i found this cotton floral tote this week at a thrift store. for $2-. i like it.

a while back my flickr contact ♥ YuMi x PeaCH ♥ asked me “What is the difference between thrift… vintage… antique… consignment…?” and also where to shop for vintage. and this is what i wrote. my answer was so long i think i should probably share it.

“hello! ♥ YuMi x PeaCH ♥, well i don’t know if i’m an expert just an enthusiast, i don’t thrift as a business anymore. i just look in my neighbourhood and town. i go everywhere until i find places i like. the definitions are something like… though i may be off or other people may see it differently-

thrift- a thrift store can be a consignment store, a charity shop or just a thrift store. [it could be church sales too.] so it usually has used clothes, which can also be vintage, though sometimes companies will donate overstock. people say they go “thrifting” meaning looking at a thrift store. if you buy vintage clothes online that’s not really thrifting. if you buy vintage clothes at a store that has already picked through other cheaper thrift places, it’s still thrifting but purist thrifters don’t really see it as thrifting.

vintage- has different definitions, but usually the item has to be 20 years old. now we’re getting to 90s stuff becoming included in that.

antique- i am really not an antique person but there is some time limit on this too, much higher than 20 years.

consignment- that is a store you can take your clothes to and they will sell them for you and give you the money when they sell them. they take a cut. so of course it is also a store you can shop at. there are definitely different demographics of consignment stores. some are very expensive, so even though i included them in the “thrift” definition, the expensive ones, the designer focused ones aren’t thrift stores.”