Paperback thrifter

In the heart of Soho, on sleepy Crosby street, lies one of the most unique thrift stores in the city. Unbeknown to the hordes of tourists on the neighboring Broadway, lies a thrift book store haven complete with its own cafe. Housing Works book store is in a beautiful building of typical Soho architecture. The store is very large and has a great book collection - all second hand.

For the casual browser, the books are curated into helpful sections at the front of the bookstore, wittily described:

As well as being a fabulous bookstore, Housing works bookstore is also a great place to work, study and meet friends. It has a fabulous cafe, complete with Wi-Fi, and a great cafe where you ca grab a coffee or a cold beer. Housing works bookstore has an action packed events programme, with readings, discussions and Moth sessions (competitive story slams) - I highly recommend.

The Cure thrift store

Throughout the winter I trudged through the snow, braved the wild winds and got drenched in the rain as I braved the elements to thrift in the city. Now, as New York City welcomes its first days of spring I've decided to emerge from my prolonged blog hibernation. Let me tell you about a thrift store I discovered this past winter: The Cure Thrift shop. My friend Flora, my fellow thrift addict, told me about it and promised great things. Well the girl was right - this place rocks.

The best thing about the Cure is the furniture, this is the best thrift furniture in Manhattan. The place has everything and is organized in room sections:

• Bedroom
  

Kitchen - check out the super cool retro oven

• Office - some nice mid century furniture dotted around

• A book area. Flora perusing the selection.
  

This thrift store is gigantic (remember there is no space in Manhattan!) and I was very impressed. I fell in love with a couple of furniture pieces, and although I spotted some good deals, the majority had a hefty tag - cheaper than an antique shop but not exactly thrifty. You pay for the good selection and nice layout. The basement is filled with clothes, shoes and handbags - and has a men's section. Luckily they have a big spring sale going on - they advertise their sales on their website and on craigslist - and for the last two sale days they will be holding a $15 per stuffed bag. Watch this space!

For the love of thrift rating (from 1 to 10):

Selection: 9 (10 if you're looking for furniture)
Presentation: 9

Niceness of staff: 8

Bargain factor (ie pricing): 7
Thrift turnover: 8

The Cure thrift store is on East 12th and 4th avenue and is open late on week days (8:30) and on the weekends (8pm).

Use your head

Imagine my delight when a lady gave me a leaflet for a new thrift store as I was strolling through NoLita during one lunch break last October. My heart raced at the prospect of finding a thrift store in a part of town famous for its boutiques and independent designers. It turned out that Use your head: shop for a cause wasn't out of place in this neighbourhood; this is the ultimate Manhattan high end boutique thrift store.

Rest assured that Use your head is the real deal - not a consignement store or a vintage store, but a true thrift store where your money goes to help the Soho partnership, a nonprofit for helping the homeless get jobs and off the streets. In fact, the lady who gave me the leaflet was called Renee and she had been helped off the streets by the organization. How cool is that?

The staff at Use your head are friendly and chatty and make you feel at ease - no boutique snootiness going on here. In fact, the girl working there gave me the low down on the place. The shop belongs to Henry Buhl, a gentleman in his 70s who has many friends and is extremely active in the community - he started the Soho partnership.

What makes this store so New York, is that Henry Buhl's friends are people like Lauren Hutton and Jane Fonda who regularly drop clothes off at the store. On another trip there I was told that they had just received a donation of vintage clothes from Sotheby's. Designer shops in the area also donate regularly to the shop - including Nicole Miller, Prada and Marc Jacobs.

As a result, the shop is very edited with high end clothes. The pricetags are hefty for a thrift shop but low considering that the boutique next door would probably charge you 5 times the price. Some examples are a Chloe dress ($120), a silk YSL Rive gauche blouse ($45), a Ferragamo jacket ($350). They also have some amazing vintage finds - I read that recently a lady donated clothes from Oscar de la Renta, YSL and Valentino after she refused the request from the fashion houses to arquive the clothes.

As well as clothes they also have shoes and handbags. I snatched a delicious vintage handbag for a mere $20.


If you are in town, do pay them a visit - you will see some beautiful clothes, maybe a celebrity or two, and if you buy something you can look gorgeous while helping support a great cause!

For the love of thrift rating (from 1 to 10):

Selection: 10
Presentation: 10

Niceness of staff: 10

Bargain factor (ie pricing): 7 (if you're looking for designer wear)
Thrift turnover: 8

Use your head: shop for a cause thrift store is on 262 Mott Street

A little extravagance....

