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Liz11685
12/12/08

In reply to The Skinny On Secondhand Clothes
I always donate to Goodwill. I also shop at thrift stores a great deal. But it is my poverty and small apartment that drive me to donate, unfortunately I am not very altruistic.
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The Queen of No
12/12/08

In reply to The Skinny On Secondhand Clothes
I wore so many second hand clothes through school and not because I "had" to, but because my Aunt passed down some cute stuff and my BFF and I would go to the local Savers and find vintage tees and such. Thankfully, this was more than accepted at the time and people actually noticed my style. I had one really cute little bowling shirt that I wore over a camisole that had the name "Tom" on it, so everyone called me "Tom."

Just this past few months, I got rid of so many clothes. I gave some to my Mom, who hates to shop and my best friend who just likes wearing friend's clothes. The rest went to charity! I hope some of my old stuff goes to people who like actually enjoy them.
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PhillyLass
12/12/08

In reply to The Skinny On Secondhand Clothes
What does 'industry' do with shredded t-shirts?
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Brigit
12/12/08

@PhillyLass: I know you can used shredded jeans as insulation, but I don't know about t-shirts and also would like to know.
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bluebears
12/12/08

In reply to The Skinny On Secondhand Clothes
Also, people should just do some local investigating because there are so many small groups out there (particurarly during holiday season) that have charity drives and I doubt like the local elementary school working with the local radio station are part of some like global conspiracy
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CristinaS
12/12/08

In reply to The Skinny On Secondhand Clothes
I saw a tv show on this once a long time ago, and they recommended giving your old stuff to Goodwill or the Salvation Army, as they are registered charities and use all or most of the money raised for actual charity ... not profit.

I live in Canada and there are a few collectors of old clothing who make it look like you're donating to charity but end up giving only 10% of their proceeds to charity. I wonder about Value Village.
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bluebears
12/12/08

@CristinaS: yeah i would be very suspicious of those bigger "chains"
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Sev
12/12/08

In reply to The Skinny On Secondhand Clothes
Ok, should I feel good about this or bad? Good - people get jobs and clothes. Bad - little guy gets screwed, big corp gets rich.

I've donated to Goodwill all my life (my mom was pretty fanatic about it, which is fine with me.) I currently have a trashbag full of clothes to donate plus two trader joe's bags of shoes...What should I do with them? (I've tried giving my stuff to the Catholic church...they only want $. Shocker.)
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bluebears
12/12/08

@Sev: purple heart!
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Mafalda para Presidente
12/12/08

@Sev: Have you tried battered-women shelters? Or maybe some kind of orphanages? Sometimes they really need clothes for the people who are living there.
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Brigit
12/12/08

@Mafalda para Presidente: In my school we did drives to give clothes to orphanages, and that's where my old toys went as well.

Also, 'round this time of year the animal shelters need your dilapidated towels and blankies to keep the animals warm!
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Mafalda para Presidente
12/12/08

In reply to The Skinny On Secondhand Clothes
We live on a border city, so my mom just holds a garage sale and sells pieces for .50-$2. We get a lot of low-income people from Mexico looking for cheap clothes/furniture.
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bluebears
12/12/08

@Mafalda para Presidente: I can't even concentrate on your point because I am seething with jealousy that you live somewhere warm.
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Mafalda para Presidente
12/12/08

@bluebears: If it makes you feel any better, it's 34 degrees at the moment and we had some snow flakes a couple of days ago (which promptly melted when they hit the ground).
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bluebears
12/12/08

@Mafalda para Presidente: well it DOES make me feel a little better (even though 34 sounds decent to me about now), thank you for that you have a kind soul.
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msAnthrope
12/12/08

In reply to The Skinny On Secondhand Clothes
there's a planet aid box near me. whenever i buy myself something new, i put a corresponding item of my older, out-of-size/style/etc. clothing into a bag and when i have a good amount, i put it in the planet aid box.

so if i buy myself a new sweater, i go through my closet and put a sweater i don't wear anymore in the planet aid "bag." i've got lots of older clothes from when i was a different size or that i just don't like the style anymore. somebody else can use them.
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Shiva, Destroyer of Worlds
12/12/08

@msAnthrope: Are they the yellow bins? You might want to check out this comment [jezebel.com]
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msAnthrope
12/12/08

@Shiva, Destroyer of Worlds:

huh. yap, they're yellow bins. oh well. i haven't put jeans in there yet!
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PilgrimSoul
12/12/08

In reply to The Skinny On Secondhand Clothes
I wonder what the environmental cost of sending them to Africa is vs. native textiles.

