some encouraged me to try at the state level first and then work up. No! This needs to be national! Now! So, I’m back at it, spittin’ and a swingin’.

Retailers have done a bang-up job leading Americans away from thrift and making us think “If it’s not new its EWWW!” All kinds of bizarre myths are in play. The strangest I’ve heard is that one needs a voucher, like food stamps, to thrift. Consumers are lost and it’s time to call them home.

American Thrift deserves at least one month in the annual spotlight to educate and recruit people to the cause. Remember folks this is poetic shopping. Buy a repurposed item and the profits go to repurposing a life!

Retailers have been receiving commemorative months for years by self-promotion. Who would sign a petition for Return the Shopping Carts to the Supermarket Month, Noodle Month, Frozen Foods Month, Hamburger Month, or Umbrella Month?* How these months became a reality is a real head-scratcher. I provided links to these promotions because I'm betting you don't believe me. The link to Return the Shopping Carts to the Supermarket Month provides instruction on how to observe that month. Phew! I was a bit uncertain as to how to honor that month, its title is so vague. For a list of our national commemorative months click here.

If you’re a Facebook member, click here or on the button to the right and join and then invite your friends to join too. If you’re not on Facebook, we'll be developing an alternate option. As I wrote, this project was kicked off in a thrift-loving manic state. But, I believe it can be successfully orchestrated.

A few days back I put out a call to other blogs and heard back from Black and into Green, Songbirdtiff, Frugal Babe, Green Girls Global, Atomic Tea Party, Dime Store Thrift, No Pattern Required, Repurposeful, My Daily Round and the Goodwill Blog of Northern New England, Karla's Bonanza, and Green & Crunchy before I even blinked. They have all written posts and are encouraging their readers to join. There are links to these blogs on the petition page. The Queen of Fifty Cents is in the mix too. I do not stand alone on this cause.

If you're on Facebook, I urge to to link to this post and run like mad with it! Send it to your friends and tell them that they must join or you'll, you'll... well you'll do something and it won't be pleasant.

Oh, and this is no shameless promotion of Facebook. I just happened to be on it during my psychotic thrifting break of genius and naivete. This "I can change the world attitude" makes me feel like I'm in college again! Why, I'm as light as a feather!

We can do this! Please join and then comment as to what month you think it should be. And, if you have experience in this field and want to help, email me right away at Shopping [dot] Golightly [at] gmail [dot] com. *Sources: epromos.com & Wikipedia

Thrift Store Conventions: Mens Suits

When I think of shopping for mens suits, I’m taken back to “French Fur Trappers”a skit with David Foley and Kevin McDonald from The Kids in the Hall. This show was an addiction of mine in the early 90’s. In some ways it was good that it came to a close. If it hadn’t, I’d probably be laying, dark circles under my eyes, on a ratty couch in some hovel watching re-runs and waiting for a new show to air. Double click on the image to view this masterpiece:


I feel it my duty to announce that we are smack in the middle of suit season. Men, or their wives, have dumped suits at thrift stores like mad and the suits have now been processed, tagged and are rolling out on the racks as I write. Perhaps it’s standard seasonal turnover or perhaps it’s those extra-added inches from the holidays. But, the suits are in. I believe we are presently at its peak and it’s about to dive so act now.

Since it started in early January, I’ve picked up five designer suits for Mr. Golightly and one Givenchy tuxedo. The total cost for all was just under $50. A few needed minor alterations. The suits are Jos. A. Bank, Evan Picone, Kenneth Cole, Nino Cerruti, and Bill Blass (in the right).

I’m not just grasping for suits. I’m very picky and leave many hanging on the rack. I check the quality of fabric, lining and cuffs for wear and ensure the lapel width is classic. It’s hard to determine a suit’s size because the numbers usually aren’t marked on the tag. This can put you in a pickle if the person you are buying for is not present. I take the pants over to the size 33 section of pants and compare waist size to the suit pants. I gauge the jacket based upon years of hugging Mr. Golightly. Finish it off with a once over with Snake Eyes and all's good. Of all the suits, I only had to return one and that one was a tough call. (Yes, thrift stores have return policies, just ask.) It was a French suit and Mr. Golightly has an odd attachment to things French, like Catherine Deneuve.

All of Mr. Golightly’s suits are quality. I mentioned that perhaps he shall wear his classic tux at Poe and Litte Pie’s weddings. He didn’t like it when I said that and gave me the shut-your-trap glare. As much as I don’t presently embrace that thought, time will march on so best to be prepared.

Be assured that no corporate executives were harmed in the acquisition of the suits purchased from a thrift store. No one will wait lurking behind cars to spray paint your thrifted suit in protest.

Mr. Golightly is a lucky man. The reason I had to scout suits was because he didn't take care and guard his suits from the summer moths. If we'd have replaced those suits with new suits, we'd be taking out a second mortgage and a third to a little to build a dog house.

Now is also a good time to stock up for those impromptu '70's and '80's parties too. Or maybe a bolo tie in case you'll be crashing a Dallas party as JR. Like fine wine, it's wise to have a theme party ensemble reserve.

What's Your Flinch Point?

