Why I Love Secondhand Clothing!

I just got back from a highly successful clothes-shopping spree at "Thrift Town",  our fabulous local thrift store. 

After I got home, and was washing, drying, ironing and hanging up my newfound treasures, I got to thinking about shopping at secondhand stores, and why I don't feel so "poor" when I do:

For one, there's no "new-clothes stigma".  Now I know, new clothes ARE wonderful.  But for a strapped-for-cash MT like me, on those rare occasions that I do buy something new, I seem to have an odd problem:  Instead of wearing them, I tend to SAVE new clothing "for a special occasion".  Why?  I don't know.  Maybe because I know that the next new thing I buy will be a long ways down the road.  But STILL, I now have several things in my closet that are brand-new, that I've never worn, because I "don't want to wear them out" before that imaginary "Special Occasion" finally comes along.  It's stupid, I know, but I still tend to do it.

The beauty of used clothing is that I have no qualms about putting any of it on right away, and wearing it everywhere.   I got a pretty new black top that must have cost its original owner a bundle, when she bought it at some fancy boutique somewhere.  (And maybe SHE was saving it for a "Special Occasion", too, because it still looks new!)   But I'm already wearing it to type in, just because I LIKE IT.   Maybe I'll wear it when I go for a bike-ride on Sunday.  And if I fall off my bike and land in a muddy culvert while I'm wearing it?  Doesn't matter!  It's USED!  (And I got it for $1.99!) 

Another positive note is:  LESS FEAR OF SHRINKAGE!   I positively HATE it when I buy new clothes, and after having carefully read the tags, and made sure they all say, "Machine wash warm and tumble dry", I get home, wash the item, and it shrinks to toddler-size on the first washing!  Not so when you shop second-hand!  Most of the time, stuff you buy has already been washed, usually many times.  You're almost guaranteed that what you see is what you're still gonna have after you've washed it. 

SHEER VOLUME!  If I shop at Target or Ross, I'm lucky if I can walk out of there with 2 items for $20.  If I go to Macy's, make that ONE item, for usually more than $20.  But at Thrift-Town?  Yesterday I got 3 adorable skirts,  3 cute tops, and a lovely, practically-new jacket, all for $14.  That makes for one VERY satisfying shopping trip! 

You can impulse-buy with less guilt:  I collect cat-figurines, so while walking around the shop with my armload of clothing treasures, if I see a great little ceramic cat at a thrift store, I grab it for my collection!  

You can experiment!  You can try a new look or a new style, and if later you decide it's not "you", it's less of a mistake than it would be if you'd been experimenting with clothes from expensive mall-stores.  If you like to sew, add decorations, make costumes, or reconstruct clothing, like I do, what better place to start that at a thrift store!  I plan to add some lace to the bottom of a miniskirt I bought, and it should look really cute when I'm done. 

You can clean out your closet, AND refill it again, in one stop!   On both counts, you're helping to support the community, both by donating items, AND by buying items.  Win-win.