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.

Hudson treasures

New York City has a way of sucking you in and keeping you busy for weekends on end. However, even the most hardcore of New Yorkers need to get away from the City once in a while. It feels good to get away from the buildings, crowds and sirens and be reminded of space and silence.

Whilst chatting about weekend getaways, a friend recommended Hudson, a little village not too far away and apparently an antiquer's paradise. I didn't need any more convincing and the boyfriend didn't need much persuading. We were off that Saturday morning.

The train trip to Hudson is a beautiful 2 hour ride up the banks of the Hudson river. Just being on the train, with newspapers and sandwiches, already felt like an adventure. Once we got to Hudson, we headed to the Bed & Breakfast that I hastily booked online, the Croff House. A beautiful house, impeccably decorated and with attentive friendly owners looking over every single detail. To be honest, the room was so wonderful, I could have happily hibernated there for the weekend, what with the fireplace and the claw footed bathtub... I'd love to return in the Autumn when the leaves must be spectacular and we have an excuse to stay inside.

When my friend had said that Hudson was an antiquer's paradise, she was quite right. Hudson is a beautiful, lovely, small town with over 65 antique shops over 5 blocks. A shop owner told us that in the 60s the city was in dire straits as there was little employment and people migrated to NYC and Albany. However, in the 80s, one antique shop opened. Slowly, many followed and the city flourished to become an antiques hub, with art galleries, restaurants and cafes, and summer homes.Much to my chagrin, I managed to miss the city's one thrift store - it closes on Sunday. However, the antique shops kept me very busy. There are antique stores for all tastes and covering all periods. Some look similar to art galleries - with prices to match - whilst others are nicely junky and cluttered.

Besides the great antiquing, Hudson also has some nice cafes, restaurants and a bar in a bookstore, where you can have a beer whilst enjoying a book.

Among all the antiquing we found a $40 industrial looking iron office lamp, a bright shade of blue. After all the antiquing and relaxing in Hudson, we boarded the train back to Manhattan, the lamp tucked under my arm.

My very first Pyrex

I spotted it on my usual weekend trip to Housing works. In the household section, at the back of a shelf, was a mustardy yellow and very retro Pyrex casserole. The lid rattled slightly and it had a nice heavy feel to it. I promptly paid the $12 (yes, Manhattan prices....) and brought it home.

Pyrex was made in the 50s and makes for the perfect kitchen accessory for any vintage lover. The stuff was built to last and the designs are wonderfully retro. As a result, it has now become quite collectable. It makes the perfect item to thrift, so keep your eyes open for it. If you thrift some Pyrex, check out the Pyrex love website to figure out what you've got. I believe my casserole is part of the Butterfly gold collection, who knew?

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

The little black dress

Every thrift girl knows how important an LBD is.

Thrifted in goodwill, courtesy of lookbook, all the way across the East river ie Brooklyn.

Merry Xmas!

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all you lovely bloggers! Time to eat, drink, be jolly, grateful and enjoy family and friends - may the festivities begin! x