A Fashion-Revolution-Worthy Clothes Thrifter

I posted these tips on Instagram in April for Fashion Revolution Week, and I'm sharing them here now too.

Part One:

Monday begins Fashion Revolution Week 2024. I’ve been thinking about how to add my two cents into this year’s FRW, and it seems the most useful advice I can give is about how and why to thrift clothes. Thrift stores have taken a bad rap recently, as in many places their prices have gone up,  for a mixture of reasons. Many reels have been shared of crazy overpriced junk items still wearing dollar-store price tags for less than the thrift store is asking, or of empty supermarket jam jars priced at more than the jar of jam. People are absolutely right to find that offensive. On the other hand, if you’re careful and know what you want, you can pass right by the jam jars and other garbage, and come home with things you like and can use—and that includes clothes. Most of my tips for successful in-store clothes thrifting are not that earth-shattering, but I’ll lay out a half dozen of them  in hopes of restoring a little faith in thrift shops, especially the little non-profits who have been getting their share of the recent shade on this, but who really deserve support. I should add the caveat that most of these tips are for women’s clothes; mileage may vary on men's, children's, and infants' clothes.

1. Try to avoid the clothes equivalent of jam jars and dollar store décor. Instead of complaining that thrift stores overcharge for BigStore cheapest t-shirts, decide right off that you are not there to waste time on those brands (because, certainly, you could go to the BigStore and buy them there if that’s what you want). Since thrift stores tend to price all t-shirts, for example, within a small range, where you are going to get the best bang for your buck is with a slightly better brand. Same price, better quality. I can’t afford new L.L. Bean clothes, but the Bean pieces I have thrifted are almost always keepers.

2. You’ll hear this often: ignore size labels. It’s true, within reason. Sometimes thrift store items have shrunk, sometimes they’ve been shortened or taken in, sometimes you just want a looser fit, or the sizing for a particular company is different than you’d expect. If you can remember to bring along a measuring tape, or you want to learn some of the sizing tricks like wrapping pants waists around your neck (or whatever that is), you can get even better at overlooking the supposed size of something.

3. Watch out for certain bad things that do get past back-room sorters, like broken zippers or peeling faux-leather. While the extremely rich can apparently get away with wearing something practically in rags, the rest of us are probably better off sticking with intact items or at least those that we know how to mend.

4. Shop in places that do a colour-of-the-week, or that have a last-chance bargain rack. You are just as apt to find something you like on the dollar rack as you are in the fancy boutique corner.

5. This sounds too obvious, but if you’re trying to find a print skirt to match a t-shirt, or the other way round, wear the shirt or skirt, or at least bring it along. Store lighting is often strange, and our visual memory can also play tricks on us, so bring something to match and you’ll be less likely to be colour-flummoxed when you get the new item into broad daylight.

6. As @therefashionista taught us, ugly can become cute, too large can be made just right, and good bits can be combined to make new good things. Look for possibilities and potential: dresses can become skirts, shirts can lose their sleeves (or acquire new ones), scarves can become fancy jackets (or can line baskets or wrap gifts).

Those are my tried-and-true tips, but there are always new things to learn. What works for you?

Part Two:

The six clothes-thrifting tips I posted earlier in the week for #fashionrevolutionweek were pretty basic, but they’re enough to get you started. But how to go deeper? It’s not always easy to put what we really do into lists or words, and it’s not even often required. As Edward Espe Brown once wrote about making salad, you mainly have to know which bowl you’re going to use and how much it has to be filled for everybody to have enough. But here we go with some black-belt thrifting strategies, most of which can be used for clothes as well as other things. 

Blackbelt Thrifting Tip Number One: Many of my thrift-store stops are brief, and I’ve learned to look at things FAST.  Doing this means that you have to tune in certain things you want, and ignore the rest. Have a specialty, a favourite, a signature colour or pattern or collectible. This might not be lifelong, and it could change, but at least for this season, keep honing in on a very few visual cues. When I’m looking at a thrift store shelf of books, I ignore the mass-market paperbacks (easy because they have a similar size, shape, look) and zoom in on anything bigger, smaller, older; and you can train your eye to do the same with clothes, shoes, purses. I don’t mean you need encyclopedic knowledge of fashion labels, but more like—knowing what the red-winged blackbird sounds like so that you can pick it out of the other bird calls. If you love pink silk floral scarves, that’s what you watch for on the scarf rack, and ignore all the black and white glittery polyester stripes. The magic of this is, first of all, that it takes a whole lot of other things out of your visual field, narrows your vision, gives you some “astringency”; and, second, that after you’ve bought things this way for awhile, they (not so strangely) tend to work well together.

