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.

I conjured up a pair of beautiful, Italian, buttery Salvatore Ferragamo boots the other day. I imagined myself finding ankle boots, in brown or cordovan leather with some interesting design detailing. My friend and I were nosing around consignment stores when I saw the Ferragamos, in my oddball, skinny foot size. They were on the ½ off shelf. With some new heels, they’ll last me for years. My Internet search tells me that they would run around $1,000 new. My price was $25.00. I’m generally bigger on the rock bottom, cheapest of the cheap thrift stores than I am on consignment shops, because the consignments usually charge much more. But a $1,000 pair of boots for $25 is a fantastic price by any measure. So hooray for the consignments! 

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!

My daughter bought a new t-shirt from her high school bookstore–it was a fundraiser for a club that she belongs to. We were talking about what size would fit her, which wound up being a pretty complicated discussion. Since she’s used to getting her clothing from thrift stores, almost all of what she buys has already been washed and dried by the previous owners. But her brand new t-shirt is 100% cotton and although it fits her this minute, it’s impossible to know how much shrinkage there will be once it’s been washed. I prefer my tried and true (and previously washed and dried) bargains any day!