Cheap JAP » sustainable shopping http://cheapjap.com shop cheap. look loaded. Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:47:08 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Resale Reflections http://cheapjap.com/opinions/resale-reflections http://cheapjap.com/opinions/resale-reflections#comments Fri, 27 Aug 2010 18:19:57 +0000 cheapjap http://cheapjap.com/?p=8579 . . . → GO ON... Resale Reflections]]>
First-time Author + Questionable Subject Matter + Declining Book Sales + Recession

= Pass on Book.

The questionable subject matter is, of course, Resale.

Sidebar: Whilst preparing the marketing/outreach section of the aforementioned proposal I discovered Resale is a blanket term used to imply all forms of sustainable shopping – thrift, vintage and consignment in addition to itself.

To avoid confusion from here on out, Resale-capital-R means all-things-secondhand; resale-lowercase-r means resale specifically.

Glad we got that out of the way.

The general objection to publishing a book about Resale has been of the we’re-not-sure-about-the-industry ilk. To see if said objection holds any water, let’s take a look at some Resale industry stats and trends:

  • Resale is one of the fastest growing segments of retail.


  • There are currently 25,000 resale stores operating in the United States.


  • Resale shopping attracts consumers from all economic levels.


  • About 16 – 18% of Americans will shop at a thrift store during a given year. For consignment/resale shops, it’s about 12 – 15%. During the same time frame; 11.4% of Americans shop in factory outlet malls, 19.6% in apparel stores and 21.3% in major department stores.


  • The industry has experienced a growth in number of stores of approximately 5% per year for the past three years.


  • The progression from a disposable society to a recycling society (i.e. the green factor) has enormous market potential for the resale industry as a whole. Resale is the ultimate in recycling.


  • Goodwill Industries alone generated $1.9 billion in retail sales from their 2,246 Not For Profit thrift stores across America in 2007.


  • Buffalo Exchange has grown to a 36 store chain in thirteen states. The store employes over 500 people, and generated revenues of $56.3 million in 2008. Revenues will hit $70 million within the next two years.


  • Crossroads Trading Co. rang up $20 million in sales last year at its 22 stores.


  • Resale is a multi-billion dollar a year industry.


All the above stems from a National Association of Resale and Thrift Stores report, and all the above was included in the marketing section of the book proposal. You’re not sure if there’s an audience for a shopping guide to a multi-billion dollar a year industry? Beotch please. I know there is, you know there is, but none of that matters.

What matters is that Resale – in spite of proving itself as recession-proof – is still largely uncharted territory from a media standpoint.

Resale is like porn – or more accurately, like porn used to be. Everyone’s doing it, and no one’s talking about it.

This realization left me with one of two choices. I could leave Resale behind, do the dog-and-pony show, use my newfound editorial connections to write an asinine book about fashion and style a la Nina Garcia, develop a reputation as an author, and then write about what I really wanted to write about. OR…

I could change the fact that no one’s talking about it. I could give the most fiscally, socially and environmentally responsible form shopping there is the one thing it’s currently lacking.

An online community.

The scope of Resale extends beyond this little blog, chickadees. It’s not enough for me to talk about it. I know what you’re thinking: Oh, but I don’t WANT to share the wealth with those who haven’t yet discovered the world of the gently worn. Why should I have to share my tips with newbies? If Resale gets popular, it’ll get more expensive! Can’t we just keep it our little secret?

Not if we don’t want to eff up our shopping karma. Yes, dishing about our fave stores, our latest finds and our best shopping strategies might lessen the odds of a material score, but those odds have always been unpredictable at best. That’s part of the game. An online Resale community won’t just inspire secondhand newbies to take the plunge: It’ll serve as a resource for Resale stores everywhere.

Scenario: You’re psyched to check out a new vintage/thrift store in your neighborhood, but your first visit proves disappointing. The organization’s shit, the quality’s so-so, and everything costs $10-$20 more than it should. You hit the Cheap JAP forums to kvetch about it, and post a topic on overpriced vintage of questionable quality or whatevs. A few weeks later, the store and source of your frustration can’t figure out why its sales are lacking. It googles its way to the forums, sees your post and reads up on a bunch of other Resale shopper likes and dislikes. It decides to test out some of the strategies endorsed and see if business improves, so it gives itself an organizational makeover, and overall price-point reduction of 20 percent. It then slaps up an announcement on the Forums; you see it, and decide to give it a second chance, and OMFG! It used to be a subpar vintage/thrift, and now it’s a kickass store! And it has YOU to thank for its improved business, because YOU’RE the one who started the conversation.

