I
feel like I am admitting to a dirty, little secret: I have been shopping at Value Village
(Say it like Va Loo Va Lage, it sounds fancy)
lately … for clothes. (Funny
that no one ever admits to that … )
I
have no problem garbage picking or garage sale-ing, but in both of these, I just
take household items. Things I can
bleach and scrub. Used clothing has
always been hard for me to wrap my head around.
The hardest thing for me is the fact that I am a germaphobe to a certain
degree. If I can bleach it I will take
it, (i.e. a trolley) obviously, coloured clothing items can’t be bleached, so
shopping for second hand clothing has always been a bit an odd endeavour for
me.
As
I have lost thirty pounds, I have been walking around with the arse of my dress
pants dragging down to my knees; not attractive, nor professional. And let’s be frank, I am on a very tight
budget. I had done a clothing swap last year,
which was awesome; free clothes, right up my alley! (I had no problem wearing my friend’s
clothes, as my germaphobe-ness knows my friends are clean people!) In the interim, I recently started shopping
at Value Village.
One
fateful day last fall, a friend of me asked me if I wanted to go with her to Value Village,
I said sure, as I was bored and had nothing to do. I wandered through the household section as I
normally do. My friend was digging in
the racks of clothes. I started following
her around chatting and as I did, I started to peruse the racks. I was surprised how new stuff looked. In some cases, the original store tags were
still on some items. I also really like
the prices, $4.99 for a nice shirt, $7.99 for a pair of jeans. I was hooked!
… Sorta. I had a hard time the
first few times trying clothes on in the dressing room, I just kept hoping and
praying the person who owned the items before had washed the items. (Which they did, I am sure, as all of the
clothing smelt good, no funky odours.)
Since
then, I have become quite good at digging through the racks pulling out new
items, or nearly new items. I also have
become a HUGE fan of their 50% off Mondays, which seem to happen once every other
month. (If you join their Super Savings
email list, you get to go in on the Sunday before hand to beat the traffic!).
Some
of my favourite purchases to date:
Alfred
Sung Grey Dress - $12.99
Steve
Madden Clutch - $3.99
Buffalo Jeans - $12.99. I paid $9.09 as I had a 30% off coupon. Brand
new, never washed or worn, I could tell.
Tags were removed though.) I looked
them up, they are regular $118.
Funky
necklace - $3.99 (I get a ton of compliments on this, I love it)
I
have yet to purchase shoes. My
germaphobe ways won’t allow it. You have
to stick your bare foot in a used shoe. (Ladies
dress shoes, that is.) You can’t really
scrub a shoe, or throw it in the washing machine. (I once caught Athlete’s Foot trying on shoes
as Winners. Gross. And it hurt.
True story. This added to my
germaphobia.)
Non clothing related: I LOVE my lighthouse candleholder. $4.99.
Non clothing related: I LOVE my lighthouse candleholder. $4.99.
Going
out and scouring clearance racks for $20 or $30 pants is not in the cards for
me. I’d rather spend $30 and get two
pairs of pants, a sweatshirt and two shirts that are new or nearly new.
Few
tips for shopping at Value
Village:
Do
not be embarrassed. Many people shop
here. For some reason, people don’t talk
about it much.
Try
not to be too germaphoby. Every clothing
article seems to be washed before hand.
I like to think of it this way.
If someone was kind enough to donate an item, they most likely washed it
before hand. Seriously, even the jeans
are not all stretched out like they were worn for the day before being discarded. If
your are really germaphoby plan to shower afterwards. (Really, though the clothing is no different
then trying on in a store that sells only new stuff.)
Wear
socks. The change room floors for some
reason are really dusty.
Be
prepared to dig. Everything is well
organized, by size and clothing type.
But you have to search through each item.
If
you see something you like, buy it then.
The store is only one ofs, so if someone buys it while you sit there
hmming and hawing, you will miss out!
Chances are, if you like it, someone else will too.
Keep
in mind all proceeds go to help a charity, often the Canadian Diabetes
Association.