Category — It’s all about Me

I speak for many former co-workers when I write that my last boss made his staff nuts. He’d spot an insignificant error and insist on a complete and time-consuming re-do. Morale was not good. 

Not having to put up with that nonsense is one great benefit that I’ve enjoyed since I started working for myself. I also occasionally take a brief nap in the afternoon if my schedule allows and make a weekly pilgrimage to a thrift store. My thrift store buddy and I schedule our visits for the middle of the week, during my most productive time of day. This is terribly self-indulgent. That’s why I like it so much.  

I can be pretty compulsive about squeezing the most amount of work out of myself each day, sometimes to the point of complete non-productivity. A break is just what I need. There’s something about seeing all those racks of used stuff that cheers me right up. Then I can get back to work with a clear head. 

I live in the suburbs and whenever the blandness gets to me, I take a day trip to one of the neighboring towns. I like to visit art museums and junk stores all in the same day. Just recently, my family and I piled into our little Corolla and drove an hour to a contemporary art museum. We then drove another 15 minutes to a Goodwill store. A perfect day!

I think about clothing and fabric all the time, partly because I’m a textile artist and partly because I grew up listening to non-stop conversation about clothing. My grandfather on my mom’s side owned a men’s clothing store, and my parents met when my dad started working there. My father eventually opened his own men’s clothing store (this was the ‘70’s and it was filled with leisure suits, by the way) when I was around 12 years old. My Uncle Victor also sold men’s suits at various retail outlets until he began running going-out-of-business sales for men’s clothing companies. I grew up hearing about the men who came to them for help in choosing their wardrobes, men who panicked at the thought of picking out their own tie.  

In order to have ideas for this blog, I’ve had to pay attention to all of the random thoughts floating around in my head about clothes. So many bits and pieces of information on the topic keep bubbling up that I wonder how there’s room for anything else. This is what can happen when you sit around the dinner table listening to important adults in your life trying to outdo each other with tales of who sold the most suits.

You’d never know it by looking at me now, (which I’m awfully glad you cannot do because it’s 20 degrees Fahrenheit outside and it’s not all that warm inside either, so I’m looking rather bulky because of all the layers), but I own a large closet filled with really great clothes. Because I’m a textile artist, I know quality. Knowing quality and not having a lot of money–a perfect combination to make me seek out the cheapest resources for wonderful stuff to wear. That’s why the vast majority of what’s hanging in my closet is from thrift stores.

 Amazing what you can find in the thrifts if you look. Over the last 30 years, I’ve gotten so good at nosing out the bargains that I decided to write a book about it. The Secondhand Wardrobe: Chasing Down the Deals has an expected release date of September ’08. Meanwhile, I’ll be writing my random secondhand clothing thoughts here, awaiting your comments.