I can’t wait for you to try Lumē! Use NICOLERUDOLPH to redeem an extra $5.00 off your Starter Pack with free U.S. shipping at bit.ly/LUME-NICOLERUDOLPH! Let me know your favorite scent in the comments below.
I have a question about Lume, how strong are the fragrances? My sensitive skin and I have never been fans of heavy scent, it's not as bad if it's on the lighter side of smell. But it can bring out the itch, sneezing, and migraines if it's a heavy smell that stays heavy.
@@banannakis6723 they're fairly fragrant. Especially if you choose the floral ones. The coconut one doesn't seem to be as strong but did you have unscented and they also have tiny sticks that you could get to test out if it's gonna bother you.
Liked the video content except for the Lume bit. Never tried it; never gonna try it. Your knees and forearms don't stink and others, no one knows. Unnecessary. waste of money. waste of resources
@@sallyoakes7709 why is everyone so up at arms about Lume when lots of creators get brand deals? Have you been this upset about any of the other sponsors that Nicole has had?
Our family was extremely fortunate back in the 1970s; there was a second hand shop locally that regularly had beautiful Laura Ashley dresses from a lady who didn’t like to wear the same thing more than a few times. My mother, my sister, and I were the same size, and called in frequently! We ended up with a wardrobe we couldn’t possibly have afforded at new prices. I’ve loved those styles ever since.
I like nice clothes. Even today, I have a closet full of Cole Haan loafers, Jos. Banks, and Brooks Brothers that I couldn't possibly afford off the rack.
I remember those beautiful Laura Ashley dresses. I even had Laura Ashley comforters but the dresses were pretty much out of my reach back then. I sure wish they made clothes like that still.
Sadly, the trend towards "thrifting" and reselling things online has started pushing the "thrift" out of thrift shops. When donated clothing is selling for more than its original price, it is no longer thrifty. When CEOs of charitable organizations make millions of dollars in salary, it is no longer about serving the less fortunate. I'm with Nicole. Avoid the chain shops. Go local. Find one that supports a good cause.
Goodwill bins are great though. That is usually the last stop before donations are thrown out. I like them, because I truly feel like I am rescuing fabric and goods as well as getting a bargain.
I only recently learned of this reselling trend and I actively condemn it. A low class cruel was to make a living. I knew people were sometimes finding amazing things and then finding their true value on Antiques Roadshow but this current trend is appalling, greedy and classless. 🌼
@MicheleOverton There are people who that's all they do. All day, every day. I mean, I can't really fault them for making a living by doing it, but they have driven up the prices for things that really aren't worth what is being charged.
@@TheFeralFarmgirl Particularly good for costumers and crafters. I've spent 20 years sourcing luxurious textiles from the bins to turn into theatre and burlesque costumes at (comparatively) insanely low prices.
@@jjez61 and they take away the chance for someone to get a great find they can afford, who couldn't other wise. Perhaps a rare chance for them to feel special. I Love my local Goodwill. I've amassed a great wardrobe, I have so much fun with it, and I'm not for one second going to purchase stuff from online sellers who are profiting by engaging in this. It's almost immoral. The kind person who donated hates this practice as well no doubt.💖
One of my ancestors, her sister in the 1870s was "dealing" in 2nd hand clothes. Her husband was a guard on the trains, working for Great Western Railways (this was in the UK). He and his fellow guard were arrested for stealing from a goods van a large hamper of clothes destined for the London 2nd hand market. On searching the house police found the clothes but my ancestor's sister claimed that the garments were not the same ones at all but ones she had been hired to clean and repair for onselling (her occupation on census records had been listed as seamstress). The whole matter is written up in detail in the Old Bailey records. It was noted that she had made extensive alterations to at least one of the garments. Outcome of the case was they were the same clothes, he was sentenced to five years' hard labour (and pretended to be a German immigrant when he got out, but didn't change his name, and opened a bakery) and she was let off as there were children and the courts did not want them becoming a "burden to the state" - which was common to do at the time. She didn't change her profession but she moved the whole family to a different location. Probably not of interest, but it caused me to dive deep into the history of 2nd hand clothing in Victorian England and it really drove home how wasteful we are now. The rag man really was the end of the line for the long life of a garment. Sorry for the long comment.
@@samanthat7553 not really the same. These were clothes sent to London for resale by a registered seller. The 2nd hand clothing market was big because clothes were expensive. They had been purchased (you could sell your old clothes and get a small return) and were someone's property. It's theft rather than dumpster diving. But yeah, the sentence is harsh, but sentences were. The Victorians were quite punative.
When I was a teenager, you used to get teased if they found out your clothes came from a yard sale or the Goodwill store (which was codenamed Betty's by my mom's coworkers). Now these same people proudly proclaim where they got it and how cheap it was.😂
Similar for me in my area! i'm 34 now, and when I was a teenager thrift stores were seen as for poor people or homeless people. Specifically in my small town, because the only thrift stores we had were non profit. My family was low income, so we did get clothes secondhand but I liked it because I had a unique style.
At the local thrift shop I go to, I've seen many of the clothes I've donated on the racks, so I know they are keeping it in town. (Always funny to go through and think "oh, that's something I would wear" and it turns out to be something I did wear!)
My clothes would be unsuitable. By the time I'm finished with them, they're usually too worn out to be of use to anyone else, except for craft projects.
I once saw someone in a store wearing what I was certain was a shirt I had donated to Purple Heart. Glad it found a new home after it (ahem) grew too small for me.
