Jeans, LBD and Wilfred.

If there is a thrift store in town, you can count on seeing me there whenever possible.

Goodwill as a child was, to say the least am undesirable place to be. My parents got divorced when my brother and I were young. We stayed with dad through the week, he was the more stable one, on disability so it was an easy choice for my mom and him. What comes with disability is no money. Food Stamps, back when they came in a booklet, they never ripped off on the dotted seam as well as they should have. Along with, Medicare which was free health insurance and dentist visits for me and my brother! I guess looking back it was a good thing we got care, albeit not the best. Lastly, THRIFT STORES. I remember walking in to some and the overwhelming smell of must and tiredness. All things just sitting there untouched for however long it took 8 layers of dust to gather. Goodwill, back then was one of the better ones, if I could possibly put a positive spin on them. Goodwill was organized compared to the local thrift stores. Local was 30 minutes away though! Picking out clothes you were expected to wear to school that looked like they had been played in for years was not my idea of fun. After a while I realized I wasn’t going to get new stuff so if I wanted anything at all I was going to have to muster up the courage and then swallow my pride. Moving the tops one by one while conspicuously looking around in hopes I wouldn’t see someone I know.

I imagine how I felt back then is relatable to how my SOs kids feel. They are teenagers and want nothing to do with shopping anyway so to got to a secondhand place probably puts a damper on your reputation. Luckily, so far, mine; only 7, still thinks its ok. Only if she can let free in the toy isle.

Thrift stores now a days are a treasure. Savers in particular I call the Gucci of thrift stores! Their prices are higher than others, but so isn’t their quality. In all my adult years I have been going to Goodwill or Savers and have scored so many amazing things, too many to remember, I do however remember just last night throwing out my favorite pair of jeans. High rise super stretch American Eagle Brand. I would NEVER buy those new. In fact, I bet I have spent more at a thrift store on a specific item as to not be bothered going in to a Macy’s or a Nordstrom. Sale items at high end department stores, quite often might be less expensive than my $10 dollar jeans. The outlets that were always 30 minutes away from me, I’m sure had great deals. My mind was trained and magnetized to my local Savers. I’d take a picture of the gigantic holes I created with my gigantic thighs, sadly the jeans are already disposed of and on their way to the incinerator.

*EDIT: SO didn’t take the garbage out so they were found! Took a picture with all its trashed glory.

Another fabulous item I found was a Little black dress made by Samuel Dong. Whom I had never even looked into until writing this Winning piece! https://www.samueldongus.com/ Yes please! If I was an online shopper or lived in Canada Id be there! Oh wait, no I wouldn’t. Magnet pulling me away into the corner of thrift and save! This dress though, is me in so many ways! Hanging on the rack it looked a bit messy, maybe too convoluted for clothing. I grabbed it anyway. To name it my little black dress does it and me so many favors. After perusing Urban dictionary to find the exact definition of LBD, I got more information than bargained for and it may be a bit of an exclusionary accessory, mentioning it being worn only by Caucasians (insert pondering emoji here). I did however find my instinctual definition; “it has to be simple, no buttons or ornamentation. Here’s the thing, I am a paradox in most facets of my life and so this dress serves its purpose in maintaining my self-acclaimed contradictory Predictory. The picture is terrible and you can’t make out all its fabulous pieces, I’ll help. Let me start from the top; It has a frilly collar that descends into a v shape creating a Décolleté, that leads the way to the buttons, buttons that go all the way down the dress. The buttons end at the Balloon hem of the skirt. Going back up, it has pockets, fabulous deep pleated welt pockets with flaps! That’s a rarity in women’s fashion for sure!

I am not done yet; this dress has an empire waistline and along with its busy buttons as the main way of covering up it also has straps to tie in the front! Someday I will fit into this dress again!

The love of all these pieces I have shared with you today does not compare in the slightest to my dear friend Wilfred. He is my creepy bartender and he has been with me in 4 different houses, two different states. I never considered myself as one to move around a lot, until I realized how many walls he has adorned. I named him Wilfred before knowing his actual name “Jack”. Since acquiring him I have had many people point out other works by Rafuse. All of which I love, but Wilfred and I have a bond. We don’t want intruders, or coinciding pieces to mess up what we have going on. He is my one and only. He will be my forever!

One day I hope to write about the fill in the blank piece I scored, worthy of the page on Facebook group Weird (and Wonderful) Second hand finds that just need to be shared. I think it may be on my bucket list to post something and be able to edit my original post with; I can’t believe all the love I have received from my _______________. Can you see my over dramatic face.

Ill absolutely buy a banana for scale before posting.