Resale is an industry in which you – the shoppers – have the power. The Cheap JAP forums are a place for you to wield it. They’re also a place for you to exchange style tips, post outfit queries, share DIY creations, debate controversial retail a la American Apparel, and treat Fashion like the bitch she is :P . I’ve posted some topics to get you started, but editorial authority falls to you from here on out. Go. Register. Respond to my topics, or start your own. Converse. Write as you are. (Sorry, had a soooo deep moment there ;) ).

Sidebar 2: I’ve learned an epic amount of internet skillz these past few months but I’m still a newbie in the software world, so kindly email me if you happen upon any kinks in the system.

I’m not giving up on the book, FYI. I’ll write it someday, and self-publish it if I have to. But my voice alone can’t popularize an entire industry. My voice alone can’t inspire the stores in that industry to constantly work at improving the shopper’s experience. My voice alone can’t get those sucked in by discount outlets and sample sales to realize Resale always wins the day.

I have a fucking VISION, goddammit. And you’re all a part of it.

We’re all in this together. Kumbaya, beotches. ;P
]]> http://cheapjap.com/opinions/resale-reflections/feed 1 Frizzy Hair, Funky Dress http://cheapjap.com/vintage/frizzy-hair-funky-dress http://cheapjap.com/vintage/frizzy-hair-funky-dress#comments Wed, 11 Aug 2010 21:17:10 +0000 cheapjap http://cheapjap.com/?p=8458 . . . → GO ON... Frizzy Hair, Funky Dress]]>
It was somewhere in Williamsburg, possibly near Metropolitan Ave, definitely in a not-yet-fully-gentrified area – a charming vintage hole-in-the-wall, run by an English Bulldog and his musician owner. The mysterious store was open late enough for me to stumble upon it in between weekend bar stops.

That’s code for “I was tipsy enough to get conned into paying $45 for a floral mini dress.”

Whatevs. Some things are too cute to pass up after two Tequilas on the rocks.



I’m all about high hemlines, but this dress uses its innocent print as an excuse to take it to the limit: It fails the fingertip skirt test by the length of one whole hand.

Why, then, do I still feel comfortable wearing it? (And by ‘comfortable,’ I mean with flats and non-pasty legs. Obvs.)



Built-in bloomers. That is some old-school awesomeness right there. It kinda feels like a diaper; then again, it covers the hoo-ha sans bike shorts so NBD.

Granted, the dress is still short enough to suggest itself as a catalyst for crotch shots. But as long as my legs take the focus off my matted, frizzed out, schvitzy August blob of a hairdo, I’m cool with a little overexposure. Fall – and the freedom to blowdry that comes with the season – can’t get here soon enough.

(Photo deets: Belt, DIY material collateral (zero dollars); necklace, Mom’s (legally thieved); sparkly eye shadow, CVS (Physicians Formula, $9.95).
]]> http://cheapjap.com/vintage/frizzy-hair-funky-dress/feed 4 Sample Sale Postmortem http://cheapjap.com/thrift/sample-sale http://cheapjap.com/thrift/sample-sale#comments Mon, 02 Aug 2010 18:05:26 +0000 cheapjap http://shopcheaplookloaded.com/?p=8318 . . . → GO ON... Sample Sale Postmortem]]>
I realized I wasn’t the only shopper to abandon sample sales for secondhand pastures this past weekend, when I swung by Housing Works Chelsea location and checked out the “New Designer Clothing” rack.

The bulk of the moolah spent by trendtastic brands doesn’t go toward manufacturing the clothes: It goes toward advertising, marketing, product placement, et. al. The brand’s value has less to do with the quality of its material goodies than your perception of said goodies.

If X celebutard is wearing Y $300 Vogue-endorsed top, then Z shopper will want, and possibly buy Y top. When Y top goes on sale, the odds of Z shopper buying it increase, but only to a point. Y top still has to retain some degree of exclusivity and status in order for you to keep wanting it. Once a highbrow brand enters 50 – 75% off territory and still doesn’t sell, it has two options: Reduce the prices further, or cut and run.