I kind of want to have a Jez charity drive before Christmas. Moe once mentioned somewhere how she tried this with Jez once... and a lot of cash was gathered.
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morninggloria
12/12/08

@PilgrimSoul: I think we should have a giant cash drive and donate it to Planned Parenthood in Sarah Palin's name. Then send her a giant card letting her know that a $20,000 gift was sent to PP courtesy of Jezebel.

My revenge fantasies: let me show you them.
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bluebears
12/12/08

@PilgrimSoul: that's a great idea. this one sports website i go to is doing it and raising a lot of money. incidentally they are rewarding their readers every time they hit a goal by posting pics of scantily clad women holding firearms.
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PilgrimSoul
12/12/08

@morninggloria: @bluebears: Let's all email Anna.
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bluebears
12/12/08

@PilgrimSoul: whats her email? i don't have outlook set up so clicking the side bar does me no good.
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blueVamp
12/12/08

@bluebears: Our rewards could be empowering quotations from amazing women and men
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bluebears
12/12/08

@blueVamp: i like it! or scantily clad men baking pastries.
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mepo - Robert Cornhole invented it
12/12/08

In reply to The Skinny On Secondhand Clothes
There was a recent expose here in Ireland about the clothing bags for charity scam and how most of them are being taken for profit. I googled one Breast Cancer charity that had posted a bag through my door and it was a complete sham - they even used the pink ribbon to make it look like the genuine deal. Sick.
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Plum-Pie
12/12/08

In reply to The Skinny On Secondhand Clothes
I'm not embarrassed to admit I read about this a couple of years ago. I am embarrassed to remember I think that article was in Vice.
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bluebears
12/12/08

In reply to The Skinny On Secondhand Clothes
Hey you guys this is a great organization and I know this doesn't happen (at least the detroit branch). They'll also come to your house to pick up your stuff. [www.purpleheart.org]
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BabyJane
12/12/08

@bluebears: I do that with the Big Brothers Big Sisters orginization here in Boston.
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HeinzDoofenshmirtz
12/12/08

In reply to The Skinny On Secondhand Clothes
I used to buy these clothes when I was back home (times were hard back then), they retail for the same price they are being sold for over here even though they are second hand, but haggling over prices is a lot of fun though.

I wouldn't go as far as saying they are crippling the textile industry though, people still wear lace and ankara (prints) en masse, especially the prints which was embraced by fashion like two years ago. It's fun to see celebs (and even Anna Wintour) wear some of these prints, cos you know where they came from. People are even sewing them into contemporary styles and stuff so it's def not going anywhere. If anything, the textile industry is growing stronger than ever.

p.s. sorry for the rambling.
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Diziet_Sma
12/12/08

@nigeriangirl: You weren't rambling! It's brilliant to get a first-hand perspective on an issue like this, for once.
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DangerMouse
12/12/08

@nigeriangirl: Thank you, that was interesting. What would you recommend I do with my too-small skirts in this case?
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Cafezinha
12/12/08

In reply to The Skinny On Secondhand Clothes
Even if you drop it off directly at the thrift store this happens? Or only if you leave it in one of those random charity bins?

When I was a poor kid growing up, it was a serious embarrassment to have to buy your clothes at the thrift store. Mean kids would call Goodwill the "Alabaster Galleria" (in reference to the real Galleria, the posh mall where you were 'supposed' to buy your clothes) and mercilessly tease you if you were caught there or had clothes from there.

Now it seems almost kind of stylish and trendy to be able to claim you bought it at a thrift store. I really dig it. I love being able to bring home a sack of clothes for less than I'd pay for one pair of fancy jeans.
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dontbogartthewine
12/12/08

@Cafezinha: I'm not sure about what happens at most thrift stores, but the one in my town gives things to anyone when they have a surplus. Which seems odd but they are like a goodwill so they basically just resell what they are given right there in their store. And those yellow Planet..something, (I forget the full name)bins are part of the rag trade and not exactly for charity. My mom knows someone who has made a ton of money from bins like that re-selling clothes in Russia. Apparently jeans are still like the hot commodity over there.
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AthertonMerriweather
12/12/08

@dontbogartthewine: Oh my god! I put clothes in those yellow Planet bins! I'll stop immediately...thank you!
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AthertonMerriweather
12/12/08

In reply to The Skinny On Secondhand Clothes
I knew my Skidz would be needed somewhere!
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