Hey do you guys remember the 90s when we rejected our parents’ bourgeois lifestyles and started wearing a lot of second-hand store plaid shirts? The thing with grunge is it’s only cool when it’s just a choice, which kind of negates the whole concept behind grunge and makes me realize what a bunch of stupid spoiled kids we were. Now that second-hand stores are more of something I should be using, I’m just not that into it. I feel like the clothes are either in bad condition, or they are in good condition and therefore priced almost as if they are new.
Again, some of you might not know about this, but there are these massive consignment sales that moms groups get together and organize throughout the year. You can get some amazing deals, but you also have to navigate lines that can snake through the length of the basketball court these sales tend to be located in. I just don’t have that kind of patience, or more to the point, my kids don’t have that kind of patience and think it’s the epitamy of comedic genius to run away and hide from me behind the clothes racks. I did find one sale once with no line at all, and I snagged up about 15 puzzles (half of which were those nifty Melissa and Doug ones) and one of those baby bead mazes for about $20. Apparently, if you sell stuff at these sale you get the benefit of shopping early with fewer crowds, and you get a discount. The thing is, we plan on having more kids so it’s hard for me to part with a lot of the kids’ clothes. I want to store them and use them again. I’ve become a kids clothes hoarder.
But, I’ve found there are alternatives to the mega-consignment sales - namely, buying clothes out of season in clearance sales! A 3-year-old boy’s Polo shirt runs about $50 bucks at the store, which is not only ridiculous, but hilarious to me. No way am I going to pay $50 bucks for a shirt my kid is going to wipe grilled cheese grease all over, even in the theoretical future where we have money. But, wait until Dillards has it’s Additional 40% Off sale and whamo! My kid’s are well dressed little monkeys. All clearance items, which are marked at 75% off get an additional %40 percent of the lowest marked price! I can literally get those same Polo shirts for $5. That’s pretty much what a used Gymboree shirt would cost at a consignment sale, but it’s brand new (even if it’s “last year’s style”). Speaking of Gymboree, they sell their clearance clothes for as little as $3 for a dress, though most of them end up more in the $8-10 range. That’s still a sweet deal for a cute new dress! Plus, you don’t have to wait in line forever like you do at the consignment sales.
For kids stuff and stuff for me and John as well, I shop almost exclusively thrift. I go to the Turners Falls thrift store, which has great children's stuff.
ReplyDeleteI also occasionally shop at the Monkey Tree kids consignment store in Greenfield. It's under new ownership, the selection is awesome, and it's very well stocked. Some of L.'s outgrown things that didn't get passed down to my niece are on consignment there right now.
The only time I buy new children's clothes for L. are at the end-of-season sales up at the Carter's outlet in Brattleboro. I buy for a year ahead.
I used to shop at the Monkey tree. I do like consignment stores, especially for cloth diaper stuff (which I know may sound gross to some people). But I do find that clearance sales will sometimes give you prices at or sometimes lower than consignment stores! I shop a year ahead like you do!
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