What a fun concept! I see the same trends by my house: higher prices and poorer quality clothing. Gone are the days of finding a vintage Coach bag for $30 and a 50s sun dress for $7. I have better luck with finding clothing in rural areas. It’s great that gen Z is so into thrifting, but I resent the competition for vintage denim, T-shirts, and sweatshirts by my house. 👀
Eleanor and nice to meet you, Kara! I have also noticed that the generations have flipped in the thrift stores (I'm on the west coast of Canada), and now most of the "vintage" is 90s fast fashion (still better than modern FF). So much crappy plastic Shein and other garbage clothes, though. Seeing "mall brands" like Express in "boutique" sections/prices is depressing.
Great scores! Eddie Bauer vintage is very good quality, nice and thick. Zipper pulls are not hard to replace, Eleanor - you can buy them in sewing shops, but check to see if you have a jump ring situation or if you're stuck with the zipper "as is." Watch out for 90s leather, as this is when it started to get poorer in quality - leather skirts and clothes were HUGE in the early 90s, and much of the leather is pigskin (look for tiny dots vs even non-dot texture, flip the leather inside out if you can to check), which goes hard over time, and can rip.
We have Salvation Army, Value Village and a local brand (Women in Need/WIN) in my city. Prices have gone up in the last 5 years, but are still actual thrift prices (lower than what you both noted). Many of the local consignment stores in Victoria have items on their sale racks that are cheaper than "boutique" prices in thrift stores. It pays to shop in ALL secondhand shops, from thrift to high-end consignment!
100% agree with RFC’s assessment of the timeline of thrifts and vintage over the past 20 years! I mourn the pristine silk shell blouses left on the racks, assuming they’d always be there.
A dream collab!
What a fun concept! I see the same trends by my house: higher prices and poorer quality clothing. Gone are the days of finding a vintage Coach bag for $30 and a 50s sun dress for $7. I have better luck with finding clothing in rural areas. It’s great that gen Z is so into thrifting, but I resent the competition for vintage denim, T-shirts, and sweatshirts by my house. 👀
Eleanor and nice to meet you, Kara! I have also noticed that the generations have flipped in the thrift stores (I'm on the west coast of Canada), and now most of the "vintage" is 90s fast fashion (still better than modern FF). So much crappy plastic Shein and other garbage clothes, though. Seeing "mall brands" like Express in "boutique" sections/prices is depressing.
Great scores! Eddie Bauer vintage is very good quality, nice and thick. Zipper pulls are not hard to replace, Eleanor - you can buy them in sewing shops, but check to see if you have a jump ring situation or if you're stuck with the zipper "as is." Watch out for 90s leather, as this is when it started to get poorer in quality - leather skirts and clothes were HUGE in the early 90s, and much of the leather is pigskin (look for tiny dots vs even non-dot texture, flip the leather inside out if you can to check), which goes hard over time, and can rip.
We have Salvation Army, Value Village and a local brand (Women in Need/WIN) in my city. Prices have gone up in the last 5 years, but are still actual thrift prices (lower than what you both noted). Many of the local consignment stores in Victoria have items on their sale racks that are cheaper than "boutique" prices in thrift stores. It pays to shop in ALL secondhand shops, from thrift to high-end consignment!
Excellent article, thank you, both!
100% agree with RFC’s assessment of the timeline of thrifts and vintage over the past 20 years! I mourn the pristine silk shell blouses left on the racks, assuming they’d always be there.
The Jonathan Martin silk button-ups!! 😭
Thanks for the reminder to visit a DI this summer—they ARE always clean!