En route from my tailor the other day, strutting down Flatbush Avenue Ext., I stumbled across the biggest Goodwill I have ever seen. As I assessed the interior, I was overwhelmed by a mixture of awe, trepidation and nausea not unlike what I experienced on my last trip to Century 21. If I couldn’t find something, ANYTHING, in this vast, Motley Crue of castoffs, it would call the entirety of my secondhand shopping prowess into question, and that was sooo not happening. So I put on my headphones, got in the zone and – to the tune of Feed the Animals – tackled the place rack by rack.
Looks like two pairs of colored jeans and a patterned dress, right? WRONG. So effing wrong. Drum roll, please.
Marc Jacobs, Built by Wendy and Lily Pulitzer, respectively. ‘Nuff said.
I’m well aware that scoring at Salvation Army and/or Goodwill is rare; the bigger the outlet, the harder it gets. The only reason I uncover the pearls in these seas of fugliness, time and time again, is practice. While I neither expect nor recommend that you spend as much time in the field as I do, one hour per week going through the racks at your resident beacon of charity castoffs does wonders for your shopping skillz. Slowly back away from The Hills (that’s what DVR is for!), get your ass off the couch, and give it a whirl. Seek and ye shall find, young Skywalkers. Seek and ye shall find.
Once again, I am in awe.
December 19th, 2008 - 5:02 PMI’ve had . . . bad experiences, shall we say, with Lily Pulitzer, but I love the other two items and the labels, wow. How much was everything?
December 19th, 2008 - 5:47 PMHi! I’m a spanish girl and I’m going to NY in april only for one week, (but 3 days in a congress) so I only have 4 days to see Manhattan y buy in vintage shops.
I find your blog looking for vintage shops and, ta-taaa! your fantastic blog appear. I’ve been seen it and I think you’re an expert shopper!!!
Could you make a favor and recomend me vintage shops (even small) to find dresses, please??? . I saw in your blog BEacon’s closet, Buffalo Exchange and Goodwill… any other small vintage shop to find little tresures like 50-60 dresses??
My style is very preppy (you can see it in my blog), and I always choose ‘60 dresses, blouses with bows… you know.
I’m looking for vintage broochs (like I wear on my last post, is an american brooch from the sixties that I found in a vintage shop in Madrid…)I love that kind of naif jewllery…
And the last thing… I’m a collector of Alice in Wonderland all kind of things (books, mugs, cards…) Could you recommend me some place to find Alice Things? I’ve just find a tea shop named Alice’s tea cup on the East side, and, of course, the Alice sculpture in CP to make photos… but, Do you know any second hand bookstore (unexpensive, please)?
Lots of thanks!!!!
xoxo from Madrid
December 22nd, 2008 - 9:18 AMNice! I don’t exactly keep an eye out for brands when I go thrifting, but I found a lot of fashion gems the few times I was at Goodwill. (I’m from the Philippines)
January 5th, 2009 - 7:52 AM