Hello there! When I started this blog, the focus was on sustainable fashion and while I am obviously still a wholehearted supporter of that, the writing here took twists and turns depending on the week and the location (hello, Georgia. Hello, jumpsuits.).

Now that we’ve been settled in the lovely Redlands area for a minute, I’m excited to return to the land of sustainable fashion ideas in the form of thrifting. Oh, my people, I am in awe of the wonderland of thrifting that is within this general area. From the American Cancer Society’s Discovery Shop (pictured above) that is a ten-minute bike ride away and across the parking lot from a cool coffee place called Stell to Redlands Thift Store, which should have the word store swapped out for ginormous cavern of all sorts of stuff that is both wonderful and slightly scary (but of course all that wouldn’t fit on the sign). That particular emporium is only a five-minute bike ride away, but luckily because I do not pull a small trailer on the back of my bike, I often must pass up the larger, nuttier items. But when Dennis and I have gone there…watch the F out because we must keep each other from going a little crazy over all the possible finds. We did find an amazing vintage treadle sewing machine for $40-ish on our first visit. It was on sale down from $99. And even though, no, I don’t sew, especially not by using my feet in some treadle-y way, gadzooks, it makes a nice addition to the living room–and sometimes a place to put a glass of wine.

Also, for bonus points, there were all kinds of original items in the drawers, like extra needles from the Woodmen of the World Life Insurance Society (they claimed to be “One of the World’s Financially Strongest Fraternal Benefits Societies” altho I read it as one of the “Strangest” but I was wrong).

Just the other day, while taking a break from earning my hourly wage, I toodled over and found this interesting item because I’d been looking for something to drape my necklaces over:

I don’t know what kind of animal it’s supposed to be (please weigh in with ideas) but I like it’s eyes and the fact that there are wheels. But really, the reason I bought it (for $4.95) was this inscription on the bottom:

This mystery wood animal with wheels was made by GENE JR. in 1986. Where is Gene Jr. today? Why is his handmade mystery animal here at the Redlands Thrift. Of course I was forced to create a life for Gene in my imagination. He’s doing great. He has no memory of being involved in this woodcarving/building experience (which Dennis believed to be a part of a Scout project). And while the receiver of this masterpiece appreciated it at the time, after awhile it ended up in the attic/basement, then was further buried away to make room for the mid-size rocket Gene Jr. ended up building (because he’s a rocket scientist now).

Anyhoo, here’s the thing about all these treasures: they get one to thinking about their past life. My friend Denise (yoo-hoo. love you, Resolve to Move) plays a great game when thrifting, which is: Why was this piece given away? For instance, she discovered after buying a really fantastic sweater that has big knitted loops (kind of like this but so much cuter) that probably the person who gave it up did so because hoop earrings were forever getting caught and causing the head to be pulled sideways and jeopardizing the earlobe. When we went to Beacon’s Closet, we tried to figure out why an entire rack of Anna Sui dresses had ended up there. Then I tried one on and realized I looked like a very silly strangers-with-candy kindergartner. So let’s just say Anna Sui had a bad season and just because she’s famous, this wasn’t her best work. And maybe even Anna herself had dropped off the lot. Last year when thrifting with my pal Kym (hi, hearts to you almost-birthday girl), she saw me standing with a pair of faux leather black leggings that had bright yellow patches on the knees and said, “You have to get those.” Which I did and have subsequently gotten caught up in wondering whether the former owner was some sort of moto-cross lover. I love the idea of putting a story to the find.

I had my own loopy sweater back in the day, which I’d found at a thrift store and wore until I could wear it no more. Maybe someone is now using it as a doily. I had a pair of silver sequined pants that I found at Housing Works that looked so rock’n’roll on the rack that I practically body slammed the person in front of me in order to grab them. But they were bar-none the most uncomfortable item of clothing I’d ever worn—the lining was so frayed that I felt as if tiny metal discs were flaying me every time I took a step. Yet, I wore them. Because of course I did. Until such time as I dropped them in a Goodwill bin. I can only hope that the next person who bought them sewed a proper lining inside. Or made them into earrings. When I was feeling rather flush at my record company job back in the mid-nineties, I bought a Cynthia Rowley sheath dress with matching coat to wear to fancy meetings. When I quit that job, I quickly carried off many of the pieces that reminded me of how doing music’s corporate bidding wasn’t my jam to the local thrift. Most the pieces were lightly worn and I hope strutted their stuff into better boardrooms than mine.

So now, here in this land of treasure, there are more and more stories to uncover (within a budget of course). More Gene Jr.’s to wonder about and Woodmen of the World moments to marvel at. Very exciting!

What’s something you’ve found that begged a story? And what have you donated that carried its own tale of fun? I’ll leave you with this crazy fox beer stein ($7) as inspiration.