When thrifting, I follow these rules: feel the fabric, look for colour, style and tag, in that order. An item has to be in a colour and style that rocks on me, but if it's a crap fabric, I won't touch it. If all those points are met, I take a peep at the tag, and my thrifting spidey senses are normally rewarded.
I'm never disappointed when I find the gorg microfibre dresses made by Toronto label Bionic Women. New, these frocks sell for $150 and up, a price I can't afford even though I love the make.
Used, I have found them from $9.99-$19.99, screaming deals for locally made wrap dresses with simple yet exquisite styling. Here I am in warmer days in one of my faves, with a fake tan.
Here's another one, this time with white legs.
I can't find the pic of my sis in the Bionic Women dress I bought for her. But the black dress pictured above is one she bought for herself while thrifting with me.
I feel partly guilty, partly jazzed when I find well-made locally-produced clothing in the thrift shop, as I know I should be supporting these micro designers by buying new. But the fact is, I often can't afford it (ok I did buy ONE Bionic dress new, at 50 percent off. No pic though). Can anyone relate?
I totally know what you mean. In a way, you're supporting them by saying how much you love their dresses here though soo...no guilt!
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Stacey Kay
“Runway Inspiration, Vintage Decoration”
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Stacey makes a good point, you're giving publicity!
ReplyDeleteGreat tips!! I will try to follow them... :D ... You look so pretty on that dress... you have a new follower.
ReplyDeleteKisses,
aminta
Stacey Kay and Dani, you are right, but I guess I sometimes feel that paradox. You know, just like thrifting is supposed to save money and be good for the planet vs. my voracious consumption of second-hand goods! Know what I mean?
ReplyDeleteAMINTA thanks for follow and right back at you! Love the pink dress you have modeled and featured on your blog!
love that first blue wrap dress!! what kind of fabric/blends should I be looking for? I'm new to the thrift scene and don't really know which types of fabric are high quality ones (other than to stay away from acrylic because it pills so easily!)
ReplyDeleteKerry, the Bionic dresses are mostly polyester, sometimes mixed with a bit of Lycra for stretch. It sounds odd but he fabric is great. I find some synthetics aren't bad these days, quite honestly, though I tend to stay away from acrylic (and nylon) as well (unless it's vintage 1960s-70s, in which case these materials are in abundance). When I thrift I feel for fabric but I also look at the label - a dress of a good label that I identify with quality may be synthetic, but it's going to hold up way better than that cheapie mass market dress found in the mall. Does this make sense? I call it shopping high on the food chain. Let me know how your thrifting exploits go!
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