I Shopped At A Second Hand Clothing Store

I have written often about shopping at second hand clothing stores, also known as gently used clothing shops, so I decided it was time for me to take my advice. I embarked on an adventure that let me see another side of life and to realize the pain that many people are experiencing.

My shopping trip was planned so that I could cover several stores in the metropolitan Austin area within the day. I studied stores online to the extent I could find web sites and I talked with a member of the County Social Services staff.

The first store I went to was a consignment shop where people brought clothes to be sold with a part of the sales proceeds to be paid to them. I saw some unbelievable clothes selling for a fraction of what they cost new. I could picture the owners wearing these garments with pride to events that were for the upper class. I saw prom dresses that were beautiful and I could imagine the girl wearing the dress to her prom. The sales clerk knew many of the stories behind the garments. One sad story involved a teenage girl whose parents bought her a beautiful prom dress but her father died before the prom and the family needed money, so the dress wound up here. It was never worn.

There were some very good brands available and every garment was in very good condition. No one could recognize the clothing as second hand.

The next store seemed to specialize in clothing for men. Here I found some values that left me speechless, if only for a short while. One item, an Armani suit, was a real find except I do not wear Italian suits and surely not Armani's brand if I did wear Italian suits. The price: $50. It looked like it was new. It seemed to me like every item was a real buy. I couldn't help but ask the owner how these articles of clothing found their way into her store. She explained it with one word: downsizing. She did tell me about one man who was a prominent attorney until his practice was reduced to rubbles by an economy that no longer used his specialty. She told me that many men brought clothes in to pay for a divorce. Often the man died and his family wanted to sell his clothes instead of giving them to the poor because they were now the new poor.

The next store was a combined men and women's shop. Here I found a pair of slacks for $3.25 that were in outstanding condition and I bought them. I found a nice dress shirt for $2.00 that probably cost $65 off the rack and I bought it also.

The fourth store was crowded with women who looked affluent. They wore the latest fashion, trendy clothes, glittering jeans, ostrich boots, and lots of jewlery. As I listened to them talk I could tell that they were experienced at shopping second hand stores and could spot a bargain at 50 feet. These women were not shopping here because they had to; they were shopping here because they bought many nice clothing items for very little money..

The fifth store was what I would call the 'mercy store,' because it is where you might utter the words "Lord have mercy on my soul" when you entered. Women worked their way throughout this 5,000 square foot store with a baby around their waste on in a carry bag strapped to their chest. Some older children were in strollers. Nobody looked like they could buy a can of soup. I watched as they moved through the store in clusters of three and four forming a committee of consultants on every item being considered. I could hear their conversations about how high some prices were even though the prices seemed like a steal to me. One little girl, about seven years old, was urging her mother to buy a beautiful party dress but mother said that she could not afford three dollars. Watching the sad mother and the accepting nature of the little girl really moved me. I bought the party dress for her and I bought every child in their group an item of clothing of their choice. Five kids, sixteen dollars. Best sixteen dollars I haved spent in a long time. Probably since I bought my nephew a one-way bus ticket to Omaha.

It was in this store that I saw the faces of middle America dropping into the poverty pit. I asked the owner how she could work and she said it was tough but even harder on her employees who lasted an average of three months.

I will go back because I would buy clothes in these stores any day. I hope that the savings isn't outweighed by the surrounding tragedy that generates the savings.