The first option is retail suicide – if shoppers knew they could snag a NWT $300 top for $30 at a sample sale, they’d never consider paying full price again. The second option allows the brand to maintain some semblance of dignity: If it donates the unsold sample sale goodies, it ensures that its usual customers never sees in its cheapest state.

Unless the customer in question has a seasoned knowledge of brands and their retail price points a la moi, in which case, all bets are off.



Now, there’s no science for tracking the from-sample-sale-to-thrift trajectory, but Ideeli did have a Walter Sample Sale a few weeks back. My powers of observation point to the NWT Walter Blazer pictured as an unsold leftover. Innnnteresting.



Alexander Wang isn’t having its Sample Sale until August 5th, so clearly clairvoyance is at work. That top is too effing ugly to sell at 50 – 75% off, so it went straight to the thrift. Smart move on behalf of the line. Asinine response from the brand-blind HWorks, who has the audacity to charge $70.00 for fugliness of this ilk. Barf.



The last known Society for Rational Dress sample sale occurred in March. The fact that they’re still unloading the goods can be attributed to false marketing: Rational isn’t an adjective for $160 tops and $380 dresses so much as an epic advertising fail. The line also bears the distinction of the most pretentious brand moniker in the history of fashion. But I digress.

Wang debacle aside, Housing Works’ price points for the above NWT designer items aren’t all that ludicrous in comparison with said items’ retail cost. Still, I heard grumblings from my fellow shoppers upon seeing the goods – kvetching in the “this place gets more expensive every time I come in here” vein – and they’re not entirely unfounded. I might be willing to pay $60 for a mint condition NWT item at a resale or consignment shop, but at a thrift store? Beotch please.

Housing Works: It’s time to stop pissing off your regulars and address your identity crisis. If you want to deal in both donated merch and sample sale castoffs, a name change is in order. Housing Works Thrift Boutique has a nice ring to it.
]]> http://cheapjap.com/thrift/sample-sale/feed 2 Cocktails and Resale? Yes Please. (The Dressing Room) http://cheapjap.com/resale/the-dressing-room http://cheapjap.com/resale/the-dressing-room#comments Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:08:56 +0000 cheapjap http://shopcheaplookloaded.com/?p=8303 . . . → GO ON... Cocktails and Resale? Yes Please. (The Dressing Room)]]>
Enter the The Dressing Room.



The Dressing Room is a buy-sell-trade that functions like a Beacon’s Closet or a Buffalo Exchange, apart from one thing: In addition to cash or store credit, your clothes can be traded for free drinks.

That’s right, chickadees – there’s an in-house BAR. Meaning you can go in at the end of a long day, grab a cocktail, flip through a rack of magazines, get inspired, go downstairs, shop, and repeat until midnight or whenever they close.

Hello AWESOME.

The Dressing Room’s gently worn apparel, shoes and accessories selection doesn’t yet boast Buff Ex’s brandtastic-ness or Beacon’s’ high volume, but there’s still a nice mix of under-$40 vintage and resale stuffs to be had.

Case in point: This ridiculously awesome vintage hoodie dress.





Why is $16 a more than reasonable price to pay for this dress?

Because it’s reversible. That’s code for two dresses in one.

The next time Buff Ex negs your castoffs for not being trendy enough, and/or Beacon’s’ perma-PMS pisses you off, don’t stress. Take ‘em to The Dressing Room, and exchange them for bar or store credit.

You might be able to snag yourself a material fix AND a glass of wine sans spending a dime.
]]> http://cheapjap.com/resale/the-dressing-room/feed 2 Mantras and Thrift Finds http://cheapjap.com/thrift/mantras-thrift-finds http://cheapjap.com/thrift/mantras-thrift-finds#comments Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:49:51 +0000 cheapjap http://shopcheaplookloaded.com/?p=8285 . . . → GO ON... Mantras and Thrift Finds]]> Om Yoga Center. What the eff do sun salutations have to do with thrift? So glad you asked.

Yoga increases one’s capacity for patience. Patience tips the secondhand shopping scales in or out of your favor. Yoga is, heretofore, an excellent tool for developing your secondhand shopping prowess.

