Words About Things

The increasingly popular practice of thrifting is defined as shopping for second-hand goods at thrift stores or flea markets.  Thrifting is a great way to get deals on gently used clothing, furniture, decorations and other items.

Shopping at thrift stores, flea markets or other second hand shops, otherwise known as thrifting, is becoming an increasingly popular way to find great items at a low price.  Thrifting is beneficial to both the buyer, who can get what they need inexpensively, the seller, who gets money for their unused items, and the environment, as fewer things are thrown away.

Shopping in thrift stores can get you great deals on many different types of items including clothes, furniture, and decorations.  When you first start shopping at thrift stores, the quantity of things available and high turnover can be overwhelming, but there are many ways to wade through the choices.  Thrifting is a great skill to have and plenty of tips and methods exist if you’re new to the art of thrifting.

The best thing you can do when shopping at thrift stores is get to know the employees.  Employees usually know the inner workings of their stores.  If you’re looking for something specific, they can keep an eye out for you and let you know if they see what you want.  They can also give you tips such as what when new inventory is put out or sale days.

When you find a thrift store you like, you should always find out what days they put out new inventory as well as if they have sale days.  Some stores have a couple days every week when they put out their new donations and shopping first thing on these days is a great way to get first pick.  Sale days are usually designed to clear out the store before they add new inventory and are a great way to get deals that are even better than regular thrift store prices.  Keep in mind that stores may be more crowded on both sale days and days when they restock.

It is also a good idea to visit several different thrift stores and go multiple times a week.  Thrift stores are constantly putting out new items and sometimes you can go to a thrift store, find nothing and then come back the next day and find some great deals.

Adding to your wardrobe doesn’t have to be done exclusively via thrift & charity shops. Most keen thrifters keep a close eye out for closing down and High Street sales opportunities. You should also be able to find a number of factory outlet shops in your area that sell last season’s clothes or slightly damaged gear – these shops can often be a goldmine for cheap, yet stylish clothes. If you are trying to be frugal then take full advantage of online opportunities; most High Street stores now run loyalty schemes, which can include a wide range of discount and voucher codes for selected items, as well as a points-style system which you can accrue for those really have-to-buy products.

If you’re looking to save money by thrifting, you should also make a plan before you actually shop.  Set a budget and go in with an idea of what you want to buy.  If you go in with no plan or budget, you run the risk of buying things that you don’t need or can’t use simply because they were inexpensive.  Buying things you won’t use is a waste of money and leads to more clutter.

Before you go thrifting, you will also need to educate yourself on quality.  When you know what a quality item looks like, it is easier to tell if you’re truly getting a good deal.  Spending very little money on an item that falls apart tomorrow is going to be a waste of both your money and time.  Pay attention to the quality of the items your buying and always take the time to evaluate the condition they’re in.  Thrifting can be fun and rewarding as well as frugal.  It may take a bit of work, but with some effort, you can find a number of great deals on anything you’re looking for.

The Mayor of a town in the south of Italy has taken the idea of ‘fashion police’ to a new level by banning women from wearing miniskirts that are ‘too short’. Mayor Luigi Bobbio feels that short skirts and exposed cleavage will harm the reputation of Castellammare di Stabia a resort town on the south coast. The new law was put to the vote and passed, women wearing skirts which law enforcement officers deem to be too short will be handed a €300 fine.

too short?

The ban comes as part of Bobbio’s move to enforce matters of ‘public decorum’ including swearing and playing football in the street. Opponents to the new law say that it is chauvinist and treats women like public objects:

“By equating women’s clothing with urban decorum, this measure implies women are no more than benches or hedges. This turns the clock back years for women and undermines all our victories.” – Councillor Angela Cortese.

The decision on what will be considered too much cleavage or too short a skirt will be left to police officers. On the spot fines will also be given to those who wear swimming costumes anywhere public apart from the beach. Female members of the opposition Democratic Party held a “Mini-skirt Day” rally in protest of the new law.

Interestingly the power to create local laws was handed to mayors by Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi who is famous for having an eye for the ladies.

There’s no doubting that the denim jean came of age in the 1950′s along with the invention of the teenager and the angst that goes with feeling like an adult but being treated like a child. All the main 50′s icons wore jeans (well, the male ones at least) including Marlon Brando and the most iconic rebel of them all James Dean. But new evidence suggests that the fabric has been around a lot longer than you might imagine.

It’s a well known fact that jeans were originally created to be worn by Cowboys who needed a hard wearing fabric that was as tough as they were. Like a lot of well known facts this isn’t strictly true. Cowboys did wear jeans, they lasted a lot longer than trousers and could be worn for long periods of time without being washed, but the fabric was around a long time before cowboys existed. There are claims that Levi Strauss invented the modern jean in 1873. Again, this is sort of true but people had been wearing Denim for at least 100 years before the USA even existed.

The word Denim comes from the French phrase ‘de Nîmes‘ as in ‘of Nîmes’ (a city in the South of France. The word Jeans comes from the French Gênes which refers to Genoa in Italy. So is Denim from France or Italy? Well we don’t know for sure but some paintings which have recently come to light seem to suggest Italy:

Three paintings have come to light in which the unknown artist, believed to be from northern Italy, depicts scenes in the 1650s in which ordinary people are wearing what appears to be an early denim fabric.

In one picture, a peasant woman, wearing a skirt that appears to be made of denim, mends a piece of clothing. In another, a teenage girl wearing a torn blue skirt made out of rough fabric, begs for money. The third depicts a young boy wearing a torn jacket made from a dark blue cloth. The rips in the jacket, and in the peasant woman’s skirt, reveal that the fabric is indigo but threaded with white – just like modern jeans.

Previously historians relied on the order books of English tailors to backdate the fabric.This is the first pictorial evidence of people wearing jeans in the 17th century, the paintings were thought to have been painted in the 1650′s 300 years before James Dean made jeans cool.