Well, it happened yesterday, beginning at 9 in the morning - the first day of the Sommerkleider (summer clothing) sale at the Zürich Heils-Armee (Hardbrücke).
I really had intended on being there for the madness that is opening, but managed to get there closer to 10:30-11:00. Sigh.
It was quite picked-through already, but I (somehow?!) managed to spend 79 CHF there!
There was the most gorgeous leather jacket there, that was sadly much too small in the arms for me to even consider tweaking. There was an adorable Mango black and white cocktail dress that had two problems: in order of importance, 1. Size much too small, and 2. Had a peplum (not a fan!).
In the end, I broke a few of my own 'rules' to buy my items. The first rule I broke was the 'no-mending required' rule. But I still think it was worth it, even if I'll have trouble ever mending it completely:
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| The only 'springy/summery' thing I bought! |
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| A small tear along the seam. :( |
Yeah, so silk isn't the easiest to deal with. If I was still in Canada, I'd go straight to the tailor's. But I'm too scared of tailors in Zürich (can't imagine what it would cost!), and so I might just invest in a little light-weight, fusible interfacing instead and see how I get on. I got the price down from 24 to 18 (something I don't usually do, but I knew I'd have to put money into it, one way or another), which I think is still a very good deal for such a pretty top.
The second was a combined rule-break of: Do you really need this anyway? and It requires tailoring (i.e. letting in/letting out) to make it work.
It was, of course, a dirndl:
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| No, I don't need this. But look how cute it is! |
You can barely even buy the little blouses for less than 24 CHF, so at that price I snapped up the whole thing.
I have two choices - I can either not wear a bra and do it up as is, or let the zipper out in the back and still wear a hefty push-up with it. I'll probably move the zipper....!
I didn't find any shoes I liked (tried on a pair of sandals that remained on my feet for just a few milliseconds before I rejected them outright!), and though they had lots of nice purses and handbags, I'm no longer in the market for those.
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| I also don't technically *need* another striped shirt. But they're such a staple these days, and this was in perfect condition! And I didn't have a grey one....! |
Oh, I broke a VERY KEY thrifting 'rule' and neglected to don my 'thrifiting uniform'. I had to wait ages to get in the changeroom, so I pared down my stash by trying things on over a bulky shirt and jeans (if it fit, it was probably too big - if it didn't, it might be worth trying on for real).
I was meeting friends later and spending the whole day on the town, so I didn't want to risk dressing inappropriately for dinner. I still should have thought it through a little better - I picked the worst possible outfit for thrifting!
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| Oh, okay - the blue swim cover-up thing is also summery. But the mustard yellow cardi is definitely 'autumnal'! |
I had to fight for mirror space (despite being there first, and there being two other mirrors - people were being very pushy and impolite!), and I also had to respond to questions of, "Are you going to buy that?" while sorting through my pile.
I hate that. I really do - I've eyed other people's finds admiringly, and then what I do is just keep an eye for a return to the rack. Then I swoop in. As far as I'm concerned, this is the only acceptable approach.
If you want to be more direct, perhaps you could say something like, "Oh, that is very nice! I like that!" and hope that the person says, "Here - take it!". A compliment goes a long way.
A direct "are you buying that?" question just annoys. I wasn't even sure which article in particular she was after, and so I just said a terse, "Yes". I didn't even want to try to help her out - it was too rude.
Want something someone else has? There are two acceptable approaches:
- Be surreptitious and wait for the item to be rejected (if it is). Then make a bee-line for the garment and snatch it up. (Don't hover, though - people don't like that!)
- Compliment either the person or the item or both. "What a good eye you have!", "Smart find!", are examples of complimenting the finder. "Oh, what a gorgeous blouse!", "Oh, that's so pretty!" are examples of complimenting the item. You could even tack on a blunt-but-effective, "If you don't want it, will you let me know? I'd love to have it!".
- "You gonna buy that?!"
- (Reaching into another person's pile/basket/personal space and taking the item - that's REALLY offside, but it happens!)
- "Can I see that?!"
- YES. (Unequivocally, even if you have no intention of doing so. We can't reward this behaviour!)
- OI! DROP IT! (Swears are unnecessary, but may be effective. Shouting and very strong body language are definite requirements, however)
- NO. (They'll make off with it if you let them handle it, trust me. The answer here is always no. They can relocate it on the reject rack if you don't buy it yourself).
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| A lovely Esprit sweater, too. Also NOT summery, eh?! |
Happy Hunting, my good friends! Hope you also made off like a bandit! If you didn't go Saturday, go again on Monday - pickings are still pretty good, and they might have restocked a little! ;)
TiZ
