Designer Discount Dress Alert

Yesterday afternoon, I walked twenty blocks up 5th Avenue in search of Monk; a thrift store deemed better than Beacon’s by some fellow Park Slopers. It’s not. But if you’ve got time to sift through the junk, it certainly has potential.

Now, before I boast about yet another brand-name find at yet another thrift store, I’d like to address some readers who feel I should temper my secondhand finds with more sample sale and/or designer discount fare.

While most JAPtastic brands are heinously overpriced, even I admit that cost often relates to quality. Well-made clothing doesn’t just hold up until its original owner tires of it; it lasts long enough to be re-worn and re-born into the wardrobe of another. I don’t shop at Goodwill, Salvation Army, Beacon’s, et. al because I aim to look like a fifties housewife or a free-lovin flower child. I shop these stores because they offer the greatest deals in fashion, provided you have the time and energy to notice.

I’m well aware that not everyone has hours to spend searching for said deals, which is why I fully support Loehmanns, Filene’s, TJ Maxx, and other established brands-for-less outlets. For the sake of argument, let’s say I have a $150 dress reduced to $60 from Loehmanns and a $150 dress reduced to $6 from Monk – the main difference between the two being that one has its tags on it and one’s a little wrinkly. It is ludicrous for my lifestyle and my budget to shell out $60 when I could spend $6. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s ludicrous for you. Particularly if you work in an office and need something semi-professional, not something in magenta chiffon.

Long story long, my enthusiasm for thrift stores is really just basic economics (I think). Twelfth Street by Cynthia Vincent dresses usually run from $150 to $400. Unless they’re from Monk, in which case, they’re $6. Six dollars. SIX DOLLARS.

I rest my case.