Are you familiar with the thrift effect? No? Spend about two to three months in a regular thrifting routine, visiting two to three stores for a quick 15 minute recon mission a piece, and you’ll understand the thrift effect and the incredible value it adds to your life. It stems from a rich and seasoned knowledge of what one can find in the store and for about how much money.

After years of shopping thrift, I have a $5 flinch point. That’s the thrift effect. Setting reasonable limits. Anything over $5 requires my thoughtful consideration. I don’t care if it’s a bed frame or a dresser. If I can purchase a Limoges porcelain covered dish, a Wedgwood cake stand, 100 year-old rare books, a new sweater from Sundance, a Jos. A. Bank suit, sterling rings, vintage Emile Henry bake ware, bamboo chairs, and much more for under $5 - I better give serious thought to anything over. Sometimes it’s an easy choice like the Flexible Flyer sled for $6. Other times it requires more thought like the J.Crew tweed jacket with the cute grosgrain ribbon tie for $7 or the heavy copper oval au gratin that’s never been under for $9. Many of my $5 thrifted items would retail at the mall for hundreds of dollars more.


What is fascinating about this economic phenomenon is that it doesn’t happen in the new goods market. My $5 flinch point won’t buy me much, maybe some mascara or lip-gloss. It’s really weird to think about a new Banana Republic Jacket with its $99 tag still dangling purchased for $5 at Goodwill versus a tube of mascara purchased for more. Clearly, America’s retail priorities are whacked.

I do set a percentage limit on sales in the new product market; it has to be at least 50% off. But even with that, I end up spending way more than my $5 flinch point.

Last week I went to Anthropologie to check out the heavy sales. I stood in line holding my treasured box of perfume, 70% original retail. I paid $15 for it. The woman in front of me purchased a pair of jeans and white cotton (looked like poplin) blouse for $278! Wow. She clearly doesn’t have a flinch pont on items. There was absolutely nothing unique about the shirt or the jeans, which is weird because one has too look pretty hard at Anthropologie to find something that's not unique.

Now comes the blessed irony, after visiting Anthropologie, I went to The ARC Thrift Store and bought a darling Anthropolgie brand cardigan sweater for $4. It is like new or new. Poe, my oldest daughter, and I will have to flip a coin to see who wins it.

I pass up cashmere sweaters for $3-$5 almost every week because I don’t like the color or style. One could probably tailor the ugliest cashmere sweater in the world, stamp a sale price of $8 on it, hang it on the racks at a department store, and there would be a brawl over it – that Bargain Rage I’ve written about. Perhaps the pianist that sometimes plays Nordstrom could launch into some western bar fighting music! And, customers could throw pies!

Do you have a flinch point on items in the thrift market? In the new goods market? Or do you just spend with no inhibition? If so, the retail market flings an invisible pie in your face every time you make a purchase and you aren’t even aware enough to see what flavor it is. I prefer Banana, but not in my face.

Frugalista has a sister. Environista!

For months I’ve been brainstorming a sister for frugalista. I’m a proud frugalista. But, it’s not just frugality that drives my thrift store pulse. As mentioned before, Shopping Golightly is also Shopping Go Green.

I’ve been hard pressed to find a word that describes a person who “shops with the intention of reducing their personal carbon footprint.” I’ve thought and thought and thought. I’ve banged my head against my desk. I went on a week-long vision quest in Death Valley without water, food, clothes and sunscreen. (Well, okay, I did that my dreams.) I even got punchy and fell into Rob Schneider’s SNL Copy Guy persona, “The Greenster, the Eco-ater, the Green Meister savin’ the planet, protectin’ dolphins. Greenorama, Green!”

I tried eco-thrifter on Wikipedia and the wiki police eventually gave that humble attempt the boot. Admittedly, I didn’t think it all that great but had to try something.

Then it hit me, environista! It rolls off the tongue just like frugalista! I quickly searched the Internet and found an environista on the web. But, you know what? We need more environistas! We need a whole lot of environistas!

I kindly ask you to comment to this post and pledge that you too are not only a frugalista but a smart and beautiful, handsome environista too! Okay?

You’ve gotta get yourself a pair of Snake Eyes!

This Snake Eyes technique is, well, its wow! No! Beyond wow! I just had an incredible day.

I’m not ashamed of Snakes Eyes. When my daughters are present, I select one of my three pairs of new Dana Buchman sunglasses that I picked up at Goodwill for $1.99 each so that I don’t embarrass my children.

I’ve dreamed of finding Limoges porcelain. I’ve found Wedgwood many times, but Limoges is the crème de la crème. I finally found my first piece of vintage L. Bernardaud & Co. Limoges at the Broadway Goodwill in Engelwood! Say it like the French, lee-mawzh. This white and gold (probably 22 karat) covered dish was $4.99. I’ve yet to find a match for it on the Internet but, be assured, I will. (I say that with Dwight Schrute certainty.)