I've trifted most everything I've ever needed for over 50 years : books. Clothes. Furniture. Dinnerware, decorative items. Never did without anything I needed at 10 cents on the dollar. Thanks to generous donators for the past 50 plus years!😂❤
Goodwill is pricing themselves out of the market. Upper management salary greed. Cheaper to buy new at same quality. It is harder to find a good deal there. Small town local thrift stores are the real gems.
I used to be bullied at school in the 1970's -1980's mainly because I got most of my clothes from "Jumble sales". I later didn't say no to offers of 2nd hand clothes for my 2 children when they were babies. They grow so quickly I couldn't keep up with their growth spurts.
Whenever we have a yard sale people are lookng for toys, kids clothes, & 2nd hand kids furniture/strollers. We don't have children so all of our toys & games are teen/adult 😊 I see plenty of swap meet groups online that specialize in baby/kids clothes & toys. They outgrow it before it's ever really "used" tbh. 2nd hand is the way to go imo.
@@yensid4294 Considering the small stuff lasts 2 months if that! For sure. We used to be able to sell outgrown baby stuff no problem, but once they hit school age, no one wants to buy from a yard sale anymore. And most of the kids toys will sit for years, but the kids' FURNITURE will fly out the door if you price it right. So we ship their clothes (middle school aged) to my mom because near her they have a twice yearly kids swap sale that seems like it's professional, but they use all volunteers and 100% of the goods are just drop offs from locals who clean and price their own things. So she's seen Polo brand shirts with tags still on for $4 and old worn khaki pants for $20! She usually ends up getting a few things for my kids and making a little extra for the work she puts in preping and pricing stuff.
Add in changing seasons. My cousin is having a baby in November in Michigan so she has had to calculate the baby will probably be this size in this season kind of stuff
@@sarahkinsey5434 That's what totally threw me off with hand-me-downs between mine! One was Apr, one was Oct. The girl vs. boy aspect didn't matter as much to me because I bought all neutral for the first few months since the ultra sound didn't show on #1.
I have a beautiful dark blue embroidered velvet jacket with poofy sleeves (I think it's technically some sort of southern German folk wear but I like to pair it with my 1895 walking skirt) that I found at a thrift store for a fraction of what it must have cost originally and I absolutely adore it :) this year (several years later), I found velvet trousers in almost exactly the same shade of blue so now I have a full, gloriously dramatic velvet suit I never thought I would find
I never thrifted until 2006 when we were struggling under credit card debt and we had that market crash (we nearly lost our home) we were one of the fortunate ones who got the message that we spent far more than we made…thrifting everything shoes clothes furniture etc showed me I could have everything I wanted! Cleaned up or painted it was just as good for a fraction of the price…hence we paid off all our credit cards and now live on cash only!
Tiny second-hand shop in a TINY town in rural Australia, I found a ton of GORGEOUS 60s deadstock going for less than $30AUD - like these were untouched, immaculate minidresses and stuff
I have to say, I used to love thrifting, if I needed anything at all I would buy it secondhand (video games, dvds, books, clothes, everything). Then a few years ago I got a gorgeous vintage chair... that came with the famously dreaded bugs. They nested in the headboard of my bed, my grandma's vintage baroque style velvet headboard. :( had to throw out everything. Now I'm too paranoid to thrift. I'll still buy secondhand books and manga but they go in the freezer first.
I really hate to break this to you, but the dreaded bugs can also live in the bindings of hardbound secondhand books . . . Thank you secondhand “Crime and Punishment” with the beautiful woodcut illustrations, which supplied me with the dreaded bugs. Once you get the dreaded bugs, you get really, really paranoid about getting them again.
I frequent two thrift stores and the good thing about both is that everything is steamed cleaned. The owners are meticulous about that. They don’t want to lose clients. I still wash things when I get them home and then I do a vinegar wash. I feel very comfortable after that.
@@dorismahoney1440 From WikiHow Bed bugs may be resilient, but they cannot withstand the high heat of a steamer. Steamers are an excellent, chemical-free way to treat for bed bugs and other pests, such as dust mites. Steamers will kill bed bugs and their eggs on contact, and thoroughly clean the infested area. When treating an area, there are a few guidelines to follow to ensure that all bedbugs are eradicated in a safe manner. Our Expert Agrees: Bedbugs and their eggs die off at around 121°F, and steam is emitted at 180°-200°F, so the steam is definitely hot enough to kill the bugs. However, the steam needs to applied for at least a couple of seconds in order to be effective, so move the steamer slowly over any surface you're treating.
Thrift stores definitely don't clean or repair clothing now! Consignment stores are generally more choosy, but I saw LOTS of stuff from Shein😡! Overall, the quality at both has diminished considerably. Meanwhile, I try very hard to think before I donate or consign. If I don't wear it because it's crummy or worn out, why would I expect anyone else to?
I joke that my house is where fabric stops. If I can fix it, it gets fixed. If I can't, I checked the fiber content and if it's natural fiber, it goes to the "for humans" rag bag to be used in patches and blankets and eventually end up in my compost pile. If it's synthetic it goes into the "other" rag bag to be used as animal bedding stuffing or floor pillow stuffing.
the chain stores where i live do not repair or clean, per se. But they don't sell damaged clothes (it goes to textile recycling) and they spray scented disinfectant on all clothes they put out.
@@ThisIsATireFire To me quilting is where the clothes stop. For centuries leftover scraps from making clothes and old cut up clothes were made into doll clothes, rag rugs, and quilts
Most unique thrift experience I had was donating a dress to a local Goodwill. It was a fairly unique dress that I used to love (and still really liked), but wasn’t using. A few weeks later it my coworker wore it to work! She loves it, and it’s all hers now. I’m glad it’s getting another life and some use.
