Bargain Hunters Women Prove You Don’t Need Top Dollar For Top-Drawer Fashion
With years of sales experience at an upscale chain, Sally Cey knows quality clothing when she sees it.
And these days, she sees it at Goodwill, Value Village and other thrift stores around Spokane.
Some of the discoveries made by Cey and her like-minded friends include a $220 Liz Claiborne dress and jacket, so new that it still had the price tags, for $15; a $100 cocktail dress, also new, for $15; a velvet jumpsuit for $6.75; a children’s down jacket for $2.75; a silk blazer for $10.99; and an angora sweater for $4.
“I was amazed at the designer clothing” to be found on the racks of new and used clothes, says Cey. “There’s a real gold mine out there.”
Cey says people looking for thrift-store clothing values should think of it as an adventure, not a chore. “One day you’ll find nothing,” she says. “The next day you can’t fit it all in your car.”
She averages two to three hours a week of second-hand shopping, usually leaves the kids at home, and has perfected the “power scan” - a quick trip through clothing racks, waiting for items to catch her eye.
“You have to walk in with an open mind and start going through the racks,” Cey says. “If you go specifically looking for something, you probably won’t find it.”
When she finds a piece of interesting clothing, she asks herself: “Is this a quality item, does it match my style, and can I incorporate it in my wardrobe?” If so, it’s hers.
Cey, 39, is a petite (size 4 to 6) woman, but she says women of all sizes can finds clothes to fit them. “Several of my friends are size 12 and they always find things,” she says.
Cey and a group of friends, who all have worked at a well-known clothing chain (they asked not to have it identified), got together last week to model their fashions for each other, then go out on the town - drinks at Cyrus O’Leary’s and dancing at the West Coast Ridpath.
“We had a great time,” says Pam Miller, a 32-year-old who started thrift-store shopping last spring after being tipped off by a friend “who always looks wonderful.”
Miller says her all-time greatest buy was a short, black shearling jacket, “kind of ‘40s looking, with a fur collar.” The price: 25 cents.
Why do brand-new clothes end up in thrift stores? Cey speculates that they’re donated by women whose sizes or tastes have changed - or who simply have too many clothes and need to clean out their wardrobes.
“There’ll be days when it looks like three or four people have unloaded their closets in one store,” she says, adding that shopping is better for women than men. “Good men’s clothes are much, much tougher to find,” Cey says. “Men tend to wear clothes longer. It’s easier to find large, tall or long men’s sizes than regular sizes.”
Cey lives in Mead, so her favorite destinations are in North Spokane: the Northwest Christian thrift store on Maple, the small Goodwill branch on Francis and the Value Village store on Boone.
She’s noticed that in recent years, the quality of thrift stores has improved, especially with more eyecatching displays, and prices have risen, too. But she still finds plenty of bargains, especially considering that $15 is the most she’s willing to pay for an item.
“I love to show what you can find out there,” she says. “You can stay with current fashions and still save hundreds or thousands of dollars a year.”
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MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: STRAIGHT FROM THE RACK Examples of thrift-store bargains unearthed by Sally Cey and her friends: Belted black velvet jumpsuit with gold trim and a gold crest. Price if new: $85. Purchased for $6.75. Jewel-tone green Liz Claiborne silk anorak-style blazer. Price if new: $90. Purchased for $4.99. Liz Claiborne two-piece black cocktail dress with spaghetti straps and evening jacket. Still carrying $220 price tag. Purchased for $15. Silk blazer with rhinestones. Price if new: $65. Purchased for $10.99. Angora sweater with gold sequin detail. Price if new: $65. Purchased for $4. Two-piece outfit of satin eggplant straight slacks and coordinating tapestry vest. Price if new: $85 for both. Purchased for $6. Black cocktail dress from Portland’s Meier and Frank department store, straight cut, holiday detailing. Still carrying $104 price tag. Purchased for $15. Glitzy gold holiday tank top. Price if new: $15. Purchased for $1.40.