Why was I after Limoges porcelain? During World War II, my grandfather was a very young soldier in 12^th Armored Division better known as the Hellcats. During this time, many families in Lunéville, France offered hospitality to these soldiers awaiting orders to march into Germany. Kathryn was the matriarch of the family my grandfather stayed with and they grew to be dear friends. He has since been back twice with my grandmother to reconnect. Someday, I plan to take my family to meet Kathryn’s. I know they are still living in the same house, the family has lived there for many generations than I have gray hairs. This is a journey I must take. It’s in my blood. I will bring this Limoges covered dish as a gift and bring this beautiful piece back to where it truly belongs. What else would I show up with? Corelle?

I need a moment to dab the tears with my vintage hankie. Okay, composure.

I went to the ARC on Federal and Hooker. (Yes, there’s a street in Denver named Hooker.) On went the Snake Eyes. The treasures flew off the racks and into my cart! I didn’t even need to touch them! Well, maybe I touched a few but I walked away with another like new, if not new sweater from Anthropologie for $3.99; a cashmere sweater from Sax for $4.99; and an Echo purse with price tag of $88 still dangling for $4.99. And I purchased a very rare book published in 1917, “A Treasury of War Poetry.” It was $3.99. (I know a certain bibliophile.)

While at this ARC, I found today’s tour de thrift, a ceramic decanter that looks a lot like Droopy Dog with a bandage tied round his chin, the stopper being the knot of the bandage. This lovely piece, in pristine condition, sits a top a ceramic music box and spins round to "How Dry I Am." This makes Dogs Playing Poker look like a sweet sixteen party with pink poodles sipping Shirley Temples with paper umbrellas. I’m offering this up to Bill Geist of CBS Sunday Morning in hopes he’ll come thrift with me, Snake Eyes style. I’m shameless.

I really am shameless. I ended the day playing salon for reals with my daughters, Poe and Pie, and a box of Revlon Frost & Glow. That’s right. I put on the ugly plastic cap and my daughters took turns pulling strands of hair through the plastic with the crochet needle thingy. Pie, my youngest was truly dedicated and adept to the task. She loves stuff like that. She even knits, which reminds me that I picked up a bag of at least 20 pairs of knitting needles (metal and wooden) at the Goodwill on Broadway and Archer. Anyway, my daughters actually did a nice job. But, I do miss the salon and I don’t think Snake Eyes is going to work there. But, having my daughters tend to my hair was a bonding experience; one I know they will laugh about when I’m too old to know what they’re laughing about and then I’ll do something like pee on their couch, a sort of unknowing poetic justice.

To see Snake Eye's watch this segment "Little Big Guy" from Little Big Man. Now get on over to a mirror and start practicing!

Dispelling Thrift Store Myths

I can’t count the times I’ve heard, “Thrift stores only want poor people shopping their stores. When you’re not poor and shop thrift, you’re robbing poor people of items they need.” Those words never set right with me and sound so utterly snobbish.

Though charitable thrift stores serve many needs, it seems to me their primary purpose is to make money to fund valuable programs that support the organization's mission. How about this? The more people that donate and shop at thrift stores, the healthier the profits! And can shopping be any more poetic? Profits from the sale of re-purposed products re-purposing lives? I love that!

I touched base with Goodwill Denver and follows is their response:

“Goodwill welcomes all shoppers to its 18 stores across the metro Denver area,” said Tim Welker, Goodwill Industries of Denver president and CEO. “We see everyone from the thrifty, penny-wise shopper to the urban hipster looking for unique finds to the green-conscious individual trying to reuse and repurpose goods to keep them out of the landfill. Plus, when you shop and donate to Goodwill Industries of Denver you are changing lives through education and employment options for at-risk youth, and disabled and disadvantaged adults in our community.”

Amen! So, there it is, Goodwill Denver wants your business, no matter what your IRS classification may be. I’ll be checking in with other Denver charitable thrifts for their comments too. I doubt they’ll be any different.

Now in a former life, I worked as a marketer/event planner for The Lincoln Park Zoo in downtown Chicago. This Zoo is one of the last free zoos in the country. Chicago’s elite, the McCormick’s, Pritzker’s, Regenstein’s, Brach’s and Kovler’s visited that zoo as did Chicago’s homeless. Not certain if they still do, but in the winter, the homeless often hung out in the Great Ape house to watch over Dr. Lester Fisher’s famous Western Lowland Gorilla troops to take a break from the brutal wind and Lake Michigan’s near chronic lake-effect snow. I’d often stop by during lunch to check in with these experienced experts on gorilla behavior. They’d tell me things like, “Gino’s mad today because Brooke tried to assert dominance and they got in big fight and almost hurt the baby. Jo-Ray-K’s up high in the ropes with that little baby and has yet to come back down with it. She’s such a good mother.” I don’t think those guys missed a thing that went on with those gorillas and I often wished we had the budget to pay them for their dedicated observations.

So what does the Lincoln Park Zoo have in common with the thrift store? They are the great levelers of society because their doors are open to all. Go out in the parking lots and you’ll see pristine BMW’s parked next to ancient Opals being held together with spit, toothpaste, and duct tape.

America meets on common ground in the thrift store and as long as you’re willing to pay for your purchase, you’re welcome there. Hey, some stores even have coffee brewing for the shoppers!

So what are you waiting for? Get up and start your poetic shopping! Be assured, you are welcome in the thrift store.

