Where I Show Off A Haul.

I typically drop in to a thrift store a few times a week but I ALWAYS hit up the Salvation Army on South High Street every Wednesday. Prime example of how you can find things at any thrift store if you just know how to look.

Where the magic happens

This particular Salvation Army store is conveniently located a hop, skip and jump from my office. They, like many, offer discounts on colored tags every day of the week. On Wednesday EVERYTHING is 50% off. Well, used to be. Now everything but the most recently acquired merchandise is 50% off — this week blue tags were exempt from the sale, last week green.

I have a few rules I impose upon myself when thrifting to keep from being featured on Hoarders. I'll tear apart my whole OCD methodology in another post. The rules that are important for half-off day are

1. If I'm purchasing something for myself, I have to be sure I will be able to get my money back out of it when I inevitably tire of it after three or less wearings; and
2. if I am buying something for resale, I have to be sure I will make at least four times what I paid for it.

That is an amazing return on investment and if I were doing this full time I would accept far less. But I have a job and a life and limited time to photograph stuff and list it on eBay and etsy, therefore causing all the crap I bring home to accumulate in big piles and haunt me.  These two rules keep me from bringing home loads of cute shit that I would love to find a good home for, spend time and effort listing it, then make $1 on the transaction. But patience does pay off.

I left behind a few things last week as I couldn't justify the purchase: they were new, not half off. I'd since forgotten about those things until today when I saw them again. And they were half off.

This is adorable, strapless, Hawaiian print. Exempt from the 4 times rule, as I got it for my possemate, Amber. New with tags, even. Though I am pretty sure I can make that 4 times back if she is not interested as I paid $2.50.

Here is one of the dresses I saw last week and passed by as it was $6.99 full price — a much better deal at $3.49. It's a modern Liz Claiborne dress but a dead ringer for something from the 1940s: the floral print rayon fabric, banded waist and dolman shoulder. Oh, and it has pockets! I love when dresses have pockets. It makes my boobs look kinda giant though. I'll wear it once and see what Frisby says.

My other "new with tags" acquisition, this one was half off, originally $7.99. You can't tell just draped on the sofa like that, but it is way slinky and sexy with that embroidery at the thigh and a fishtail hem. Very pin-upy. It's marked a 14, but I will be damned if that's a 14 in any sizing. I'd have to wear Spanx with it. And may. I'm considering removing those tags and wearing it to my band's show on Thursday.

The great and awful thing about that Salvation Army is that it is a Polyester-Palooza. I'm a sucker for weird polyester. Dress #1 reminded me of candy, so that was a no-brainer. Dress #2 was there last week and I didn't even try it on. This week, at $1.99, it became far more attractive. I felt like it looked really wonderful on, but I really dig the matronly look. Last but not least, the jumpsuit. It needed to come home with me. It's actually a cream color with no stains and it is long enough; no small feat with my weird proportions. I am all torso and it is a major pain in the ass with things like one-piece swimsuits and polyester jumpsuits. Lemme tell you though, that jumpsuit leaves nothing to the imagination. 

There you go, a typical Wednesday for me with a typical damage of $15.56.