Blackbelt Thrifting Tip Number Two: A homeschool saying we often hear is that the best book or resource is often whichever one you have on your shelf (or can find in the library), the points of that being that, first of all, whatever you have is probably fine if you just make the most of it, and, second, that you’ve saved the time, energy, and money needed to source something different. This also applies to thrifting clothes, or, more accurately, not-thrifting them. Yes, thrifting is a sustainable choice, but it is not without its costs, including staff and volunteer time, building overhead, and disposal issues (even the good stuff doesn’t always sell). Although I happen to be in thrift stores frequently and enjoy finding clothes there (though, again, I try to practice one in-one out restraint), that’s not going to be the same for everyone, and, to repeat the opening point, the best and most sustainable thing you wear is probably something you already have. Whether it was bought new or thrifted, whether it’s recently made or a sweater you’ve had since college, wear it, take care of it, mend it, launder it responsibly, and (if possible) do a Joseph’s Little Overcoat and turn it into something else useful when its wearing life is done.

Social media posts often list rules for successful thrifting, things you should "always" do to up your game. But as a friend said recently about hockey, what you really need to know is that the puck is supposed to go in the net. In the same way, I've found that most of the "rules" you can lay down about secondhand shopping can be true one time, false the next, though the end goal is the same. "Always shop with a list"--don't go browsing the shirts when you know you need shoes, or so they say. Reality: this may not be the day that there are any good shoes in your size, but you might find a Crockpot instead. "Don't be too specific, though": sometimes I have gone in thinking "purple turtleneck" and that is exactly what I've found. "Always go on Monday or Tuesday or Wednesday, early in the morning, late in the evening, etc."--well, we don't go to the same places in the same order on the same day, because, life and weather and other things. Unless you happen to know that a store ONLY puts new things out on Mondays, you're probably better off mixing things up. "The last place you go is always the best"--well, sometimes we go to the flea market, buy something at the first table while the entry-stamp is still wet on our hands, and then don't find anything else for the next two hours. "Buy it now, because it won't be here when you come back"--sometimes yes, sometimes no. If it's not a popular item, the odds are that it might be hanging around for at least a few days more.

About the only rule I can think of that never fails is "be generous." Don't grab things out of other shoppers' carts or otherwise be a thrifting pig. Ask friends or family what they're looking for, and if you see their "unobtanium," send them a snapshot and ask if they want it. Share your good finds with others. And that is how to be a #fashionrevolutionweek thrifter.

It's National Thrift Shop Day. Help them go out of business.

I'm not going to mark National Thrift Shop Day by suggesting that everybody out there should go and buy something at a thrift shop (although you know that's one of my favourite things to do).

I'm not even going to mark it by suggesting that everybody should donate something today (although you know how much fun I have unpacking books at the MCC store. It's Christmas every week).

I'm going to suggest something far more radical.

Non-profit thrift shops...in spite of all the good they do by raising money for the ministries and charities that run them and by giving lots of stuff a potential second life...reflect something about our world, our culture, our attitude towards buying and un-buying stuff, that isn't a good thing. In a perfect world, ministries that run thrift stores would have to find another way to raise money, because people would be buying just what they need, using things longer, fixing what's broken, trading what's outgrown, borrowing what they can, re-purposing things themselves. And those organizations wouldn't totally mind that, I think, because any one of them accepting donations of Stuff must deal with an Increasingly Big Headache of Responsible Disposal.

So keep the thrift store of your favourite charity in mind today by not buying one particular new thing (besides food or other consumables). That way, when that one unbought thing doesn't arrive at the hypothetical end of its usefulness to you, you won't have to drive it to the thrift store. Nobody will have to unpack it; nobody will have to price it and hang it on a rack; nobody will have to pay the cost of the computerized cash register system and the credit card fees; or (if it sits unsold) nobody will have to bale it up and figure out where to send it next. By not buying something new today, you've created one less future thing-in-thing-out decision for a crew of staff and volunteers. Wasn't that easy?

