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I had a buddy back in the 1990s who like to wear Pajamas when he went out to bars, clubs or dinner at night. Like Hugh Hefner Pajamas.
Reasoning they were comfortable and he was a blue collar worker so when he came home from work he had to take off dirty uniform and shower so he figured why get re-dressed to just then change a second time after going out.
My favorite he carried a toothbrush to clubs in case he hooked up. He was in his pajamas and had his toothbrush good to go. And when he got home from a long night straight to bed no changing.
Lol, I went to a funeral somewhat recently where this very young woman wore a skintight, long-sleeved, very short, black minidress, with "**** me" pumps. She seriously looked like she was going out clubbing. lol And the funeral was for... her grandfather.
I knew a woman like this once. Basically she had somehow developed the idea that she needed to look as hot as possible in any circumstance. It seemed that her mom was obsessed with fitness and appearance far beyond normal and had passed on the unhealthy obsession to her. She didn't seem to realize that there were times when that type of dress wasn't appropriate. I think it can represent a form of insecurity.
I'm not really fashion police, I like to wear comfortable things (mostly jeans, t-shirt and flip-flops).
But last week I saw a young woman in her 20s in our local supermarket. Wearing a faded, holey black t-shirt, some sort of pajama pants (totally worn out and falling off her) and a pair of totally trashed ballet flats.
Not only that it looked very tacky, it obviously wasn't exactly comfortable. She had to pull up her pants every few steps and was struggling keeping her broken shoes on her feet.
Saw her a few times now and she always wore the same "outfit" ...
Why do people dress like that? I can't understand it ...
It's like the youth of today wearing their pants so low that their underwear is completely visible...
My wife and I were in a local Subway Sunday, when a black youth came in, with his pants so low 8 inches of his underwear was showing... As he walked in I looked at him and started shaking my head as if to say, 'how can you dress like a thug and not expect to be treated like one?'...
We were sitting down already eating - my back was to him. My wife and I were talking about his dress and I was about to go and confront him while throwing out my wife's trash.
He was very much aware of my looking at him and he pulled his pants up - and looked like a decent young man now...
This is all quite interesting! Most interesting is the excoriation received by OP, for simply asking a question. Apart from that, I'm shocked to hear the high prices for worn-out clothes.
The attitude we've been getting from the 'big' charities seems to have been, "Please stop pushing your worthless old junk at us, and just give us money!!" So, reading about the high prices charged for rather basic, and hardly pristine, used clothing items, I'm really surprised to see that our "worthless old junk" is actually far from worthless. I've connected with one of my less hateful distant relatives in Mississippi, who runs a used clothing 'boutique', in an old storefront, in a long-dead little village, in the middle of the primary distribution of my less-fortunate kinsmen (their misfortune being that they didn't inherit the Hebrew genes provided by my Great-grandfather, a young Russian peddler, who'd pass through, once or twice a year, sometimes impregnating my Great-grandmother. Some of these, the ones NOT descended from the Peddler, are third, fourth, and fifth cousins. Some are descended from Big Mamaw's "other" babies, the ones sired by inferior local menfolk. Big Mamaw tried to identify these and eliminate them. But a few survived the culling, and have multiplied rapidly). So, I've got all these rather beautiful, but dumb-as-rocks, distant cousins - basically, the folk who beat me up in school, and sicced their dogs on me, as I walked home from school.
I was profoundly affected by a scene in 'The Visit' (1964), when Carla Zachanassian, a very rich woman who'd once been driven, penniless, from her impoverished hometown, coaches a beautiful young woman there, telling her, basically, "Run! Now! Your youthful beauty only lasts for a moment. Get to someplace where you can make the most of it!" Well, you can't go very far without good clothes. I had the moxy to scrounge-up fabulous clothes for us, when we were poor. But I've got innate gifts others didn't inherit. So, we box-up our old things, and send them to that cousin in Mississippi, for all those young cousins to buy, at pennies-on-the-Dollar (or not: their future is in THEIR hands).
But I know what it's like, to go into a thrift store, in the middle-of-nowhere, and have to choose from among the worn-out K-Mart/Sears offerings. I had the sense to go for dark solids, on those days when Miss Cindy, the white lady who drove me up to college, would take me shopping. She worked at my school, and didn't have any money. She'd save-up for years, to buy some pitiful little diamond chip jewelry out of the Service Merchandise catalogue. But she had a heart, and wanted me to have clothes for the college she got me into (partly by establishing my Native American status). So, she'd drive me over to the little "town" near us, and let me shop the thrift store there. The choices were so pitifully limited.
