Adventures in thrifting

It's Monday already? I think I need a weekend to recover from my weekend. Blah.

sweater- thrifted, everything else- Target

 I've noticed that in the past few years thrifting has become a sort of popular, hipster thing to do. It seems that thrift stores are now the place to go for cute, kitschy, one-of-kind things that you would never find at retail chain stores. But since I'm neither popular nor hipster, I never really cared. I was rather forced to start shopping at thrift stores due to budget cuts in my clothing allowance. And let me just say, thrifting ain't for the faint of heart. The first time I walked into a thrift store I basically had an anxiety attack and walked back out. No, not because of all the weird people that tend to hang out inside and around the thrift stores but because there was just so. much. stuff. While I do love to shop, I do not enjoy having to dig through rack upon rack of clothes. Even just the sales racks at Forever 21 are overwhelming to me. I actually prefer to shop at stores merchandised well, meaning I can literally walk through and just look to see if anything interests me without ever having to touch anything. Obviously, those sort of shopping days are over for me, but I have learned a few things in the past year that have helped make my thrift store trips much more productive.

1. Before you head to the thrift store take inventory of your closet and make note of things you want/need. Chances are you won't find exactly what you are looking for but having your wardrobe fresh in your mind will help if you come across other items you like but that you didn't necessarily have in mind. 
2. Try everything on. One thrifting trip I decided to just buy everything that I had in my hand. Big mistake. I bought four things that day and only one of them ended up fitting. 
3. Inspect the items carefully. Twice I've come home with things that had holes in them that I didn't notice in the store. 
4. Go on a regular basis. That way you become familiar with the store, it's layout, and you figure out the best way to shop the store. 
5. Find out when the sales are. 
6. Remember that as far as shopping trips go, you will win some and you will lose some. There have been a few times that despite all my searching and digging, I still walk away empty handed. And then there have been times when I walked out with a bag full of goodies. And those are the times that make it all worth it. 

Did I miss anything? Any other thrifting suggestions?