Onto the mantra:
If it’s comfortable, you’re probably not doing it right.
If you’re ego-centric and stubborn a la moi, instructional nuggets of this ilk tend not to prompt any revelations upon first hearing: I was in triangle pose, and I still managed to roll my eyes. It was only when the instructor glided over and re-tweaked my body into the proper position that I realized I’d been doing it wrong all along. I’d been too consumed by how it looked to make it work.

Triangle is a deceptively simple posture, as it turns out – the side-bending, twisting and stretching involved don’t amount to a pleasant experience. It’s not physically painful, but it’s uncomfortable and unsettling, particularly when you don’t have the flexibility to mimic the statuesque curve of more devoted yogis.

Then you move out of the pose, feel the rewarding rush prompted by your efforts – by your ability to embrace what it is in lieu of what it’s supposed to be – and you stop rolling your eyes at the mantra.

Comfortable doesn’t prompt growth or achievement. Uncomfortable does.

On that note, let’s talk about the uncomfortable experience of thrifting the Hell’s Kitchen Salvation Army.

My last visit to this particular SA location was four months ago, i.e. enough time for me to forget how disgusting it is. Time and time again, I block out the grime on the floor, the stains on the clothes, the screaming babies accompanying the shoppers, the musty, mothball-esque odor of the place. It’s an unconscious survival tactic – insurance against my being too icked out to shop.

It takes about fifteen minutes to re-acquaint myself with my surroundings. I calm myself with the knowledge that I’ve come prepared (plastic bag, Purell, hands-free bag), and meditate on scores of the past bestowed on me by the HK SA (Rich and Skinny jeans, $7.99). I embrace the ick. I summon the patience. I do an internal spin, Tazmanian Devil style. Then I tear through the place like a possessed flying rodent, brand-focused radar leading the way.

Velvet tops, as we know, retail for around $80 – $100 a pop. I found this versatile tunic approximately eighteen minutes into my browse. And it’s striped! I effing love stripes.



The stellar taupe tone of these puppies is tres Fall appropriate.



I don’t usually buy pants months in advance of when I can wear them: Rock & Republic jeans priced at $4.99 are obvs grounds for an exception.

I didn’t leave the Hell’s Kitchen Salvation Army scarred by fugly wares and subpar sanitation standards. I left buoyed by a mantra as true of thrift as it is of yoga.

Sifting through the donated muck isn’t comfortable.

It’s the uncomfortable that makes the price of whatever you find so effing right.
]]> http://cheapjap.com/thrift/mantras-thrift-finds/feed 0 DIY Goes Pro With ALIOMI http://cheapjap.com/diy-fashion/diy-goes-pro-with-aliomi http://cheapjap.com/diy-fashion/diy-goes-pro-with-aliomi#comments Mon, 19 Jul 2010 17:15:52 +0000 cheapjap http://shopcheaplookloaded.com/?p=8251 . . . → GO ON... DIY Goes Pro With ALIOMI]]>
To thrift a Goodwill Outlet Center is to realize the overwhelming amount of unused textile excess produced by our material world. Is a lot of that excess uber fugly? You bet, and therein lies the challenge for burgeoning designers.

Sketching out a collection, outsourcing the labor, and producing the wares en masse with zero regard for the environmental impact of the endeavor amounts to business as usual. Making something from nothing is the norm. There’s nothing groundbreaking about what’s already been done.

Making something from something – breaking down or restyling fabric that’s already out there – is a refreshing, forward-thinking approach to fashion that improves on its checkered past.

De-materialization makes green more than a buzzword: ALIOMI suggests it’s the new black.

The concept for ALIOMI started years ago, with a few Sarah Lawrence undergrads too broke to shop retail. They became seasoned thrifters, then they took it to the next level, re-tweaking and embellishing their secondhand finds to suit their badass style and unique taste. Necessity truly is the mother of inventive fashion lines.

ALIOMI is a mishmash of vintage fabulosity and DIY gems. I mean, I can stud and scissor, but these girls can STUD and SCISSOR. I’ve seen the line up close: The embellishment might be done by hand, but there’s nothing DIY about it. It’s professional, artful, responsibly made and one-of-a-kind.







The goods pictured above range from $28 – $145 – in all honesty, I’m usually not on board with $76.00 embellished cutoffs. Had I not seen this line in person, I might have rationalized against a splurge of this ilk on the grounds that I could DIY something equally amazing for less.

