Growing up with three sisters, it was important for us to be well-groomed. We were always borrowing clothes from each other then returning them clean and pressed. It was a way of streching our wardrobes and to the outside world we had an endless supply. We were thrifty without realizing it and no one was the wiser.

The first thrift store was opened in London during the middle eighteen-hundreds.The Salvation Army went around collecting donated goods from the working classes and then selling them to the poor for a fraction of the cost. A few years later,a Salvation Army store was opened in the lower East side of Manhattan serving over three million impoverished people.

During the depression, it was shameful to be seen wearing thrift store cast-offs. Clothes were handed down to another family member. Shoes were patched, blouses or shirts were mended or seams torn apart and made over to fit a family recipient. During the nineteen-fifties, wealthy women donated their clothes to be re-sold. The profits from these upscale resale shops were shared with the donor or the shop profited from it. During the nineteen-seventies,thrift stores were popular with the hippies and the college students searching for vintage styles.

Now days, thrift store parking lots are filled with luxury cars as well as the more modest ones reflecting the escalating prices. The stores have become so profitable that the same people they once helped cannot afford to shop there. Thrift stores like Goodwill have some quality items and at shopgoodwill.com clothing items are auctioned in the same way as on ebay. Although, it is better to visit their stores for more of a variety of items and sizes.

Kate Magazine is an online shopping magazine and she gives sound advice for buying vintage clothes and sizing them correctly. Also, she has links to resale shops and a newsletter that can be sent to an online email inbox. She also gives shopping tips about what time of year the mall outlets sell their merchandise at the lowest prices. A city's online yellow pages is a good source for locating the names of local thrift stores and resale shops.

After finding a favorite thrift store, resale shop or mall outlet, it is wise to visit it frequently in order to keep up with the changing merchandise. It is a good idea to check the thrift store, resale shop or mall outlet's refund or exchange policy because a lot of them do not allow it.Shopping at these establishments is a unique way to add to an existing wardrobe without going over a limited clothing budget.

Through the years, the author has shopped at these kinds of establishments and found some unique fashion items at bargain prices.