A quote from my great grandmother, she was born 1896 in the East End of London: "When I used to go to a school on Mondays you'd see long queues outside the lawn shop. They used to have to take things in to paen, perhaps husband's suit, to pay the rent Mondays and Gretchen out again when he brought his wages home Saturdays" So sounds like in very poor neighbourhoods things went in and out on a regular basis, Sunday best clothes were only needed that one day a week.
There's a story like that in Charlie Chaplin's autobiography. A suit worn by Chaplin's older brother is regularly pawned by their mother, and she's absolutely devastated one day when the pawn broker tells her that he can no longer lend her the same amount of money on the garment, because it's become too worn. There were in a very hand-to-mouth situation for most of Chaplin's younger life, and their weekly budget had become dependent on being able to do that.
Where I live we can donate broken clothing and used old underewear, it gets recykeld for isolation and padding. Love that they give me a oppertunity to recykel fabric scraps, old worn out sheats. Even the smallest of fabric isn't seen as trash but instead has a purpose as something else, like isolating a house or padding under carpets.
I know Salvation Army used to keep cotton to turn into rags for paper making, but last I heard gas was too $$ to afford to ship it and still make money for it.
I have been buying most of my clothing from ThredUp these past few years in hopes of getting natural fiber clothing at reasonable prices while also being a little bit more sustainable. Part of me, however, keeps on wondering when there will be some great scandal about the company that will make me feel like a horrible person for buying from them.
I always say it's more important what you do as an individual than what the companies you buy from are doing. Doesn't matter how ethical and expensive if you go through clothing like water. Sounds like you have a good system regardless!
I love Thread Up! I buy directly from people as well, but with Thread Up nothing ever comes with off smells, and you know exactly what you are getting.
When my husband had a stroke in 2016, after being an electrician since the 80s, it took a couple of years before his disability was approved, and since I was a housewife and at the time he needed me at home to help him, we had no income. I sold almost everything of mine so we could get by. We had nice furniture and China and some antiques so they all went first. Eventually I sold most of my nice clothes, shoes and purses. The jewelry was already sold by then. I didn't get that much for my clothes but I suppose it was about $150 total, and that was for my nice things and name brand casual things. I was surprised that I was able to sell anything because in my small town it's only donations to thrift stores. I had a yard sale in a central location where most people do that, the same as I had done with everything else. People did buy them. That's my experience with selling used clothes. I've bought plenty of used clothes over the years but only sold them once. Still trying to find someone to buy my wedding dress that I bought used in 1986. It's a Mr Walter brand. Older than the 80s.
Wow! It's actually incredible to me that thrift store owners used to wash and repair clothes for resale. Now they either only accept resellable clothes, throw out unsellable items, or occasionally or donate them elsewhere. I worked at a clothing bank at a homeless shelter and we put things we didn't need in a bin to be sold (probably overseas) or recycled. The community center where I work now throws out items they can't use.
Clothes now are so poor quality they can't be repaired or it's not worth it. Depending on the garment, stains might come out with a good wash, or could be dyed. I think I remember a clothing reselling place would batch dye stained clothing
Back in the late 90's my husband saw street sellers in Africa with US sports champion T-shirts naming the losers as winners. Shirts and hats are made up for both teams so they are immediately available.
Thank you for sharing this history. My immigrant great-great-grandparents were ragpickers in Canada, and today I'm able to live a life they never would have dreamed of. Their legacy, and the work of other members of my family, are what inspire me to learn about historical fashion and consumption (or sustainability) and to learn to repair my clothes and, as all clothing becomes both higher cost and lower quality, to make my own clothing that fits me like it should, is made ethically (or at least, I'm only mistreating myself) and will last.
It was in Dickens's novels that people were burgling for fabric, robbing the dead of garments and pick pocketing handkerchiefs. All to be sold downtown as 2nd hand goods.
Buying vintage and antique (secondhand) clothing actually first became popular in the mid- to late 60s, and then began to take off in the 70s, 80s, and beyond. Thrift shopping was amazing in the late 60s and through the 70s. It's how I fell in love with vintage.
Here we have a large number of small business locally owned thrift stores and a large homeless population. I always donate to the homeless outreach first and anything they don't hand out, they give to the locally owned shops. When I was homless I had a small personal moneymaking gig buying from Goodwills in a rich part of town, cleaning it up myself, and selling it to Plato's Closet.
My hobby is sewing and I have friends who purchase thrifted clothing to make into other garments. The amount of donated clothing, particularly fast fashion, is disturbing. Nicole, thank you for a very interesting video and, as always, the well researched and informative content you provide.
On handing down clothes to servants: My great great great grandmother was a chamber maid to the mistress of a prominent household (the mistress was the SIL to the prime minister of the day in my country). She gave my ancestor a ball dress, probably as a gift when she married the coach man and left service. The gown was packed down, put in storage and forgotten about, until my grandmother died, and my mom went through the attic of her house. It was as perfect as new, but to the great sorrow of 13 year old me, she donated it to a museum.
There are two local places I donate to. One helps rehab people and the other is for foster kids. The foster kids one is set up like a store but the kids get to shop for free. I love that so all of my sons stuff has been given to them. I also will put stuff on the local buy nothing group before I donate it. There are so many faux charities that it takes a lot of work to find one that really helps without gouging consumers. Once in a while I will drop stuff at goodwill but it's rare. When I was a kid my grandma sent me to private school. We had a dress code, she also bought my school clothes so I had nice stuff. We lived near San Francisco and there was the gunnie Sax factory where I got most of my dresses. Great quality! So when I grew out of them my mom would give them to her friend who had 3 daughters, the oldest and I are the same age but I was usually taller. They were always happy when we showed up with a bunch of bags. I always liked the idea of giving good clothes to others who need them. I do try to give things to others before it's given to a shop for resale. Comparatively I don't have the pricey ball gowns and stuff but I do usually have decent quality things so if it doesn't fit me anymore I'd rather give it to someone for free than give it to a store.
