Hello all, today finds me with some food for thought. In these ever-changing economic times we need to be more conscious of how we spend our hard-earned money. Our dollars need to be stretched further than ever before. The larger portion paying for lodging, food, transportation, education, healthcare, etc. The smaller portion to be used for clothing and personal needs. If you are a fashionista like me you never want your personal appearance to suffer because you can’t afford retail prices. I know for me when I look my best I feel more confident. This is where my thrifting skills come in. Now I know there are actually some people in the world that are completely opposed to shopping thrift or upscale resale stores. A lot of them feel if it’s not “new” they don’t want it. To these people I pose this question, is your “new” outfit really new? I ask you to take a moment and examine the clothing you are wearing. It may have been purchased at Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Sak’s, Marshall’s or whoever your favorite retailer may be. Now ask yourself how many people tried it on before you bought it? Who wore it and then returned it for a store refund? You paid full price or bought it on sale. You bought a “New Item”! Did you wash it or have it dry cleaned before you wore it? The answer to that question is probably not. I wash or dry clean all of my thrifted or previously owned items. However your “new” item which may have been tried on by 50 people (previously worn) never makes it to the laundry room. You take it out the bag and hang it in your closet and wait for the perfect time to show off your “new” duds. The primary difference between previously owned and previously worn is perception and cost. We perceive the “new” garment to be more valuable because of what we paid for it and where it came from. When in fact the better value lies in the previously owned garment that someone paid a lot for but you got it for a steal. Even if you add laundry or dry cleaning fees your bank account still comes out on top. In addition you have an outfit that may not be “new”, but it’s NEW to you.
From The Desk of Jera Slaughter- Co-Owner Shop TTF