Secrets of Thrifting

It's October, and Halloween is around the corner. This means that many thrift shops will be putting together a special Halloween department. In some stores, this means nothing more than a lot of plastic Devil forks, fake moustaches, and cheap wigs. In other stores, it means they will be combing the regular merchandise for "wacky" or "old fashioned" items to upcharge and place out front. It can be a real gold mine for "go-to-hell" pants, bright colors, serious vintage, and all manner of madras. Sure, you have to sort through a bunch of gas station uniforms and the worst the world has to offer in polyester double knit, but at least you'll get a laugh. Bring a friend, it's funnier (and a lot more bearable) that way.


And so, we have these, which are also in keeping with my other secret of buying off season:




One hell of a serious pair of madras pants. They look a little frumpy in this photo, but...
a close up shot reveals a zesty plaid with enough yellow, blue and deep burgundy to match with a wide array of tennis shirts. $9.99. A bit pricey for me, but only because they were in the Halloween department. Hell, if I didn't buy them, some college kid would have puked all over them at 4:00 a.m. November 1st.

Made by "Asher...since 1900". Couldn't find a thing about those guys on the webs. My educated guess tells me that Asher was one of the innumerable clothing factories this country used to have, back when we actually produced anything for ourselves.

Things I passed up:

-Canary yellow wide wale cords by Woolrich, made in U.S.A. (too small)

-Indian patch madras sport coat, in a very pink and green color scheme (too big)

-More killer neckties than I care to mention (I've got enough ties, and I really wanted the pants)

So shop the Halloween department, and try to get over the fact that the clothes you like constitute a Halloween costume for many people.(Still struggling a bit with that). Do these pants make me look spooky? (rhetorical).

p.s. I also got a proper ascot, in a dark green foulard print. That must be wacky too.