Just go in shop SLOW, look at everything, make sure it's really the dress/skirt/blouse/shoes/earrings/purses.... you like that fit you. Purchase. You saved a ton from all the pretty little girls/rich women in the shopping mall charging on their mothers charge card.
I did that today, it was so funny looking at women buying things at both places.
I blended right in, but bought all my new very nice shoes & dresses at Goodwill.
I am a major fan of Op Shops. My score so far is a pair of moccassin boots, a sheepskin coat, a parka,a leather jacket and a denim skirt, plus a few blouses, a pair of great antique earrings and a watch. All look like new and expensive, but under $50 all up.
I especially like taking a wander through any I find in a posh suburb or trendy holiday town. Lots of great labels without the price tag.
Karen.
2 pair 4 inch almost new sexy thigh heels today, 8$, I can wear them but not for long, feel good, like walking in them, look great, but just cannot take it for long. Do not know how women do it all day long, their toes must be num, bend in.
I love heels too, pity my bad back doesn't though. 2" is about the limit for me, and they have to be well made for me to wear them for more than a couple of hours. >:(
Karen.
I guess it all depends on the region. In the NorthEast, I actually spend less money at Jc Penneys, Sears, and Kohls than I do at a Goodwill shop.
For example, I bought 2 skirts, 2 blouses, and two pair of jeans for 32 dollars last week at a Department Store for brand new clothing. The last time I went to a Goodwill store, I spent 28 dollars on 3 skirts and a blouse. I bought a wool knee length winter coat last winter from Bon Ton for 23 dollars and it retailed for 233. The Salvation Army had a similiar coat for 45 dollars.
However, if you find a thrift store that has 50% off of everything on a certain weekday, that is probably the best bet but you really have to look to find a decent article of clothing for a really awesome price.
I don't think many realize that a good majority of clothing sold in a department store is actually less expensive and built better than buying the same number of clothing at Walmart. I didn't either until I started working in these department stores part time.
Oh I know! I got my favorite jacket and now my favorite jeans from there. Both are by Mossimo. The jacket is black corduroy and cut to just above my waist and flairs out a little at the waist when I dont have it zipped up. and the jeans are flared at the bottom, and darted in the back and I have to say, they make my butt look great! so I'm very happy with that.
My mom turned me to Goodwill stores early on. Back when I went to an office everyday (in gentlemanly attire), I could easily afford anything in the mall stores, but I preferred to buy shirts down the street at Goodwill. At Goodwill everything is prewashed/preshrunken and you can try everything on right there. I've always found the variety there better than anywhere.
I'm not as much a fan of Salvation Army, which in my area has always had higher prices and a skimpier selection. I did pick up my fav denim jacket there for $6, though. I put it on and it fit perfectly and has ever since.
The best story I have for shopping Goodwill happened backin my male days.
I was working for a auto parts company and entered their management program. One of the things I needed was a suit. So my ex and I headed to Goodwill,she loves Goodwill. And we found a great three piece suit; jacket, vest and trousers. The next day I went to work in my new suit.
One of the guys in the program asked where I got it. I asked him how much I thought I paid for it. He looked at the label and stated "$300". "Nope", I said.
"$400?".
"No. Lower"
"$250?"
"Nope. $16.50".
"No Way. Where?"
"Goodwill"
He always thought Goodwill was trash. He changed his mind right then. The next day he showed up with a new suit too. Courtesy of ... Goodwill.
Needless to say this gal shops at Goodwill.
Janet, Cool story, thanks.
Best day of my life was the day I took all those damn biz suits/ties & gave them to goodwill. Hated having to wear that crap 8-5 for the bank. That was 20-25 years ago. Give me a nice dress anyday!
BCBG shirt, AX shirt, Lucky Brand Jeans, Old Navy work pants, brand new women's timex expedition watch ... Those are the kinds of things I've purchased at the thrift store for less than six dollars each.
I highly approve of thrift stores.
Emma, My eyes are almost identical to yours in color. Cool picture. Thanks.
It's funny for me I wear a size 10 womens shoes, every so often on will be packed with my size, I load up.
Shop on pretty eyes girlfriend.
One great thing about shoes from thrift stores is they are broken in some. Now wearing nice 4 inch pumps I bought yesterday, they feel comfortable, I could wear these all day long if I needed to. With new shoes, I've tried before numerous times, they look good but it takes so long to be comfortable.
If you are a size 10 or 11 down you can usually find a good selection at thrift stores, cheap.