Please write me with any questionable things you hear about thrift stores and I’ll check into it.

If you know of someone who buys into this myth, I urge you to email them this post.

Children Want Spending Power Too!

We have an hour before we run over to the neighborhood thrift, the Goodwill at Archer and Broadway in Denver, for the Saturday 50% off day. The whole family goes.

Would you believe me if I told you my children love thrift stores? Believe me if I told you their friends love it too?

Would you believe me if I told you my Pie loves receiving hand-me-downs from her sister Poe? Pie loves anything from Poe because she loves her, looks up to her, and thinks she’s the coolest. Poe is truly an idol in Pie’s crowd. Many of these girls have asked their parents for a Poe, like she’s a commodity. (Note: I’m tired of writing oldest daughter and youngest daughter so from now on I refer to them as Poe and Pie.)

Would you believe me that these notions of children wanting only new things is a retail-based strategy with the sole intent to drive sales to meet predicted quarterly gains on the stock market?

They did a damn good job of pulling the wool over America’s eyes in having us think if “it’s not new its EWW!” Or how about this one, “if it’s not new, it’s unfair!” Okay, sure if it’s a ratty t-shirt, who wants it? But if it’s a beautiful dress coat, who doesn’t? Wait, scratch that comment on the ratty t-shirt because there are many children in third world countries who would want that t-shirt.

My girls love thrift because they can afford it and they know it is good for the planet. When we were young (back in the old days when we walked five miles to school barefoot in the snow, uphill both ways) our 50-cent allowance had spending power. It really did. How sad it is that today a $5 allowance buys squat or junk that falls apart the day of purchase. Do you think the store really cares that the thing fell apart after two hours of play?

Take the children thrifting and they can buy sweaters, CD’s, purses, books, jeans, jewelry, scarves, shoes, dresses…I think you get the point. And they do this with their own money; Mommy doesn’t have to swoop in and save the day with a few extra dollars. The children are empowered. They don’t need help and often they don’t want it. Check out the slide show of some items children have purchased with their own money, third slide show down on the left, "What Kids Buy."

Children want their very own purchasing power. Is that too much to want? Hey, us adults want that too. Wouldn’t it be a bummer if there were loan officers in the corners of stores ready to receive applications from those who need more money to make a purchase? Oh yeah, we kind of have that already; it’s called maxing out the credit card and we usually don’t max out just one. “Oh, that card didn’t work? Well, let’s try this one.” If the second doesn't work, then fill out an in-store application for a store credit card and get 10% off your purchase. It amazes me how creditors are willing to take money we don't have. Is this only in America? I know their are readers in other countries out there. Can you comment?

Many years ago when Poe was four, she received $5 from a grandmother and was so thrilled about the prospect of having her own money to spend. Stupid me took her to Target. This was before I got smart and started thrifting. Poe’s shoulders slumped when she saw the prices. Seeing your child's shoulders slump is heartbreaking so my shoulders slumped too and my heart sank. It was a giant let down. It was also before Target had the dollar section but, a lot of that stuff is…I’ll let you fill in the adjective. I might say, “unnecessary.” Does one buy this stuff out of honest necessity or is it bought because it costs a buck and so few things do today?

That day at Target, I ended up supplementing Poe’s $5 but it sucked all the joy out of making her own purchase. It really did.

Let’s teach our children how to spend as you go. Give them a healthy sense of purchasing power. If they always have to borrow from mom and dad then they’ll grow up borrowing.

If grandparents must give them obscene amounts of money to buy a birthday gift, children will grow up spending obscene amounts of money.

My crystal ball tells me that today’s children are going to hit the job market with heavy debt from college, especially since 529’s have tanked. Who knows how long that correction will take? Then factor in the years lost on earnings. So, do we want our children to tack on massive credit card debt to their negative economic self-worth fresh out of the gates into adulthood? I think not.

This is one of the hardest parts of parenting. Your children are always watching and learning lessons you don’t think you’re teaching. Remember that when you go shopping. And, you may be surprised to learn that they'd rather be thrifting.

Snake eyes!

Every thrift adventure has a lesson. Most times, I can speak to it like the characters or their continued kindness. But there are times when a loss for words is present. Perhaps those words are hanging out in uncharted territory, a region my mental cartographers have yet to survey. Let’s call it the wild west of the brain.

Last weekend, we watched Little Big Man, the Forrest Gump of the wild west. Unfamiliar with the movie? I recommend it. It hit the full spectrum of emotion and got me to thinking.

Dustin Hoffman’s character Jack Crabb has a wandering life and eventually meets up with his long lost sister. Sister Caroline? She's no sissy, a sharp shooter, a live-without-a-man kind of woman. She reckons it’s about time for Jack to learn to shoot and the secret is Snake Eyes, “to hit the target before even touching the gun.” Jack's not sold but does his best to please his sister. He squints, breathes funny and hits the target first shot. Zap! Jack Crabb is instantly transformed into a genuine gunslinger with a fancy black outfit and his own gunslinger name, “The Soda Pop Kid.”

Snake eyes bit me and grew an idea. I went to the thrift store and put on snake eyes, opened my thrift sense and invited it to flow.

