I love summer! I especially love thrifting on vacation! It’s always fun to explore community thrift stores like I did while traveling through Washington and Oregon, AND it’s fun to see what the big thrift stores have to offer too! I have plenty of thrifting faith – the right pieces will find the right new home, you just have to trust your instincts about when and where to stop! This approach hasn’t failed me yet and it didn’t fail me as I stopped at a handful of big thrift stores including Value Village, Goodwill, and St. Vincent de Paul. There was no shortage of thrift store options…
After passing by several thrift stores in pursuit of a food truck, and after finally feeding my hubby some pulled pork, he was ready to consider stopping at a big thrift store!
My first Big Thrift stop took me to my roots, Value Village…
In my happy place – the fitting rooms of VV Boutique!While I tried on designer labels that were all too short for me, my kids searched for MORE BASEBALLS.Maxi dresses: nightgowns you wear during the day in public. xoxoxoThere were some overpriced pieces at this VV Boutique, though not this Vince Camuto “dress!” It’s always a good idea to look in sizes above and below your usual – this dress was not a 15/16 but still was a bit big and most certainly a TOP therefore I left it behind.I so wanted this Kenneth Cole maxi dress to work but there was just too much fabric around the middle.I scored some sparkly shoes for my daughter including Toms that she will grow into soon enough! Great price!
I had a 30% off coupon so even though I walked away with only one dress for me, I still considered the stop a success! Next stop, St. Vincent de Paul which was having a 50% off sale!
There was a lot of traffic which I attributed to the sale until I realized there was a bikini-barista drive-through across the parking lot.This is an Aritzia brand “dress.” I’m either getting taller or older because the “dresses” are seeming shorter and shorter. Basic red tee filled a hole in my wardrobe for $2.50.There was an impressive selection of books! My kids found books and I scored my current book club book for 75 cents!But THE find of the day was a… scorpion. My sons were not leaving without it.
I could have found more had I more time but alas, I needed to get back to the RV Park! The next day, I stopped at…
Goodwill stores are abundant in the US.More too-short dresses. I was starting to get discouraged but luckily…I found a Nanette Lepore skirt in perfect condition and the perfect LENGTH! Finally!I also found a Merino wool Cynthia Rowley dress in perfect condition – see you in the cold Canadian winter!And a new leather bag for work for only $8!
You might think this satisfied my thrifting appetite, but then later that evening something happened…
A baseball rebounded onto my FACE, and from that point forward, only thrifting and wine made me feel better! Believe it or not, it looked worse in real life.There’s no medicine quite like this – a Big Thrift superstore!
And it was here that I found what my heart has been seeking for at least a year, the PERFECT brown boots in my FAVOURITE brand in INCREDIBLE condition AND they were the right 50% off colour tag!!
Miz Mooz brown leather fur-lined boots for $7.50!!!!!Seeing the perfect condition of the soles made my eye feel instantly better!And my little pitcher found a Mongoose helmet for $5.
What I loved most about my Big Thrift adventures was my kids’ response to thrift shopping – they love it as much as I do! They love looking at the books, toys, movies, sports equipment and they totally accept that almost all of our family’s clothing comes from a thrift store. There is no misconception about thrifting and I think that’s awesome. In fact, aside from big grocery stores, we did not go shopping at any regular retail stores or outlet malls, not even Target. I saved money, had a blast and found great pieces, leaving me with big happy thrifting memories from my vacation!
1 Comment
That Cynthia Rowley dress is fantastic!