My distant cousins, if they have any sense at all, can walk into that little thrift store, and buy things - flip-flops to evening gowns to costume/semiprecious jewelry to accessories - from Trillion in Palm Beach, Saks, Neiman's, Wilkes Bashford, Battaglia, Bijan, Henri Bendel.... and indescribably fine things from the secret little ateliers in the hills above Naples... OR NOT: I hear it's mostly black girls who're taking advantage of the opportunity I've placed in their midst. That's fine. I hope those clothes and accessories take them into good jobs and social circles, when they escape Mississippi, and establish themselves in Atlanta.
My distant cousin with the thrift store is sworn to secrecy, as to the source of the items. And she has no idea where we live. The boxes are sent from an office park we own, in Idaho. I don't want any of the distant relatives showing up, either here or in Aspen. Sometimes, there are reasons for 'Telescopic Philanthropy'.
In any event, I can imagine living somewhere even tougher than my own mudhole of a birthplace, with no access to clothing. Maybe this is the case, for the young woman described in the Original Post. Apparently though, this is an 'artificial drought', caused by grabby thrift store owners, and charities which are more 'for profit' than one would imagine.
But OP, next time you see this young woman, would you please note what she is BUYING at the grocery? This could provide valuable clues as to her situation.
Lol, I went to a funeral somewhat recently where this very young woman wore a skintight, long-sleeved, very short, black minidress, with "**** me" pumps. She seriously looked like she was going out clubbing. lol And the funeral was for... her grandfather.
Have you considered that this was the only black clothing she owned, and black for the family is expected. In addition as she is very young, she may not have the money to buy a new outfit. She was very likely doing the best she could to be able to wear black to her grandfathers funeral. Then again some people will look down on her for doing the best she could to be there for her grandfathers funeral and show him respect. The important thing is she was there, not what type of black clothing she was wearing which is so insignificant.
By the way: she didn't make the impression to be under influence (some people assumed drug abuse) and except for the clothes she looked quite neat.
I just couldn't image that someone couldn't afford even a cheap pair of pants and some cheap shoes or flip-flops. But perhaps I'm wrong.
You are wrong. There are a lot of people, that feel rich if they can come up with enough money to buy a little food. New pants, shoes and even flip flops cost money they need to eat or stay warm.
Yup, I found that, too. I could never find clothes in my size at thrift stores, or they were all horribly stretched out or faded for the same price as new stuff at Walmart. I could get a $2 or $3 shirt at Goodwill or Salvation Army that was pilling up or that had shrunk and was short and wide (always a problem with my long torso), or I could pay $2.88 for the brand new scoop neck or V-neck Ts at Walmart.
Jeans were $10 or $12 at Goodwill, and I never could find a modern pair that fit me, so I bought yoga pants and leggings (before they were cool) at Walmart for less.
I always bought either flip flops or ballet flats 'cause they were cheap. I always wore black ballet flats to work in at restaurants, even though it wasn't really safe because they were slippery on the bottom, but all the boss cared about was if I wore black pants and shoes. Black "Treadsafe" shoes were like $20 and ballet flats were $3-$5, so it was an easy choice for a then-broke me who needed food.
It's funny because I make...well...a lot more than I made then, and I still buy soooo many things at Walmart. Once I brought myself out of that situation, I was determined that I'd *never* buy Walmart clothes/shoes again...so I shopped all over the mall. HA.
Honestly, for fit, price and durability, I definitely prefer Walmart for my camis, scoopneck Ts, V-neck tees, socks, leggings, etc. Even their LEI jeans are good, especially for the price. I have Walmart stuff that has lasted me for 5-6 years, whereas stuff from American Eagle and the like wears out in one season. I certainly appreciate the value of buying "nicer" stuff from other stores, but for basics, Walmart is hard to beat in my mind.
My experience with thrift shops has never been that you could get a "steal": clothing that looked like it was never worn, stylish, etc. It seems like most people who have clothes in good shape to get rid of do so through a consignment shop, eBay, or whatever. Usually the stuff that is donated is way out of style or has a lot of wear. That's what I have seen. Even the crappy stuff costs more in a thrift store than one would expect.
If one has no money $2.99 might as well be a million dollars.
Without knowing specifics about this person and their situation one cannot assume anything.
I've been there where $5.00 may just have been $1000. Where we had to go through our change jars to buy diapers.
Perhaps she is homeless, poor, mentally ill, has very few clothes and no access to laundry facilities. Does it effect you? NO - so perhaps next time you see her you might pay for whatever it is she is buying. Tell her to pay it forward so she doesn't feel like a charity case.
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