{"id":2281,"date":"2007-11-20T20:01:32","date_gmt":"2007-11-21T02:01:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/wordpress\/?p=2281"},"modified":"2026-03-10T14:26:48","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T20:26:48","slug":"how-to-shop-goodwill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/archive\/how-to-shop-goodwill\/","title":{"rendered":"How to shop Goodwill"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ah, Goodwill\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n <\/g>\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n <\/clipPath>\r\n <\/defs><\/svg><\/span><\/a>. We know what you\u2019re thinking — how to shop Goodwill involves coming home with sequined holiday sweaters and acid wash mommy jeans. Well, there is<\/em> some of that — but you may not realize that amidst the trove of fashion faux-pas, there are some bonafide gems to be discovered. If you can just get past the mothball smell, and remember that thrift shopping is a cornerstone for many a budget trend-setter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

We wouldn\u2019t want you to head in unarmed, however, so here are some useful tips to make the most of your thrift shopping<\/a> experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to shop goowill: 3 tips for success<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

1. Look for never-worn items<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You may not know this, but Goodwill frequently has with-tags items on the racks from retailers, for super cheap prices. I\u2019ve gotten brand new, totally cute shoes by Isaac Mizrahi for Target and Xhilaration — never worn and with price tags — for $3 to $5 a pair. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I recently picked up a beautiful brown pinstripe XOXO jacket, retail price<\/a> $49.99, for 15 bucks, with tags. And this week, I saw a navy pinstripe jacket by Isaac Mizrahi for Target for just $5. But had to leave it behind because it didn\u2019t quite flatter me. Darn it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Find these gently used pieces<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Even if you\u2019re looking at items that have come from someone else\u2019s closet, used doesn\u2019t always mean used up. Look for items that don\u2019t typically get worn to death. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Goodwill is a great place for winter jackets<\/a> (especially the wool dress kind), suiting jackets, and work wear skirts. It seems that women often tire of — or not longer fit into — these items before they\u2019ve outlived their usefulness or style potential. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are<\/i> some big shoulder pads and wacky tablecloth patterns in there so you\u2019ll have to keep your fashion wits about you. But it\u2019s not uncommon to find a classic wool coat or perfectly acceptable hounds tooth skirt if you wade through a little of the yuk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You might also want to see this post: what to buy in a thrift store<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Stay away from these<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Of course, Goodwill is not a department store<\/a>, so it shouldn\u2019t be a one-stop shopping experience for all your wardrobe needs. Areas to avoid:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Anything denim. Believe me, the previous owner got all they could get from these items.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Knit tops. They\u2019re usually washed out, stretched out, or just plain out<\/em>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Anything black or white. Most people don\u2019t wash their black or white items properly, so you\u2019ll be hard pressed to find anything in these colors that doesn\u2019t look worked. It’s just not pretty. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Ah, Goodwill . We know what you\u2019re thinking — how to shop Goodwill involves coming home with sequined holiday sweaters and acid wash mommy jeans. Well, there is some of that — but you may not realize that amidst the trove of fashion faux-pas, there are some bonafide gems to be discovered. If you can… Read More »How to shop Goodwill<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":1636081,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-shopping-guide"],"mv":{"thumbnail_id":1636081,"thumbnail_uri":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/clothes-hanging-G7U48W8-300x169.jpg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/54"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2281"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2281\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1663789,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2281\/revisions\/1663789"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1636081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebudgetfashionista.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}