Ten Tips to Thrift

Bonjour! Salut! Bienvenue!

“Where did you get that?” is a query we hear almost every day, like when we wear our gorgeous, butter-soft, turquoise, vintage leather jacket. Our standard answer is boring by now. “Thrift store.” We’ve been thrifting for years.

“But I never find anything,” people often moan. “Thrift stores are too crowded. There's never anything in my size. I don’t know where to start.”

We're here to help with ten tricks for shopping at a thrift store:

• Know what you like. We're all about the cashmere. You will see us head directly to the rack of sweaters and run our hands over each one. Maybe you like animal print shirts, or vintage 501s, or Doc Martens. Oh, wait. That’s us, too. Whatever you fancy, head straight to that section and do a quick once over. 

• Ignore size labels. Are you an S? Did you spy an XL? If the piece looks as if it will fit you, try it on. Often items wind up at a thrift store because of some sad laundry mishap. (We speak from experience. Bye, bye, vintage sailor shirt. Sniff.)

• Grab first, think later. If an item catches your eye, snag it. You don’t have to buy the piece, but sometimes something sparkly or unusual will call out to you. Check it out. You may have spotted a once in a lifetime find.

• Don’t hesitate. The thrift store is not a place to wait and see. We’ve lost out (blue suede coat, we hardly knew thee) by not closing the deal right away. Someone else will definitely swoop in if you wait too long.

• Think outside the box. Yes, we just said to “know what you like” — but it’s also important not to go in with a rigid mind. Maybe you were in the mood for a rainbow-striped bowling shirt with Max stitched over the pocket. Just because they’re all out of Maxes doesn’t mean you won’t find a treasure one aisle over.

• Forget the labels. If you like something, who cares whether it originally came from Nordstrom or Walmart? Labels are unimportant (except for the one in the coat our friend just bought which read “Wear it in good health”—which we love).

• Know your friends’ likes and dislikes. You may not discover a piece for yourself, but you might find the perfect fill-in-the-blank for your buddy. This happens to us all the time. Thrifting friends often return the favor! Several of our favorite shirts were bought at the Goodwill in Maryland by our friend Alison and sent to us. She’s paid more in postage than the shirts originally cost.

• Be flexible. Too busy? Come back in an hour. Our local thrift store gets a lot of traffic. If you go in and the place is swamped, grab a coffee and come back later. You’ll be surprised at the constant ebb and flow.

• Shop, Rinse, Repeat. Our local thrift store moves 6,000 items a month. You may come out empty handed on Monday, but score on Friday. Look and look again.

• Pat yourself on the back. By shopping at thrift stores, you are shopping “green” by giving items a second life.

Once you slip into a thrifting state of mind, you’ll find treasures everywhere!

Au revoir!