Thrifting and Hal's new blog

My brother Hal now has a blog with the Desert Sun here in the Coachella Valley. It involves thrift shopping. This is a guy who finds suits for less than 100 bucks and they are 3000 dollar suits. So he is obviously doing something right. Recently there was a couple of wet noodlistas who griped when he said he had no use for those stupid boutique "thrift" shops and did not frequent them. So he got some negative feedback about it and even though he was nice to these lamebrains, they STILL posted as if he were sacrificing his first born to Moloch or something. Sheesh. 

I am an avid thrifter and have my own pointers concerning thrifting. So here are a few of them:

1. Do not buy something because you think it might have value. It might be a knockoff of what you think it is and then you are stuck with some over priced piece of shlock. 

2. Buy something because you love it. I bought a painting I loved and then thought it might be worth something. Ok, I would sell it for a million. I only paid 10 bucks for it. I found out it is probably worth 10 bucks. I love it and would not sell it for a thousand. But a million? It's yours. 

3. Unless you are absolutely nuts about it do not buy anything that is made in China. Unless it costs a buck or less you probably can get it at the 99 cents store. Trust me. And nope, I didn't buy the made in China stuff. But I DO buy Made in the USA, Japan or occupied Japan. And England and Germany sometimes have cute things for sale. 

4. If you HAVE to have it buy it NOW. It WILL be gone tomorrow. Yes, I DO know. 

5. Will you remember it a year from now and kick yourself because you did not buy it? Or will you not remember it a week from now?

6. Is it you something that you will never be able to part with or will it end up in a yard sale? 

7. Do NOT buy it if it does not fit. The only exception is couture with a Paris label CHEAP or totally cool vintage stuff for your collection. If it says made in China it is not vintage. Trust me. 

8. If you buy books do so to READ them. And the vast majority of old books do not sell. Do you know how many gazillion "antique books" from the turn of the 19th century there are? And do you know HOW boring they are and how there is not really a market for them? Btw, almost all coffee table books are overpriced. 

Remember to check yard sales.

One last thing, if  you are out of the area, the thrift stores and yard sales in Hollywood are "da bomb." You have creative people with eclectic collections. You also have rich people who redecorate and donate to thrift stores. The best thrift stores there are the Out Of The Closets. The best one is on Sunset one block east of Vine. There is also a Goodwill on Vine one block north of Santa Monica Blvd that sometimes have goodies ( I found a vintage Vicky Tiel with a Paris label for under 10 bucks and hey, it is leopard print! ). 

One last thing, if you go to Universal Studios they have a store there which sells clothes from tv shows and movies. I saw some "Will and Grace" stuff there.Of course it is all size 0 but if you are out visiting from Nebraska and buy something from a favorite soap then that is braggin' rights back on the farm. 

Another great place for thrifting is the Coachella Valley ( Palm Springs and Indio ). I like the Revivals and Angel View on 111 in Cathedral City. And check out the estate sales and rummage sales in the area. So if you take a vacation to the Southland maybe you might find some treasures. And check out the craigslist in your area for yards sales. 

Happy thrifting!

SAC