28 Sep October at Experienced Goods Thrift Shop

by Jennie Reichman

The other day I wore something I wouldn’t have been caught dead in a few years ago: high-waisted jeans. I freely admit that I am a clotheshorse, a fashionista, a follower of trends. I do draw the line at dressing as if I were 13, but clothes have always been a form of play for me, and I refuse to believe that the number that designates how many years I have been on the planet should also determine how I dress. Lucky for me, I work at the world’s best thrift store, so experimenting with of-the-moment styles and putting together interesting, edgy outfits is possible without spending a fortune. And if I buy something that ends up looking ridiculous or feels uncomfortable, it is not the end of the world to re-donate it and consider the money well spent as a donation to Brattleboro Area Hospice.

But back to those jeans. I wore them in high school and college and through my 20s and 30s. Then the trend of low-waisted pants took hold and there were a couple of decades of constantly hitching up waistbands or wearing a belt to keep them from falling down. But fashion is fickle and too many years spent stuck in a design rut is a sure recipe for a big pendulum swing in the opposite direction. Waist defining, flattering, reminiscent of the Flashdance and The Breakfast Club era, high-waisted jeans made a comeback. I felt a bit of trepidation the first couple of times I wore them (Did I look silly? Would people get it or just think I was stuck in the 80s?) but it didn’t take long before the fun of sporting something unusual and a little daring and retro (and comfortable!) boosted my confidence. If I can dress on trend while working at Experienced Goods, I might inspire others to step outside their fashion routines and try something a little more playful.

Five years ago, I might have tossed those pants in the salvage pile, sure that no one would buy them. But fashion loves to recycle itself, and you can be sure that what went out of style 20 years ago has languished long enough to re-emerge as retro and vintage. Now I hang those pants on the racks and see them an hour later draped over the arms of high school or college women, excited over the “authentic” mom jeans they just scored.

Fashion also takes its cues from history and world events, as in the closely fitted, tailored women’s clothes of the World War II era, which were a direct result of fabric shortages and rationing. Full skirts returned in the 1950s when domestic and imported cottons, silks, and wools were more abundant and affordable. And then there was the paradigm shift of the 1960s and 1970s — the Vietnam War protests, the counter-culture and hippie movements — all were the background for sweeping style changes. The fact that today many women live mostly in jeans is due in large part to those decades and the Women’s Movement that shattered stereotypes of how women should dress and be perceived.

The amorphous nature of style and fashion trends, current and bygone, is rich fodder for Halloween costumes. Every year we start putting out costumes and decorations around mid-September: wild, silly, vintage, fantastical pieces of clothing, wigs, and accoutrements that we have been packing away all year. Experienced Goods has always been Halloween central for the Brattleboro area, and watching shoppers put together outfits that depict, perhaps, a shadow side of themselves, perhaps their alter ego, perhaps who they truly are inside, is delightful. But what will Halloween be like this year? Is the spectre of COVID-19 the very real, scary ghoul that will preempt trick-or-treating? What will kids and parents do to ensure that there will be bags of candy gathered over a night of trick-or-treating, hidden afterward in some dark corner of a kitchen cupboard and rationed out over the year? Certainly costume parties are not a good idea unless they are held outside. At least the masks that have become a regular part of our attire might add to our costumes rather than detract. I am thinking drawing vampire teeth on a mask might be a nice touch. I have faith that Brattleboro area citizens will not let a good costume go unworn, will not let a creative costume idea go unrealized. I think dressing up on Halloween could be the perfect stress relief valve for our fun-starved psyches. So the costumes are out, and Experienced Goods is once again the place to shop for the costume of your dreams (or nightmares). Who or what will I dress up as this year? I have a hat tucked away, and some shoes, an inkling of an inspiration. You will just have to stop by Experienced Goods on Halloween to find out.