This past Saturday I went on a thrift store rampage with my friend Anna; we hit up two Goodwill’s, Merry-Go-Round and Designer Resale. If I would have visited four department or name brand stores, I would have had to spend around $180 for the amount of stuff we got; but I only spent about a whopping $21. I’ve decided to show you all my finds, then compare their price to their equivalent at a department store.
The hats: I bought two hats at Merry-Go-Round, a thrift store in O’Fallon. One is a black, bowler hat with an exaggerated curved rim and feather accent; the other is a brown fedora with black ribbon, fish netting and bow. I went to urbanoutfitters.com and found the closest matches to each – basing similarities on basic shape and material.
First, the black bowler hat was $5.50 at Merry-Go-Round. Made of felt, it had a feather and rhinestone accent to be worn on the side of the hat. On urbanoutfitters.com, the closest match I found was the Brixton Felt Pack Bowler Hat for $44. Of course, the Urban Outfitter’s had didn’t have the feathers, but the material and general shape (excluding the rim’s curve) were the same. Second, the brown fedora was $4 at Merry-Go-Round. This hat was based with a classic two-tone fedora with brown felt, black trim and black ribbon; placed along the rim is fish netting that falls onto the face. The closest match to the brown fedora is the Cooperative Contrast Trim Felt Fedora for $34 on urbanoutfitters.com. So, by purchasing the thrift store hats, I saved $68.50 – why on earth would I ever pay that much for two hats?
The skirt: I bought a New York & Company skirt at Designer Resale on Mid Rivers. It’s a high-waisted, blue pencil skirt with ruffles along the front for $8. I went on nyandcompany.com to see if that skirt was still on the website, it wasn’t.. but I found that the average pencil skirt from New York & Co costs $43.85. I’m pretty proud of the fact that even at a thrift store I found a brand name skirt for at least $35 less that a skirt from the actual store.
The blazer: I found a blazer at Goodwill for $4. It’s black, with three buttons and a hip-fitted cut. The closest match I found to this blazer was the Sparkle & Fade Ponte Blazer from Urban Outfitters. The blazer costs $59 – sure, it may have better quality and a name brand, but why pay that much more for something that looks exactly the same?