The Upper East Side's Council Thrift Shop is one of my favourites in NYC. The volunteers are such sweethearts, always with a smile and willing to chat for ages about whatever you've bought or tried on. The shop has a great down-to-earth community vibe. It is a little dishevelled but makes up for this in spades with staff friendlieness - and great stock.

They sell clothes - for men and women - and often have designer garb. They also have shoes, books, accessories, housewares and furniture. This place is great for nabbing yourself a bargain, the prices tend to be fair and there is always a sale going on.

I went there this October and they had just put all their Fall/Winter stock out. It was mostly designer wear and it was all 50% off. There was some excellent stuff, from Armani, to Valentino and Michael Kors et al. I spied a jacket that was absolutely gorgeous and brand new from Mackage, a brand I'd never heard of. It was $180 (GULP) but with the discount it was $90. Yikes - pricey - and unusually expensive for the Council Thrift store! However, it was soooo funky that after much umming and ahhhing and in-store modelling - I bought it. To console myself I later checked their website and saw that their jackets go for $500 and up. That made me feel less of a sap.

So, I love the jacket but it is my most expensive thrift shop buy ever. Extravagance? Perhaps. However, this is where I throw the allmighty thrift moral punch - all proceeds go to support the National Council of Jewish Women of New York who focus on progressive stances on issues such as child welfare, women's rights and reproductive freedom. Yeah!! This jacket is worth every single cent!!

The Council Thrift Shop is on 84th between 2nd and 3rd avenues. It is open Mon-Wed,11am-5:45pm; Thu, 11am-7:45pm; Fri-Sat, 11am-4:45pm. Closed Sundays.

For the love of thrift rating (from 1 to 10):
Selection: 8
Presentation: 8
Niceness of staff: 10
Bargain factor (ie pricing): 9
Thrift turnover: 8

A Brooklyn beacon

Beacon's closet in hipster centric Williamsburg is a must go destination for any New York thrift shopper. Although this isn't your classic thrift store - the funds don't go to support a noble cause - Beacon's closet is definitely thrifty, with plenty of bargains to be found.

The shop is located in an old warehouse space and is ginormous. It is arranged by colours - see the pretty photos - and has a great selection of clothes, vintage and modern. The shoes are fabulous and there is a good dress selection if you're looking for something with a little va va voom.


Men need not feel neglected at Beacon's, there is a good men's selection and there are some comfy chairs at the entrance where they can read a newspaper as they wait for their girlfriends. Alternatively, you can park your manfriend at the record store a couple of blocks away. Happiness all round!

Do you want to indulge in some new shoes but cannot face eating cheese and toast until payday? No worries, swap your old threads for cash or Beacon's closet store credit. Keep in mind that the cash you get for your clothes depends on:

- How fashionable/desirable are they? Would anyone want to wear them?
- Are they in good nick?
- Are they designer? However, see first point. Nobody wants your nylon purple mesh Versace trousers.

Last time I was at Beacon's, I bought a huge, girly dusk pink silk scarf - for $11. I love this place!

For the love of thrift rating (from 1 to 10):

Selection: 9

Presentation: 9

Niceness of staff: 7

Bargain factor (ie pricing): 8

Thrift turnover: 9

Thrift for Traviata, Vintage for Verdi

Amongst Manhattan's array of thrift stores, few have the quirk and charm of the City Opera Thrift Shop. This Bergdorf Goodman of secondhand stores lures you in with it's gorgeous window displays - courtesy of the students of the nearby School of Visual Arts - and offers up an assortment of upscale designer wear.

The collection of dresses, women's shoes and men's suits make it an excellent place to shop for a special occasion. The styles on offer cater nicely for all ages; I can imagine bringing my mum here (and her squealing in delight at the velvet jackets and silk dresses). There are plenty of clothes for us younger types too, when I was there last a young woman was trying on a cute fitted leather jacket. If you want a Dior jacket this is the thrift store to visit - but if you're looking to stretch your last 20 dollars as far as you can you might want to steer clear.

It's not just having art students dress the windows and the designer threads that makes this place so New York, it's where the thrift dollars go - here is a clothes tag:

Hmmmm, my shoe indulgences have contributed towards Madame Butterfly; Candide; Don Giovanni; Tosca....

The New York City Opera supports groundbreaking opera and has 25% of tickets priced at $25 and less - now that is thrifty.

