the Introduction.

The following is an introductory post to my new project, a blog-with-photos about my allegiance to thrift store shopping.

I have been raised to appreciate thrift stores. I didn't always like them: they smell like dust and dead skin cells; much of the merchandise is dirty, broken, unusable or else should have never been manufactured in the first place - hence its presence for second-hand sale.  As a child lacking my currently more-developed shopping sense, I would walk down the aisles next to my mom and pick out the most laughable garments.

I still do giggle at some of the stuff in these stores - there really is some awful shit.  For this reason in addition to the reputation of thrift stores in general as a haven for the poor or less fortunate, I have encountered many a scoff and skeptical eye.   Annnnd I don't care.

Your body, my body, is a canvas. We are not just animals, but works of art - all of us. We have the freedom and awareness to know who we are and display it. For me and for many of us, the clothes on our body are a part of how we are able to communicate, make impressions, even walk or smile with confidence. That doesn't mean you have to spend your nights planning outfits; I wear my workout clothes around all the time, because that is also a part of my personality; I wear my pajamas out sometimes because hell, the effort is not always necessary.

So to start - I try to avoid department stores, because:
1. I am cheap.
2. Many of the things you buy in a typical mall are cheap - poor construction, shoddy material. Plenty are not, but I will still never understand why a store can have a name that guarantees a $50 pricetag on a cotton shirt.
3. The people who most likely crafted your clothes are the equivalent of servants. Yes, sweatshops in other countries employed with kids, teenagers, and underpaid poor are responsible for the vast percentage your new and shiny wardrobe. And that is awful.  I know this is a problem that extends to nearly every industry. I know I am still a guilty consumer. But one step at a time, folks.
4. You don't really need brand new clothes, anyway. And the Earth probably doesn't want all of the shit we put into her through excess and wasteful manufacturing.
5. I am an artist, a strong woman, an independent individual. I don't understand why the socially acceptable norm is to look exactly the same as other people through the relatively limited selection of patterns and colors issued by a large and ambiguous Fashion Godly Entity every season.
6. I am a petite woman with hips. I am not shaped, nor will ever be shaped, like the mannequins or models for which 85% of clothes are designed. I am shaped like me, and on the eternal quest to shop for me - not the body I am told I should have. 

Let me clarify - I don't think that the commercialized fashion currently geared toward my generation and demographic is useless. Quite the opposite - everything serves as inspiration.

Really though, more than anything else, I think thrift stores are fun as hell. They make me feel like I'm a pirate. Like I'm digging for treasure. And the best part about it is that my dedication and loyalty to thrift stores pays off.

I am going to start keeping photographic track of the cool shit I find and the outfits I make - but mostly, we're going to learn how how to swagger.

Love,
Melody