Hello, and welcome back to a second year of Secondhand Style! If you’re a new reader, I am a huge fan of secondhand shopping, whether it’s vintage, consignment or my personal favorite, thrift.
Finding quality secondhand shops in D.C. can be difficult, so I’m doing the hard work for you and scouring the city, reviewing stores as I go along. For my first column of the year, I chose to make the trek to the Mount Pleasant neighborhood and visit a small thrift shop called Frugalista.
Mount Pleasant is a diverse area, with a significant portion of the population being black and Hispanic. Located on the corner of 16th Street NW and Mount Pleasant Street NW, Frugalista is (as one may have assumed) in a Hispanic part of town. The radio in the shop blared Spanish music, filling the space with saucy beats.
While the atmosphere was intimate and inviting, I was actually slightly disappointed by the store’s price range. I did some research on the store before visiting, and I was under the impression that the store was very cheap (comparable to a Goodwill). Yet the cheapest thing I found in the store was a T-shirt for $9. To me, this is an outrageous price because I could have probably found the same shirt at its flagship for a cheaper price.
Also, I was upset by the fact that there was no price staggering. For example, all of the women’s shoes were at a set price of $17. However, there was a pair of Vince Camuto shoes (average price of about $100) right next to a pair of shoes from Charlotte Russe (average price of about $20). I think it would be much better to price these items based upon their quality and not by the fact that they’re all high heels.
Frugalista did impress with its selection of clothing. The women’s clothing was dominated by J. Crew, Ann Taylor and other professional and classy brands. The same goes for the men’s clothing, with Ralph Lauren, Banana Republic and Vineyard Vines overtaking the selection. Because of this, I think Frugalista is a great place to find quality professional clothing at much lower prices than you would find it in-store.
While this store isn’t one of my favorite secondhand stores in D.C., I would definitely go back.
jmorice@theeagleonline.com