For the love of thrift rating (from 1 to 10):
Selection: 9
Presentation: 9
Niceness of staff: 8
Bargain factor (ie pricing): 7 (if you're looking for designer wear)
Thrift turnover: 8

The New York City Opera thrift store is on East 23rd Street. As well as women's and men's clothes and shoes, they have furniture, books and often opera records and posters.

Gimme a thrift lunch break

Imagine my delight earlier this year when I discovered a thrift store was opening right around the corner from where I work! This means I can get a fix of eye candy whilst on my lunch break. And who knows maybe even pick up the odd thing (ok, ok, several things...)

The new store, Housing works Soho, is right next door to the Housing works thrift bookstore on Crosby Street, in the heart of Soho. Just one block away is Broadway, a hustle and bustle shopping destination with Prada, Uniqlo, Topshop, Bloomingdales etc. This thrift store is still a little bit of a secret as it is on a quiet block. Shhhhhhh, let's keep it that way.

As you serious thrifters know, it pays to have your regular thrift haunts- so you can snap up any goodies as soon as they hit the shop. I tend to go to Housing Works Soho once or twice a week. And oooooooohhhhh this place is good. I have been particularly lucky in the shoe front - the first pair I bought there were a leopard print Steve Maddens - brand new - for $10. Many a sandal soon followed, see this post.

I particularly like the fact that they always have some special discount going on and often have a deal with the thrift bookstore next door - if you buy an item in one of the stores you get 30% off at the other place; one month they had a 30% discount at the store if you donated books next door.

For the love of thrift rating (from 1 to 10):

Selection: 8

Presentation: 9

Niceness of staff: 9

Bargain factor (ie pricing): 8

Thrift turnover: 9

Housing works Soho is on Crosby Street and Houston. The clothes are arranged by colour and there are womens as well as men's clothes (quite a large mens selection). There is a small furniture selection, and a housewares selection. They also have jewellery

I hear the thrift angels singing - The angel street thrift store review

If you close your eyes and imagine a Manhattan thrift store - this is what you probably come up with. In fact, if you have friends who are snobs about thrift shopping - this is where you must bring them to, to shatter their ideas of thrifting.

The Angel Street thrift store (west 17th street and 6th ave) is a treat of a thrift store. It is beautifully organized, has gorgeous window displays and yes - it is expensive. In ways it almost feels like a consignment store because it is dripping with designer clothes - but it is a thrift store all right - where your donations go to benefit people affected by substance abuse, HIV/AIDS and mental illness.

But first, the window displays....aaaaahhhhh, do not expect a dusty ramshackle goodwill/salvation army display, oh no. The Angel has a super sleek and stylish window display - in the style of an upscale independent boutique. Take a look for yourself:

What a beauty! And once you actually walk in the shop it is all organized by colour. It has women's clothes, shoes, belts and handbags. It is pricey but bargains can be found and like many New York thrift stores - it has great sales. When I was there last they had clothes by Vivienne Westwood, Armani, Ralp Lauren, and many other designers, as well as nice clothes by nice people without a flashy name and hefty price tag.

The Angel also has a very large furniture selection - which again can be pricey - but always cheaper and much nicer than anything you would buy in a mass market shop. On my trip it had a beautiful solid wood dining table with large heavy benches to go with it. This beauty had just been sold. Besides furniture they also sell housewares, have a whole section of nicely displayed glassware and - in my last trip- had curtain fabric and wallpaper.
Men can find a large men's section with shoes and clothes. One man was trying on a rather fetching straw hat when I was there. The Angel also has records and comics, as well as books. Ah! The Angel also has a nice section of lamps - I guess most thrift stores that sell furniture also sell lamps, but The Angel has its own lamp section display.

That last photo shows a sideview of the cabinets with jewellery, handbags and shoes. Although The Angel sells all kinds of things - I don't think the pooch is for sale...

For the love of thrift rating (from 1 to 10):

Selection: 9

Presentation: 10

Niceness of staff: 8

Bargain factor (ie pricing): 7

Thrift turnover: 8

The Angel Street Thrift Shop on west 17th street and 6th avenue sells everything: housewares, women's clothing, jewellery and shoes, men's clothing and shoes, books, furniture, lamps, comics, curtains, wallpaper, etc etc. Opening hours - Mon-Sat: 10 am to 6 pm; Sun; 12pm to 5pm. The Angel offers free pickup for furniture and large donations.