Thrifting 101: Seeing the Potential
A realtor will tell you when you are selling a house, that first impressions are actually everything. If your place looks cute, it’s more likely to sell. If you style it towards people’s taste, they’ll pay more for it. Conversely, if you are buying a house, and you are able to see past the nasty carpet, and the upstairs bedroom painted ninja turtles green, to the “bones” of the place, and see its potential, you can likely get a really good deal, and $3,000 taken off closing costs for flooring and paint (AKA our house buying experience).
Thrifting is like this.
If you can see past the horrible Christmas sweaters and shoulder pads that proliferate thrift stores, you might just find an Italian silk and linen sweater sandwiched in there between the two. You gotta dig a little. Don’t skip a whole rack just because the shirt that is sticking out most prominently is ugly, there is good stuff in there by that ugly shirt!
The environment that you shop in affects how you see a piece, there are entire sales psychology people devoted to this whole idea. Why do you think the stores in the mall are set up they way they are? Why do you think Target is remodeling all of their stores right now? Try to mentally remove the piece from its thrifty environment, and picture it with a cute pair of shoes or the right jeans, try to imagine that shirt if you cut the shoulder pads out. Try to decide if it has potential. Its really easy to get overwhelmed in thrift stores because they’re kind of chaotic, but it’s like panning for gold. There is lots and lots of gravel and then one time you’ll find that piece of absolute gold, and you will be HOOKED.
Also, when that shirt with shoulder pads is only $1, its worth trying. Even if you never wear it, its not like you spent much money on it and you can donate it again. Some of my more adventurous finds that I love, have been purchases like this. Look for the potential, and give things a shot.