I swaggered up to the long sweater racks with my spurs mentally clicking with each step. Boom! I pulled out a NEW Sundance wool and angora blend sweater, my size for $4.99! I’ve been wearing that sweater for days. I’m wearing it now. My youngest daughter even slept in it one night. And, how ironic for it to be Sundance, a western company! AND, today is the first day of the Sundance Film Festival!

Shocked by such success, I high-tailed it over to the dress rack, prepared to pull before raising a finger. Bam! Out came a vintage Jaeger wool dress in pristine condition made in Great Britain, my size for $4.99. Gorgeous dress. Classic but not conservative.

This was becoming pretty cool so I pretended to ride Old Paint over to the men’s suits on the far side of the store. Ba da bing! A gorgeous Jos. A. Bank suit for my husband, no alterations required and 50% off making it $4.50.

The last time, I didn't even need to think when I yanked out an REI jacket for my daughter for $2.99. It just landed in my hands.

I’m convinced, snake eyes opened up my thrift sense.

For the record, snake eyes ain’t gonna work in a department store. See, the target needs to be in one spot so all focus is honed. Scatter sweaters or dresses and concentration tosses up it’s arms and says, “I am so outta here!”

Perhaps that’s just a bit symbolic. Dump the contents of a life into one bucket and meet it dead on with snake eyes. You actually might actually pull out the right thing before you even touch the bucket.

All this western stuff was probably spawned by the fact that the 103rd annual National Western & Stock Show is on in Denver. Cowboys are running all over this city. Just yesterday, I heard one singing about an “Itty bitty girl born to an itty bitty world” while walking up Detroit. He was a bit bow-legged and really loud. I guess one has to be loud when wrestling up herd of cows. I cannot write about this event without mentioning that my youngest daughter won a slot through Mile Hi Girl Scouts to ride in the revered Mutton Bustin’ competition in the 101st rodeo in front of 14,000 folks. Now that takes some gumption when you’re five years old! Us parents, always bragging.

To see Snake Eye's watch this segment "Little Big Guy" from Little Big Man. Now get on over to a mirror and start practicing!

Breakfast at Anthropologie

The store Anthropologie is to Shopping Golightly as Tiffany’s is to Holly Golightly.

Like Truman Capote’s Holly, I cannot afford the vast majority of Anthropologie’s merchandise but it doesn’t stop me from wandering the Cherry Creek store in Denver to rid myself of –as Holly would say- “the mean reds” and suck in opulence. I was there the other day in search of my simple luxury, scented candles. I buy them on sale. My favorite truly smelled of fresh cut grass, which is great to burn in the winter when that smell is six months off in the waiting. I find a lot of comfort in the faint glow of a candle battling the darkness, a comfort much in need with today’s troubled times.

As I was making convoluted trek to the sale section at the back of the store, a sales associate asked that rhetorical retail question, “Are you finding everything okay?” My polite, programmed response was, “Yes, thank you.” This usually throws them off my trail. That sounds rude, but when I have a question, I’ll seek out an associate. Besides, they often interrupt my thoughts when they ask that rhetorical retail question.

At that very moment, a new voice shouted in my head with Seinfeld's Elaine Benes urgency, “No, I’m not okay. Your prices! Well! They’re hurting me!” And they were. Here I stood in this beautiful store wearing one of its brand sweaters purchased for $5 at Goodwill while all the sweaters around me were well over $200. One on sale was $148! That is not okay! I kept the voice to my head and moved on hoping that the rest of the store didn’t hear it because it was painfully loud.

Why was I doing this to myself? Hurting my head with these prices? Because a little luxury from time to time helps.

In the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Holly Golightly and Paul Varjak forwent the purchase of the sterling sliver telephone dialer and felt satisfaction in leaving their Cracker Jack ring to be engraved by the experts at Tiffany’s. I felt satisfaction in forgoing the purchase of a $148 sweater and leaving Anthropologie with an Aunt Sadie’s Red Delicious Apple Premium Scented Candle wrapped in beautiful tissue paper. I will reuse that tissue as wrapping paper.

However frugal or resourceful we may be, we all receive added joy from a simple luxury from time to time. I think this is healthy as long as we keep it “simple” and “from time to time.” Anything thing else might be obscene.It’s like the difference of savoring one specially picked Godiva truffle versus a 20lb box.

The gentleman at the Tiffany’s counter in the movie offered a genuine word regarding prizes in Cracker Jack boxes. He said, “Gives one the feeling of solidarity, continuity with the past, that sort of thing.” I think he could have just as much been referring to thrift stores. It’s not just the savings, it’s the solidarity.

What is your simple luxury?

Ms Golightly’s Top Five Finds from 2008

I love butter. Can anything else caramelize onions to sweet bliss? Sauté asparagus or fresh garlic? So imagine my joy to spy a butter crème sofa sleeper in the window of the Broadway and Archer Goodwill. I’ve been fortunate to receive only one traffic violation in my life. But had Denver’s finest been behind me that day, I would have been rightfully slammed a ticket on the spot for swerving at the last minute to unexpectedly park the car. Inside the store was a like new if not new Pottery Barn Michael Gold sofa sleeper with not a mark on it for $250. The cushions were perfectly square and solid. The upholstery was flawless. It didn’t creak. The bed looked like it had never been slept on.

