Fashionistas, Find Vintage Clothing at Local Thrift Stores

On various talk shows, fashion gurus bring out two models at a time, wearing fantastic outfits and make the audience guess which one was wearing the one priced under $20 and which had on the ensemble with a high three or four figure price tag. It was really hard to tell.

What got this trend started was the quest for a truly unique vintage piece that no one else had. I guess too many celebrities were showing up on the red carpet or seen at various events with the same outfit that stylists had to really search to find that special piece that they knew no one else even knew about. Tall order, but stylists happened to discover something better than consignment shops that had much older pieces -- local thrift shops.

The day I saw similar shows on different channels, I had to smile because I had a quite few vintage thrift shop finds hanging in my closet. Bell bottoms and Op Art tops from the psychedelic sixties, designer flair jeans and 'bust out' tops from the seventies that are popular now, and a large variety of glitz tops, hand painted t-shirts and 'Gunny Sac' lacy dresses from the eighties round out my designer vintage collection.  Through the years, I also found vintage Channel, Louis Vitton and other designer bags, shoes, belts and scarves to go with them. It's nice to know my thrift shop finds are very trendy now and featured in fashion magazines, again.

My mom gave me the same advice she got from her mom as she put away her platform shoes in the mid-fifties: "always buy classic clothes that are timeless and can be worn for years, but when you get trendy clothing, store it away because it will come back into fashion, eventually." Seniors well remember how many times platform shoes came back into fashion, frequently. 

Stylists in the know said they could pick out a designer piece by just glancing at the rack of clothing like I can instantly spot cashmeres among the racks of sweaters. Its all in knowing what to look for. A trip to the thrift shop can turn out to be "sometimes a diamond, sometimes a stone" situation, but the amazing goodies that can be discovered are well worth the time going through racks of clothing. I like to make a day of going through the various area thrift shops, taking time at each one so I wouldn't miss the treasures nestled among the ordinary offerings.

B-Thrifty is the newest thrift shop in the area and announced a two day half-off sale I took advantage of a few weeks ago. My first visit, I found two soft cashmere sweaters, a plush fall jacket and a of set dessert dishes to match my Corel dinnerware for under eight bucks!

The latest fashion-bragging rites have become just how little you spent on a fabulous designer outfit , so set aside some time to go treasure hunting, too.