Thrift-store Treasures

Thrift stores are awesome! So are garage sales. Most people I run into don't enjoy either, and I can understand that (to an extent); I mean yeah you're never guaranteed to find anything and sometimes you search all day and come up empty, and sometimes you find things you really like, but it's not available in your size. I understand that you'd like to go to a department store and shop where they're guaranteed to have your size and your preferred color. BUT! Don't you ever get tired of just wearing what everyone else wears?  If you go to that department store and get your size, don't you see all the other copies of that same item? People buy those copies, so for about as many copies you see there is going to be someone else out there wearing that same thing. Yeah they might not wear it the same way, and they might not look as good in it or something, but still. Tons of people are going to wear that same thing. Some people don't mind that... but I do. And I'm not saying I don't occasionally shop at department stores, and it's not like I entirely boycott malls, but I would like to be original sometimes at least. I don't have a ton of money and I can't buy everything I'd like to, but if I'm going spend my money on clothing, I'd like it to be something unique, I'd like it to be a treasure, I'd like it to be something I can be thoroughly proud of purchasing. My absolute favorite pair of jeans as a kid were 10 cents at a swap meet! I wasn't even the one doing the shopping, a family friend saw them and thought of me and I loved them to tatters (I love and miss you Cindy, RIP). Ten cents! I didn't have to go to some fancy boutique to find pants I like and have them tailored to fit. A friend just saw them handed the shop keeper a dime and later delivered me my most adored piece of clothing I think I've ever owned. And I will get back to my point about why thrift stores are awesome and why I love being able to not only get unique cute clothes, but get them cheap! I am so much more proud of my clothing when I get them for pennies on the dollar.... anyway, like I said I'll get back to that! I'm going to segue into why those jeans in particular were so valuable to me despite their price.

Growing up I was small and my family was poor. I was only 4' 11" until 8th grade and I was always HYPER SKINNY as a kid. People thought I was anorexic until about 11th grade (I never was). The vast majority of my wardrobe consisted of hand-me-downs. TONS and TONS of hand-me-downs. I had a cousin a year older than me and a friend about my age who were both larger than I was (because EVERYONE was larger than I was lol), and every time they outgrew something it was sent to me in a big garbage bag filled with similar too-small items. I LOVED hand-me-downs just btw. Because it was like a treasure hunt every time and they were FREE clothes!!! I would tear into these garbage bags and root through them looking for things that struck my fancy and, more difficult, looking for things that would fit. It was exciting to get all those new free clothes though, even if they didn't fit properly or I didn't like them all, because everything I pulled out was a surprise and there was a chance I could find something really great inside. 

That being said however; most of the time growing up because I was SO skinny, and because my legs were disproportionately long compared to how skinny I was, my clothes, and my pants especially, RARELY fit. I didn't have brand new Mudd jeans and cute, little, just-right red white and blue tank tops like my best friend in elementary. So I got made fun of... often. And not just for my clothes, but that was one thing. And when I looked in the mirror I didn't feel cute, or pretty or whatever like the other girls.... so fast forward to middle school and we still don't have much money, and I am still too skinny, and my legs are still too long, and clothes still don't fit me, and I am still being teased about that, being teased for my intelligence, being teased for my quirks, etc. and go figure, I still have a low self esteem. So the day my mom's friend Cindy brought me home those wild stripey denim-spandex blend jeans that she got for 10 cents was like heaven on Earth. She had come over after going to the swap meet to show us the things she had bought, and she pulled a stack of a few things out one bag and handed them to me! Said she had thought of me and picked up a few things. I was skeptical, grateful, but skeptical that they would fit or that I'd like them if they did. I took the couple things into my mom's bathroom to try them on quickly. I don't remember if any of the other things fit me in that little stack, but the jeans DID!!! 

Those were the first pair of jeans that ever fit me well. That weren't too loose around my non-existent hips, or too short, or too baggy. They fit me and they made me feel attractive... pretty much for the first time ever. I wore those jeans to EVERY school dance I ever went to in middle school, and I wore them any day I just wanted to feel good. I wore them roller skating down the street, I wore them climbing trees (which is what ultimately led to their demise), I wore them ALL THE TIME! Minimum of once a week I had those jeans on. Those jeans were made for me. I loved them more than any piece of clothing I'd ever gotten and they were a dime... TEN CENTS for my most prized treasure in middle school! And I loved them even more because they were only ten cents. I wore them with my head held high every time and told everyone who commented on them to guess how much they cost and then shocked them with the answer. Those jeans gave me the only shred of self confidence I had in middle school. My mom's friend didn't go to a store and sort through dozens of the same thing looking for my size and my favorite color. She was rummaging through a swap meet and happened across my favorite item. And that's why I love thrift stores, swap meets, flea markets, etc. Yes you have to wade through endless seas of worthless junk, but if you have enough patience you find buried treasure! That's the same reason I love garage sales. My grandma (Love and miss you every day. RIP) used to take me to garage sales when I was a kid, she didn't have any more money than my parents, but we found the treasure anyway. We'd look at all the pretty things and wander around enjoying each other's company and she'd tell me stories while we searched through the things people didn't want anymore. I got several beautiful necklaces from garage sales my grandma took me to; each no more than a quarter. I still own those necklaces, and a stuffed dog she gave me for a penny the day she had her moving sale before moving out of state. I value those things for sentimentality, for the cheap prices we paid, for the beauty, for  the stories they remind me of, and for the uniqueness. Those items aren't a dime a dozen and neither were those jeans. They are special, they each have a story and they were all items I never would have received had we been charged retail prices. So that's why I love all the different places that sell second hand items. 

Today my mom took me thrift store shopping, and it wasn't a jackpot day, but I did get a REALLY cute dress for $7 and a sleek purse for nights out for only $4 and they were unique finds; not something mass produced in a factory. But more than that. I got time to play dress up with my oldest younger sister. Time to bond with the shop keepers and share stories, time to pet kitties, and old wobbly dogs and watch a momma kitty nurse 7 kittens who were only a week old. Thrifting is always a success even when the haul isn't huge. I love my life and I love that poverty in my youth taught me the value of a dollar, an appreciation for experiences over possessions, and the determination and patience necessary to sort through these underrated treasure troves.
Big thanks to my mom for taking me to do one of the things I love most and thank you to Cindy and my grandma for all that you gave me before you passed. I truly value the impact you made, and though you were only in my life for a short while, your imprint will never be washed away.

<3