(But you could also send the charity a financial contribution.)

Frugal finds and fixes, and some letting go

Fixing: Besides fixing the jean buttons yesterday, I'm trying to cure a bad case of salt stains that afflicted my old-but-otherwise-okay winter boots. I gave them a spa morning on the balcony, with repeated vinegar-water spraying and wiping, and it did help quite a lot. I may give them a return appointment if tomorrow's sunny again.

Fun find: Another mostly-there craft pad of punchouts and boxes.

I like printed bits and pieces for gift tags and card making.

Money well spent: A doorbell for the apartment, ordered online. Beats listening for people politely tapping. You can even change the ringer from ding-dong to tunes, if you're in the mood.

Still blessedly free, more or less: Radio stations. Watching monarch butterflies migrate past the balcony on September evenings. Wearing fall clothes you already have but that it's been too hot to wear since May.

Letting things go: I do make thrifting mistakes, or end up with too much the same, or trade up to something I like better or that's a better fit. So I'm filling a bag with clothes and books to re-donate.

"Karen's Doilies": An all-thrifted 10 x 10 wardrobe challenge

It's time for another 10 x10 Wardrobe Challenge, created by blogger StyleBee. You choose 10 items, and use them to create 10 days of real-life outfits. If you haven't seen any of my 10 x 10 challenges before, I do them backwards, or maybe it's forwards: make the plan and take the photos before it starts, instead of posting it as it happens. 

I was inspired by this photograph of coloured-thread doilies, crocheted by the multi-talented Karen Glass.

Lacy, loopy, intricate motifs; in plum and wine colours plus neutrals, and a few bonus flowers.

Here are the clothes

In the photo below are (top) a tapestry-fabric jacket, a cardigan which I love but which got bumped from the list in favour of a poncho (see below); (bottom) a turtleneck sweater dress which works as a sweater (it's showing as brighter blue than it really is), a knitted vest, and a cotton pullover sweater.

One openwork grey poncho, instead of the cardigan, plus its matching circle scarf. It seemed to work better with the crocheted theme, and I already had a jacket for something warm-with-sleeves.

A collarless paisley print shirt which can also be worn as a cardigan, with a pair of dark-wash jeans; and a plum jersey t-shirt with a pair of grey cords.

That makes nine items. 

I had thought about including this skirt, which goes with almost everything including the poncho.

But I added a grey t-shirt instead, because I didn't really have enough tops there for ten days. Also, the coming week is going to be busy with a couple of extra meetings, but nothing dressy enough to need an extra skirt. The sweater dress will take care of anything not-pants.

 Most of these clothes came from the MCC thrift store; the cords came from Bibles for Missions (another thrift store); and the cotton sweater and poncho are from a consignment store.

Accessories

So I'm thinking about Karen's doilies. What do I have that reminds me of those shapes and colours?

Jewelry: some thrifted, some gifts

Closeup of the earrings

Two extras, found at the thrift store

Scarves and a shawl, all thrifted except for the little silk one (I've had it since I was a teenager)

An extra infinity scarf, from the thrift store

Hat made by daughter

Four purses, all thrifted

Shoes, not all thrifted (sorry)

Here's the list

Saturday, February 17 

Plan for the day: Errands (groceries), and finishing an annotated bibliography assignment

Outfit: jeans, raspberry pullover

Accessories: grey scarf with roses (or maybe the pink infinity scarf), flower-shaped earrings, grey boots, grey purse

Sunday, February 18 

Plan for the day: Church, plus leading a class this week

Outfit: Sweater dress, grey poncho (not in the photo)

Accessories: Scarf that matches the poncho. Earrings. Tights, flat shoes. Small purse.

Monday, February 19

Plan for the day: "Family Day" in Ontario, but we have no special plans, so I'll probably be doing online course work, writing a term paper on the value of reading in later life, and doing housework. Or we might go to a local art gallery.

Outfit: cords, grey t-shirt, jacket

Accessories: knitted hat, purse, boots, if we go out. 

