Thrift Store clothing

[DramaQueen]

I'm going to do a blog on this subject but before I do, I would like to find out how you all feel about buying used clothing from thrift shops.

If you do, does it ever occur to you that the person who wore the clothing may have had a some kind of skin problems? This can't be washed out since the clothes cannot be washed in water hot enough to sanitize and that goes for using bleach on the clothes.

Tell me how you feel about doing this. There is an article in the L.A. Times New safety rules for children's clothes have stores in a fit - this deals with lead in clothes coming from China and several people are up in arms about it. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-thrift2-2009jan02,0,2083247.story

 

[Leolady]

I have no problem with buying clothes at thrift shops. I used to do it all the time til my closets got too stuffed.

 

[rooloo77]

I buy a lot of my barn clothes at Goodwill. I am so rough on them I like paying $4 for a pair of very new looking jeans.

 

[The Z]

I'm completely fine with it and do it all the time. There are specific thrift shops that I patronize regularly, primarily for work clothes and outerwear, and others that I do not shop at all.

 

[QSis]

I was fine with it until a couple of years ago. The increase in the instances of bedbugs in my area has been exponential.

Once you have those babies, it's a lot of work and money to get rid of them.

Lee

 

[qmax]

My wife is a thrift store junkie. And she is really good at finding the good stuff. Lots of her sweaters and tops are thrift store.

Most of my clothes come from retail stores, except for T-shirts and the like.

 

[Mama]

...If you do, does it ever occur to you that the person who wore the clothing may have had a some kind of skin problems? This can't be washed out since the clothes cannot be washed in water hot enough to sanitize and that goes for using bleach on the clothes

You are buying new clothes in stores all the time that people have tried on...sometimes they even take them home and then return them...sometimes they even wear them before returning them. Years ago I worked in a department store where they literally would take back anything...they would put it right back on the shelf to be sold again.

 

[PanchoHambre]

in college I did alot of thrift store clothes shopping... not because it was cheap but because I was "alternative" like that. I wish I had alot of my old stuff. Work requires a more professional look. Now I do it because its cheap but not nearly as often. .

I dont worry about it at all... everything gets heavily laundered... bleach etc.

Actually it is my intention to do it more. I feel better about spending my money that way.

I also buy much of my kitchen wares this way. I find all sort of stuff I would never buy retail. It is amazing the stuff people get rid of. I have some very nice lightly used small appliances... some funky vintage stuff... cast iron, Le Creuset etc. Spending 5 or 10 bucks on something makes impulse buying fun.... If I end up not liking it... donate it back no biggie.

I also like the unkown... you know exactly what they will have at a chain store but in a thrift it is more of an hit or miss experience and you never know what you will find.

 

[sattie]

I have never been one to shop at thrift stores, much less buy clothes. But I'm not a shopper to begin with and probably only buy new clothes when the ones I have wear out or my size changes (which hardly ever happens). So I may buy clothes once every two or three years if that. I don't believe I have any bias against it, I just don't like shopping in stores.

 

[Wart]

I have no problems with wearing thrift store clothing.

Wife brought home a pair of Bass loafers that we couldn't tell if they had been worn or not. I looked at them and thought slippers ... now it seems I need socks in more colors than white so I can go in public with them.

I think for the last ten years most of my clothing has come from goodwill. Almost all still with tags. Wife has even found socks and underwear still in the package.

I kill clothing at a phenomenal rate. It's just a tack weld .... there goes another T-Shirt. Roofs wear out the butts of pants, tar stains, grease stains, I have one heck of a rag bag.

Not to say we get only work clothes from goodwill (sic). Wife and I both have designer cloths, most with the factory tags intact, all look as though they haven't been worn. Wife's coworkers thought she was making big bucks because of the clothes she wore to work.

Many times Wife would sell her goodwill finds to her coworkers, literally, right off her back and feet. Before she retired it got to the point Wife knew her coworkers sizes and would shop for them.

Fact, at New Years dinner with the family Wife was trying to gift a pair of unwoirn size 8 1/2 white womans tennis shoes, leather uppers, deck soles.



Golly, I just remembered, Wife has come home with stuff saying how this sister or that sister would like it ....

I would say We have no problems with Goodwill (sic) clothing.

NOW IF you want to talk accessories .... we sell costume jewelry by the pound. Because Wife buys it by the box.

I'm wearing an early '70s Seiko Quartz, Wife probably paid pennies for it, cost me a new battery, keeps great time.

And one day Wife asks me if I want a Rolex ... RIGHT .... Yup. a 1930s Chronograph. Aquired in a jar of mostly costume junk.

What was that you wanted to know about thrift stores?