I had a personal rule of not purchasing upholstered items at thrift stores. But this was too good to pass up. To help me feel better, once home I unfolded the sleeper and tossed our three cats onto the bed. If there were any funky business on that mattress the cats would sniff it out. Cats have a nose for funky business. All three cats were completely disinterested in the mattress. Safe! But then I thought myself a bit foolish. How many hotel beds have I slept on? How about those fleabag motels on long road trips?

Now this sofa sleeper is something I’d been wanting for a long time but with prices at $2,500 to $4,500 I had to save and wait. I like to think this was one of those experiences where my thrifting spirit was guiding me like in the Tiny Thrifted Miracles post. In turn our old sofa, which was modern and in good condition went to the window of that store and it didn’t sit there long.

An aside, in lower right of the photo is a plant resting on a small folding chair. I have a set of those. Made in Yugoslavia, I thrifted them and they are in my top 10 for 2008. My children sit on them when we play games on the coffee table.

Let’s go back to butter. I thrifted a butter slicer for $0.49 and it gave life in my kitchen a pleasant boost. Here's a fine example of learning to appreciate something small. Do you have a butter slicer? It’s wonderful. Run the slicer over every new stick and BAM! instant pats of butter to grab when sautéing items and you are short on hands, unless you’re like Julia Child. She must have had a dozen secret hands and would have given Vishnu a run for the money in the kitchen. It’s amazing how happy a little pocket change made me. Had I seen this at an upscale kitchen store, I would have passed it over and never known what I was missing. They retail for $10.99. $11 to slice butter? Get out!

For ten years, my daughters shared a room. Mr. Golightly and I thought this a valuable lesson. The girls enjoyed it and it made them closer as they lie in bed and talk about their day before falling asleep. One morning we found them sleeping in the same bed.

But time marches on and my older daughter wanted that word all parents dread, privacy. We live in an old home with funky rooms. My older daughter asked for a small room that we used as an office for the girls. We agreed she could have that this last summer.

Aside from the mattress and the bedding, it was outfitted in thrift. Note, some thrift stores sell new mattresses but it can be hit or miss on the size they have in stock. For $50 I found a solid wood bed frame and a matching dresser and nightstand. A quick coat of ivory paint matched them all up beautifully. I also took that ivory paint to a lamp, a mirrored tray that I hung on the wall and a thrifted tissue box cover (they retail around 30 ridiculous dollars). The photo of her room reveals a secret that I’ve held for years, take old enameled pans and make hanging planters out of them. They look really cool. The room is pleasant and cozy and fits my daughter’s style and she now has her privacy and I do my best to control my fears of where that privacy will lead. But hey, the girl has the right to grow up.

I like a high desk and for years I’ve been sitting at a backless stool and never made one complaint about it. But, I had only one stool so when my daughters and I surfed the web for school one of us was left standing. It was uncomfortable but not so that we were going to go out and spend close to $200 or more to remedy the situation with chairs that I thought okay, not great. Then came the day when I found my two new office chairs for $15. They are vintage and I love them.

Cleo, our thrifted Maine Coone, likes to hang out with me when I write. She’s in the background of this photo. The shelter told us she was a six-week Tabby when we adopted her. I guess she felt a Tabby cat was too small for her soul because she is one big cat with a tail that’s so big and fluffy I could wash the kitchen floor with it. Yes, shop at a shelter and you’re thrifting pets. Cleo and Lily were in my top five thrifted items from 2007.

My last favorite find in 08 is a poncho picked up for $3 at ARC. Though it has no label, I believe its cashmere. We keep the thermostat low in the winter. Having a soft wrap around me sure is a comfort. It’s almost like wearing a blanket but more comfortable. And, it’s pretty darn stylish too. I’m quite attached to it, like my adult security object. However, I can take it out in the world and not look insecure. I look stylish, not childish.

As I end this post I must reflect back to that Goodwill at Broadway and Archer. It’s still fairly new and easily considered Denver Goodwill’s flagship store. The light hardwood floors have a slight tilt and shopping carts tend to roll away from you. But I love that little nuance. For those of you who think thrift stores are stinky, I have a funny anecdote. This very store used to be a fine leather furniture store. When my oldest daughter was three, we went in to check out the store. It had a stale smell to it, something I couldn’t name. Then my daughter candidly whispered in my ear, “Mommy, this store smells like bottoms.” She was right. She has a knack for words. The smell of bottoms is long gone from that store and now it has the sweet smell of redemption.

If you've been thrifting in 2008, please comment and share your favorite finds. We all love a story of found treasure.

If you're new to The Thrifty Chicks, I urge you to read the previous post from January 1st and view the accompanying slide show so that you can learn how to thrift too. Come January, 2010 you can reflect on your top five finds from this new year.

As always, Godspeed,
Ms Shopping Golightly

The 2009 Thrifting Gift Guide: A Resolution Revolution

Introducing a new genre of resolution for the New Year.

It does not require a daily battle of will. It does not require a load of upfront money like a gym membership. It is pain free.

