A must-have guide for bargain-hunting fashionistas looking to make a statement without sabotaging their budgets. With this easy-to-use resource, savvy shoppers can cultivate upscale, upcycled wardrobes at thrift and consignment store prices. Shoppers will learn to navigate the racks of their local consignment shop, spot name brands like Versace, Dior, and Burberry, select the best quality items, and repair secondhand clothes that need some love. Photo-filled chapters on thrifted handbags, jewelry, scarves, and other accessories show what's available and give tips for distinguishing quality items from fakes. Interviews with expert tailors, dry cleaners, shoe repair wizards, and fabric-dyeing professionals explain what makes a damaged piece of clothing worth renovating. Before-and-after photos show what can be done to refashion less-than-perfect finds.

A must-have guide for bargain-hunting fashionistas looking to make a statement without sabotaging their budgets. With this easy-to-use resource, savvy shoppers can cultivate upscale, upcycled wardrobes at thrift and consignment store prices. Shoppers will learn to navigate the racks of their local consignment shop, spot name brands like Versace, Dior, and Burberry, select the best quality items, and repair secondhand clothes that need some love. Photo-filled chapters on thrifted handbags, jewelry, scarves, and other accessories show what's available and give tips for distinguishing quality items from fakes. Interviews with expert tailors, dry cleaners, shoe repair wizards, and fabric-dyeing professionals explain what makes a damaged piece of clothing worth renovating. Before-and-after photos show what can be done to refashion less-than-perfect finds.

Fun, funky, and fabulous, this book offers a personal buying guide for anyone who wants to look like a million for a fraction of the cost.

In this age of high consumption shopping is going stronger than ever as a national pastime. We are a culture obsessed and beguiled by the desire for consumer goods. Journalist and shopping addict Klaffke documents the history of shopping, from a time when cattle were currency to the current age of contemporary shopping phenomenon like QVC and eBay. From the history of the mall, to a look at the darker side of shopping culture - kleptomania, shopping addictions, anti-consumerism - this is the definitive chronology of the materialist age.

Learn to find affordable vintage home decor and how to style it in a modern home. From a Goyard trunk worth upwards of $10,000 (scored for $90) to a floor-length vintage Christian Dior cape (a $10 Goodwill find), Virginia knows how to find deals. Danielle from Apartment Therapy says "Virginia has total sage sister vibes, helping you score pieces for a song with tips that are so good, I kind of can't believe she's letting us in on these trade secrets.” Picked as a “Best New Book” by People Magazine, Big Thrift Energy will teach you everything you need to know about shopping for affordable vintage home decor and styling it in a modern home. Antiquing can be intimidating: how do you know if a piece is worth salvaging? How do you navigate the piles of merchandise at a thrift store or estate sale? Part resource, part inspiration, Big Thrift Energy is a comprehensive guide that offers tips for thrifting that you never knew you needed: How to shop for the good stuff, how to upcycle and style vintage treasures in your home, and even advice for flipping your most-coveted items to turn a profit. Big Thrift Energy will teach you: • Where to shop for antique and vintage treasures you'll love • The best things to buy used, and which items to pass on • How to upcycle something old into something "you" and make it fit beautifully in your home • How to tell when something is valuable, and tips for reselling it to make a profit Author Virginia Chamlee has spent more than a decade collecting and selling vintage wares. Her home has been featured on Apartment Therapy and Design*Sponge and her original artwork is available via Chairish, Anthropologie, and Artfully Walls.

In this surprising new look at how clothing, style, and commerce came together to change American culture, Jennifer Le Zotte examines how secondhand goods sold at thrift stores, flea markets, and garage sales came to be both profitable and culturally influential. Initially, selling used goods in the United States was seen as a questionable enterprise focused largely on the poor. But as the twentieth century progressed, multimillion-dollar businesses like Goodwill Industries developed, catering not only to the needy but increasingly to well-off customers looking to make a statement. Le Zotte traces the origins and meanings of "secondhand style" and explores how buying pre-owned goods went from a signifier of poverty to a declaration of rebellion. Considering buyers and sellers from across the political and economic spectrum, Le Zotte shows how conservative and progressive social activists--from religious and business leaders to anti-Vietnam protesters and drag queens--shrewdly used the exchange of secondhand goods for economic and political ends. At the same time, artists and performers, from Marcel Duchamp and Fanny Brice to Janis Joplin and Kurt Cobain, all helped make secondhand style a visual marker for youth in revolt.

Kyuuto! = Cute! Savvy crafters know that today's hippest designs hail from Japan. But it's near to impossible to find translated patterns. Or at least it used to be. With Lacy Crochet, we're proud to present one of the first two books in our brand new Kyuuto! Japanese Crafts line. Lacy Crochet offers 22 patterns for delicate accessories sweetlyrendered for the home and wardrobe. This book enjoyed huge success on its home shores. The pages burst with quirky color photographs, step-by-step directions, and helpful technical illustrations. At last, the appeal of authentic Japanese contentwith the ease of English instruction. Stay tuned for more in coming seasons!