Ok, just looking for a general consensus. I am very much a spendthrift. I personally believe that when it comes to living well and having nice things, only 25% is about making good money, the other 75% is about how to spend it well to get the most out of it. I am also a bit of a labelwh**e. I love clothes from Hollister, first because I like the look, and second because they seem tailor made to fit me. We don't have a Hollister in Puerto Rico. Boo hoo. But I do have ebay!!!! Yay!!! So I buy perhaps one shirt every couple of weeks, sometimes more, depending on the deals I find. I have no problem buying pre-loved garments if they are in very good -to- almost new condition and the price is right. I figure that within two washes a brand new shirt is going to look exactly the same as a well-cared-for pre-loved item. My William turns his nose at the idea. He thinks it's gross. I think it's being dollar-smart! What's your opinion?
I love all forms of attire. I don't care for brands or if they're pre owned. I will wear whatever looks good. Haha.
It definitely is. Besides, ever heard of a washing mashine. No matter who wore it before, you can wash it and get rid of anything icky they had on them. I actually got the dress I wore to my prom from a Goodwill.
I think that it is a waste not to buy the pre-loved items. 1) Why pay full price when you can get the same thing cheaper? 2) These clothes wear just the same as others. It's kind of like recycling, if you want to think of it in an earth friendly way. 3) It would just be a waste to throw these items out when there is still good wear left in them. Besides, the only people that know that they weren't bought brand new are people that are close to you, or that you tell. I also think, that if they fit you well, stick with them. It's hard to find clothes that fit you just right sometimes. Do you realize that you can probably get two or three (or more) good items to your Williams one brand new item?! That makes way more sense to me!
Dude, some of the cutest clothes I've ever found were from thrift stores. And I'm not really a labelwh**e, but my sister is, and she finds allll kinds of stuff on ebay for super cheap. There's this little thing called a washing machine, and I use it after I buy anything to wash away all the stranger germs that might be on my new clothing. So wearing clothes that used to belong to someone else has never bothered me.
I always wear pre-loved clothes (I love that term, too, by the way). Like you, Wrey, I'm a labelwh*re too. I have two pairs of $2 Calvin Klein jeans in my closet. I have three Betsey Johnson (my favourite designer, ever) pieces, all somewhere under $20. I have some Ralph Lauren sunglasses, too, that I got for about $5. Nothing better than getting great items for next to nothing in $$$. About the only things I buy new for myself are my undergarments. There is a line to draw. --I do have to buy new fabric if I make my own clothes from scratch; I dont know where to get used fabric. But my excessive amount of clothing is mostly from Goodwill, Goodwill Outlet, Beal's Outlet, and garage sales. Sometimes I dont even care about the condition. As long as some of it is usable, I'll find a way to put it to good use. Besides, no one ever has the same outfits I do. Speaking of which, I'm looking for a pre-loved white bag (backpack, messenger bag, that sort of thing) --or even just a good deal on a new one; I dont care. Already tried the local consignment shops and Goodwill. TO THE INTERNETZ!
I miss garage sales. No such thing in Puerto Rico. Some of the coolest stuff I have ever bought to decorate the house have come from garage sales.
What is a labelwhale? I actually couldn't care less about labels. I get all my jeans from thrift stores (do any of you guys have a Plato's Closet near you? They're the best). My favorite is skirts. I've found tons of awesome skirts. I also found the best-ever pair of boots at a Goodwill. Knee-high, laced all the way up. They're so old and ratty now, and I'm trying to find a pair to replace them. But I haven't found anything similar on the Internet for less than $60.
I think there's a Plato's on the south side of my city but seeing as I'm actually above the north side... No Plato's Closet for me. LOL, labelwhale.
Almost all my clothes, excluding underthings, are thrift store treasures. It's actually a financially responsible way to be a labelwhale. My Vera Wang wedding dress cost me $20. I have tops/blouses/sweaters from The Gap, Old Navy, Anne Klein, Lands End and LL Bean, some of which I got on quarter day at the local thrift. I have scads of skirts made from Levi's 501 jeans that I didn't pay more than $3 or $4 for the jeans. An hour's worth of sewing and I have a two new skirts, one from the top half and one from the cut off legs. I also buy the big bulk bags of mens ties at Goodwill and make my own skirts out of them. I also have a floor length cape made of men's ties. Frankly, learning to sew has become almost as valuable as learning to type. I heart my thrift stores.
My wedding dress was one thing that I refused to compromise on. I found a similar dress for cheaper, but I wanted what I wanted, darn it, and I didn't care what I had to pay for it! That was probably dumb...but it's pretty... That sounds SO COOL. God, I wish I knew how to sew...
I find that very upsetting. The neighborhood I live in is gearing up for the annual Garage Sale Day next weekend. Almost everyone has a sale, and they're like the Style Channel's Clean House yard sales; massive. It's like my favourite holiday.
That's one thing I've never made before; skirts out of ties? Sounds awesome! How does one go about constructing that... *uses imagination*
In my old neighborhood, garage sales weren't very common, but the one I live in now has them all the time. The weird thing is, it's always the same couple of houses...how do they have so much stuff they need to get rid of so frequently???
My family didn't have a lot of money...and had 4 kids. Everything bought new became a hand-me-down. Most things were bought used. I loved going to the thrift stores. It was like a treasure hunt. What will we find this time? We also used to play this game where my sisters and I would all try to find the ugliest garment in the store, (Orange mumu...I win. Pink fringed polyester blouse...I win). Now I find really good deals at Marshal or Ross. Sometimes I can get new for cheaper than used. I still buy a lot of costume jewelry at thrift stores. Then I take them home, take them apart and make new things out of them.
We do have Marshal's in Puerto Rico. It's where I splurge on myself every paycheck. I allow myself one thing that I want, but might not necessarily need. Like the 7 inch Santoku knife by Calphalon I bought just cuz it makes me feels so chef-ie when I use it to prepare dinner.
Same here. 8 kids on like a $30,000/year salary, and you learn how to save money real quick. Oh, and Wrey, Santoku knives are pretty much the greatest knives in the world. I used to work at a kitchen store, and we carried santoku knives in different colors, so I am the proud owner of a pair of sky blue ones. Love them.
http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/na_other/article/0,,DIY_14142_4888175,00.html http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art43922.asp There are lots of other sources. Gotta love the interwebz.
Bear in mind, I have no family, so my entire wedding had to fit in a budget of two freelance writers. My Vera was lovely and in all the speciality shops less than a year before AND it still had the tags on it. The dress was the only thing even remotely traditional about my wedding. (We got married in a bookstore and had the reception in a Mexican eaterie across the street. Our whole wedding came in under $300.) If I hadn't found it, I would have been just as happy in something less bridal. I might have just found a white poet's or peasant's blouse and wore it over a necktie skirt.