This resolution is one of discovery and adventure in an unsuspecting, unassuming place, the charitable thrift store. This resolution activates new shopping tactics that are easy on the family budget and easy on the planet. It even directly serves a charitable cause.

What’s the resolution? Buy 2009 gifts from the thrift store. Reserve one spot in the home to store these items and, if really motivated, box them up as they come in.

To the top, left of this text is a slide show featuring about 90 items to spark ideas. Double click on it to enlarge the item and caption. It is arranged in 10 categories: Children’s Toys, Books, Cookware, Tabletop, Children’s Clothes, Women’s Clothes, Men’s Clothes, Jewelry, Odds & Ends, and Holiday Items. Apologies that all the children’s clothes and most of the toys are for are girls, but that is what I have, two young girls. Also, the toys are those designed for active, imaginative play. After watching my two daughters play for 11 years, I have come to learn that imaginative play is not bought in a chain toy store or at a discount retailer. Imaginative play comes from everyday items. My oldest daughter spent more time with tissues and tape than she ever spent with a Barbie. Parents, do not allow a video game take the place of you child's beautiful, unique brand of imagination!

Some of these items were thrifted BRAND NEW. Some are a century old. The thrift store is a place of many mysteries and surprises and reawakens our foraging skills. We develop more of a connection to treasures found. We take a glimpse at how wasteful we are to throw away so many valuable and unique items. We recalibrate our spending power and prices in new retail market become obscene. We become more creative and self-guided in that we don’t need to listen to television commercials or rush out to fight bargain raged crowds at sales. People are generally very nice in thrift stores. We become more thoughtful and appreciative as we spend a year searching for the perfect gift. Chances are the gift will be treasured in return. And, at the end of the year, we relax and spend our valued time with friends and family, not at an overcrowded mall and in horrific traffic jams.

There is no shame in giving a thrifted gift. If you shop eBay, there's a very high probability the item was found at the thrift store and you're paying the mark up. The same applies to funky boutiques that sell mixtures of new and old. As said many times, Americans need to get over this commercially planted idea that "If it's not new, it's EWW." Let's manage the products already assembled instead of turning to factories on the other side of the world and asking for more. "More" is out of style.
“How to Thrift”, the box below the slide show, offers several posts explaining just that, the zen of thrift. The Thrifty Chicks offer solid advice on how to establish a regular thrifting routine and the best possible thrift store tips on the Internet. I’ve read many tips and they just don’t measure up. Our tips will turn a novice into a master. They are insightful, not rote or obvious because they were written by someone who knows thrift, not a journalist assigned an quick article or a blogger who writes the tips as an aside.

Please know, when it comes to gifts, it’s not so much where you found it, it’s the sentiment, what you do with it, and how you present it. We’ll talk about presentation in another post. But it is essential in gift giving and most new products are presented in very ugly packaging. Oddly enough, most times when I give a new gift, I repackage it.

January is an excellent month to start thrifting. Many people make last minute donations in December for their 2008 tax write offs and they also donate the holiday gifts that failed to fit their personal taste.

Many of these items were picked to meet many tastes and all items are in excellent condition, if not new. If there are people who carefully peruse this slide show and cannot find three items that don’t outright shock them, I ask them to email me personally with comments. I don’t expect very many emails of this nature.

A special thanks to Mr. Golightly for burning the midnight oil to retouch the photographs he so carefully took.

Godspeed,
Ms. Shopping Golightly

Thrifted Karma

I wholeheartedly believe in a Greater Power and have a pulsing respect for The Masters, the founders of our world’s religions. It’s just really hard to cram all my beliefs into one labeled pot. I think The Masters all taught the primary need for truth and an all-encompassing sense of love. Yeah, I think it that simple. The problem is that we – as a species - tend to distort and complicate. We can be very slow to come around and live in the spirit of truth and love. Ugh, that’s why The Masters came to us, right? We were in need of their messages and we still are.

But we're not here to talk religion. Just prefacing the following to let you know where I stand. Life is a journey seeking truth and love where balance is critical. My life is hardly a vision of balance. I’m trying though. Life is clumsy as am I. I’ve been racing back and forth to the opposite sides of that seesaw of life and keep forgetting to just stop and chill in the middle.

Despite that, I do have personal secret to share so please come close. Okay. I do believe I’ve found balance in one, tiny place. Shopping. Yup. Shopping, also known as foraging, getting the necessary items for my family to live. This balance has added great insight to my life. Now, you’re probably thinking, “How completely shallow and American of you to say that you feel closer to The Source when you shop.” It does sound entirely American and very shallow, but it's not.It’s not really the shopping that lends transcendence; it’s the place, the thrift store. Given the choice would Jesus shop Gucci or Salvation Army? Would Buddha run to Armani or Goodwill?If The Masters were alive today, I know they’d be thrift store junkies like me.

When I thrift, I’m part of a healthy, economic cycle of product take and donate where the profits go to repurpose severely damaged lives. This balance has me hooked on an unrelenting hunch. Are there thrifting spirits, angels, fairies? I can’t stop wondering because weird things keep happening.

