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.
February 18th, 2009 | Tags: Donating, Secondhand Wardrobe | Category: Donating, Mistakes, Oh, the Bargains I've Found! | Leave a comment
63 Years Old & Still Going Strong!
I bought a used vacuum right after my husband and I got married, 22 years ago. The vacuum was already 41 years old at the time. It set me back $35.00 and worked wonderfully up until a few weeks ago, when it started consistently breaking new belts. I hauled it out to my car and took it to one of the few repair shops in town. The service cost much more than the vacuum did when I bought it, but was less expensive than buying a new one. And of course, that’s what the repair shop people wanted me to do—buy a new one. They tried to sell me when I first walked into the store and again over the phone before they fixed the old one.
Aside from it costing more to buy new, I just hate the thought of filling the overcrowded landfills with anything that still has use. Now that it’s been fixed, the vacuum works like a charm and has plenty of good years left. The next time it needs to be repaired I’ll be shopping around. Not for a newer model, but for a different repair shop.
February 11th, 2009 | Tags: General Secondhand Wardrobe Thoughts, Secondhand is Better than New | Category: General Secondhand Wardrobe Thoughts, Reuse and Recycle, Secondhand is Better than New | Leave a comment
My daughter loves a secondhand wardrobe as much as I do, and it’s just my good fortune that we are almost the same size. She examines pants much more carefully than I do and when she tries them on I sit in the dressing room with her. I hang up those that are too small for her and try on the ones that are just a bit too big. I’ve gotten some of my favorite pants this way.
Last summer when we visited a friend in San Francisco we stopped by a few Goodwill stores. I found a fantastic jacket and a belt that were both just a bit too small for me, but that fit my daughter perfectly. Shopping for the secondhand wardrobe is great fun when done alone, it’s more fun with people you care about, but it’s even better with people who wear almost, but not quite the same size!
February 2nd, 2009 | Tags: secondhand shopping | Category: General Secondhand Wardrobe Thoughts, Secondhand Wardrobe Shopping | Leave a comment
Having trouble locating the perfect late 60’s/early 70’s garb at your local thrift store? I’ve got a book for you. The Illustrated Hassle-Free Make Your Own Clothes Book by Bordow and Rosenberg, originally published in 1972 has been reissued. Those of you with modest sewing skills or an interest in learning can use this book to give secondhand finds a vintage feel, although most of the book is devoted to from-scratch patterns for items such as caftans and ponchos.
I can tell you that those of us who were young in 1970, when the book was first published, actually did want to look like “…pirates and Native Americans…. We longed to be fairy princesses…”, as one of the authors notes in the 2008 introduction. The designs are definitely representative of what we wore then, but I can’t vouch for the patterns, because I haven’t made any of them. Although I enjoyed dressing like a fairy princess when I was a teenager, my taste in clothing has definitely changed since then. By the way, check out this shot of the original cover. Now that’s what I call groovy!
January 22nd, 2009 | Tags: thrift store bargains, vintage clothing | Category: General Secondhand Wardrobe Thoughts, Secondhand Wardrobe Style and Fashion | Leave a comment
My daughter loves her new prom dress
My daughter found her prom dress last Saturday. It cost five dollars at a local thrift store and is in perfect condition. Garments that are only worn for special occasions often are in wonderful shape because they usually only get worn a few times. Except for a minor alteration to the shoulder straps, the dress fits her like a dream, looks nothing like what everybody else will be wearing, and according to my quickie internet search, comparable dresses by the same manufacturer run around $150. And although she loves this dress, since prom is months away, my daughter has time to continue to snoop around the thrifts, just in case there’s something out there that she likes even more. I can afford to spring for another five bucks, or even ten, if it’ll make her happy.
January 14th, 2009 | Category: Comparative Pricing, General Secondhand Wardrobe Thoughts, Reuse and Recycle, Secondhand Wardrobe Style and Fashion, Secondhand Wardrobe for Kids | Leave a comment
