The art of Thrifting….

According to the dictionary, the act of being thrifty revolves around the careful and diligent use of resources. During the excessive culture of the 80’s and the 90’s thriftiness was associated with austerity and portrayed as miserly, but as with most notions, fashions and ideals, these things often go full circle and come round again – from geek to chic, as it were. As we move into a new decade, the beginning of which was marked by a global financial crisis of unprecedented levels, it is easy to see why such old fashioned ideals once again become prevalent, especially when modern connotations of ‘greenness’ and recycling are introduced.

In recent years thrifting has jumped from the eclectic, somewhat ‘trustafarian’, indie underground to more mainstream culture. In a nutshell thrifting is essentially about the art of bargain hunting. Most regular thrifters spend their time hunting through charity shops, flea markets and second hand shops for various items of vintage clothing like 50’s style dresses or all-sorts of 70’s hippy gear.

Of course thrifting doesn’t always have to be about fashion and clothes. Most charity shops sell all sorts of odd & sods, if you look hard enough and regularly enough you can find all sorts of bargains, even antiques in some cases. You can often find a huge rang of valuable items including books, works of art, ornaments, tables, chairs and bits of furniture. The best thing about regularly trawling charity shops and auctions is that you never know what you might find. Second hand shops in big metropolitan areas like London often have the odd piece of designer wear on the racks – always keep your eyes out.

Recently thrifting has started to gain quite a following, especially in America where it is achieving a semi kitsch-like cult status. One website I must recommend for all those entering the world of thrifting is www.painfulyhip.com. You simply got to love the eclectic mix of modern day fashion and retro gear.

Here are some of Diane’s top thrifting tips…

1) Shop out of season. If you’re looking for a winter coat shop for it in the summer, and vice-versa if you’re looking for a couple of nice summer dresses then shop in the winter.

2) Shop regularly and often. Things come in and out of thrift shops at a quick rate, so make sure you don’t miss that essential piece by going regularly.

3) Be selective. Just because it’s cheap doesn’t mean that you need it, never relinquish your fashion principles just because it’s cheap.

4) Flirting apparently can help tremendously with weak-willed shopping attendants, especially when you want a bit of a discount.

Of course there are certain items that you may not want to thrift for, in-fact it would be totally gross to thrift for lingerie, underwear and socks – Ugh that would just be filthy, god knows who’s been wearing them or what they’ve been up to. When it comes to these items it’s best to buy them fresh from your more traditional high street retailer.