Good luck GF's,
Be sure to clean the stuff from thrift stores very well before you take it into your home. Bedbugs are epidemic, and love clothes.
I prefer the goodwill outlet over the other thrift stores personally, because I could go into the normal goodwill and easily spend $50, but if I spent that much at the outlet store, I would fill my car up lol. However, it seems to take alot longer to find what I want at the outlet store, things being totally unsorted, the good part about that though, is that there is usually a few jems to be found, just awaiting discovery.
The Salvation Army store though, it has never had anything going for it in my eyes, I am not sure why the stuff in the local ones are so overpriced, like they would take something new, and mark it 50% off that new tag price, but Macy's will mark their own clearance new off the rack down that much, so you wouldn't be saving anything really. Maybe it is just a local thing, but I will stick to goodwill with it's mostly fixed pricing or the outlet store @ $1.39/lbs pricing.
I do like the fact though, that even in male presentation, no one at thrift stores has really ever said anything mean while buying women's clothing. In fact the only real comment I ever got was someone saying "Nice nail polish" and it felt like a compliment to me.
When I was just starting transition and shopping for my first few items I decided that as I would probably make a lot of mistakes I would use Op Shops. I had no problems with the staff even though I was in male mode. I got the feeling they had seen it all before! :D
Still trying to set up a date with my sister-in-law to visit some of Melbourne's exclusive bayside suburb's Op Shops. Gucci and Prada, here we come!!
Karen.
i agree but at least in my city, i find that the some thrift stores are really expensive or at least for a thrift store they are.
Quote from: Francis Ann Burgett on August 09, 2011, 08:48:31 PM
Emma, My eyes are almost identical to yours in color. Cool picture. Thanks.
...
Shop on pretty eyes girlfriend.
Thank you! I shall!
I shop at Value Village almost exclusively now. I work there and get 50% of already cheap clothes, and a lot of people donate brand-new clothes with tags and size stickers still on. I occasionally shop at the mall for clothes but I'd much rather spend $60 on five shirts and a few pairs of pants than on one or two things. :)
Quote from: Caseyy on August 10, 2011, 08:58:48 PM
I am jealous. I never considered VV in my current job hunt; think I might send out an app there. I plan to buy myself a bunch of clothes when I lose my extra weight. :)
It's not a bad idea. I can't say this for every single VV but the company tries it's best to hire and train employees who are great people-persons. The people I work with and the customers who come in are all great. I'm having a hard tme debating whether or not to go for a better-paying job I might hate - money or job satisfaction? haha.
But yeah. Thrift shopping is great. I even plan to buy a lot of used furniture second-hand. :D
I live one block from a nice thrift. It's hard to buy clothes there. Most of the stuff is unwearable stuff. I wish I had more money, I'd go to H+M...thrifts are kinda so-so even though most of my wardrobe comes from there.
But there are days when I don't spend money there. If so, I only buy one or two pieces.
Op shops are great. I don't have much money so I've always done most of my clothing shopping there anyway. It definitely is a help with transition, though... and weight loss. I've lost a lot of weight this past year, mainly due to health issues, and I'm constantly needing to buy new smaller clothes.
Unfortunately the city I live in now only has one real op shop in town (though plenty of high-priced vintage stores) but it's on my way into town so I pop in a couple of times a week. That helps a lot with getting the good deals. :P
Lately there have been a LOT of new-looking shirts from one of my favourite menswear shops in there, I realised that they've actually been passing on some of their returned items with flaws. I can sew, so I look over the garment to find the problem (some of them still have the return slip, helpfully informing me) and decide if it's worth it or not. If so... $100 shirt for $5 and maybe a tiny bit of mending, huzzah!
I've also found some great bargains on high-quality men's shoes, brands like Alfred Sargent, Loake, etc. They don't know the value of them.
Where I live at, if I get caught going in Goodwill then I'll be made fun of.
Being as poor as I am, I only shop at second hand stores now xD
I've managed to find some great stuff and usually get out of their with ten shirts for under $40.
Pretty awesome when you look at Walmart and one shirt will out you by $20 x__X;
I found a brand new DKNY fishnet shirt, tags still on it, at the local Salval for $3. The original tag said it was 50$.
If you're willing to do some digging, and if you're lucky, thrift stores can be completely awesome.
Not clothes, but still insanely cool, my girlfriend recently got me about 400$ worth of oil paints and brushes for 99 cents. Again, at the Salval.