A growing practice nowadays that is coming out of queer communities is clothing swaps! People will come together at a community space, maybe a bookstore or queer community center or someone's house, and bring their older clothes that no longer suit their gender expression to swap for clothes that do, and it's all free. In my town, the cooperative bookstore that hosts one such swap gives the remaining clothes to a small cooperative volunteer-run thrift store.
Getting second hand maternity and baby clothes has been considered sensible for quite some time, long before the current trend of thrifting (granted this probably depended on where you were from and your social circle). This was more along the lines of getting them from a friend or a friend of a friend rather than buying from a thrift store (ie my mother made a bunch of maternity clothes for herself that then got passed around her friend group in the 80s). I think the acceptability came from the short span of time in which they were used. Buying a whole new wardrobe for pregnancy or large numbers of clothes your baby would outgrow in a few weeks was considered wasteful, at least where I grew up in the Midwest.
Interesting! For a while, that's how it was where I live, too. Thrifting is now much more socially acceptable (it's seen as artsy and fun, which ties in with the artsy, isolated, weird vibe my home cultivates), but when I was a kid (not long ago! Just in the 2000s/up until about 2012 or 2013) there was some stigma about buying clothes second hand if you were no longer a little kid (the usual "Too poor for good clothes" kind of stigma). But there was this shop that specialised in thrifted clothes for babies through to elementary schoolers, which was much more normalised. I got most of my clothes that way (most of the rest were hand-me-downs from my cousin, since he was a couple years older than me, so his old stuff usually fit my brother and I just fine), and the rest was homemade or bought new, until I was in 4th grade (at which point I started public school, got bullied for my clothes, and convinced my mom to buy me a little bit more of my clothes new, though we still kept it cheap by using mail order catalogues and buying some new marked down things at military surplus and outdoorsman shops). I remember a friend of my brother gave me a fancy dress she bought at a thrift store in my town, and at first I was a little weirded out by it (I loved the dress, I was just put off by it being from a thrift store). But since I could sew a little, I mended the small tear on the bottom hem and used it in a Halloween costume, and soon stopped worrying about it being thrifted. A few years after that, I started to dress more alternatively anyways, and the culture around thrifting started to shift, so I happily thrifted or made almost all of my clothes after that. But it's weird to think how quickly that's shifted. It's like someone flipped a switch and suddenly thrifting was cool!
If/when I have kids I know they will have a lot of second hand clothes. My cousin is having a baby girl in November and luckily her sister has three kids and sister-in-law has two girls. She won't need much baby clothes
A little disappointed that you didn't mention the controversy around people thrifting in order to re-sell items for a higher price. This is a recent trend that ties in very well with the older theme of making a profit off the backs of people in need, and it’s something that the charity organizations are trying to combat - even to the point of charging exorbitant prices themselves. Glad that you discussed the theatre/costuming. IN the present day, cosplayers, re-enactors, and college theater departments LOVE thrift stores. There's aways something that can be altered or re-made. I have fond thrifting memories from my time in the SCA.
Your point on thrifting in costumes is SO good. Just about every kind of costume I've made (theater costumes, cosplays, and SCA garb) has required a triple threat approach of buying raw material (fabric, beads, thread, etc, which I usually get from local small shops or online folks I trust), buying used material (thrifted clothes and accessories from small local shops and ebay), and buying specialty/artisan goods (like a disc brooch, a specific trim I can't find locally, a high quality wig, or for my most recent project, 3D printed hand armour plates). I'd say the first two categories are a collective 99% of how I build a costume out, with those specialty bits being the 1% finishing touches. I also love reading about other costumers' work processes, and it's fascinating seeing how much costumers utilise the thrift stores at their disposal. For instance, I have a book all about Star Trek costumes, and a lot of the fur bits used on Klingon costumes (especially the more sumptuous ones) were random scraps from thrift stores. If I remember right, the fabric for Boromir's tunic in the LOTR films was thrifted. And with my current cosplay project (Mandalorian armour), I'm having lots of fun revisiting Star Wars costuming, and noticing a lot of military surplus (which I count as its own kind of thrifting, though it's sort of got its own microeconomy attached to it), particularly with all the belt pouches. The general thriftiness of those costumes is great, too. I grew up wanting to watch Star Wars mostly for the clones and Padme's amazing outfits, which are not so thrifty, but one of my favourite fun costume facts about the original movies is that Luke's pants in A New Hope are literally just bleached jeans. You wouldn't know by looking, because of the care taken to wrap the puttees and style the tunic in a way that doesn't suggest he's in jeans and a simple shirt (even though he's literally in jeans and a basic shirt, maybe a poncho depending on the scene). I love hearing about stuff like that, because I think knowing that "Real" professional costumers hit up thrift stores and use "Regular" clothes even in the big fancy fantasy and sci-fi stuff makes it feel more feasible for us working stiffs who want to make costumes, too. :)
I get kind of tired of this. I see people leafing through the racks, quickly taking anything with a good label in any size. I can see they are not buying for themselves or their family because thy are only looking at the makers label and not the style or color. They leave with 50 or so garments, and i guess they wash and resell. But i am looking for clothes to wear, because my budget is low.
