I Thrift, Therefore I Am

By Guest Blogger Glynis Bell

I thrift, therefore I am….liberated!

So I have this secret obsession…I LOVE to thrift shop!  There, I’ve said it and put it out in the universe.  Did you hear me thrifting goddesses?

It’s no secret that I have a passion for fashion and that I love to shop!  Just take a peek into my closet (or three) and evidence of that will be found.  But it’s more than JUST shopping, it’s therapy; without the co-pay and sans lying on THE couch.

I’m not sure when I became enamored with buying others folks’ discards and creating a new home and purpose for them, but it’s an activity that not only empowers me but I also find it relaxing.  There is something about sifting through racks of “old” items in hopes of coming across that jewel of a piece.  A vintage jacket…think Chanel, or a pearl or bejeweled broach that reminds me of my grandmother, or to score a pair of shoes that looks like the roaring 20’s but rocks the runway like nobody’s business!

For many, the thought of shopping is as thrilling as getting a root canal.  And the thought of thrift shopping is as exhilarating as a root canal after a wisdom tooth extraction (not that bad) but many women tell me they hate to shop much less in a mish-mash of disorderly somethings smelly, dusty racks where you don’t really know what you’re looking for.  Thrifting is not for the faint at heart.  Finding a used Kleenex in the pockets of that great find is par for course! Nothing a little disinfecting can’t cure!

I could spend hours on the hunt for that perfect thing that I will know only when I see it.  So this is an activity that you can do solo, unless, you have a shopping partner who understands the “search, hunt, find, justify (or not) and wear it like it’s off the designer show room floor game.”

I don’t impose thrifting on others.  My teenage daughter told me that wearing other peoples’ stuff was creepy!  That was until the prom dress saga last year.  Long story short, she found a dress new at a local department store. Truth be told, I didn’t like the dress, but told her she would be beautiful in whatever she chose to wear and that I wanted her to feel good in it!  (tongue in cheek).  It wasn’t a stunner, look-at-me-when-I-walk-in, won’t-see-MY-dress-in-here, made-for-me-kinda-dress.  So my sister bought it for her.  After taking it home, I started to find in my thrifting hideout accessories to go with the dress.  Fast forward two weeks, after prom season was well under way across the nation and my daughter sees a young lady on social media wearing the very dress she had selected off the rack. She comes to me and says “I don’t think I like that dress after all mom!”

In my mind I was saying, “I told ya so.”  But what really came out was, “I’m not starting over from scratch with this prom dress business.”  So we hop in the car and our first stop was one of my favorite thrifting meccas.  We walked in and right away I spotted the most stunning, original dress that looked like it was made for her.  And….she actually liked it, too!

We bought the dress and with a few alterations it was a perfect fit and she looked amazing in it!  And the chances of her seeing someone else in the same dress was pretty slim.

Thrifting points to ponder:

• Don’t knock it until you try it!
• You can discover some real treasures literally and figuratively.
• You can help the reduce-reuse-recycle campaign (One woman’s junk is another woman’s treasure)
• You can save money by not buying at larger retailers as your growing family sprouts up every few months!
• You can possibly find it relaxing and fun!

My love of thrift shopping is an extension of who I am as a person.  A unique, sometimes colorful, one-of-a kind-reinvented-kinda gal.

Cheers and happy thrifting! Do you love thrift shopping too? Share some of your secrets!