My New Treasure

Most of my wardrobe is secondhand, but I occasionally sew myself a new garment. Since I don’t have a lot of time to sew, I want these items to turn out wonderfully—but life doesn’t always work the way I want it to. I once spent forever altering a jeans pattern, thinking I could make it fit perfectly. Unfortunately, the finished jeans looked like they were sprayed on. I could barely breathe in them, even though the addition of lycra to the fabric blend made them stretchy. I also once made myself a jacket that I painstakingly hand quilted only to find that all those stitches made the material so stiff that it hung on my body like cardboard. I donated those two garments to my local thrift store. That way somebody else could enjoy my work.

But sometimes the tables get turned. Just last week I became the one who gets to enjoy somebody else’s work. I paid two dollars for a hand crocheted sweater that looks like it’s never been worn. Could it have been an unwanted present, or did the person who made it find that it just wasn’t right after they sewed on the last carefully selected button? The sweater isn’t revealing its origin, so I’ll never know. I’ll just have to wear it and enjoy.

Secondhand finds

Yesterday five dollars and thirty-one cents bought me two mugs, a pair of Harvé Barnard dress pants, workout shorts and the late, great George Carlin’s book, Brain Droppings. The store was especially crowded, as it always is a few days before Halloween. The holiday crowd makes me wonder why used clothing is considered OK on Halloween, but is looked down upon every other day of the year.

I really love stripes, even to the point of sometimes combining different ones. I hadn’t found any striped shirts for a while and was happy that my secondhand wardrobe finds for the week were two for two dollars each–one for summer and one for winter. Yeah stripes!

The above photo is of my Marino Orlandi Italian handbag that sells for $350.00 and up. The price I paid at my local thrift store was three dollars. With bargains like these, who wouldn’t love shopping secondhand? The fact is that many people wouldn’t, and that’s because there is such a stigma attached to buying and wearing used clothing. I created Secondhand Wardrobe Day, which is August 25^th of each year, in order to fight this stigma.

I have begun laying the groundwork for a Secondhand Wardrobe Day celebration in 2009, including contests and competitions which will be posted on this blog. For now, I’ll keep writing about finding the bargains, and hope you’ll continue to join me.

Members of the Press: Leave a blog comment—it will remain unposted and will go directly to me.

Secondhand Clothing Stores: If your organization would like to sponsor a contest for 2009, please leave a blog comment.

The other day I found myself in need of a stack of used long sleeved tee shirts. I do programs for kids at schools and libraries and I’m scheduled to do one next Wednesday where I teach the kids to make stuffed animals from the sleeves of used tee shirts.   

I thought I had plenty of sleeves for everybody. Then I spoke with the librarian and found out that many more kids had signed up for the program than they had anticipated. I suddenly found myself with just barely enough supplies. Thank goodness that Goodwill has 2 for $3 days! 

Yesterday I strolled into the store, went straight to where the long sleeved shirts are located, looked for the ones with the discount tags, and within 10 minutes I had just what I needed. Not only that, I got a bonus for my secondhand efforts—in with the tees that I will use for my recycling program, I also nabbed a few that are in great condition and that fit me just right.