I should probably preface this by saying that I'm not worried or stressed about what I'm going to confess - I think I must come across as more angsty than I really am sometimes!
So what I'm going to say is that I am really quite hopeless at thrift stores. I'm good at antique shops, or even 'collectables' (unless they're those awful ones that have fake antiques and other twee dross), but I just don't seem to be able to get it together for the thrift shops. I think it started in Uni when I'd go with friends and I'd go along the racks thinking "no, no, you must be kidding, no, wrong size, no, no" and so on, and the friend would come behind and pull out something I'd already looked at and rejected, hold it up and say "hey look at this!" and suddenly I'd realise it was a gem. "Why didn't I see that?" I'd think and feel thriftily inadequate. I still have this problem. I go into a charity shop or the Salvation Army and all I see are tired, unfashionable clothes that aren't my size. When everyone else seems to score gorgeous vintage sheets the only sheets I see are just old and horrible and made of polyester. The cute glasses or the neat vase are either not there or they're $45 because the old ladies know what stuff's worth. I'm actually genuinely curious as to why I have this problem - is it all in my head? Am I a snob? Do I have a mental block as a result of a suppressed bad thrifting experience at Uni? Am I really looking past the gems or am I in the wrong shops? Do I need to go every week? Or is on a random and infrequent basis ok? Is it better to go to them in posh neighbourhoods or ones where there might be a real turn-over of stock? I want to be good at this. I want to thrift and repurpose and come up with real bargains. I want to be cool internets, I want to be in with the crafty elite and do the thrifty vintage fabric thing, or the cool retro housewares thing. Anything really!
