Fashion trends at Goodwill

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/07/08/fashion-trends-at-goodwill.html

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As a damned foreigner, I’m assuming that Goodwill is a Generic Charity shop (in the UK we have Oxfam, RSPCA, Help the Aged and others). What this data-mining doesn’t tell you is the articles that got picked up by the volunteers before they could make it to the shop. I’m thinking of some years ago when I befriended some volunteers in my search for particular articles, and they came up trumps! I’m happy to say that these articles wouldn’t have made it on sale as they were against the Charity’s sale policy. I have no doubt that a volunteer perk is to get first pick.

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I’ve often found awesome clothes at goodwill… I miss going through the racks there…

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highlow
split
slub
cinch

TIL that I know very little about women’s fashion tops.

@Mindysan33

We have a couple of really good Salvation Army Thrift Stores around here. They have a characteristic smell - dust, detergent, mothballs, cloth and wood that always makes me nostalgic for my childhood.

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Goodwill is known for their work helping people with employment issues, and so the money you spend there goes into that program.

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love that song. it’s like my theme song. “no, for real – can i have your grandpa’s clothes?”

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Same! It takes patience and a strong sense of personal style but it’s oh so worth it!! I sew a bit and I’ve been wanting to pick up some alterations skills so I can expand my options. Hoping thrift stores can survive COVID!!

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Like Emmaus, then.

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Ditto for Aus - a range of charity shops, with varying degrees of religiosity. I have a glorious $20 brown 1970’s leather jacket with lapels and pleats that my wife calls the “Life On Mars” jacket, but my experience is mostly buying old tasteless crockery and using it for mosaic.

(Imagine a cross between the brown coat and the leather jacket, and that’s my $20 jacket.)

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And then there’s the tricky problem of what happens to the stuff that Goodwill can’t shift.

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I’ll take your word for it, as I don’t know that shop…

Why am I not surprised…

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I have issues with Emmaus UK, specifically with them taking welfare away from the people they are helping to cover living costs. It feels a bit too close to a workhouse for me, although I have talked to people they have helped who were happy with how they were treated, so maybe I am overreacting.

I don’t think they are as bad as the Salvation Army, they wouldn’t turn me away if I was in a bad situation, but I am cautious around them

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I think your concerns are more tha reasonable as we have the same criticism of groups like Goodwill and Salvation Army here, but of course that goes back to the overall issue with charity… I’m sure your familiar with that argument… Zizek addresses it here (mentioning good old Oscar Wilde…):

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