Thrifty

I have long admired the ability of some clever NZ bloggers to find (a seemingly never ending supply of) awesome thrifted clothes and other bits and pieces. I often lamented that I wasn't blessed with an ability to find the cool stuff amongst the junk stuff. Since moving I find myself within walking distance of several op shops, a 2nd hand recycled label clothing store and a cupboard-sized "treasure trove" shop full of 2nd hand bits and pieces. My neighbourhood is apparently a thrift shoppers dream.

Here (in my experience anyway) "thrift" shops seem to fall into 3 distinct categories. The Op Shops - opportunity stores/charity stores (Salvation Army, City Mission and the like) where there is usually lots of stock but finding the cool stuff can be a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack. I seem to often leave empty handed having just waded through a whole lot of stuff people threw away for good reason , but occassionally, do find the odd gem. Last visit this included some (in N3's words) "gorjus" 80's plastic beads and "nana scarves" for the kids dress up box and these wooden handles (Score!). All for the pricely sum of about $5




There are a few 2nd hand clothing stores around the place which specialise in recycling labelled and quality clothing which can be good for a look through every now and then if you don't mind paying more than op shop prices.

And then there are the "treasure trove" shops , where the stock has been hand picked - retro, vintage, just plain old. But there's more cool than junk. One of these stores happens to be just around the corner from school (how sad for me). Last week I saw this black jacket hanging in the window and luckily it just happened to be MissAlmost2 sized



Originally it came with an odd assortment of mismatched buttons and funny sewn on flower things on the pockets. I gave the jacket a little make over by ripping them all off and replacing them with silver star buttons - much better.


The jacket has the loveliest of details, and beautiful red satin lining inside. It's "Old Navy" - I'm not really big on label clothing (especially those that aren't actually available in this country) but it does tell me it's probably not going to fall apart with shonky sewing anytime soon.




I'm very pleased with this find. M1's going to be very well dressed this winter!