Behind the Seams: I Take the Village
Greetings comrades! I realized, when posting my Goodwill thrift trip a few weeks ago, that A) These sorts of posts are really fun, and B) They’re really easy. So, I’m going to make them a bit more of a regular feature around these parts. They’re also a little truer to my day-to-day. Yes, sometimes my day-to-day includes posing in front of a brick wall and giving some sultry side-eye to a group of dandelions, but in order to get to that part, I first have to spend a great deal of time in front of four other walls and a mirror, gathering the goods. So, without saying much more, let’s start another…
This time, I’m taking you to Valu Village. Let’s talk about Valu Village for a minute: They’re the big box chain gang of thrift stores. They’re roomy, clean, and everyone knows about them. People who don’t thrift know about Valu Village. Because of this, VV can get away with some very suspect pricing. Almost all of their dresses are $12.99 and up, and everything else is mostly $10. That’s why you don’t see all that much from Valu Village on the blog. Every so often, though, if I have the time and am willing to exercise the patience, I can find items of value that warrant the higher price tag. That’s challenge I took on for this trip.
As usual, it took a few strike outs before I hit anything good. Item numero uno was this yellow lacy mini. You’re only seeing the top half of it, because only the top half was suitable for a woman of nearly 27 years. The bottom half was better suited for 21-year-old-Julie, who belongs to a bygone era, characterized by much later nights and much shorter dresses. Next!
Contrarily, the second item swung the pendulum a little to far the other way. This beige, stretchy Joe Fresh shift dress was nice enough. I could have gussied it up with a belt, and it would have sat comfortably alongside my other “boring office” clothes. But, blah. I don’t need another office dress. I’m not that old.
The third item, thankfully, hit the right balance. It wasn’t too short, nor was it a total snore. Rather, it was perfectly respectable length, with neon stripes and a groovy back. While this one was marked a little high at $12.99, it still had tags that listed an original price of $40, and a clearance price of $23. So, I’m bought something brand new for less than half of the clearance price. Happy dance!
I snapped a picture of this item because it illustrates something important about Valu Village’s pricing structure: they may jack up the prices on H&M and Forever 21, but they still price wacky vintage stuff on the cheap. This weird, dropped-waste, sheer black thing with bows all over it was too big, but it was the only thing in my change room for $4.99. So, if wacky vintage is your thing (as it is sometimes mine), yay.
Ahhh. In every thrift haul, there’s always one that will leave you second-guessing, especially if you take pictures of it on your phone and continually return to said pictures. This dress London Times was coooool. It had this fantastic asymmetrical ruffle detail. It was dramatic and fun. BUT it was $24.99. Valu Village, that’s crazay! Also, pictures aren’t always that reflective of the truth – in addition to being way too much money, it was was also too small. I made the right choice in leaving it behind.
In my attempt to thrift some pants, I added two more misses to my score card. The coral pants on the left were awesome and silk and made me feel like Aladdin, but they were too short, and the ones on my left were a totally unremarkable pair of gray trousers. Sadly, I did not land a third “just right” pair this time. I stand by my hypothesis that pants are dumb and we’d be better of as a species without them.
My last three finds were just what I needed to end my trip on a high note. Remember the leopard death shoes from my Goodwill visit? Well, in compensation for that earlier scare, the thrift world offered up these similarly-patterned, extra-cute Steve Madden peep wedges for a mere $9.99! Actual retail price (said in Price is Right voice)…$84.95!
I then hit up the sunglasses rack for two pairs of $0.99 sunglasses. I refuse to pay more that $5 for sunglasses because I lose them faster than you can say “UV Protection”. The pair you see above are for when I want to look like I belong to an early nineties bicycle gang, and the second pair are when I want to wear some that are moderately less embarrassing, and purple.
So, let’s recap the haul:
1 fun sun dress;
1 pair of leopard flats;
2 pairs of cheap sunglasses; and
3 more reasons for summer to get here A.S.A.P.
And that’s all she wrote for this edition of Behind the Seams. Until next time!