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what ever happened to parents buying at the thrift stores for clothes ? . My god some of the clothes I see in there for kids are really cheap and they still look new and if you don't tell anyone they would never know where they came from there is no shame in shopping in thrift stores . my sister and I both worked in offices with very high end clientele and we both looked like we spent a fortune on our clothes but the thrift stores was where we bought all of our high end looking clothes ...my kids went to school in thrift store clothing and honestly no one said anything except one teacher and I took care of her real quick . Told that witch when she started paying for my kids clothes then she could judge their clothing . She told me she spotted a hole in a pocket of his shirt and it looked "unsightly " to her . Too bad and that is why thread and needles are available . She peed me off .Anyways parents you don't need to spend a fortune to buy clothes for your kids .
Thrift store shopping takes lots of time. You have to inspect every item to make sure it's not ripped or stained. And at the two biggest thrift stores in our area, clothes are organized by color so you have to look at the size on everything. I have no idea why they do that.
When my 16 yr old was 10-12 yrs old we found that at first Old Navy jeans fit her quite well. After that it has been a heck of an ordeal, even still. She does not want embellished or blinged out clothes either. So I feel your pain! lol
I also don't do wardrobe shopping for back to school, just fill ins where needed. We went through closets and took out everything that was too small, determined what might be needed now and what could wait. She only wears jeans to school, will not wear shorts. She has 6 pairs of jeans that still fit and 2 of those are pretty worn, so she needed some of those. Also the teachers at the high school often keep it quite cold in the classrooms and she gets cold easily, so she needs a hoodie/jacket right off the bat. She has 2 that fit.
We went to Kohl's last Friday because they were having a decent sale, I had coupons and it was tax free. I made her try on at least 10 pairs just to try to find out what size worked best. We found one that was close enough to her waist that a belt would take care of that and that was long enough and I bought 2 pairs. They had exactly one choice for hoodies that were not highly embellished, so we got one of those. She got 2 new t-shirts, one flannel shirt and a pair of tennis shoe and that's it. Good to go.
We have a thrift store nearby that usually has really good prices on jeans that show very little wear, so I have taken to usually looking there first. I measure her waist and inseam and take my measuring tape with me. Her problem at this point is to get them long enough they are too big in the waist and since she is not in kids sizes, they don't have the adjustable waist that helped for her. I haven't gone there yet though.
I simply won't pay the price for jeans that many people are willing to pay, so some of the choices mentioned here are out for us, unless I happened to find them at the thrift stores. :-)
My son, now 11, on the other hand will wear shorts to school and I won't be buying any jeans for him until the weather turns. He has grown over 1 1/2 inches so far this summer and I am just not going to buy something that he may outgrow before he can wear them. Plus he is too tall for many of the biggest boys jeans and we've had better luck in young mens. I'll hit up the thrift store for him when I am ready to get some.
He also needed a new hoodie, but they only had pull overs and not zip ups (except for the ones that have the weird face mask looking hood that zips completely over the face-and that's a no go here) So he didn't get one there. Haven't looked anywhere else.
I have in the past usually just gotten a couple of hoodies at Target or Walmart when they get their basic fleece in. Those are usually great prices.
He got a few new shirts and a pair of tennis shoes and that's it.
Here in Houston the clothing at the thrift store is mostly for people in need. Its unwashed, you cant try it on, usually out of date or well worn. My teenaged niece liked shopping at thrift stores and it was a strange experience because we seemed *really* out of place.
When I was a kid we shopped at thrift stores cause we were very poor but even then it seemed like it was hard to find something that fit and looked good. Especially for me because I was tall and in adult sizes
We go to the thrift store all the time. It's true that shopping at the thrift store is more work than shopping at a regular store, but we find nice things in good condition. The thrift stores here all have fitting rooms, at least the ones that I've been to.
When I was a kid, the clothes I got at thrift stores weren't that great, they were worn out and out of date. I think that's because my mom would look for the cheapest things at the thrift store, instead of looking for nice things even if they were three dollars instead of one dollar.
My kids have nicer clothes than most of their friends, and they both have a ton of clothes because we get them so cheap. When I broke my leg, the kids had enough clothes for an entire month before my husband had to figure out how to do laundry. The only clothes we buy new are socks, underwear, swimsuits, and specialty stuff like bike shorts...everything else comes from the thrift store.
Here in Houston the clothing at the thrift store is mostly for people in need. Its unwashed, you cant try it on, usually out of date or well worn. My teenaged niece liked shopping at thrift stores and it was a strange experience because we seemed *really* out of place.
When I was a kid we shopped at thrift stores cause we were very poor but even then it seemed like it was hard to find something that fit and looked good. Especially for me because I was tall and in adult sizes
You need to upgrade the thrift stores you go to. Most if not all have cleaned garments, fitting room to try things on and a pretty good mix of styles. My daughter just bought a classic high end blazet/jacket. ..tags still attached for $15....original price 165$. Yeah....so low class .
You need to upgrade the thrift stores you go to. Most if not all have cleaned garments, fitting room to try things on and a pretty good mix of styles. My daughter just bought a classic high end blazet/jacket. ..tags still attached for $15....original price 165$. Yeah....so low class .
I know this thread is not about thrift stores, but I volunteer at our local one. I can promise you, the clothes are put out the same way they are received. The sorting room has hundreds of bags and boxes on any given day. The bags are opened, and the items put on hangers or thrown into a pile for recycling. They are not cleaned, unless they came in that way.
Here in Houston the clothing at the thrift store is mostly for people in need. Its unwashed, you cant try it on, usually out of date or well worn. My teenaged niece liked shopping at thrift stores and it was a strange experience because we seemed *really* out of place.
When I was a kid we shopped at thrift stores cause we were very poor but even then it seemed like it was hard to find something that fit and looked good. Especially for me because I was tall and in adult sizes
I know this thread is not about thrift stores, but I volunteer at our local one. I can promise you, the clothes are put out the same way they are received. The sorting room has hundreds of bags and boxes on any given day. The bags are opened, and the items put on hangers or thrown into a pile for recycling. They are not cleaned, unless they came in that way.
I think what Scarlett is referring to is more like a Consignment store rather than a Thrift store.
Here in NJ, consignment shops are what she describes, goodwill is more like you describe and the term thrift store is used interchangeably between the two.
The consignment stores (including Plato's Closet) I've dealt with are not that much less expensive than the actual stores. I'm not buying my kid a pair of used American Eagle jeans for $25 when a new pair could be had in the store for $30.
Thrift stores (a la Goodwill) are usually significantly cheaper, but I don't know...I feel like the stuff in those stores should be saved for people who truly cannot afford to buy new, not people like me who just want to save a few bucks. It just seems...greedy to me.
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