Tuesday, February 20

Plan for the day: Thrift store in the morning, "school" in the afternoon

Outfit: jeans, plum t-shirt, paisley shirt

Accessories: Earrings, purse, socks, shoes

Wednesday, February 21 

Plan for the day: Afternoon meeting at thrift store 

Outfit: cords, grey t-shirt, jacket

Accessories: tba

Thursday, February 22 

Plan for the day: At home, doing "school" and housework

Outfit: Sweater dress, vest

Accessories: fleece-lined tights, maybe some beads

Friday February 23 

Plan for the day: Thrift store in the morning, course work in the afternoon, and evening CM study night 

Outfit: jeans, grey t-shirt, vest / swap for poncho

Accessories: tba

Saturday, February 24

Plan for the day: Errands, and finishing off the week's class work

Outfit: jeans, dress as sweater

Accessories: tba

Sunday, February 25 

Plan for the day: Church

Outfit: cords, raspberry pullover

Accessories: paisley shawl worn as large scarf; purple earrings; small purse; grey boots

Monday, February 26 

Plan for the day: At home, working on term paper

Outfit: jeans, plum t-shirt

Accessories: fuzzy socks!

One of Karen's doilies, put to use in the Treehouse

Some frugal finds, Part Three

Yesterday's Frugal Finds post stopped with Part Two, but everything's better in threes. Here are the rest of the recent Frugal Finds.

A fun tweed skirt. The texture and colours don't show up well in the photo (my camera always puts in too much blue); there's actually a lot going on here between blue, green, grey, and beige. You can see it better in the earring photo (below).

Here's what it looks like with a green sweater, and a purple necklace I found at the thrift store. 

The tassel earrings came attached to the same bit of cardboard as the necklace, but I didn't notice them hiding underneath until later. 

I like the skirt and the jewelry, but this book was the real life-saver this week.

Let's talk some more: how I ended up with fewer but better clothes, and had to re-do the page

I had fun with Project 333 this fall, in spite of the fact that I broke all the rules, kept finding new things all season at the thrift store (volunteering is bad for that), pulled out half my summer clothes again in a burst of KonMari, and figured I was finished with tiny wardrobes since I was obviously not very good at sticking to minimalism. The fall/winter page here was also a mess since I kept crossing things out and adding other things.

So I changed my mind and added a just-winter page. The clothes aren't new; but the list is cleaned up and easier to read. Strangely enough, I don't have many more items on it than most respectable "tiny wardrobes."  It may not look like anybody else's version of what people "should" have, but it's working for me.

I don't know how most other people go about "thrifting" wardrobes, but here's what I do. Take what you can use.

I've seen articles online talking about which things you should snap up at thrift stores, and which ones are not usually worth your time. I'd say, make up your own list based on your experiences. I've read that it's impossible to buy used pants (because of fitting issues), and that t-shirts and sweaters are usually worn beyond bothering. But I take a pretty standard (although petite) pants size, and if I see the magic number on a label, it usually fits. As for tops and sweaters...well, you have to look past the poor ones to find something you do like. So figure out your own must-visit categories, those you'll look at only if you have time, and those that are a no-go for you. My quick-looks are the bargain rack, for obvious reasons; shoes, because although I rarely find any that fit, the odd exceptions make a regular look worthwhile; and dresses, because I like them and they're often more interesting than the tops and pants. If I have time, I look at the accessories. Anything else just depends on what I don't have much of; maybe I really need pants, a new purse, or whatever. Is there anything I wouldn't look for at all? I rarely look at athletic clothes, yoga pants and things like that. I also don't spend time looking at very fancy dresses. Jewelry was another section I used to skip, but this fall I've started looking at necklaces again.

The point is, your must-try list will be different from mine. It depends on what you love, what you do, and what you need. And one other "what": what you would like to try, or change. Maybe you have never ever worn jeans, or dresses, or high heels, or anything bright red, and it's just time. Maybe your secret wish is to be Rhoda Morgenstern. Thrift stores are the perfect place to try out new things.

Watch for colours you like but which may be hard to find in the average mall store. One idea I've seen online, but haven't tried, is to buy a too-big t-shirt in an interesting colour, cut the body away from the neck and sleeves, and wear the resulting big loop as an infinity scarf.

The last bit of advice is an obvious one, but...thrift stores vary. Donors, merchandise, and prices vary. I used to visit one store that always had great books, but horrible clothes, because the donors were mostly frugal older people who wore their clothes to shreds. Some stores sort things more carefully than others do. Some places smell better than others. If your only thrifting experiences have been bad ones, remember that better things may be hiding in another neighbourhood, or the next town.

