"For there is nothing lost, that may be found, if sought."

Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queen  

And seek is what thrift-shoppers do. To thrift is to uncover new treasures. We seek without knowing what, when, or how. There is a faerie tale aspect to thrifting. Sometimes the discoveries are surreal. Some items in thrift shops can remain perfectly preserved through decades to wind up in the local Goodwill.

I've often wondered of the adventures of the items I've seen on the shelves. In a lot of ways thrifts catalogue fragments of stories and people. You can tell a lot by an item. If it was well worn then it was either well loved or one of the few items that person had. You can guess how old it is approximately and recall the world events that occurred at that time. My favorite items to see are 80's and 90's clothing. 

Especially the wedding and prom dresses. They say so much either by how loud they are or the details on the handmade items. There's a lot of handmade items, shirts, dresses, skirts, the occasional pair of jeans. It makes me think of how little individual variety exists now. Everything is mass manufactured and grouped homogeneously. 

In thrift shops I find preserved relics of the past. A time gone bye which has little place other than nostalgia in our modern world. They feel like fossils. My favorite unearthed piece is a Polaroid Supercolor 635CL. It was brand new, unopened, in its box. It was still sealed and it included a long expired packet of film. All this for a meager $3.98. 

“One of the advantages of being disorganized

 is that one is always having surprising discoveries.” 

― A.A. Milne

And thus is the case in all of my favorite thrift shops. They are seemingly chaos through which one needs to sift through to discover gems. Unlike neatly manicured department stores there are no duplicate items in thrift shops. You can't walk in and ask to find a specific brand of electronic or clothing. It just doesn't work this way.

Instead whats left is to pan the aisles and keep a sharp eye. Most of the time items are categorized under broad titles. There is a section of women's clothing divided into sub categories of shirts, jeans, dresses, outerwear, etc. Thrift stores often group clothing by color and not by sizes. It is more labor intensive then to find clothing your size but it after years of thrift shopping I can often see if something fits just by looking at it because of this. It's made me recognize and become more aware of my body shape.

My advice is to not focus on looking for clothing in your size but only pulling out clothing that attracts your attention. As in finding a fabric that appeals to you or a certain cut and only checking the sizes on items you like otherwise you'll drive yourself crazy because you'll see how many things don't fit you.

Thrift shops aren't just for clothing though. Some of my most surprising discoveries have been vintage items. Above is a 60's Remington Streamliner manual typewriter. It is fully functional and in excellent condition for it's age. It was complete with its case for easy transportation and it's an adorable mint color. I found this at a local thrift for $9.99.

"I'm gonna pop some tags

Only got twenty dollars in my pocket..

This is effing awesome" -Macklemore "Thrift Shop"

At some point in my late high school experience thrift shopping became a sort of in activity. My friends and I would parade into the local Goodwill singing the ever popular anthem "Thrift Shop. It was more of an antic and quickly wore thin for them.

Most of them had never even set foot in a store that carried secondhand clothing meanwhile I grew up on it. It wasn't a fashion trend for me in my childhood but a necessity from belonging to a below the poverty line migrant family of six. It wasn't easy for my parents to provide clothing for four rapidly growing active children and there was a phase where I hated everything second hand and begged for mall clothes. I was such a brat at 13 but who wasn't.

Now thrift shopping is the sort of hipster thing to do for our youth and I'm glad. I wish more people would turn to upcycling clothing. The thing is most people's first time in a thrift shop is a peculiar experience. There is the intial distaste as the old, stored, slightly moldy scent of the store wafts up your nostrils and the confusion of how the hell do I find anything in the endless racks of randomness?

I know this is what caused my friends to walk out after 15 minutes of wandering around the store completely clueless (also some admitted they found it gross that the clothes were used, ah the stigma). After my many years of experiences in thrift shops I know there's a lot of great things to come from them, it's just a matter of learning how to look and being adaptable. 

That being said there is one great rule to thrift shopping. Don't expect to find something when you go to a thrift shop. Sometimes it just doesn't happen. It's about keeping your mind open and not carrying a preconceived notion of what you want or expect to find. 

And in my next blog post I'll give some more hints and details, as well as share some of the great thrift finds.