Like fishing with my grandfather, thrifting has taught me patience. Thrift stores are not held accountable by corporations to have certain items on demand so they're not the best places to hit when in a pinch. One trick is to avoid pinches and be prepared. Pinches happen, and I’ve been in several where I blindly turned to the thrift store. Thrift stores have yet to let me down. It could be coincidence, or perfect timing. Or, it could be that I’m being rewarded for achieving balance in one small aspect of my life.

Last May, I held a large, semi-formal baby shower for a treasured friend. On the day of the shower, I discovered I’d forgotten or miscounted some items: salt and pepper shakers, silver-plate spoons, and two teacups. So, several hours before the shower, I turned to the neighborhood thrift store. Everything I needed was at the thrift store: six sets of small square salt and pepper shakers in a plastic bag, a set of six silver plate spoons and several generic white teacups with a gold rim that blended nicely in with my china. Not only did the spirits deliver the needs of the day, but also the birthday gift purchase I’d put on hold for my daughter’s friend the next day. That was a brand new, still-in-the-box Kit Cat Clock, a purr-fect gift for the super girl who rescues alley cats. I think the total purchase was under $10. The thrift store didn’t take advantage of my immediate needs and gouge me.

Last October, our dear friend Sam came to my youngest daughter’s schoolroom to tell Dia De Los Muertos stories. He visits the children on holidays and occasions and hooks them with his storytelling. The day before I was doing a routine thrifting sweep. As my eyes scanned the book titles in the stacks, I muttered how I wished I could find a thank you gift for Sam. (I’d just learned his family has high reverence for Southwestern customs.) At that very moment, something lifted my chin and high atop the shelf was an original folk art papier-mâché skeleton statuette for $2, a Dia De Los Muertos custom. Spooky.

I’d been very fortunate to receive an invitation to the celebration of 90 years of Goodwill in Denver, held at the Governor’s Mansion. Unfortunately, the invite came one day before the event. I didn’t have the apropos thrifted dress for this occasion and turned to my place of shopping salvation, the neighborhood thrift. In the car I found myself, praying, “Please, please send me a dress. Please!" Me praying? This is new. The third dress on the rack was mine for $8.99, a crocheted, long black dress with a black slip that fit Shopping Golightly perfectly in every way: size, style, price, and completely in line with the occasion.

Months back, I was joking with the other thrifty chicks that we needed a patron saint of thrift. Not long ago, Joan of ARC appeared on our list of blog Followers.

The weird things keep happening. I keep wondering.

Please Come Out of the Closet. Now!

It happened again. Only this time, I felt a bit testy about it.

About once every two weeks, someone will unexpectedly break my personal space to whisper in my ear, “I’m a closet thrifter.” Then they do something weird like wink at or nudge me, like we’re now blood kin in some secret society or coven. I’m polite. I nod and smile back. However, I really want to make a scene and yell, “Excuse me! But will you please scream that to the world? Let everyone know! Be damn proud of what you are!”

Okay closet thrifters, I know you’re sitting by the light of your monitor reading this while everyone else is asleep. It’s time to acquire a good load of Thrift Pride.

Let’s make this very plain. Ain’t no room for shame in the thrift store. Got it? Thrifting is a sign of wits and a broader sense of local and global understanding. The thrift store is a place of product and personal redemption. There are good, sweet vibes in those stores along with an eagerness of what awaits and a gratitude for what is found. And – get this – people are genuinely nice in thrift stores. They don’t look at you and chase you down for a commissioned sale.

Being a closet thrifter is like being the intellectually gifted child who dumbs down because being smart isn’t cool. Well, smart is cool, least it is in my worldview.

I had planned to post my holiday shopping statistics after the season. But for you closet thrifter, I offer a preview. Before Thanksgiving, I mailed out thirty holiday gifts to friends and family. I mailed early to send ground rate and book rate with on time delivery. ALL gifts were thrift and the average cost per gift was $4.50. Many were books, recent best sellers and beautiful vintage editions. I cannot reveal specifics because that will overtake surprise. But, one gift in particular is bound to bring a tear to a special person’s eye because it will reunite a book with an 84-year-old’s childhood. How many new retailers offer that kind of giving for under $3? These gifts were well thought out because I did my shopping through out the year. Retailers failed to corner me and make me feel desperate during the last month of the year.

Some people wrinkle their noses at the idea of used items. Isn’t everything is a bit used? I don’t see dressing room attendants spraying disinfectant on the tight fitting $375 dress a stranger tries on no matter how posh the dressing room. Come on ladies. We’ve all seen deodorant stains on dark shirts and dresses on the rack. We’re really chumped when the only one left in our size has another woman’s mark on it. Chances are we suck it up and buy the shirt full price. So why wince at items from a thrift store? We’re not talking about the threadbare clothes of the Dickens street urchins.

Friends, if you know a closet thrifter, help them. Coax them and guide them to Thrift Pride. Since when is out spending personal income, out of control credit card debt, and bankruptcy cool? What about buying items with enormous carbon footprints that get used once? Is that cool too?

I’d say, let’s print up a million t-shirts announcing Thrift Pride but that is counter to the point. So, instead of a t-shirt, verbalize your pride everyday.

Thrift Pride to the masses!