A Tale of Two Thrift Stores

There's a new thrift store opening a few doors down from the Goodwill near my house. I stopped by to see what it was like. There was a large neon sign in the window flashing, "Open" but I was immediately pounced upon by one of the women working there telling me they weren't open.

"Okay, I'll check back some other time" I said and turned to go, before she pounced again. I should mention that I don't like feeling pounced upon. Anyway, she felt the need to explain how her thrift store worked, and to be polite, I stood there as she explained their business model whilst insulting me.

They buy sought-after big name labels and re-sell them for half of what they sold for retail. Glancing  at rack after rack of jeans with rhinestone and silver crap all over the bum, I knew exactly the sort of thing they were looking for. She began listing off a number of names that might as well been in Old Norse for all my familiarity with them. Suddenly, she paused and slowly looked me over head to toe seeking anything in my outfit that would be acceptable for them to buy and declared, "We don't buy the clothes you wear."

Well. 

Look, I know her type and I can't be bothered. I decided I'd had enough and wished her good luck with the shop as I started to leave.

"Oh, I don't need luck, I know we're going to do great" she bellowed at me as I left. Maybe so, but if she doesn't get a crash course in manners or at least business etiquette the wrong blogger is going to wander in there and burn up the local ratings sites with reasons to avoid the place. I'm not going to "name and shame", but given what I experienced, it is going to happen.

Quick story-My dad always dressed like a bum. It was a look he cultivated, and he couldn't be bothered with regular haircuts and tucking in shirt tails. Oh, he looked presentable enough at work in his matching blue work shirt and Dickies trousers, but at the weekend? Total slob. My mother used to joke he'd only shave half his face before declaring it, :Good enough."  So dad decides he's been working hard year after year and wants a fancy car. This was oh, about 1977. In he walks to the Lincoln dealership and of course, they ignore him. Finally a salesperson wanders over to ask him to leave stating, "You can't afford a Lincoln." My dad laughed, left and bought the car at a dealership across town. Shortly after, he stopped back at the first dealership, found the salesman and waved the sales receipt at him pointing out the lost commission he could have had.

So there you have it kids, the old adage of not judging books by their cover still applies.

I walked two doors over and stopped in at Goodwill to see what they had. I know the women working there quite well, so it wasn't exactly shocking to hear one of them yell to me from halfway down an aisle,
"I don't think the orange tights are working!"
Before I could respond, her co-worker on the other end yelled back,
"Yes it is. She has orange earrings and lipstick."

The two stood there surveying my outfit as random shoppers milled past having a look at my legs to see whether or not the tights were, "Working."

"Should we put it to a vote? A show of hands, perhaps?" I asked.

We all laughed, and the jury is still out on the tights. I wasn't at all insulted because it was done in a spirit of fun. There wasn't any meanness in it and no one was trying to assert their fashion superiority, it was just someone blurting out an observation about a pair of loud tights in a friendly manner. See the difference?

I managed to find several expensive items of brand name-clothing as I went through the rails-Maybe I should have bought them, and sold them down the street for a few dollars more? I can almost guarantee that will happen.


I suppose I find the whole attitude thing funny because I live in Omaha. I mean, for fuck's sake, get over yourselves. Okay, enough about that, you don't come hear for lectures-let's look at the clothes.

Vintage Koret of California polyester shirt dress-Can't remember, I think it was Salvation Army.
Vintage home-sewn polyester jacket with contrast cuffs and lining-Goodwill
Tights-Walgreens
Bangles-all over
Vintage Enamel brooch-Goodwill
Vintage metal clip earrings-Hand-Me-Ups
Vintage woven nylon bag-Hand-Me-Ups
Old Navy Shoes-Goodwill
Fragrance-Bvlgari Omnia Coral
Cazal vintage frames-Mum's

Mr. Frog and the pinwheel are trying to coax the lettuce to grow. The sorrel in the bed behind them is thriving.

Remember kids, there's only one opinion that matters about what clothes you wear...yours.