Betcha Wish You Could Op Shop Like Me - Part 3

Welcome to the final (I promise) installment of my guide to Effective Op Shopping. If you missed the other two installments, they are here and here. And now, on to my very last two bits of advice.

4. Pick your Target 

Thrift shopping is a game hunt and as with any other kind of hunt, you have to know where your game is likely to be found. Not all thrift stores are equal – ones in suburbs with a high population of people who drink half caf soy lattes and ride fixies are likely to be picked clean. But if you venture out into suburbs where the more well-to-do congregate, you can find some real gold. See, the suburban yuppies like to donate clothes, because it’s an easy, convenient way to be charitable. But they would never be caught dead wearing second hand clothes, and they also tend to be pretty keen on keeping the poorer people who WOULD wear second hand clothes away as much as possible. Which leaves their second hand stores chock full of barely worn goodies, free for the taking. This dress was actually from a local store in my suburb because I haven't ventured much further than my latte sipping suburb for a while, but it's a good example of what you can find if you're willing to hit the more upper crust areas. It's City Chic, a high end plus size label, and new this dress would have cost upwards of $200. When I got it, there were no labels, but no signs of wear either so I would guess someone wore it once and then got rid of it.

Ha! Look at that fierce face I'm pulling.

 

This time when The Boy suggested I come closer, I just gave him what he wanted. You can also see
the beautiful anatomical heart locket he got me for my birthday!

5. Take A Chance

The great thing about paying under ten dollars for a dress is that you can afford to be adventurous. You can afford to take home something you might otherwise never try, because if you hate it, you've only lost a couple of bucks. Fashion should be fun, and I find it hard enough to take risks with what I wear as it is. I decided to start a challenge for myself in the name of blogging where I was going to wear only colour, no black, for a whole week. This was about...oh, a month ago, and I haven't made it past two days yet. I just get too self conscious, and find myself automatically falling back on my nice safe black staples. So anything that encourages me to take a chance, any chance is a good thing. The dress below is one I picked up because I was in an aquisitional mood, and it fit, and it was comfortable, and I figured, "What the hell." I wasn't at all convinced I would wear it out of the house, because I'd never seen anything like it. It actually sat in my wardrobe for about three months before I ever wore it, but as soon as I did was so sorry I hadn't done it sooner.

 So that's it. Those are my big secrets. Know what you want, know where to go, take your time, and take a chance. I'd love to see some of your op shop finds!