The Salvation Army thrift store in Key West is perhaps the dreariest and dumpiest one that I have ever seen.
The walls are a dingy yellow that is almost sickly in appearance. The air conditioning is practically non-existent on a good day. I can only be in there for a short time in the summer before my hair is soaked with perspiration, my nose is dripping from the dust and my eyes start to itch from the mold. How utterly charming.
One would think that this would be a deterrent but I have learned that this is only a minor inconvenience when I might score some high end clothes for pennies on the dollar.
Quite often I have found Ann Taylor, Liz Claiborne, Michael Kors, Talbot, Orvis etc. hiding amongst the rubbish.
A few weeks ago I popped in and picked up a sporty linen top. I can wear it with both my white and black linen trousers. Though I think it looks best with the white.
As the rummage continued on I found a crinkled linen tank in Eggplant from the Dress Barn. I think it looks smashing with this cotton wrap. Its too bad that I can't convince my camera how pretty it is.
By the time my eyes were tearing up and my nose had transformed into a faucet I was ready to take my leave but something compelled me to poke about in the dress rack.
I rarely find anything there because I wear a size 6 and that is the hardest size to come by around here.
Then squashed in between a wack of boring black poylester dresses was this chic fully lined white cotton and machine embroidered dress from Talbot's in mint condition for $3.50!!!!
I almost missed adding this beauty to my wardrobe but I have learned that it pays to push the dresses about to find the gems.
Yeah, this place is amazing even though it does make me terribly damp and slightly ill when I'm there!