Clowning around...

The mission: Sophie and I go the Cure thrift store to buy a winter coat.
The results: One vintage Oleg Cassini top and a dancing clown.

I took my friend Sophie to The Cure thrift shop to try and thrift her a winter coat.

Off we went, on the winter coat mission. We perused the selection, chatted to the very friendly shop assistant and had a look at what The Cure had. One very promising winter coat was a little too tight, humph…..but we then spotted…..oooooooohhhh ……a very spangly sequined classic black vintage Oleg Cassini top. It fit Sophie like a glove. And such a timeless piece, an investment - we told ourselves. If Oleg Cassini was good enough for Jackie O, it was good enough for Sophie.

As we are paying for the Oleg Cassini top, I spot the most adorable vintage music box of a dancing clown. We cooed over it, and decided he was lovely. The music is so dream like, I might just decide to start collecting vintage music boxes....We abandon our winter coat mission with a spangly top and a dancing clown.

The issue with specific thrift missions is that they are seldom successful. The point of thrifting is the surprise of never knowing what you are going to find. It is best if you remember that you need something specific as you thrift, and help it guide you to the right thrift shops. And whilst looking, why not get distracted with vintage clowns?

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).

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.

Love thrift, will thrift - the goodwill upper west side

The Goodwill is a little treasure trove of goodies. That is, if you are willing to trawl through piles of grizzly coloured nylon shirts, comfortable rubber slip-on shoes (eek!) and scary see-through nighties. Buy hey, I'm not a fair weather thrifter, so I take a deep breath, pull my sleeves up and go for it!

This Goodwill is on 79th street between Broadway and Amsterdam avenues. It is small and narrow and you are pushed for space - although that means more thrift, yay! They have a women's clothing and shoes section. I once spied a Cacharel camel creme coat there, but unfortunately it was about 4 sizes too big for me - I bet it made one thrift diva a very happy lady. They also have housewares and books and a men's section.

The place isn't for the faint hearted, clothes are tightly packed together, there is usually a barricade of newly dropped bags blocking the narow store and there are no changing rooms - although there is a large mirror. That certainly hasn't stopped me from trying something on although you really don't want to be doing a full monty there.

This Sunday I went in and was rewarded with 3 classic books for ....drum roll...a grand total of $2,30. The books are used and have that nice soft feel to them. I've already started on to Kill a Mockingbird.

And by reading my all time classics I'm contributing to the greater good. Your dollars contribute to training, education and career services for the disadvantaged. Nice stuff.

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

Selection: 6
Presentation: 6
Niceness of staff: 5
Bargain factor (ie pricing): 8
Thrift turnover: 7

The 79th Street Goodwill sells housewares; women's clothing and shoes; men's clothing and shoes; and books. Opening hours - conveniently open late: 10 am to 8 pm every day except on Sundays where it closes at 7pm.

Housing works - Upper West Side

When we walk into Housing Works Upper West Side store, me and The Boy have developed a little routine. At the front of the store is an arrangement of furniture that we walk around together, imagining where we would put the table or the desk in our imaginary house (our little Manhattan shoebox apartment cannot take anymore thrifty finds!). I then make a beeline for the shoes and clothes whilst The Boy heads for the books and CDs. This routine works beacuse I know exactly where to find him when I need to ask him abpout 5 times whether he really loves the fab shoes that I've just tried on.

My neighbourhood thrift store, the Housing Works Upper West Side store, located on Columbus Avenue between 74th and 75th street, is a little piece of New York thrifty heaven located one block from where I live.

The store is part of the Housing Works chain, which has seven thrift stores, located in upscale Manhattan neighborhoods, dahling. Each store has a fantastic window display, offers great selections and is well organized.

The Housing Works stores are the best kind of thrift stores - where you can buy a great pair of shoes or the perfect table for that spot in your living room - whilst getting yourself some good karma as your money helps provide services for homeless and low-income New Yorkers living with HIV and AIDS.

The store's clothing can often be expensive - compared to other thrift stores - and the selection can sometimes be a little staid - unless of course you are a 70 year old lady that lunches. There are however treasures to be found and you should always watch out for the sales - they often have them for different store items - when I went two weekends ago the whole store had 40% off and recently they had shoes 30% off.

The furniture selection is excellent -they have an eclectic mixture of functional and quirky pieces. Take for instance the rustic wood table or the modernist lamp I spotted there recently . The housewares are good and I have bought many a china plate there. The book selection is very good, with a mixture of genres and of hardbacks/paperbacks. For their spring clearance all books were 10 cents.

The shoe selection is my perdition. I simply cannot resist it, I have bought....err I rather not count....many a pair there. The condition and the prices tends to be very good. Here are the beauties I bought yesterday ($12), I need to figure out what to wear them with.

The store tends to get very crowded on Sundays, I'd recommend you go during the week or on a Saturday.

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

Selection: 8

Presentation: 8

Niceness of staff: 6

Bargain factor (ie pricing): 7

Thrift turnover: 9

The Upper West Side Housing works sells furniture; housewares; women's clothing and shoes; men's clothing and shoes; books and CDs; and jewellery. Opening hours: 11-7 Mon to Fri. 10-6 Sat. 12-5 Sun.