Resellers need income too. The job market sucks and as someone with a chronic illness, I can barely find work that I can manage. Goodwill would have marked up their prices anyway.
@lauralake7430 that's not their problem. Maybe they are also poor n trying to make some money. I have found gold jewellery at church sales etc. Sold those. If u look there may be places that give away clothes. There is no shortage of clothes. Especially if u sew n can alter good clothes to newer sttyles.or not if u don't care.
I've been thrifting for more than 30 years, everything from household goods to clothes to pieces I turned into costumes.I've seen the rise of fast fashion in all the thrift stores at the same time prices have gone up. But you can still find great things at thrift stores, especially if you have basic sewing and crafting skills and are willing to do small repairs. And if you're a crafter or costumer, don't miss the local Goodwill bins (here it's called the Goodwill Outlet). I can't tell you how many gorgeous saris I've bought at our Outlet for literally pennies, as well as all kinds of vintage textiles. I put textiles in the dryer as soon as I get home on high for an hour to knock out bugs. (Putting them in dry sidesteps issues with shrinking, felting, or bleeding). Then I can wash them in the manner best for that type of fabric.
I have thrift ed most of my adult life, and found some amazing things. However, one recent trend in thriving that bugs me is that smaller girls who like to up cycle will buy plus sized clothes so they have more material to work with. We big girls already have fewer items available at thrift stores, so this has become a pet peeve.
There needs to be more awareness about this. I used to buy larger clothes (just because I like them loose often), but one youtuber highlighted this issue and since then I haven't bought any plus size items. It really helps when people explain this stuff.
i don't remember where I saw it, but I once read that a very significant chunk of donated clothing, especially stuff that gets shipped overseas, is branded "swag" tshirts and the like from events like races, community sporting events, family reunions, conferences, etc., including a lot of excess inventory that were never worn. Like, a huge amount. I've made it a point to bring up at club events and work if the idea of "we should make a tshirt!" comes up. Almost nobody wears those unless it's a super trendy or personally important event, and soooo many of them get donated or thrown away. At least the 100% cotton ones can be shredded for insulation or torn up for rags, but the synthetic blended ones (which many are, because it's cheaper) cannot.
One thing that happens is that clothing and souvenirs for championship events get made up for all possible outcomes. After the event is over, the winner's branded swag gets put up for sale in the appropriate markets and the loser's branded swag gets shipped overseas to be sold or donated to people who don't know anything about the event in question.
Fleas, lice, bed bugs & rat droppings 🤮 A thriftstore I regularly shopped at (back in the 80s) always had a very specific odor to their clothes/store. I always suspected they fumigated their items before putting out to sell. I would not buy any upholstered furniture 2nd hand & especially not a mattress which I think thriftstores no longer accept anyway.
pre synthetics we simply did not stink so strongly . We washed underwear frequently and though we only took baths weekly we washed our bodies twice daily with castille soap and everything we wore smelled of lavender sachets. I happily bought linens, silks and woolens from rummage sales in the 1950s and used fullers earth etc to improve their state and remodled some aspects. Because the quality was high I was presumed to be from a richer family. Then in the mid 60s Oxfam shops opened and we gorged on Tea dresses from the 1920/30s for 10p each . Now Oxfam has designers remaking garments for it's top end stores. Interesting to hear about how the USA managed to throw away their overconsumption past and now like us present
No, people still sweated and stank. But we were used to the odor and smoking was common, which deadened noses and covered up BO. Our noses filter out any odor that we smell too often -- that's why people who use scented products can't smell their own perfume-clouds while other people's eyes are watering from it. I work in a deli where the first batch of fried chicken smells wonderful but after half an hour we can't smell it at all anymore until we go on break and come back in.
I was an art student in the early 80s. There were still lots of very good quality vintage clothing available at low prices in the thrift stores. In the bohemian art world, building a wardrobe out of interesting unique used clothes was socially privileged over buying relatively "boring" new clothes, apart from the issue of expense. It crossed my mind that Rummage Sales for charity would have normalized purchasing used clothes for middle class women. You weren't buying a second hand because you couldn't afford new (true or not) you were simply "helping out."
As a teenager in the 80s my best friend and I were on the way to a gathering of some sort in another town. We stopped in at a second hand shop and bought ourselves full outfits, including hats, of "old lady clothes". I kept my outfit for a number of years but I wish I had understood it's worth. It was a beautifully made skirt and peplum top, genuine 1940s vintage! I have a photo of my grandmother and her sister wearing very similar tops with their lovely pant suits and I've loved the peplum style ever since.
Max Keezer’s in Cambridge, Massachusetts is essentially still in business. Max opened his brick-and-mortar store starting in 1895, but I believe he sold used clothing even before that. He sold it in 1978, and that owner operated it until 2017 and, I believe, sold those premises, but it still is going strong. So, only 2 owners in over 120 years. One of the reasons it has had success for so long is that it sold and rented formal men’s clothing. It could buy from wealthier Harvard students and then sell or rent to the less wealthy ones.
Up by The Clark there are shops like that, as least as of pre-2020... being so close to Williams College the stuff is capital 'N' Nice, and it was on the pricier side, but not nearly full new price
Went there a few times when looking for suits for a plays/films! Good to know they are still there. I loved the Salvation Army on Route 1 too. Garment District 'Buy the Pound' is still done too. Recently saw an influencer who thought it was new 😂
I guess because my parents grew up in the Depression, they considered receiving used items as “charity”. I remember my aunt giving us a bag of my older cousin’s clothes for me and I was thrilled to have so many new clothes! My parents were uncomfortable though and it was never repeated. It made me sad because I got so few new clothes every year. I didn’t care that they were hand me downs.