Friday the 13th is a lucky day...

...for thrifting. After a morning spent pricing and shelving books, this is what came home.

Three books (I gave in and bought a few)

One necklace

One bird plaque with a hook. We hung it by the door of the apartment, as a hat-or-whatever hook.

Now how did that end up at the thrift store?

I've said before that the goal of thrift shopping is not about getting a J. Crew haul and then blogging or vlogging about it. The "big score" is less important than finding something pretty or useful. Even if I find something name-brand, I don't usually post the name here--it feels like advertising.

But I was thriftily pleased this morning to find a Miik stretchy shirt in good condition, for a small fraction of its original price. Miik is a Canadian sustainable-ecological clothing company, and it's a bit out of my budget. So that was unexpected...and pretty and useful.

The belt on top of the shirt was a dollar. I keep finding fun belts lately.

I also found a Klutz Cards kit...another one of those thrifted things where you might not make cards, but you're still getting templates and measuring tools and cardstock and fancy paper. Can't lose. But since I do want to make cards, it's even better.

Hey, we could use that. (Out-of-the-box thrifting)

Amy Dacyczyn once wrote a Tightwad Gazette story about a woman having a yard sale, who mentioned to someone else that she needed to buy a dropcloth for painting. They both suddenly noticed the shower curtain that she had put out for sale, and had a frugal a-ha moment.

People say that they never find anything useful at yard sales or thrift shops, and sometimes that's true. But other times it's the perceived use of something that gets in the way. Look twice, and you might see another function for a discarded object. And at thrift store prices, you can usually afford to buy a whole unit or set of something, just for a part or piece. I'm not talking about complicated projects, like turning baby cribs into garden benches, or adult pants into toddler clothes (I have done that one!); these are just some easy second-look ideas.

1. "I never wear dresses": Thrift stores get lots of dresses. Many of them are unlovely. But, as many Youtube videos prove, ugly dresses can be re-thought, re-purposed. On the simple sewing or no-sewing side, you could consider cutting dresses into tops or tunics, or using parts of them as camisoles and slips under other clothes. I have an extra-long cotton tank top that makes a perfect slip for sweater dresses. Thin skirts could also work as half-slips (thank you, Common Room blog).

2. "I never wear scarves": But scarves come in all shapes, sizes, and fabrics. Think of table throws and runners; reusable giftwrap; basket liners; ponchos/wraps/capes/shrugs/kimonos/sarongs (sewn up or temporary). Some people even hang large scarves over small windows.

3. "Plaid skirts are not my style": Verena Erin at My Green Closet made a no-sew blanket scarf from a plaid skirt she wasn't wearing. (Video link)

4. A few years ago, I bought a zippered 8 1/2 x 5 inch Dayrunner notebook at a rummage sale. I got bored with the plain black cover, so I sewed a non-zipping fabric cover. Recently I was thinking of using a zippered cover again so that the loose pages and small things wouldn't fall out, but the black cover had disappeared in our downsizing. I often see whole hardly-used planners at thrift stores, but there haven't been any lately. Besides, I didn't really need a whole new notebook, just a cover, but who makes those? Brainwave: I went to a bookstore that sells zippered Bible covers, and bought one in a colour I do like. Here's the frugal connection: you might find a planner notebook at a rummage sale or a thrift store. You might find a Bible cover for your Bible. Or you might find a Bible cover, think "that doesn't fit my Bible" or "my Bible doesn't need a cover," but not think about using it to cover another book or notebook, or even an electronic device.

Or maybe you'll find a Dayrunner cover that got lost in a downsize.

5. "I don't have young children. Why would I look at toys?": Think about what might get funnelled into the toy corner of a thrift store. I don't mean a Woody cowboy with original hand-stitched hat, although such things do happen. Think about holiday decor (including little things that could be used as or incorporated into tree ornaments); props for older-student lessons (languages? math?); or toy kitchen implements that might be used for your own real cooking (mini rolling pins, cookie cutters, small spoons).  There's a guinea pig website that mentions recycling plastic toys, such as a treehouse, for the critters' enjoyment.

The Apprentice has been known to shop the toy aisle as a source of joke gifts. On Mr. Fixit's last birthday, she gave him a kids' Star Wars jigsaw puzzle, and we had a contest to see who could put it together the fastest.

