Thursday 30 June 2011

On thrifting

In my country Greece, we don't have a culture on second hand shops mainly because we did not consume   until the begining of the 90s  .  Before that ,  people would only buy what they absolutely needed and there was a savings account for every family .Big multinational chains were yet to be seen.  So there was a natural process of recycling and multi using everything  ,  nothing was to be wasted but all this strictly inside the family. To accept second hand things from another family was a sign of weakness  , of being poor and people were very proud to accept second hand/used things.

The last 20 years all this has changed and consuming was the main thing because people were encouraged  to borrow large amounts of money from the banks to shop. So now there is an abundant of stuff acumulated in Greek households but still there are no shops you can leave the stuff so someone else can profit. (maybe in some big cities there are a few second hand shops but still not popular).
But there are still a few alternatives for second hand finds.  Like I said, you can get huge amounts of clothes from family members , like aunts ,  cousins , sisters and mothers. Outside the family in the local markets where you buy fruits and vegetables,  there are always a few stalls that sell clothes in discount prices that some can be second hand. And there has been a few clothes swaps lately in my town quite to my surprise!!!
So every week , after I do my grocery and have some money left I can stroll down some of these stalls and dig into the piles of clothes to occasionally  find something really beautiful like today's skirt which cost me just one euro! Is this called thrifting or not?

4 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing some history of Greek culture re:shopping, Angie. Very interesting. It points out how much more we produce than is actually *needed*!

    I think you "thrifted" your gorgeous blue skirt, and got a super price (about $1.45 US?) And you look lovely.

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  2. This was a very interesting post. Thrifted clothes are such a huge part of my wardrobe (especially lately) that I can't imagine it not really being an option. Thank you for sharing this!

    As for the skirt, it's beautiful. I love blue skirts and think this one is amazing. Love the black belt and white top - perfection.

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  3. Definitely thrifting! I found this to be a very interesting post and helped me to understand how America's consumption habits have led to the abundance of thrift stores. Great stuff!

    xoxo
    Stacey Kay
    “Runway Inspiration, Vintage Decoration”
    Goodwill Huntingg: Comment on my latest post!
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  4. Yes, this is called thrifting! Are there charities in Greece. I know that in my area most clothing is donated and the donor gets a credit of some sort for it. It is also a tax deduction, which encourages people to contribute.

    Perhaps it will simply take someone like you to start a business like this.

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