My parents grew up in the Depression and came away learning the opposite lesson -- Why spend big bucks on new clothes when the neighbors or our extended family members were regularly outgrowing their clothes. In fact, one of my younger cousins says she was around 11 years old before she understood that some people bought clothing at stores. From her experience, 'new' clothes always came to her from a bag in the closet.
Wow it’s so interesting to think about how now I’ll see a lot of really well to do people thrifting in manahatten because it’s become a really popular t thing to do here .
Oh no, Lumi got to you! I get big cult vibes from all their ads (Not the ad read you did, the prerecorded ones they directly put out). Careful you don't wakeup in a compound!
I struggle with the message Lumi gives. Our bodies have a natural smell; not everything should be deemed "body odor" which has a negative connotation. Why should we be ashamed of a natural musk. Sure there is the "BO" that we should keep dry to stop bacterial growth but that should be the end of the message. Health not shame.
@@rebekahslyter954 i don't mind deodorant, it's just something abut their ads, maybe the way the over-project when reading their lines, maybe it's how they're always acting like they're too busy to film a commercial and "just need to tell you something real quick while I peel these potatoes", or how they imply like showers are bad..... i don't know. i just get cult vibes. I actually tried them once. I put on the deodorant after finishing and shower and the scent was so bad I had to take another shower lol That said, I'm glad Nicole is getting paid ^_^
Oh, good. It’s not just me. The original ads were like a vid in themselves about how she set out to help people with medically significant odors. Fine. Skip. Does not apply, along with all the medication ads that pop up. Now we’ve speed segued right into “if every inch of your person does not smell like flowers, you are disgusting and offensive to those around you.” New chapter in body shaming, new manufactured insecurity to capitalize unlocked. /rant
When I was young the local church ran something called the clothes closet where you could either get clothes for free or for a nominal fee. There were many years my wardrobe other than underthings all came from the clothes closet.
YES!!! So glad you did the history of thrifting! Been thrifting since the 80's when it was still taboo in my small hometown. When I was in Florence, Italy for study abroad in 2005 there was still a lady selling clothing from a cart. I also read, "Dressing Renaissance Florence" by Carole Collier Frick while I was there. It says back in 1266, the Rigattieri, was the first retail guild formed for the first Florentine ready-to-wear market that sold second hand clothing, cloth, household linens, and related items [pg. 21]. Interesting how long reselling has been going on and sure even longer than we know! I remember reading in the book too about renting jewels for weddings. We had no tv so I read a lot when I wasn't in my art classes 😂
I studied at the University of Arizona in Tucson AZ back in the early 80s. There was a second hand shop there called the Buffalo Exchange that specialized in trendy and very lightly used clothing and accessories. (From what I understand, it's still there.) I got some of my favorite pieces there, and I kept them in good shape until my divorce, when my ex-husband threw them away. I love to peruse thrift stores, and also donate to them regularly.
There are Buffalo Exchange stores in the Bay Area, also. I think there are a couple of them in San Francisco, although it looks like the one I used to shop at in Berkeley has closed.
We currently have 3 second hand stores in our small town of 5000. One is charity based with volunteer workers, all items donated and all proceeds are given to individuals, community programs and victims of fires and flooding. The second is a consignment business that donates items that fail to sell or are rejected to charity. The third was previously started by a government supported facility called Career Development Center that provides career skills training to people with developmental disabilities. All items are donated. But now, although they continue to provide some skills training, the business is privately owned. Their prices used to reflect their purpose (provide affordable clothing to those in need). Now it's become over priced name brand crap fasion fest. Where the simple clothing gets dumped in the dumpster. It's rediculous.
Love thrifting. I was recently listening to an ep of Betwixt the Sheets, the historian did warn you can still get scabies from second hand items. She said to be safe the best practice is to immediately wash it on hot when you get it home ❤
When I was growing up in the 90s and early 2000s, wearing second-hand clothes (either thrifted or hand-me-downs from friends and family) was seen as an embarrassment and something you wouldn't want to boast about. Even now, my grandmother pulls a face if I mention that any of my clothes which she just complimented were from an op-shop. These days it is often seen as a point of pride when you have find those great gems in op-shop. When people remark on my outfit (usually early-40s inspired) and I tell them that most, if not all were op-shop (or made from op-shop materials), they are impressed. At this stage, almost everything in my wardrobe is second-hand or made from deadstock/destash sale/repurposed fabric, including all my old-lady nighties (some of which still have the room number from the retirement home of its previous owner on the label). Only my underwear and specific uniform items are purchased new.
@@dorismahoney1440 These aren't tape or iron-on labels, but a laundry marker used straight on the garment's original tag. But I am okay with that. I like knowing a little about my clothing's history and provenance. The nightgown I am wearing right now has "J. Olive Room 7" on the tag. I like to imagine Ms Olive wearing it during the last years of her life. The careful hand mending in one seam. Her loved ones visiting her for last goodbyes. Her family going through her things, trying to figure out who might want such an old fashioned nightie except another little old lady, so they donated it to the Busso Vinnies Op-Shop. And how Ms Olive might just smile at a woman in her 30s seeing a nightie on the rack, in a style that is decades out of date, and buying it without even trying it on. And I hope that Ms Olive's family know that her sleepwear (and Ms Olive's sewing skills!) are being loved and cherished by someone else out there.