6. "I would never use those extra serving spoons." Do you ever get takeout Chinese food? There you go.

Your ideas?

Thrifting with Mama Squirrel

Do you know the verse in Ecclesiastes 11 that says to cast your bread on the waters, and that after many days you will find it again? It's a strange metaphor with different possible contexts (including sowing seeds), but what it implies is a releasing, a non-clutching attitude towards whatever it is. And there's a promise that in the letting go, there will someday be a return.

I think that happened today, somewhat. I have been slowly collecting a bag of thrift store donations ever since we moved, and today I added a few more things I'd been holding onto. A maxi dress, because I'm not as tall as I think I am. An extra pair of pants. A set of salad spoons I kept thinking we'd use but we didn't. A shirt I bought last year but which always felt like someone else's. With storage at a premium here, there's no room for things that I just wish I used. Giving them away means admitting, somewhat, that I make mistakes on things. Well, of course I do. But cutting them loose means the final farewell. No more chance to redeem those particular less-than-brilliant moments.

So off we went, dropped off our bagful of donations, and had a look around the store. Our looking is somewhat limited these days: we don't need more furniture. We don't need a waffle maker or a coffee pot. We don't need toys or children's books.

I do need fall shoes, so I looked at all those, but didn't see anything workable. I browsed through the dresses (nothing) and skirts (nothing). In what used to be the dollar-deal section, now renamed 75% Off, I found one long-sleeved pink top I liked.

Okay, one nice find is a good enough return for a short trip. I headed towards the checkouts, back through the "boutique" of women's clothes. And that's where I found it, hanging with some sweaters in the middle of everything. A DKNY Cozy sweater, the real thing, in like-new condition. It even fits.

How can I explain why this is so good? Let's just say...it's a useful piece of clothing that's fun to play around with. I had a couple of previously-thrifted imitation versions, but one was too tight and the other developed nasty holes in all the wrong places.  Yay, I get to try again!

It was totally worth giving up the salad spoons.

Frugal finds and fixes: thrifted dress

Yesterday Lydia and I went to the Large Chain For-Profit Resale Store, the one I usually avoid because the clothes are a bit overpriced, and because I prefer to support the non-profit shops. The one advantage to this store is its size: if you know you want shoes, shorts, whatever, they have lots to choose from. In fact, it's so big that they have "summer dresses" sorted from just "dresses." While Lydia was looking at t-shirts, I had a look through "dresses." This is what I found.

It was marked as XL on the label, and size 17/18 on the store tag, which sounds huge for me. But I was looking at the dress itself, not the label, and it seemed about the same size as my other dresses. I was looking at the colour (grey-blue or blue-grey, you choose), and the fabric texture (a medium-weight knit). I was looking at the neckline, and the way the fabric draped, and the banded bottom that would make it easy to change lengths.

And it did fit, pretty much.

But it's better with a belt.

I didn't even mind having to pay the slightly-more-than-usual Large Chain price, because it's the sort of dress I'd even buy new if I could find one new. Except I don't usually. So that made me a very happy thrifter.

From the archives: "Frugal is not a bad word"

First posted May, 2007. Links edited, photos added.

Some people have been giving thrift shoppers and other blogging frugalistas  (how do you like that one?) a hard time recently.

"Am I bovvered? Am I bovvered though? Look at my face. Is it bovvered? Arks me If I'm bovvered! Look, face, bovvered? I ain't bovvered!"

The arguments run kind of like this: the Bible doesn't say anywhere to go out and look for bargains. If we're not "really down and out" ourselves (define that as you will), then we're robbing from the poor if we buy something nice at a thrift shop--especially if we resell it and make a profit. (Heaven help the Christian who mentions making a profit on something. Didn't some Christian songwriters go through this one a long time ago?--God gave you this talent, you write this song and it's for everybody to sing, how can you ask us to pay you for copies of it?) Wait, there's more: if we're picking up books or vintage aprons or other frou-frou at yard sales or thrift shops, then that ranks as non-essential anyway, so then we're getting addicted to stuff or wasting the little money we did spend. (Wait a minute, I'm already seeing some contradictions here. If it's frou-frou stuff, then wouldn't it be just as silly for the "really down and out" to buy it?) And overall, we should be willing to pay "full price" for whatever it is, so that we're not ripping anybody off

Now Stingy is bad. But Stingy is not Frugal. Stingy is putting dollars out on pizza delivery and pennies in the offering plate. Stingy is illegally photocopying textbooks. Stingy is not providing what your family needs even though you have the means to do so. Stingy lives next door to Chintzy Hardbargain and down the road from the Misers.

