As part of my two week holiday in England, I take my mom, a thrift store junkie like me, thrifting at the Salvation Army shop off Oxford Street in London. 
You can try on clothes behind a flimsy looking curtain on a shower ring. Picture my mom and me squeezed together shoehorning our ways into respective dresses whilst avoiding flashing the men perusing the men's section next to us with a vagrant boob or bottom. Yikes.
My mom tries on a dress, with a geometric blue print on it - sighs and gives me the wise advice that "ladies over the age of 40 should never wear puff sleeves". I take that is a no then. Then it is my turn, I manage to try my dress avoiding indecent exposure by having my mom clutch the curtains closed. It is a winner. Mom just goes OOOOoooooooooo and I think, gosh that is pretty nice. We put our clothes back on, and my mom treats me to the dress, we leave triumphant. A gorgeous Laura Ashley - with a 50% discount on the thrift shop price- a grand total of £12.50 (£20).
The fabric is gorgeous with the loveliest floral print.
I love it when you try on some thrift and it fits like a glove. I think this is a pretty fenomenal find. I cannot wait to wear it!
Such is the beauty of thrifting, you must sift through loads of random things until you can find that diamond. What are your once in a lifetime thrift finds?
The London Salvation Army shop is large, with women's and men's clothes, homewares, books, shoes, and also accessories.
Address: 18 Great Peter Street
For the love of thrift rating (from 1 to 10):
Selection: 7
Presentation: 7
Niceness of staff: 7
Selection: 7
Presentation: 7
Niceness of staff: 7
Bargain factor (ie pricing): 8
Thrift turnover: unknown
What is also rather delightful about these dressers is that you can tell they are from the Scottish Highlands. You can tell that from the second item of the pair. These dressers are shorter than most dressers - so that they could fit under the eaves (the slopey roof part) of the houses (farmers' cottages) in the area back in the day. The mirror part of the first piece was probably added at a later period. My mom bought these in a second hand furniture shop in the Isle of Skye. 
On a totally different note, here is my mom's gorgeous art deco walnut cabinet. She bought this at an antique warehouse in Glasgow next to the Clyde river. I love the colour. Aptly, the beautiful woman in the photo in the middle, is my grandmother, who had a love for all things antique.
In order to keep with the theme of Fortheloveofthrift, my mom has patiently obliged to model her two best thrift finds. She bought these in Blackheath, London at the local charity shop - Cancer Research UK, for £8 (or $15). They are made of silk, are reversible and she's had a ton of comments on them. I think she looks fabulous in them.
Then the ivory side, very stylish classic mother:
Then the black jacket, very sexy sophisticated classy mama:
And then the pink side, a rather reluctant and giggly model, my "I-look-like-a-giant-strawberry" mother! I don't think she'll be wearing the jacket on this side..... 
Quite a few I believe. This Sunday, a stall in Hells Kitchen fleamarket had a huge pile of dresses, all for $5 each. Once I saw it, I quickly packed the boyfriend to the neighboring cafe to read his newspaper - he's such a good man! I knew this was going to take time and skill. I went rummaging elbow deep next to a couple of other thrifters and checked out a few nice dresses, all too large, until I spotted these two. I couldn't try them on, but I didn't care, from looking at them I knew I was golden:
Shoes - thrifted at Housing Works (Upper west side)
I'm hoping the thrift gods have smiled upon you and you're carrying at least one bag. Keep walking on Columbus and go to the 
Stroll North on Columbus and admire the Natural History Museum. Once you've had your culture fix, it is time for the second thrift store of the day - the 