7 Niche Things I'm Thrifting Right Now
Everything I'm desperate to put in my cart right now
I feature a lot of brands on my newsletter and some of them are kind enough to send me discount codes, so I rounded them all up here.
I’ve written at length about the importance of seeking inspiration before you go secondhand shopping. This is largely because you are met with such a wide variety of merchandise at thrift stores, antique malls and estate sales that it can be difficult to cull through it all in your mind. It’s the paradox of choice, a term coined by American psychologist Barry Schwartz, who argues that having too many options can actually lead to decision paralysis and even dissatisfaction with the final choice.
I refer to this as the TJ Maxx effect. When you’re in a TJ Maxx, you are surrounded by so much stuff (and, often, so much “meh” stuff) that when you finally come across one item that’s even kind-of, sort-of good, you freak out in excitement. Look at this treasure!, you exclaim as you pull out a single Vince t-shirt from a rack overflowing with Max Studio.
Never mind that both items were probably made in the same factory overseas — the Vince piece is slightly nicer (made of silk rather than polyester, maybe), with a higher original MSRP. There’s only one of the Vince shirt, but 20 of the Max Studio pieces. It feels rare and special in the moment… and then you get it home.
This shirt doesn’t fit me. It’s not a color I would ever wear. Why did I buy this?
You bought it because you were so overwhelmed with choices, and so dissatisfied with so many of them, that you forced a decision and ultimately made a bad one.
The TJ Maxx effect can easily transition to the thrift store if you aren’t careful. That’s why I try to devise a loose list of items I’d love to find.
Now, this is no grocery list. It’s very rare that you’ll find exactly what you’re looking for at thrift store. But I like to view my list as a jumping-off point. I’d love to find a zebra-print chair (I once had an insane pair of Vladimir Kagan nautilus-style zebra-print chairs and sold them on Chairish and all these years later, I want them back) but even if I find a zebra-print ottoman (or a zebra-print anything, really), it will scratch the itch.
Here’s my current to-thrift list.
Chrome tables.
Metal is having a moment. If I were to re-do my kitchen anytime soon (I won’t, as it’s still pretty new) I would do metal cabinetry. Metal is industrial, a little masculine — borderline sexy when styled the right way.
I am currently on the hunt for a chrome coffee table which would function as a sort of disco ball to anchor a room.
You don’t have to go full chrome, btw. You could look for something with chrome legs and a smoky glass top, like this little number over on 1stDibs. But if you want to go big, look for a Willy Rizzo-style, all-chrome table with mirrored top. There’s just nothing hotter.
*See also: chrome dining tables, which are mighty sexy.
Zebra-print everything.
Look: everything about that image above is inspirational. The shiny lacquered legs on those chairs. The oversized Cy Twombly print on the wall (I love a huge mat border, which can double or even triple the size of a work of art and add so much drama). The fact that everything else feels very minimal. But it is that zebra-print upholstery that makes it a moment.
I am on the hunt for zebra print chairs, an ottoman, a couch, a loveseat…anything that can add a little drama. Alternately, I’d settle for a great pair of chairs I could recover in a zebra print fabric, though I’d rather save the money and find them already covered in what I want!
Buying pieces upholstered in actual zebra hide makes me uncomfortable, personally, but there are some great zebra-patterned fabrics or even traditional leather printed to look like zebra. There’s also an argument to be made that buying vintage zebra hide products doesn’t contribute to an increased demand for new zebra hide products, but I’m not an ethicist. You do you.
*Honorable mention goes to cow print which gives the same vibe as zebra but feels a little less sexy/a little more playful.
