A sobering, in-depth view in National Geographic on where our obsession with quickly-obsolete clothing has led us. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/chile-fashion-pollution?rid=97221F87D96D42E0B520A041E03B0590&cmpid=org%3Dngp%3A%3Amc%3Dcrm-email%3A%3Asrc%3Dngp%3A%3Acmp%3Deditorial%3A%3Aadd%3DDaily_NL_Tuesday_History_20230411&loggedin=true&rnd=1681390753763 ..read more

This morning, co-authors Reise Moore and Allison Engel answered questions from Washington Post readers about thrifting. The topic was thrifting furniture and housewares, but a few questions about clothing came in, too. Here’s a photo of us researching the topic at a truly great thrift store, The Huntington Collection in Pasadena, CA. (It’s a nonprofit run to benefit The Huntington Hospital.) Photo by Noé Montes. Here’s a link to the discussion: https://www.washingtonpost.com/home/2023/03/23/advice-shopping-vintage-thrifting ..read more

A Vintage James Galanos Dress We have not stepped into a thrift store since March 2020, due to the pandemic. Now, two weeks after we were fully vaccinated, we had two very surprising experiences in thrift stores this week. First was at Goodwill, where we tried to drop off some household goods. Sorry, we were told, the store was so full that it wasn’t accepting donations. The second experience was much happier. Perusing the “Designer” rounder at the American Cancer Society’s Discovery Shop in Rancho Mirage, CA, we happened on a label we had never before seen in a resale shop — vintage James ..read more

Ever since the Salvation Army’s “salvage brigade” was launched in 1897, with scavengers of used clothes receiving lodging and food, religion has played a leading role in the re-use industry. Historian Jennifer Le Zotte has detailed this connection in her 2017 book, From Goodwill to Grunge: A History of Secondhand Styles and Alternative Economies. Another of the nation’s large thrift store operation, Goodwill, started when a Methodist minister hired the poor to collect goods for sale. Of the 25,000 resale shops in the U.S., the Census Bureau estimates that half are nonprofits with some religiou ..read more

What could be better than free clothes? Free clothes plus an opportunity to clean out your own closet, that’s what. The first-ever clothes swap sponsored by the Palm Springs Cultural Center took place on Leap Day, Feb. 29, as a pop-up event adjacent to the regular Saturday morning certified farmer’s market. The swap was the idea of market manager Megan Goehring. “The cultural center has a mandate for sustainable living,” she said, and she thought a clothing swap would be an excellent experiment to go along with the center’s efforts at sustainable cups and a water bottle filler at its cafe and ..read more

ThriftStyle co-author Reise Moore put together a trend story for Shondaland.com on thrifting spring styles taken from runways and fashion sites.  Read her story and see the great photos (taken by Los Angeles photographer Noe Montes – noemontes.com) here All of the items shown were secondhand. The most expensive item was $20, and many were under $5. Here Jordan shows off two big trends for Spring 2020, suiting and polka dots. This entire look was less than $30. Learn more about this spring look and more at Shondaland.com ..read more

Ever since we began researching clothing re-use for our book ThriftStyle, we have been heartened to see thrifting move from the fringes into a true movement. This week brings the momentous news that the luxury department store Nordstrom, which has 379 stores in 40 states, will begin selling used clothing online and in its new store on the upper West Side of Manhattan. Its initiative, called See You Tomorrow, gives walk-in customers gift cards for their used jewelry, clothing, handbags and shoes. Once repaired, the items will be resold by Nordstrom. The retailer soon will accept mailed-in items ..read more

We wrote an article for Shondaland.com about thrifting tips, gleaned from our trips to more than 400 thrift shops coast to coast, as well as observations from other avid thrifters. We meant to link to it two months ago, but it’s all timeless, useful information! Here’s the link: https://www.shondaland.com/live/style/a29802989/how-to-make-thrift-store-shopping-chic/ Michelle Raven, of Minneapolis, founder of @whenthriftersthrift, a blog that features finds from thrifters around the globe, was one of the experts we consulted. In the article, she talks about how to be intentional in your shoppi ..read more

Nearly every thrift store, consignment shop and antiques store sells scarves. Many group scarves together, but they are also found on mannequins and as part of displays, so it pays to keep an eagle-eye out for scarves in all corners of a shop. While writing our book, ThriftStyle: The Ultimate Bargain Shopper’s Guide to Smart Fashion, we were on the hunt for vintage silk scarves. We sent them out with the book’s publicity materials, after first having them dry cleaned and then sewing in a second fabric label that read “ThriftStyle” to promote our book. We found plenty of vintage Vera a ..read more

Every once in a while, we hear shoppers complain about high prices at thrift shops. One of our favorite shops, Central Thrift in south Los Angeles, has its motto printed on  business cards: “Don’t pay those high Goodwill and Salvation Army prices.” While it’s true that we sometimes run across an overpriced item at a thrift store, it is far more common to find ridiculously-priced, dirt cheap items. At the Valley Thrift Store in the Evendale neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio, the change of seasons brings startling markdowns on clothing from the previous season. We found a rack of nice wool blaze ..read more