"Thrifting" at Salvation Army

Today I made my first trip to Bloomingdale's since I took my solemn oath. My sole purpose was actually a positive one....to return 2 items that I purchased before Christmas and was so consumed with guilt that they never left the bag in the bottom of my closet.

Bloomingdales....AHHHH! I knew this was going to be a difficult journey for me seeing the sale racks laden with goodies right now....hmmmm...how do I navigate into the store and up 4 floors through all that wonderfulness? There is only one answer..."the task master" better known as the husband...very impatient, no lolly gagging type A person...he gave me 20 minutes from drop off to pick up..."and I better not keep him waiting!" I made it with out even touching a garment...I did see some wonderful color combinations...this great yellowy green with gray....and a cute lemon yellow Juicy dress.

whew...got that over with....and now the good news...SALVATION ARMY!

Last week I hit the "big store" under the tracks....the place is breath taking...but not in a good way. You have never seen so much stuff in your life. This SA actually has 3 floors! It was mind boggling...but they do have shopping carts..and that is always a good thing.

How do you tackle this overwhelming mass of discarded apparel? It is no easy task.

Everything is crammed onto the racks..tight...if you are lucky you may see interesting stuff left on the end of the rack or pulled out and suspended between the other clothes...thats how I found the purple wool Vera Wang for Khol's skirt with the tags still attached..IN MY SIZE!...and I actually bought 5 pieces from this collection in the Fall that will match this skirt! That was my first score and then it went downhill for the next 30 minutes...but I stuck with it and devised a better method for my search....its the "feel for good fabric and look for interesting colors and prints" method.

Following is a list of my great finds that are pictured at the top of the post.

* vintage blue sweater...needs some repairs but that is something I want to address in my blog
* vintage red check wool skirt with great pockets...think Juliette Binoche in "Chocolat"
* brown floral puff sleeve blouse with ruffle bib front
* vintage green cotton men's shirt, new! never worn...I have great ideas for reworking this one!
* silver taffeta floor length skirt...this is going to be my first "revamp" project
* green and blue print silk long wrap skirt...great fabric
* DKNY shrunken sweater...I could not resist the ruffle...it will show up later on something
* gray pleated skirt..those pleats will also show up later
* black satin pouf sleeve blouse..this is still questionable but for $1...we'll see

I paid $26 for everything listed above and of course the money went to a good cause.

So there you have it. I am hoping to get started on the silver skirt in the next couple of days and I am also working on an interesting accessory piece that I will introduce to my "craft group" next week and will post the results...Please come back and join me!

froo*gal