The Thriftmaster

This is me today (below). This is me, triumphant. This is me in full preparation for my impending ‘bag-lady’ future. I will be the most eccentric bag-lady you have ever known/not. And I am already practicing with fervour.

See… I have a slew of bizarre talents and many of them not particularly practical in a real-world sense. Bagpiping? Check. Imitating Napoleon Dynamite to a tee? Check. Nosefluting? Check. However, I do have one talent that combines some of my keenest interests: community service (it’s for charity!), fashion (obviously), and history (it’s used, there’s a story there!)… that’s right my darlings, I am gifted at thrifting. I can find secondhand clothes like a slinky secondhand sartorial master. I can silently ooze through a thrift or vintage store and suddenly BAM I’ve got it. Whatever it is, it’s probably worth way more in the fashion knowledgeable market than in the ratty dust bin I found it in for less money than my daily coffee cost. At this point this skill has not yet turned profitable, but perhaps one day. We shall see. However, the conquests of the last two days have inspired me to share, in the hopes that whoever you are, if you are reading this, you too will be inspired to find vintage Burberry wool coats for $23.00.

First, I wish to share the pieces I have uncovered:

*ignore the poor state of my self in these--- I was multitasking and did not have a hairbrush*

And below... is a shirt I just met at Urban Outfitters for $58.00 which is really very reminiscent in both pattern and material of one of the above shirts I just bought for about $2.00.

Alright, you have seen the treasures. Now for the game… guess how much I paid for these 14 pieces of often vintage, occasionally designer clothing and four vintage patterns. (Hint: I found a coat similar to that Burberry one for $250 on Ebay). 

I paid less than $70.00. That, in fact, is far more than I usually spend on clothes, ever and it totals to less than $5.00 per item of clothing. But these were all too good to pass up. Especially considering my need (yes, need) for: 1. Leopard print, 2. Minimalist knit dresses a la Olsens or Kate Moss in 1995, and 3. Quirky jackets (one can never have enough, I might be at over 30 now), especially of the leather variety.

All in all, I don’t feel too much buyer’s remorse. Especially considering that one of some of these pieces could easily sell for the price I paid for all of them, if not twice as much. I barely spend money on anything and even less on food, so, really, this was my summer treat. Now don’t tell my mother, she thinks I have too many clothes already (c’est impossible). Shhhh.