Boutique Browsing Gifts

"Oh to be young and in love and wear things cut on the bias."

Two women wearing identical dresses head toward exchange window at department store.

"Ikea for hippies" 1. Flimsig used pallets, old foam 2. Stinkum goat wool 3. Beetup recycled lumber 4. Riskig kerosene lamp 5. Stupor hand blown by Nils 6. Smokum found on beach in Mendocino 7. Woblig 100% driftwood

'Which wine goes best with 'the old man and the sea'?'

When Tia Carmen says... "I got it for a very good price!" it means...she stopped at a garage sale on the way home.

"It's black, but it's not New York black."

"Some fitting room. Nothing fits!"

"It's the only way I can justify buying so many shoes."

'I love shopping for clothing I don't need with money I don't have.'

"I feel there's a whole culture around mules."

"Midtown Vinyl. Vintage albums + EPs. Midtown Ink. Vintage books + newspapers."

'We always like to give more bling for the buck.'

"I want that dressing-room mirror fired."

Customer Convention

Crap others threw out

Telling Self to Buzz Off

Buy Back the Junk We Bought at Your Garage Sale

"It's all locally-sourced, made from scratch."

Stranger in Strange Land's End Catalog

"I wonder what this was for."

Garage Sale (sign originally read 'Garbage' sale).

'...And it comes with valuable coupons toward your next purchase.'

"I'm looking for a nice basic piece of clothing that can fulfill every need I have."

"I shop to forget what I bought last year."

'No thanks, just looking.'

"Hmm interesting Hallmark..."

"You sure know how to talk to sales clerks!"

I'm not buying a $25 set of boring hooded towels off a big box store baby shower registry. Mom fights the man! The local baby boutique will have a hipper selection. So true! Catch those adorable all-organic, artist-designed towels! Cute! And only $55 each! My pretentions are never cheap!

I brake for anything discarded that I can bring to the antiques roadshow.

"It's two sizes too big, but it fits."

Antiques/Collectible/Bric-A-Brac/Garbage.

'You must have something in my size?'

'I remember when it was a row of quaint little coffee bars and boutiques.'

"I invented 'shopping' and I haven't seen my wife since."

"This would be perfect! If it were a different style, in a different color, from a different store."