I usually go there exclusively to look for clothes, but sometimes I also spot a great handbag. I avoid buying shoes in thrift stores like the plague, and certainly never underwear, but a handbag is something you carry with you, not wear, so it does not require intensive washing and rinsing in large amounts of fabric softener to get rid of that characteristic used-clothing smell.
I usually find truly beautiful handbags, most often messenger bags, but also excellent leather handbags. Generally, however, the low price and the fact that they are used conceal some flaw. Usually it is just a harmless scuff, a broken clasp, or a missing decoration, such as a bead or a tassel, but I have also come across a handbag with a broken strap that I would not have been able to do anything about myself. The bag cost 25 zlotys. Seemingly very cheap, but for a thrift store and this kind of damage, it was still a little expensive. But I thought, why not? The handbag was truly original, made of leather, in great colors, roomy, and most importantly, I had never seen such a style before. Of course, without any unnecessary hesitation, I decided to buy it. I took it to a leatherworker and now I have a fantastic bag that it would be hard to find on the street on another woman. Second-hand shops have the advantage that you can find unique, one-off items there, thanks to which we will definitely stand out, while others can only envy us because they will not be able to buy the same thing.
Since buying that leather bag, my trips to second-hand shops have taken on a completely different meaning. Now I mainly look there for handbags or wallets, and browse the clothes while I am at it. Sometimes I go to this type of shop on what is known as a new-delivery day, because then there is a 99% chance that I will not leave empty-handed, and there is no denying that the best things are available then. However, I also go on the day of the “total sale,” that is, Saturday, because I know that if a handbag is still hanging there after the whole week, something must be wrong with it. Still, I am not put off simply by the fact that nobody wants it. I approach it with curiosity and investigate where it is hiding its flaws. Well, sometimes the defects are horrifying and it is completely ruined, and the only way to avoid depriving it of its life is to buy it for a child to use at a costume party. But it is not always that bad. I wonder if you will believe me when I say that at just such a sale (everything for 1 zloty), I managed to buy two fantastic leather handbags? A messenger bag and a box bag. One had been completely stripped of its lining. Pff... that is no problem for me :) Getting such a handbag for one zloty is like winning the lottery ;) The other handbag is quite badly worn on one side, but for that price I decided not to give up and try to come up with a solution. I carry it in such a way that its flaws are completely invisible.
I am extremely pleased with the handbags I managed to hunt down in the second-hand shop. I sincerely recommend visiting this type of shop often, if you have the time, firstly because if you like standing out, you will certainly find something unique there, and secondly because of the prices: if your wallets are not bursting with excess cash, a used bag will be a wonderful solution.
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