02 May Adventures in Thrifting – Recap

This weekend was the inaugural Adventures in Thrifting and we had a blast. I met up with four readers for a day of thrift shopping. We hit up the “Big Three” on East 23rd Street: Goodwill, Housing Works and Salvation Army. Here’s a peek at what I found.

We started at Goodwill where everything with a green tag was 50 percent off. I found a ton of goodies in less than 30 minutes.

These Nicole Miller peep toes had me at hello. Believe it or not I don’t have any red pumps, so I was hardcore crushing on these. They were only $12…but they were too big!

I loved this multicolored Diane von Furstenberg top but I wasn’t in love with it so I left her on the rack for another thrifty chick to pick her up. $7.99

You never know what you’ll find thrift shopping, like this brand spankin new pair of Alice + Olivia pants. Originally $297, they were marked down to $19.99, less than 10% of the original cost. They were too big…

However, I did get a white babydoll dress for $4. I’ll be sure to show it off in an upcoming Thrifty Threads post.

Our next stop was two doors down to the Salvation Army. This had to be the worst Salv I’ve ever been to. The racks were half empty. The clothes that were on the racks were blah. The woman working the register was a bit mean. Needless to say, we only stayed for a few minutes. I’ve recommeneded a few of my favorite thrift stores in NYC but this location will not be on the list.

Moving on…

We crossed the street for some Housing Works action. The store is spacious and easy to navigate. I wasn’t really on the hunt for any new clothes, so I went directly to the jewelry counter. I guess I’m in a serious brooch phase because I purchased four of them for $32. The owl one is actually a magnet but I plan to convert it to a brooch by adding a clasp to the back.

Since Salvation Army was such a bust, we dipped in to City Opera Thrift Shop, just two doors down. The prices were pretty comparable to Housing Works’ {around $15-$25 for clothing}. My big eyes immediately scoped out a pair of platform heels. I love, love, love the wooden heel and the studs. At $35, this is my most “expensive” thrift store purchase to date, but they were well worth it.

This is just a quick recap of what I found on this first adventure. Be sure to check back on Wednesday for video of what some of my readers scored on the outing. Psst: one lucky lady found a Calvin Klein sequin dress for less than $10.

And I’ll also announce the date for the next Adventures in Thrifting, this one’s for the thrift store newbies.