Frugality is making life as beautiful as you can on a little bit of money. Sometimes that little bit of money is all you have, period. Sometimes you have more than that but you're using what's left for something else that's important. Anybody with a credit card can throw money at a problem (full price, I assume); Frugality teams up with Creativity to make the most of what's there. And sometimes Frugality just has to say no to things. I can't bring myself to pay $2.19 a can for something at one grocery store when I know the discount supermarket sells it for half that price. What's full price, then? Store A's price or Store B's?

.

The comment was made on another blog I will not name that Mrs. Frugality wouldn't invite people over "to evangelize to them" if she didn't have the right cake pan, and that she wouldn't go out and buy the cake pan unless she could get it used or cut rate or something. First of all, I would never invite people over just "to evangelize to them." About anything. I've been on the other end of the cake in that respect, and I did not appreciate it. Second, I don't know even the most frugal person who would feel that way about having a perfect cake pan before inviting guests. In fact, most frugal people I know would bake the cake in a casserole dish or something, or make something else, or just have tea and 99 cent oatmeal cookies. People are the point, not food.

And finally, as many people have pointed out in response to this ongoing issue: it's not a crime to shop at thrift stores if your shoes are intact and the stroller you're pushing didn't come straight off the curb. In fact, you are supporting their ministry by shopping there. It happens to be a delightful side benefit of this kind of shopping that we often end up with something unique, vintage, out of print, or otherwise amazing. And isn't that a whole lot more creative than getting something exactly the same as your neighbour's at Stuff-mart?

Un-bovvered doll photo courtesy of Lydia.

Some thrift-store DIY (Do-Vember 11)

Do-Vember

Pinterest roundup posts often take you through a mess of active and broken links, posts on original websites, and re-posts in different languages. Sometimes the important thing is not so much tracking down the original set of instructions, as just catching inspiration.

Case in point: "21 Thrift Store DIY's That Make Frugal Fabulous."  This is a roundup of home ideas, with links which might or might not be helpful. I like the first one, "Stencil some old plates for a cool wall hanging," not because I want to have plates on my wall spelling out "E-A-T" (like a neon sign?), but because the plates used for the photo are unusually pretty, and because I can think of other three-letter words (or four-letter, if you have four plates) that would work. Maybe J-O-Y? You wouldn't want to use your heirloom dishes for a project like that, but if you found three or four plates you liked at a yard sale or thrift store, it might be fun to try. Or you could paint letters on other objects, like jars.

#4: Painting an upholstered couch? Apparently (I'm very ignorant on these things) you combine the paint with a "fabric medium," and that keeps it from turning into a hard, crunchy mess. And according to the comments on the original post, painting upholstery is a "thing." I had no idea. We actually went through two inherited French Provincial couches much like the one in the photo, but I'm not sure that painting them would have been worth it.

#7 and #8: Anything turned into wind chimes or a glittery vase is the stale end of the recycling loaf, in my opinion. 

I'm halfway through the article, still hoping for something I'd seriously Do. (It's Do-Vember, remember?) Here is #15: Decoupage part of an old purse with a funky fabric panel. That looks fun and somewhat useful, assuming you have the purse and the fabric. Would I actually do it? Yes, if I saw a piece of fabric that I liked. Put that one away for a rainy/snowy day.

Finally, #21: improve a wooden tray with paint and a new covering. That idea is as old as wind chimes and glittery vases, but trays, unlike wind chimes, are very useful and uncluttery. You can use them indoors and outdoors. You can use them as memory pieces if you decoupage photos on them, or collect signatures. You can serve food on them, you can arrange gifts on them. I'm in.

So, no couches or wind chimes, but I'm going to think about stenciling letters and upcycling purses.

Lucky at the thrift store, again

On my wish list for fall: short boots. We dropped off a load of stuff at the thrift store this morning, and I found a pair in my size.

But since it's over 30 degrees here this week (about ninety if you're American), I probably won't be wearing them for awhile yet.