so i know it's real... [[finding thrift stores in buenos aires]]

Today something wonderful happened.

Today, I found a thrift store in Buenos Aires.

So? Why is this a big deal?? Well, what makes this a rather epic discovery is the near-total lack of secondhand and thrift clothing/anything in BA. The culture here is more one of buying high quality items and wearing them until they are falling apart. People don't tend to throw things out or donate old clothing anywhere close to the amount that many people do in the States. Great for them, but for me, this messes with my shopping style.

Let me back up by saying that at home, at least 80% of my closet is comprised of items gathered from Salvation Army, Goodwill, those random shops that have an "everything in this bin is $5". I love how much cheaper thrift stores usually are and paying full price for an item just confuses me. I won't buy my delicates secondhand (pre-worn underwear gives me the heebie-jeebies) and jeans are usually a full-price purchase but other than that I don't understand why you would pay $30 for a grey threadbare t-shirt at American Apparel(to pick an easy target) when you can find the same damn shirt for $5 at Salvo's. If this makes me a snob/hipster/whatever, oh well. To me, shopping thrift and secondhand is just logical. It takes time, patience, and you aren't guaranteed to find what you are looking for right away, but the payoff is huge...(pro-thrifting rant over)

Coming to Argentina and not being aware of their "buy quality and keep forever" culture, I was disappointed to realize that finding thrift/secondhand clothing would be a challenge. There's a decent amount of true vintage shops, meaning old clothing from major labels and investment pieces, but that didn't do much for me except make me wish I had a grown person's clothing budget and after a few weeks I'd all but given up finding something akin to Goodwill or Salvo's.

Until today, when I decided to take a different way home after class,originally in order to find a post office to mail some postcards. About halfway home I walked past a storefront with the words "Juan Perez Vintage" in big red letters, and then I saw a telltale pile of assorted clothing on a wooden pallet in the window below a sign reading "$5-10". My heart started racing, my pulse quickened, I was having a physical reaction to the unexpected presence of secondhand clothing.

I walked in and put my backpack in a locker, threw the keychain around my neck and started in on the long racks of clothing that ran along the walls. My hands shook slightly as I began methodically picking my way through each item. It's best to go thrifting with an idea of what you want to find but very low expectations about actually finding it and the only thing I'd really been needing was a cardigan to replace my black one that had been "misplaced" at the Yoga Park. Por suerte, I found a soft grey cardigan, the long kind that you can wrap around your body. It was $35 pesos (less than $10US). Did a quick check for major stains, holes and did a quick sniff of the pits and tucked it under my arm.

After briefly perusing the rest of the store, I retrieved my backpack and went to the counter to check out, but not before rooting through the $5-10 peso pile and emerging with a light navy long-sleeve shirt for $10. It would've been impossible to convey how stupid-happy I was to the cashier so I kept the reason behind my dopey grin to myself.

Floating out of the shop I walked home with a renewed sense of faith in Buenos Aires. This Friday I'm going to San Telmo to bum around and do some day-time exploring and not gonna lie, finding another thrift store would be alright with me...

-j