I used to work at a resale store and some of the issues around second hand clothing of people think they’re being cheated and people being really ashamed of buying and selling clothing. Honestly what you talked about with the history, sounds very similar to resale stores today.
Another issue with thrifting is the matter of plus-size clothing. Too many thin thrifters buy up plus-size clothing to remake it into smaller garments, leaving actual fat people with even fewer options. Which is terrible because a) we already have far, far fewer options in new clothing, b) we necessarily wear most of our clothes to rags, so precious little gets to the second-hand market at all, and c) we face both higher clothing costs and lower wages, so we have a greater need for thrifty options than thin people. Please, please stick to your size when thrifting! Leave the bigger garments on the rack for the people who literally cannot fit into something else.
What are your thoughts on using larger women’s sizes for maternity? I’m just curious because I’m planning on returning them to the resale ecosystem once I’m done with having kids without them being adjusted.
What about using men’s clothing for the purpose of resizing? I hear you about the availability of sizing but also certain “looks” require going from larger fabric into smaller gathers or such
@@JustanotheranonEmess Regarding maternity wear: You'd be adding wear-and-tear to the garment. Even if you return it to a resale shop, you'd have taken wear time away from someone who has few options. The most I can say is that it's a lot less harmful than cutting them down. But it's not harm-free. Regarding men's clothing: Fat men also have limited options. So before you alter that garment down in size, consider what's more important: your ability to achieve a fashion look, or a fat person's ability to have a garment of any kind that covers their nakedness?
When i was a child way back , Goodwill would hire disabled and NOT reject broken things like clothing with a rip or appliances that needed repair to resale . It used to be cheap and idk about your area but Goodwill isn't all that cheap and hasn't been in my area. Clothes for nothing costing 1/2 to 2/3 rd it's original cost .
I LOVE your history “lessons”. It’s so much fun to see the route that things like thrifting has taken from its start to where it is now. We as a family love to donate our favorite used clothing to friends and thrift stores- usually Good Will. And the college kids like to sift through other people’s clothing at Good Will! It’s an excellent place to shop for things you don’t want to spend a lot of money for! Halloween costumes, wedding decor, picture frames, etc It’s also fun to just treasure hunt every once in a while! 😂
An aside about the rag collectors - my grandfather was a rag man in the East End of London - rags would be collected and sold to paper mills in bulk, where the rags would be pulped and processed and make into cheap, tough packing paper. My grandfather specialised in collecting the leftover scraps from the local tailors' shops - they all knew him and everyone spoke and conducted all their transactions in yiddish, and these were relationships that lasted decades
I love consignment/second hand stores. At minimum I can usually find cheap sheets/curtains/towels, but also usually t-shirts. I can buy typically 2 shirts at a consignment store for the same price as a big box store such as Walmart, and they will last longer than new ones. 90% of the t-shirts I buy at Walmart end up with holes in them within a few months. We try to donate anything good we no longer want/need/can wear to my cousin who runs a community clothing closet. Anything we can't donate to her we usually try to cut up and use as rags for cleaning, so at least they don't end up in a landfill
For years there was a stigma attached to second-hand items here in Switzerland, as if you "couldn't afford new" if you went to such a shop. But it's more acceptable here now. I grew up aboard, knowing things like garage/yard sales, boot sales (UK) & charity shops, so I'm glad it's becoming more common here at last!
My parents and many members of my family have "thrifted" all their lives. I would point out that even using new cloth, sewing is a form of thrifting as well.
I don’t know why this has to be said, but….Wash your clothes before donating. It’s absolutely vile how much clothing gets donated that has food stains, mouse poop, cat pee, et cetera on it (approximately 70% of what I sort through is unsellable). You want your clothing to have value? Make it have value. Clean clothes sell. Dirty, stained clothes get thrown away.
It's kind of worse, kind of not. The ones in car parks/parking lots the world over go to be weighed in for money at specialist recycling centres, then they get shredded, compacted and shipped off to be turned into stuffing for sofas. The big name charity shops/thrift stores sort the sellable from the worn and weigh in the latter. The second hand clothes which end up in second hand thrift stores and in Nigeria are stolen. In Europe a charity will put a bag for your old clothes through the letterbox and then go around with a van picking up. The thieves target rich areas and either give fake bags or they work out when pick up for legit charities are and go on ahead of them. Charities ask you not to leave bags outside if they are closed because they'll be gone by the morning.
Some folks could care less. Sometimes I need to declutter. Not waiting forever to rid myself of unwanted items-peper charity. At this point there are to many clothes. Just try buying less.
@@dorismahoney1440 'Couldn't care less' I come from a background where all my clothes have been home made my entire life, so sit hovering above the moral high ground waving down on you all on this issue having bought no clothing in 45 years. Clothing as a concept is fine, the issue today is how the cloth is manufactured and if it is biodegradable or not. Fast fashion is the problem here, as is us in the west dumping our unwanted polyester on other countries. It's not a snippy 'just buy less' that will fix this, it's 'buy higher quality'.
A lot of people in Tanzania where I lived for a while actually work in the imported 2nd hand clothing business. There is no local textile industry (the 'African' prints are Dutch I believe) so buying wholesale lots in Dar and reselling back in your village is a way for women particularly to earn an independent income. They have to bid for bundles at the wholesale market and if the quality of the clothes inside is poor the bundle most of the items will end up in landfill and the entrepeneur ends up out of pocket. The best thing we can do is supply good quality used clothing including footwear that we no longer use or need. Of course the printed textile business also employs huge numbers of solo workers like the machinists who sew fabulous 18th century-derived dresses both long and knee length on antique pedal operated machines. To your own design. It's honestly awesome.
