Tips for the Newbie Cheap JAP

Hi! I’m in a similar situation as you- recently cut off by my parents but still with a huge desire to keep my wardrobe up to date and even trying to continue to stock with with labels I’ve fallen in love with over the years. Having gotten myself into debt trying to keep up with my love of shopping, I’ve now decided to go “thrifting.” Thankfully, I live in Westchester, so NYC is only moments away. With that said, I need advice on the best places to thrift shop… what would you suggest? I’m willing to get down and dirty in these places and spend time finding nice pieces… Thanks for your advice and your brutal honesty in your blog! -J Dearest J, Firstly, props to you for getting real about your credit card debt and for your serious enthusiasm re: thrift, re-sale and (gasp!) secondhand stuff. Before we cover the specifics, a word (or 200 of them): You are embarking on a means of shopping that’s thrilling, grueling, elating, depressing, practical, ridiculous and rewarding all at once. There will be high-highs. There will be low-lows. There will be regrettable purchases and triumphant scores. Like life, Shopping is a journey, not a destination – so don’t pressure yourself on your first day and enjoy the ride. Even if you don’t find anything amazing, you’re daring to shop in a way that’s totally foreign to you, and that, dollface, is what makes your trip a success. Capeeeesh? Good. Now, onto the nitty-gritty. The Newbie Cheap JAP’s Tour de Shopping The following rules apply to every location listed, and must be strictly adhered to by the Newbie Cheap JAP if she is to survive her first re-sale shopping experience with sanity and wallet in tact. Spend NO MORE than ONE HOUR at each store This is not to put you on a time crunch. This is to ensure that you don’t burn yourself out before you’ve even begun. First Explore, Then Score You are entering worlds foreign to you, dollface, so take some time to familiarize yourself with your new surroundings. Don’t go grabbing every fab thing you see before you’ve gotten the lay of the land. Make like Cher, and do a lap before you commit to a location. Beware the Dressing Room In thrifting, your success directly correlates with how much stuff you try on. This means the dressing-room process can be incredibly time-consuming and incredibly draining as a result. Trying on 25 items in one store requires serious stamina and experience, and is therefore ill-advised for Newbie Cheap JAPs. The day you can handle that shit will come, but it is not this day. Consider yourself warned. Enjoy the Browse, Not the Buy By ‘Enjoy the Browse,’ I kinda mean enjoy the ride. Sounds cheesy, but today isn’t about what you do or don’t buy. It’s about browsing thoughtfully enough to realize the awesomeness that is re-sale. It’s about going through every single shirt or every pair of jeans on an overstuffed rack in order to see and appreciate the variety of brands available to you, and the massive disparity between their retail and re-sale prices. Your query obvs requires two posts, so I’m going to wrap it up for now. The next installment of the NYC Tour de Shopping will break down Buffalo Exchange, Tokio 7, Beacon’s Closet, Housing Works, Vintage Thrift Store and Goodwill. I will furnish you not only with the order in which you should shop these stores, but also with what to look for and expect from each, transportation information between them, places to stop for snacks along the way, and the toilet nearest every locale. As always, you’re welcome. Do stay tuned. MWAH! Cheap JAP