 

[Wart]

I also buy much of my kitchen wares this way. I find all sort of stuff I would never buy retail. It is amazing the stuff people get rid of.

Lets not go there.

Wife has drug home LeCreuset ... one time something like 10 pieces .... sold most of it because it just didn't impress me and was taking up space. OTOH I got to try it for cheap at first then made a tidy profit from it. One time she brought home a casserole still in the box ...

We have two pasta machines ... sold the ravioli attachment.

SHort of it is, Wifes shopping at Goodwill (sic) is why I have storage issues in the kitchen, and the closet.

Spending 5 or 10 bucks on something makes impulse buying fun.... If I end up not liking it... donate it back no biggie.

That sounds familiar.

I also like the unkown... you know exactly what they will have at a chain store but in a thrift it is more of an hit or miss experience and you never know what you will find.

Thats why Wife goes every day she can. And she can drive past Goodwill after work if thats the way she wants to go.

Let me say it's not uncommon for me to enter the garage t find another pile of something on the tractor (this week it was a CASE of diapers. We use them for packing eBay shipments)

 

[JohnL]

My dear GF buys most of her office clothing at thrift stores.
She call them her "boutiques"!

 

[elaine l]

I would wear something from a thrift store if there was a thrift store near me that sold clothing that didn't look so "well" worn already.

 

[PanchoHambre]

Let me say it's not uncommon for me to enter the garage t find another pile of something on the tractor (this week it was a CASE of diapers. We use them for packing eBay shipments)

LOL... well if some of the junk I buy on ebay shows up wrapped in diapers I will know the source!

 

[roadfix]

My wife likes to buy thrift shop home furnishings and accessories. There are tons of thrift shops in my area.

 

[Yakuta]

There was a time in my life that I could only afford thrift store clothes or hand me downs.

Barely had money to go to school and buy used books. I never really went to malls to shop. Guess I still get sticker shock when I go to the mall stores plus I am not much of a shopper. I prefer to shop online on Amazon than waste time spending hours at a mall.

I never had issues. I would wash them after I bought them home and then used them.

 

[Erinny]

I am so hard on clothes living the way I do. I couldn't survive without thrift stores and second-hand shops. Most of what I have are work clothes for outside in the garden or the shed, flannel shirts and overalls are what I wear. About 2 years ago, someone dropped off an entire box, 10 pairs, of overalls close to my size but a little big and I got the whole box for $15. I won't need those for a long long time.
Work boots and work gloves are also important here and those rubber boots are great for slogging through the mud and snow and I get those at thrift stores too. Some are a little worn, some aren't, but I need stuff like that and at sometimes $2 to $5 a pair, that is a help.
I've often thought about these things being worn before, but I guess that it just doesn't bother me at all. Up here, nobody is rich so it doesn't matter. My church clothes even come from thrift and second hand shops and those are mostly skirts and blouses and sweaters and jumpers because up here women don't wear pants to church. I bought a beautiful maroon paisley corduroy jumper that comes down to almost my ankles for $8 right before Christmas.
I didn't mean to go into so much detail, but when you're way up here like I am, practicality and frugality is the only way to truly survive.
God bless thrift stores and Goodwill and all those others.

 

[Fisher's Mom]

I absolutely buy the majority of our clothing from thrift-type stores or, more often, "pre-owned" on ebay. Most of what we wear is washable and gets washed before we wear it. (But that holds true for the new clothing we purchase, too. Who knows how many people have tried that item on before you buy it?) More than half the time, the clothing still has the tags on it and is clearly never worn.

I also look to buy home furnishings, construction and home repair materials, appliances, etc. "second hand" before I resort to buying new. Remember, antiques are second-hand furnishings, too!

 

[Leolady]

I have bought tons of Le Creuset, Cousances, Descoware, Copco, a Kitchenaid 4C mixer, marble dining table, boxes of towels, a down filled sofa, sewing machines, Cuisinart food processors by the score, down comforters, sewing fabric, cookbooks, other books, needlepoint chair upholstery, Kitchenaid attachments, and tons of stuff I can't even think of.

As far as clothing & jewelry goes, I have enough silk blouses, suits, and dresses; cashmere sweaters, coats, hats, scarves and jackets; 14kt gold antique watches, chains, a massive gold and ruby ring, Ferragamo shoes, Chanel purses, Dooney & Burke purses and briefcase, Coach purses, and stuff for 5 or 6 professionals.

It is amazing what you can find for pennies in thrift shops!

 

[Fisher's Mom]

Oh, yeah, I have given each member of my family full sets of fine luggage that I purchased piecemeal on ebay and at estate sales. Hartmann, Mark Cross, Roots and even a couple of Louis Vuitton bags. With good cleaning products, saddle soap, and touch up dyes, most of them look brand new!