This reminded me to check a couple of thrifted finds I had bagged with baking soda to reduce that disinfectant smell. One's ready to wash for wear, and one needs more time to marinate. I rarely buy first-run clothes, but I'm chemically sensitive, so there's a longer process before things can go on my body.
I like to hang my over-FeBreezed finds outdoors for anything from a few days to a couple weeks depending on the weather. Assuming that the fabric will stand it. Shade for colors that might fade, but in the sun if I can. There's nothing like sunshine, wind, and maybe a light rainshower for getting the nasty chemical perfumes out. (I've never been able to convince my sister that FeBreeze doesn't kill odors, it just overpowers them with it's own stink).
Thanks for such a thorough history of thrifting.. I'd only ever read of wealthy women occasionally handing down clothes to a flavoured maid. It's interesting that the wealthy sold clothes as long as they were moved interstate and that a lot of clothes were pawned - I've learnt so much 👍🌷🌷🌷
I know the topic of discussion is "thrifted clothes", but I'm still on the hunt for cast iron and glass figurines. I don't resell, I just love cooking with vintage cast iron, and anything made of iridescent glass just makes me happy!
I started thrifting back in the late 80s/early 90s when I was in my late teens going into college. Back then, it was so weird how most everyone I mentioned it to (ESPECIALLY my parents) were always like 'Ew! You're wearing other people's clothes?!'. Which was especially weird as I knew many of them -- my parents included -- donated their old clothes to charities ALL THE DAMN TIME. WHO DID THEY THINK WAS GOING TO WEAR THOSE DONATED CLOTHES? NO ONE? (I think it was a classist thing, tbh) Anyway, it was definitely socially taboo, but I loved it -- especially the vintage clothes from the 70s I'd pick up from there (bell bottoms had come back in briefly when I was started college in 1991, so I just bought bell bottoms from the 70s instead, for example). Now it's become super trendy and, unfortunately, WAAAAY over-priced and picked-over due to the flood of re-sellers (which no shade to them in general -- I used to sell clothes on eBay back in the day in the early 2000s to help pay my rent, but it's just gotten a bit much lately). Very sad.
Fast fashion has put so much stuff out there for waste, that even 10 years ago, the Salvation Army my M-i-l worked for in the Mississippi Delta, aka the POOREST place in the US, had over 6 shipping containers full of clothes. Two of them were 100% cotton clothes that were torn up or not salable like undershirts and being literally being left to rot to turn into rags for paper. The other 4 were waiting until gas prices went down enough that they could afford trucks to come and haul them off to be shipped overseas. Before she got fired for not attending their church, there was talk of trying to just ship them to a landfill. Don't dump cheap, torn/stained stuff on charities, they don't want it and can't use it and you may even be costing them money to dispose of it.
My mom's cousin is getting up there in age, she's in her 80s and her husband is maybe later-ish 80s. He grew up pretty poor in Texas, I think he had a large family. 7, 8 siblings. The family couldn't afford to buy new jeans and pants for each boy every year, so there were a lot of hand me downs. Holes included. He's absolutely FLOORED now that holes in pants are a thing that's "cool". They used to be made fun of; now it's hot fashion.
I use to love second hand stores: unique stuff, prices that fit my small budget... but now it's often same price or more pricey the other stores... 😢 I feel bad to buy new stuff because there is so much clothes in the world and it creates so much pollution but buy old looking (sometimes strained) clothes for the price of new ones is... ridiculous.
In my town we have a thriving clothes bank. Anyone can go, either swap or just take stuff. Yes some people may sell on but it's very ordinary stuff. So it's great for me on a budget and someone who will customise.
In the book "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith, children who combed the NY city streets, gutters and open areas for bits of fabric and paper were called "Rag Pickers". There was an adult "broker" who bought these bits from the kids. The child pickers usually made enough to buy small treats like candy. This book was written in the 20's or 30's about the 1900's and 1910's. It's about the immigrant experience of that period and about how they took root. The tree in the title is a mimosa I believe. I might be off a bit on the timing but its somewhere near these dates. Betty Smith was living in Chapel Hill North Carolina when she was writing this book. I got to take field notes of the historic house she was renting at the time which is on Rosemary Street.
12:31 growing up there was a lot of stigma around thrifting and hand me downs still. It was for “poor people “. Which a lot of poor people have depended on it for a long time. But now it’s cool and trendy. But because there are scalpers in the second hand market and people over buying for haul videos etc etc prices have gone up so a lot of people are pushed towards extra fast fashion and now the second hand market is being saturated with low quality clothing as well
The old nursery rhyme "Pop goes the whistle" talks about it, as that means selling your coat as there is no money at home. I love weird facts like that.❤
I’m retired and far from rich, but I rarely buy clothes from thrift stores because I believe that people who are genuinely broke should have the chance to buy them. (As a retiree, I rarely need new clothes.) I do donate clothes in good shape that I no longer need, because plus-sized sections in thrift stores often have limited selections.
My local thrift store only takes the good stuff from what is donated, and they can re-sell the less nice donated clothes to places like Goodwill or Value Village. So just because your local store doesn't ship things themselves doesn't mean that things you donate won't get sold. (With women's clothes when I sorted - although they have more space now so it might be less strict - it basically had to be like new. With men's clothing you could be a bit less strict, but either way if it was really out of style or just really odd it won't be put out on the floor, because then it was taking space away from something that would sell faster.)
I have used our local kids consignment store because they donate what they don't want to the Boys and Girls Club. We do this with cloths, shoes and toys. I donate books to my local library to sell so they can fund more children's programs.
