Thrift Haul of Fame (Part One)

voltee ♦ April 21, 2024 ♦ 1 Comment

Item: Sunglasses (! A first!) Brand: Chanel (maybe?) Where purchased: A long gone junk store Years owned: 10ish?

Hello, my dears! So, I’ve been having a bit of a hard time getting into the rhythm of this writing thing. Part of it is figuring out this website, which has evolved greatly during my absence. Everything is different. It’s been quite a learning curve. Every time I press enter on something I’m terrified I will lose everything I’ve writing. But I’m slowly, slowly starting to figure out how to do all the things I used to do without thinking. However. I have spent an embarrassing amount of time trying to figure out how to get pictures on here. Like I am a 90 year old lady trying to figure out an iPhone.

I think the hardest part for me, though, has been trying to get into the right head space for writing. More specifically, trying to find ANY head space for writing has been the hardest part. There’s just not any room in there. There’s just way too much going on in there every second. I’m just hoping that if I can get a tiny sliver of space for this, I can keep gradually widening the gap. Maybe?

Oh, yes, and then there is the self doubt. I’ve actually written a lot so far, but I keep judging it and telling myself it’s not good enough, not funny enough, and no one will care. Sometimes it feels like I’m just too sad, and that I will always just be too sad. Fighting against that one extra hard tonight. So I’m just going to bang this out and get er done- quality be damned!

Ok. One topic I am planning on writing about a lot in this new incarnation of this blog is thrifting. These last few years, I believe, I have honed thrifting into an art form. I think if I’m being honest, it’s one of my top three talents, behind remembering what I’ve worn to everything and slalom water skiing.

Almost all the clothes I have purchased in the last three years have been from some incarnation of a thrift store. The reasons are many- I love the idea that I’m finding something unique, that I’m helping the earth, the bargain factor, all that. But above everything else, for me, it’s the treasure hunt. I love the thought that I I could find literally anything. Anything at all! I could find a Polly Pocket I’ve wanted since I was 11 years old. I could find the bag of my dreams. I could find a vintage Welcome Back Kotter tee. I just never know! I’m like the Indiana Jones of the Goodwill.

I thought I would occasionally write about my absolute best thrift finds, and getting some opinions about authenticity, in addition to the usual Keep or Toss?. Up first- my Chanel sunnies. Here:

I can’t remember precisely when I unearthed this treasure, but I remember where I was. A sort of nondescript junk shop in midtown Kingston. There were piles of unrelated random items everywhere. I was pretty disappointed at first- there weren’t even any clothes or jewelry! I almost left immediately. And the the clouds parted, and a ray of sunshine spilled into the shop and shone down on a little basket on a a crowded shelf. Sunglasses. I picked up the basket, and started sorting, despite the little sign that said they were $8, which seemed crazy for used sunglasses. And I saw them. The silver CCs glinting in the sun.

Could it be? Could it possibly be? Chanel in a basket of plastic gas station sunglasses?? I snatched them like a sweet muffin, my heart beating like I was running a 10k. They were probably fake. Had to be. And yet, they felt nice and weighty. I tried them on. And I decided $8 was a decidedly fair price for probably fake Chanel sunnies. And so they came home with me. And then the fun began!

I frantically Googled, learning the ways to authenticate Chanel sunglasses. I started checking boxes. The serial number looked correct.

More Googling. Oh, the serial number should also show up etched into the lenses? I ran out to the kitchen to look at them in brighter light. I tilted them first one way, and nothing. And then I tilted the other way- gasp! I could see the etched tiny numbers!

Breathlessly, I looked for another clue. Each lens should also have Chanel etched into them. I ran back out to the kitchen, tilting the frames all around until- gasp! Chanel etchings, too!

I most likely squealed at this moment. “Nate! Nate!” I ran back out to the living room, where Nate was hanging out with our friend Annie. “I think they are real! Real, authentic Chanel! I can’t believe it!”

Neither Nate or Annie said anything. I put on my newly beloved treasure.

“What are you, a California Raisin??” Annie asked. Sound of ego, deflating. So, sure. They are a little large for my peanut head. They will slip down my nose if if I tilt my head down too quickly. But I love them none the less.

I became like a granny with her sofa encased in plastic. I loved to look at these and try them on from time to time. And sometimes, on a down day, just whisper to myself “you own a pair of Chanel sunglasses.” But I never wore them outside of my house. What if I lost them? What if I scratched them? What if I looked down while crossing the street and they slipped off my face and got run over by a cement truck?

I only remember wearing them in the real world a single time, for my darling friend Juda’s bachelorette party. It was in NYC and involved a drag queen brunch, and we were instructed to wear black. It was one of my favorite outfits and one of my favorite brunches of all time. And my sunnies did not even have a run in with a cement truck!

But I don’t wear these enough. I am trying very hard these days to not save anything, to enjoy my clothes and special things and not wait for a perfect occasion that might not ever come. Because one never knows.

So today I have two questions: Do you agree that these are authentic realness? And should I keep them?