Even a blind squirrel finds a nut on occasion. One of the activities my mom LOVED doing when everyone was out here for Christmas was going to the thrift store. Dad wanted to get a Hawaiian shirt to take home, so I mentioned “Well there’s this second-hand store where I get all of my stuff.” She was thrilled. She even told one of my aunts that “We’re going to a thrift store, and HE suggested it…”. If I’d bought them new (at ~$100+ each) , I’d have somewhere around $1k in silk Tommy Bahama and other high-end shirts in my closet… As it stands I have somewhere around $100-$120 total invested. I think the most I’ve paid for any one shirt was $12.99. Brooks Brothers shirts, Under-Armor, Columbia, and North Face stuff… It just happens to have been pre-worn. Big whoop. [EDIT: On reading this, Kelly reminded me that we’ve both gotten brand-new with tags items there as well!] Granted, it’s a really, really nice thrift shop, but it’s definitely worth sorting through all the chaff.
There are some downsides… like seeing stuff exactly in my size that someone bought new in the early ’90’s, in one of those colors that can cause retinal damage when exposed to sunlight. Or having to sort through three or four 30′ racks with a couple hundred shirts to find the 3 which get carted over to Kelly for final approval. But nonetheless there’s a nice sense of adventure in shopping there. I usually sort through all of the men’s large short sleeve and long sleeve shirts, and every other time or so I sift through the 34-46″ waisted pants. I’d really rather sort through the 32-34″ pants, but that’s another blog post entirely. Pretty much every time I’m in one of their 2 stores here on the island I manage to find at least one or two really nice shirts in ‘modern’ colors. I’ve actually been swapping the ‘meh’ stuff out of the closet as it gets replaced with a smaller number of nicer items. I don’t always get the “high end” stuff (usually when Kelly says “This would look nice on you…”), but tend to gravitate toward it since I can’t really justify spending $120 on a new Brooks Brothers dress shirt, but I’ll grab one for $8 in a heartbeat -that’s like a 93% off sale! Also, they tend to be manufactured better, so even second-hand, they’re going to hold up better to the abuse I’m liable to put them through.
So I told you all of that to tell you this: I hit the jackpot today. After striking out on the ‘color approval’ with Kelly for 2 shirts, I checked in the “Men’s Activewear Pants” section. Between two pairs of sweatpants, I saw an Alpinestars logo poking out. Ho-lee-crap. So I pull out what ends up being a pair of Alpinestars Air-Flo textile overpants. They’re marked as XL on the tag. Crud. Check the tag in the pants themselves… XXL, double-crud. Screw it, I’ve seen A*s pants run small before, I’ll try them on anyway. These ran WAY small, fitting perfectly over a pair of 5.11 cargo pants (that I’d also snagged today). The kicker: they were marked at $17.99. A $159.95 pair of armored mesh riding pants, used, with zero wear and tear, for 89% off. Score.
Leave a Reply