Thrift stores in India aren’t the same as everywhere else in the world. If you see ‘thrift store’ written on an Instagram page and it is crowded with thousands of rupees, then I am sorry; I don’t think they are thrift stores.
Thrift is a fancy word for second-hand. They are either donated, discarded by the manufacturer due to a machine error in design or damage in the process, given away, or sold for half the price.
You know what I consider as thrift stores in India?
Those “Tirupur cotton pop-ups or Everything under X rupees only” kind of stores that occasionally sets up in your locality and/or are available throughout the year.
When I was in my lowest of the lows, I really wondered if rock bottoms were bottomless because they kept getting deeper and deeper. During one of those times, I bought a pair of pants at the above-mentioned stores. Not because I was broke, but because I wanted to see what they really sold.
The timing of that purchase was questionable because it was supposed to be an auspicious time for me, but I went there anyway.
Prices weren’t great. I vaguely remember them. I was only looking for interesting patterns to grab. I spotted a pair of what looked like a pair of pyjama pants. It was dark brown in colour and had white polka dots all-over-pattern. Normal-sized polka dots.
It ended up there because it was supposed to be an accordion-patterned pair of pants, but the accordion wasn’t set well by the machine, therefore it was discarded. I am confident about it being rejected by the manufacturer because the hem was also not finished. Given the nature of the fabric, they will never fray, and that’s why it was a safe purchase.
I think I bought two more pants whose fabric was a mix of cotton and viscose. They had beautiful patterns, too. I thought to make long shrugs out of them but never got to do it. If you also sew, then you know the number of abandoned projects per year is always on the rise.
Anyway, I got around to making a slip dress out of one of the colourful pants, but they were so flimsy that it only managed to drape over me when I returned from attending gatherings and just needed a quick sleep. As dracula as I am, I could not venture out wearing it during daylight.
Now on to the polka-dot pants. They are still standing after four years! The only repair I did on them was when their side seams came loose because I did not double-seam them. They never developed holes like the fast-fashion brands we pour so much money over.
Another purchase I made was a small Grater the size of our palms. Now this one is from those “under rupees 100/200” utensil shops.
It was on the way to one of my workplaces. I am a hardcore fan of glassware and
a die-hard fan of beautiful ceramics.
I bought this grater, thinking that it may not work as well as those bought from regular shops. I expected rusted and blunt blades eventually, but guess what? They showed no signs of such. They kept going stronger even after five years. I use them to grate ginger and garlic if I am not in the mood to pound them in mortar and pestle. They are a good purchase too. As a bonus, it is cute and functional.
Other honourable mentions are hot plate stands and colorful glass cups. If you are my Instagram follower, you might have seen them in few posts!
And that is when I realized that the status of things doesn’t matter if they work so well.
