Just when you thought Barack Obama couldn’t get any cooler… The always dapper President made an incredibly charming appearance on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon last night. They broadcast the show from the University of North Carolina campus, as Obama was mainly there to talk about his push to preserve current student loan rates (yes, Read more →
The woes of adapting to a new season never seem to end when you’re short on savings and want everything that shows up on the runways. It’s tough to update a wardrobe without spending a ton, especially in this city. The key is prioritizing: decide what’s worth splurging on, what you’re going to skip (you don’t need to sport EVERY trend–you’ll look maniacal), and what’s trendy but not worth a large price tag. Easier said than done? Here’s a guide to some of the season’s biggest looks from easily-accessible retailers, all under $50 (with a few exceptions).
To most people who grew up outside of the metropolitan area, “thrift store” means cheap clothes that are quick fixes for an empty wallet and a starving wardrobe. A Salvation Army or local hospital charity store will yield sometimes cool and vintage-looking items for about $5; I spent most of high school scrounging secondhand places and the one vintage store in an hour radius of my hometown (where I once got a floor-length leopard fur coat for $40).
You can imagine my surprise, then, when I first moved to New York a few years ago and discovered that even Goodwill can be overpriced. An old tee that would normally cost $2 would be marked up to $20, and forget even looking at anything labeled “vintage”–even my grandmother’s muumuu can fetch $60 in certain Manhattan boutiques. I despaired. How else was I supposed to dress myself? I missed the thrill of the hunt, the sifting through musty men’s button downs and neon track jackets to uncover the perfect _____(insert heart’s desire). Plus, I liked being able to go shopping and not spend tons of money.
Though it’s taken me awhile, I eventually found few places that deserve the thrifty label, where I can nab four or five pieces for under $30 (as I did this weekend). Here are some of the city’s hidden secondhand gems (and some more well-known ones that are just plain awesome).
On Halloween, the Times reported that Goodwill is trying to change its image into more of a consignment shop rather than a place of “charity” by hosting fashion shows online, and promoting good deals on the blog DC Goodwill Fashionista. And now, the Wall Street Journal says consignment shops as a whole are doing incredibly Read more →
We’ve been meaning to go through our closet lately, since every drawer seems to have a six-inch high padding of “maybe I’ll wear it” clothes that never sees the outside world. So good thing Banana Republic’s giving us a reason to get going. Who: Banana Republic and Goodwill What: Their second annual sweater and coat Read more →
