Category — Donating

In my last blog, I mentioned that I bought myself a Gap corduroy pea coat when I was out looking for secondhand bargains. Here in the Northeast, we usually have only a few weeks per year of weather that requires a mid-weight coat like this one, so they can be hard to find. A few years ago, I bought a coat for just this sort of in-between weather. It’s a lined LL Bean field coat (via Salvation Army) that I’ve never found especially flattering on me. I’ve been on the lookout for an upgrade for a few years now. Now that I found my pea coat, I’ll pass LL Bean on to my favorite charity. There’s no reason for it to take up space in the landfill because it’s still in great condition and this way it will become someone else’s exciting treasure.

Today I found a pair of new Eddie Bauer pants for $3.00 at one of my secondhand store haunts. I knew that they hadn’t been worn because they had a little plastic bag with a spare button attached to the inside of the waistband.  

There is so much more new stuff at the thrift stores these days than there was decades ago when I first started shopping for used clothing. I’m guessing that the increase in volume has to do with two things: one is that now, more than ever before, everybody is racing around so much of the time that they don’t bother to return clothing that they don’t want; another is that retail stores discount items so often and so deeply that people buy things that they would otherwise leave on the rack at the store. It’s a great boon for us used clothing fiends, but not so great for those who aren’t getting use from what they buy. 

Today I bought a new looking Brooks 346 (that’s what Brooks Brothers calls their casual line of clothing) navy tee. I already have a tee shirt in the same color in my closet, and since I don’t wear that one very often, I really didn’t need another. But one of the benefits of the secondhand wardrobe is that you can upgrade clothing for very little cash, and then donate the items that the new ones are replacing. The navy shirt that was already in my closet fits me well, but has a small flaw that bothers me, so for 75 cents (regular retail is $19.50), I now own one that’s perfect.