Downtown Vancouver Thrift

I had the great privilege of going to Vancouver last weekend to attend the once-every-three-years conference and retreat for BSF Leaders from Northwest Canada, and video-linking to our American counterparts in Portland.  The weekend was one of the best of my life – even despite the few inches of SNOW which seemed to throw the whole city in a kerfuffle – but not this Alberta girl!  Not in the slightest!  I had a few spare hours before and after the conference to take me and my weatherproof Aquatalia boots out a-walking to the nearby secondhand shops!

Mine & Yours is a luxury resale and it was fun to flip through the racks and see all the pretty things!

However, I was less than impressed overall.  The staff were snotty – I *thought* we were past the Pretty Woman phenomenon.  I saw many designer brands…. that I have found thrifted for a fraction of the cost.

It’s much less satisfactory to have a store full of designer brands at the ready than to stumble upon them hidden in the thrift racks.  And then, I discovered the pants went only to size 29 with a few size 30 or 32 stragglers.  So I waltzed me and my “fat” butt out of there and headed to the next shop!

This is more my size speed!  Everyday pieces for men and women with plenty of designer gems to be discovered, and all proceeds going to support a valuable local charity.

In thankful contrast to the previous store, the staff of My Sister’s Closet were friendly and knowledgeable and shared right away about their mission to support the Battered Women’s Support Services.  The prices were comparable to what I see in big thrift stores and there was a full range of sizes, even if they didn’t happen to have JBrands in my size!  If I lived in Vancouver, this would be a regular thrifting destination and I will plan to come again when visiting in future.

Next I walked a few more blocks to…

Now this is a BIG thrift store – but independently family owned and operated.  It had a huge selection of men’s and women’s clothing – maybe even children’s clothing (I wasn’t paying attention!!  What can I say, I had a weekend without kids!) – and furniture and housewares.  There were designer brands, vintage pieces and everyday brands.

I loved the store’s organization.  All the women’s large pieces were on one end of the racks so I could turn the corner and find my size in the next type of garment without having to go all the way to the other end of the rack.  Brilliant!

I ended up trying on a bunch of pants of all things and decided to take two pairs home with me!

Wildlife Thrift Store had a bit of a hipster vibe but that didn’t deter me and shouldn’t deter dedicated thrifters.  The prices were reasonable, the selection was awesome and when I’m in Vancouver again, I’ll do exactly what I did that day and walk on over to browse after visiting My Sister’s Closet!

I didn’t go out again until the conference ended on Sunday afternoon.  My BSF ladies and I had a lovely lunch out…

Then took a stroll down Robson.  They joined me in my search for a vintage shop…

After walking right by it once, we doubled back and found my last secondhand stop…

This store truly was a vintage emporium!  There were interesting things to look at in every corner!!

For vintage lovers, this store should not be missed!  I saw several interesting pieces…

For what it’s worth, this vintage store was MILES ahead of what I recently saw in Toronto.  It was clean and well-organized with reasonable prices and a fantastic selection.  However, in addition to all the vintage clothing and decor, there were racks and racks of… vintage Playboy magazines!  Not exactly something I expected when taking my Bible study leader friends out secondhand shopping!  (I can just imagine it… “Remember that time when Nicole took us to that Playboy shop?”)

So, if you plan to visit Used House of Vintage, BE WARNED.  I wouldn’t take my kids in with me so that’s a detraction when I’m considering thrift shops.  I would go if I was looking for something specifically vintage but otherwise I am content to find vintage pieces, right alongside those designer luxury gems, in a regular thrift shop at a much better cost.

Thanks Vancouver for some fun thrift shopping and an amazing weekend!