Regardless of whether or not that’s the case, finding, distressing, and studding the shorts myself would take four hours, minimum. Six if I held myself to the perfectionism characteristic of ALIOMI’s DIY stuffs. The shorts in question, at $76.00, amount to $12.66 an hour for six hours of work.

My point? The thought, time and energy that go into crafting a kickass reconstructed item are extensive, hence the reason most reworked vintage lines have an average per-item cost of over $250. ALIOMI’s price points are uber reasonable in comparison.

Wanna help this stellar new line get off the ground? Donate a buck or two to their Kickstarter campaign.

Cheers to socially and environmentally conscious sartorial endeavors of this ilk. IMHO, up-and-coming designers would be wise to take a cue from ALIOMI, and use de-materialization to inform their future lines.

It’d certainly make for some inspiring press releases.
]]> http://cheapjap.com/diy-fashion/diy-goes-pro-with-aliomi/feed 0 Summer Sandal Splurgy Poo http://cheapjap.com/consignment/summer-sandal-splurge http://cheapjap.com/consignment/summer-sandal-splurge#comments Tue, 13 Jul 2010 20:03:36 +0000 cheapjap http://shopcheaplookloaded.com/?p=8221 . . . → GO ON... Summer Sandal Splurgy Poo]]>
I have six letters for you: NWT DJP. That’s New-With-Tags-Donald-J-Pliner. See photographic evidence below.

Donald J. Pliner footwear is basically a gift to womankind. He’s pricey, but he’s got the hot walkable shoe nailed. It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking some up. (Sorry, had a Ferris Bueller moment there.)

DJP’s ability to concoct shoes that (a) give you a serious height boost and (b) liberate you from blisters, bunions, aches and pains exempts him from cost-related criticism usually reserved for things costing upwards of $250.00. That being said, who the eff am I kidding? I so do NOT have the means for $250.00. $250.00 shoes for $84.99? That I can do. Particularly if they’re TAGS ON NEW.

Everything’s marked-up in New York, secondhand stores notwithstanding. These stellar espadrilles would have cost me $150, minimum, if I’d had a lapse in judgment and purchased them at a Manhattan consignment shop. Where’d I find these puppies for such a palatable price?

At Designer Consignments, one of my fave Garden State spots. Everything’s cheaper in Jersey and heretofore, better. :P

Loves it! 9H4WRZ4H9KVP
]]> http://cheapjap.com/consignment/summer-sandal-splurge/feed 1 Get Waisted: Eighties Denim Cutoffs http://cheapjap.com/vintage/eighties-denim-cutoffs http://cheapjap.com/vintage/eighties-denim-cutoffs#comments Fri, 09 Jul 2010 21:49:36 +0000 cheapjap http://shopcheaplookloaded.com/?p=8196 . . . → GO ON... Get Waisted: Eighties Denim Cutoffs]]> Artists and Fleas are spectacularly overpriced. Shocking, I know. The chicness of the atmosphere and/or cool factor of the neighborhood in which said atmosphere exists does not change the fact that I am at a FLEA MARKET and as such, not planning on paying $120 for secondhand shoes, hip as they may be.

Yowzah – that sentence is a borderline-criminal grammatical offense oy veyyy. Moving on.

The reasonably priced vintage goodies lie in the less trafficked areas of Artists and Fleas, so I made my way to the back booths. These ten dollar dreams were found shortly thereafter:



I had the pleasure of viewing Hot Tub Time Machine yesterday evening. Twas a feast for the eyes, what with the radical eighties fashions and all. I kept hitting the pause button every time an epic outfit came onscreen, which turned the 90 minute movie into a three-hour ordeal and tested my BF’s patience. Poor baby.

If I could live in an age of stonewashed denim and neon ridiculousness I would, but I can’t. So I paired the eighties shorts with a seventies top and some present-day wedges instead.



This is called satiating a silly style urge sans looking like you’re en route to a Debbie Gibson concert. Not that there’s anything wrong with the latter.

