{"id":1146,"date":"2011-08-11T12:13:00","date_gmt":"2011-08-11T12:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.novonon.com\/blog\/2011\/08\/11\/how-to-thrift-for-menswear-part-one-thrifting\/"},"modified":"2011-08-11T12:13:00","modified_gmt":"2011-08-11T12:13:00","slug":"how-to-thrift-for-menswear-part-one-thrifting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.novonon.com\/blog\/2011\/08\/11\/how-to-thrift-for-menswear-part-one-thrifting\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Thrift for Menswear Part One: Thrifting…"},"content":{"rendered":"

[Nice little article from my favorite men’s fashion blog on thrifting. -e]<\/p>\n

\nHow to Thrift for Menswear
\n
Part One: Thrifting…<\/a>: “<\/p>\n

How to Thrift for Menswear <\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Part One: Thrifting Philosophies<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Thrifting has been a lifelong habit for me. When I was a kid, my mom worked in a lamp store on Fillmore Street in San Francisco. Fillmore is San Francisco\u2019s thrifting mecca, home of thrifts run by the Opera, Symphony, and a couple of fancy private schools, plus a sizable Goodwill. What clothes my mom didn\u2019t make for me likely came from those thrift shops.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Today, I shop in thrifts all the time. It\u2019s not just the source of much of my wardrobe, it\u2019s also something I do almost meditatively. A thrift store is a place where you can imagine the lives of a thousand objects – and if any one of them appeals, you can almost certainly afford to bring it home.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve got a three part series on how to thrift successfully coming up here on Put This On, and this is part one: the philosophy of thrifting. Later this week, I\u2019ll share how to find great thrift stores, and how to identify what to buy. Today, eleven tips to successful thrift store shopping.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \nPrice is not an object. <\/strong>If you buy in the thrift store based on price, you\u2019re sunk. You\u2019ll miss the good stuff you should have bought, and you\u2019ll buy crap you should have left behind. Our brains are naturally comparative – they look for patterns and deviations. In a thrift store, that means we think something that\u2019s $20 is expensive, and something that\u2019s $1 is a bargain. Fight the urge. Few are the items that are worth adding to your wardrobe at $1 that aren\u2019t worth adding to your wardrobe at $20, and just because something\u2019s $1 doesn\u2019t make it a bargain.<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  2. \nBe nice.<\/strong> Thrift store employees are human beings with a tough job who appreciate your kindness. I often think of the lady at the Salvation Army on Valencia Street in San Francisco where I grew up. She was in charge of the records, and she\u2019d always tip me off when there were new ones going out. I scored a huge collection of early 70s soul 45s that way. It pays to be nice.<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  3. \nKnow what you need & buy what you find.<\/strong> If you read my article on shopping like my mom<\/a>, you know you should always have an awareness of what your wardrobe needs and will need. Let this guide your search. That said: never pass up a great piece. The time to buy something is when it\u2019s for sale.<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  4. \nDress for success.<\/strong> The best thrifting outfit is comfortable and simple. It should allow you to try on clothes without much hassle. You should look presentable, too, just in case you have to ask for a price.<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  5. \nDon\u2019t cheat.<\/strong> Only assholes switch tags, shoplift or otherwise cheat thrift stores. These are charities for goodness\u2019 sake.<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  6. \nShop the whole store.<\/strong> Often the best items are miscategorized. Check out the women\u2019s and boys\u2019 sections so you don\u2019t miss a great score. Remember, too, that there are plenty of non-clothing scores available in thrifts, so expand your knowledge in all areas, and bring it to bear on furniture, records, books – whatever.<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  7. \nBuy for others.<\/strong> If you\u2019ve got family members, friends or thrifting compatriots who appreciate nice clothes, don\u2019t be afraid to buy for them. Know their size and be choosy, and make sure they know you don\u2019t mind if they hate what you bought. It\u2019s only five or ten bucks.<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  8. \nGive back.<\/strong> If you buy from thrifts, remember to donate to thrifts. They make their money from your quality donations.<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  9. \nGo regularly.<\/strong> Thrifting isn\u2019t like going to Macy\u2019s. Stock is hugely variable and constantly rotating. Only through regular visits will you get to know quality clothing and find the good stuff.<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  10. \nBuy nothing.<\/strong> Remember that 85% of thrift store visits will lead to no purchases. That\u2019s part of the process – don\u2019t sweat it.<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  11. \nDon\u2019t buy it if you don\u2019t love it.<\/strong> If there\u2019s something wrong with it that makes it an \u201calmost\u201d and not a \u201check yeah,\u201d then skip it. Something else will come along.<\/li>\n

    \n<\/ol>\n

    Next up: how to find a great thrift store. Stay tuned!<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

      <\/ol>\n

      “<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      [Nice little article from my favorite men’s fashion blog on thrifting. -e] How to Thrift for Menswear Part One: Thrifting…: “ How to Thrift for Menswear Part One: Thrifting Philosophies Thrifting has been a lifelong habit for me. When I was a kid, my mom worked in a lamp store on Fillmore Street in San […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3pfIY-iu","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.novonon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.novonon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.novonon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.novonon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.novonon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1146"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.novonon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1146\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.novonon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.novonon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.novonon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}