Thrifting.

wearing: great thrifted vintage blazer, h&m pendant, f21 tshirt, target jeans, really old shoes from ny

OK. I'm not a thrift store person. I'm not into the smell. I'm not into the rifling though tons of crap to find one or two things that are half decent. I'm not into the other people who are at thrift stores, snobby as that may be. But whatever. So I decided, after my umpteenth trip to H&M, that I needed to venture into the world of vintage. So I spent most of Saturday doing so. Here is a summary of my day:

1st stop: Goodwill by St Mary's Hospital. Verdict: Pants. Lots of pleated pants. Lots and lots of pleated pants. One really great 80s prom dress that was 10 sizes too big. Seriously contemplated getting it anyway and wearing it everywhere. Decided that was kind of a freakish desire. Put dress down. Left.

2nd stop: Hall Tree, Carytown. Verdict: This is more consignment shop than thrift store, and I did find a few pieces from Banana and Anthropologie, but barely discounted. In fact, I found several tops from Forever 21 that were MORE than they are in the store (!?). At any rate, nothing super unique or even super high end. I went expecting to drool and not buy very nice things. Instead I didn't drool, didn't buy, left confused.

3rd stop: Second Debut, Carytown: Also known as "the fancy goodwill" cause that's what it is. Not very well organized as far as sizes go. They arrange the racks according to color for aesthetic purposes but that makes it impossible to find anything. A few things stood out to me here: a fantastic pair of old cowboy boots, one size too small for me. A very small child laughed at me OUT LOUD as I danced around trying to get them off. Also, some really kick ass vintage fur coats and jackets for 25$. When it starts to get cold again, I'll be going back. I didn't note if they were faux or not, so vegans beware.

4th stop: Massey Cancer Center Thrift, Patterson Ave: Ok. This place owns. My. Face. It's basically a CLUB of old ladies that meet daily in this store and just trade their crap. I walked in and was the only one not involved in the conversation. I wasn't made to feel unwelcome or anything, it was just obvious that these ladies are all really tight. AND all their crap is AWESOME. This store is way behind Short Pump, far out of the reaches of both vintage- trolling hipsters and cheap, cheap scary cheap people with seven kids. I can't even tell you: there were vintage tuxedos. Piles and piles of old belts (I got a great Donna Karan one) that are all 1$. Amazing cookware and linens. Quilts. Wedding dresses. Toys, games, furniture from as far back as the 30s. Funky purses. Jewelry. Racks and racks of records and books. National Geographics from the 50s. Anyway, I didn't get much because at this point I was exhausted, but I'll be going back.

5th stop: Nap

6th stop: Goodwill on West Broad: I did some damage here. I think this one is also far enough away to not be mined by vintage savvy folk. This is the biggest Goodwill on this side of the river, and it takes awhile to go through it all. A great resource for dresses and blazers, and has tons of great comic book tshirts in the little boy section. :)

Anyway, I was going to go to Rumors but couldn't find it. And there's the whole southside to check out. So, I'm sure I'll be updating again soon!