Oh, come on. You KNOW you loved Debbie too. E-LEC-TRIC YOUTH!
]]> http://cheapjap.com/vintage/eighties-denim-cutoffs/feed 1 White Shirt Makeover for Women’s Health Mag http://cheapjap.com/personal-style/white-shirt-womens-health http://cheapjap.com/personal-style/white-shirt-womens-health#comments Tue, 06 Jul 2010 17:20:59 +0000 cheapjap http://shopcheaplookloaded.com/?p=8188 . . . → GO ON... White Shirt Makeover for Women’s Health Mag]]> Women’s Health with a crop of fab budget shopping bloggers.



I also had the pleasure of meeting some of the glossy’s editors in person, who couldn’t have been nicer or easier to work with. It appears bitchiness isn’t a prerequisite for working in fashion. Either these girls are an exception to the rule, or I don’t know everything. I’m thinking it’s the latter.

I guess I can’t be right all the time. :P
]]> http://cheapjap.com/personal-style/white-shirt-womens-health/feed 2 Dressy Shorts In, Smoking Out http://cheapjap.com/consignment/dressy-shorts http://cheapjap.com/consignment/dressy-shorts#comments Tue, 29 Jun 2010 19:24:25 +0000 cheapjap http://shopcheaplookloaded.com/?p=8172 . . . → GO ON... Dressy Shorts In, Smoking Out]]> evening shorts are still all kinds of In; I just know they’ll never be Out por moi.

I’ve kvetched about the price points of East Village consignment shop Cadillac’s Castle before. It seems I was remiss in reporting on the store’s virtues, one in particular that never fails to deliver on the bonafide score front. The perpetual outdoor sale rack. Snow or sun, hell or high water, the sale rack is there to welcome you upon entering.

The goods on said rack are usually $25 or under, and fugliness characteristic of certain boutique sale racks is nearly nonexistent. On-trend wares in mint – new condition abound (the shorts pictured still had their original tags). The only explanation for the fabulous discount is a lack of store space; the influx of new merch necessitates a price-point reduction on the month-old wares and BAM! Magic like $25.00 Walter Shorts happens.

In other news, I’m quitting smoking, and it really effing sucks monkey balls. Yes, kicking the habit will undoubtedly benefit my health and well-being; yes, I’ll actually be able to ‘inhale deeply’ in yoga class; yes, I’ll be able to shop more on account of not spending $50 a week on ciggies (yes, I’m THAT kind of smoker). All of the above is more than enough to rationalize quitting, yet none of the above prompted me to take the final leap. What, then, was the motivating force?

VANITY.

It happened the day before Father’s Day. I was making a cartoon for dad via transforming photos into illustrations, and made the mistake of applying Picnik’s Pencil Sketch effect to a photo of my face. Reality reared its wrinkled head.



I’d noticed the onset of premature aging, of course, and had a slew of excuses to rationalize the deteriorating situation – a bad night’s sleep, a lack of sunscreen, bad photo angles, bad lighting in my apartment. I could have kept up those lies, and probably would have for some time, were it not for that effing Pencil Sketch tool. It’s tough to blind yourself to the damage when it’s there in black and white.

I don’t mean to suggest that there’s anything wrong with having a few wrinkles at the age of 26. Age happens, and the only thing ugly about it is our culture’s preoccupation with youth; its tendency to equate beauty with what’s outside disassociates it from the wisdom that lies within. The only thing wrong with wrinkles in my case is the source of their appearance. I’ve been blessed with the kind of skin that’s seemingly immune acne, clogged pores, blemishes, sunburn, etc. I can get away with occasionally not taking my make-up off before I go to sleep. I can switch cleansing products without incident. I can put forth the most minimal of efforts and look as though I get facials regularly. I’ve been lucky enough to have the kind of skin that DOESN’T AGE… until it’s subjected to cigarettes.

I write this now to make quitting easier. It’s not doing a goddamn thing. Knowing I’ll live longer, have a fuller checking account, and halt the damage already done to my face is motivating in theory, and worthless in reality. I’m told it will get easier, that I just have to get through these first few hellish days. Right now, I’m not buying it. Smoking isn’t just a bad habit for me – it’s a writing tool, and I’m not yet sick of being a cliche. Six years of sporadic ciggies; four years of half-packs-a-day; ten years of smoking; zero attempts at quitting. I don’t know if I’m ready now; I don’t know if I’ll ever be. I just know I have to try.

Wish me luck.

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