Field Trip: New York City Edition

MC took us to NYC for Valentine's Day, where a good time was had by all.  We'd love to say we went to Fashion Week and sat in the third row to see all the top designers, but alas, we could only stand outside the Bryant Park tents and gawk.  Maybe next year.  While we explored the city, we happened upon one of the many, many vintage stores.  It wouldn't be right if we didn't share what we found!

Hamlet's Vintage
162 Bleecker Street
New York, New York 10012
212-228-1561
www.hamletsvintage.com

That would be MC and our lovely tour guide in the photo, breezing by a rack of $20 coats so they could rush into the store.

Hamlet's Vintage is a hipster's dream, and I loved rifling through the racks.  Their Web site advertised a sale on flannel shirts, and they weren't kidding.  You all know I love the young lumberjack look.  This was a place to try it out!

I balked at a few of the price tags I saw, but I reminded myself: this is New York.  This is not Value Village.  All the hard work has been done for me--all I need to do is choose my favorites.  But despite being a small shop, there were plenty of opportunities to enjoy "the hunt."  No matter how many vintage stores I visit, I still gasp when I find a pair of Manolo Blahniks.  I always look around as if I expect someone to scold me for touching them.

MC found an old Redskins jacket and pondered it for a bit, but we didn't do any real shopping at Hamlet's Vintage.  The Web site for the shop seems to indicate that a dog hangs out in the shop, but there was no puppy in sight.  This was disappointing, as we love puppies.

We're still a little too broke to shop with Hamlet, but we loved browsing the racks in Greenwich Village!

More photos from our adventure after the jump.

In Other News: Back in the 202 and Goodwill teams up with Miss DC

We're back near the Mason-Dixon line but missing the southern temps that appeared on exactly one day of this brief winter break.  It was nice to be on vacation, but I have returned with proof that my vintage-seeking eyes never sleep.

I was rustling around in my gracious host's closet on Friday night, searching for something to wear out on the town.  I found a top to borrow, but I also found this clutch.  It's probably from the mid-70s, as it belonged to K's mother when she was our age.

The blue velvet is soft and stunning, but the thing that really grabbed me about this bag is the way it opens.  The clasp flips up from a hinge in the center of the bag that allows it to open up like a diamond.  Obviously, some designer of yesteryear was thinking of women who can never find anything in their clutch, no matter how big the bag is.  This baby can hold all of today's necessities.

In Other News: Goodwill of Greater Washington and Miss Washington, D.C., Jen Corey, have teamed up in an effort to draw attention to recycling.  Corey is going shopping at Goodwill stores, and there's video to prove it!  The sound quality is a little iffy, but the series looks like a fun one to follow.

♥

Quarter Life on Tour: Plato's Closet

Plato's is a beautiful place. It's a chain of stores that takes juniors' clothing and styles that you could find in the mall today--Brand Name Gently Used Clothing--and sells them for rock-bottom prices. They tell you to come in, clean out your closet for cash, and get some new stuff, and I enjoy doing exactly that. Plato's Closet has locations in Chantilly, Virginia and Towson, Maryland in our area, but whenever I'm home in Philly visiting my family, I visit the one nearby.




This weekend was my first attempt at selling clothing to Plato's. Most of the items I took with me were things that I had gotten from thrift stores on sale, and had decided not to wear or sell on my own through eBay. I took eight items with me, and after a 1.5 hour wait due to Black Friday business, Plato's offered me $10.20 for five items. Included in the sale was this H&M patterned skirt suitable for summer, and this Ann Taylor short-sleeved sweater that was too short for my long torso. Since I figured out that I had paid about $19 for those five items in the first place, it was a bust in terms of profit. But if I had bought new items, worn them for a season, and sold them to Plato's, getting a little cash back would be worth the trip.

The best part of the experiment was when I browsed around looking for new items for myself. I only found one--a Gap sweater in a color that I had just picked up and put down at the mall only moments before--for a quarter of the price. A brand-new sweater from this season for $7 bucks? Mine now. Happy thrifter.

In conclusion: I spent most of the money I earned on the sweater I wanted, but I came out pretty even. To be able to walk into a store without an appointment and sell a bunch of clothes presents a great opportunity for frequent shoppers or someone who just needs to clean out the closet.

In Other News: Grossly overdue, but the Washington Post wrote up the new Goodwill location in Alexandria, Virginia and the changing nature of thrift shopping.

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