I went shopping with Mac over the weekend. We have a store in Northern Civilization called Plato's Closet. I was gonna try and write some big description of it, but it's apparently a chain-- they sell second hand clothing but everything there is name brand only. Check 'em out and see if there's one near you!
Anyhoo, I was actually there twice this weekend. XRayGirl and I went. She told me about this place and I'd never been there before. I always thought they just sold women's clothes that were all name brands that didn't come in my size; and I thought it was all teeny-bopper clothing! Well, I was right and wrong. The one near me does sell teeny-bopper clothing and nothing in my size but they do sell men's clothes, or well, young guy's clothes. I'm talking about clothes that junior high, high school, college, and young twentysomethings would wear.
XRayGirl and I were looking for stuff for our sons to wear. And this is when I learned I'm a nerd. I, who can spot a pair of Pradas at 100 paces, learned I'm a clothing ignoramus. I would rather call myself a clothing nerd rather than just admit I'm out of touch or a complete idiot when it comes to young person's style. First, I could care less about girl's clothing. I have a son so that's important. When I was teaching high school on a full time basis, I was pretty good on what was in and out for the guys and girls. I knew all the name brands and styles.
Now that I'm no longer around kids ALL the time and Mac has never been a fashion maven (hell, see, I don't even know what you call a guy who's interested in fashion. Gay? Clinton?), I just learned that I'm totally out of touch. XRayGirl was searching for "skater" name brands and I hadn't heard of a single one. Zoo York, DC, Hawk, and Blind, to name a few. And I had never heard of them at all. XRayGirl is listing them and asking me to watch for these brands and I was clueless. (Funny: I saw kids wearing DC clothing and I thought it had something to do with comic books...duh me!)
I was trying to get something for Mac and was also at a loss. He usually wears black concert t-shirts and baggy jeans. I really thought there wasn't much there he would be interested in so I got a couple Aeropostale (I knew this one!) t-shirts, a DC shirt, and 2 others. I got 5 name brand shirts for $46, which I guess is amazing since the two from Aeropostale together would be more than that in the regular store.
WELL!
I got home and Mac thought they were "freakin' awesome"! He tried stuff on and 3 didn't fit. I told him about the store and he thought that "rocked" and wanted to know if he could go along with me when I exchanged the shirts. He said kids from school shopped there all the time. He didn't have a problem with the second hand stuff.
Furthermore, he LOVES the clothes. He KNOWS the name brands. He want to ADD color to his wardrobe. I stood there with my mouth hanging open the entire time as he's listing the great clothing brands he loves (that I, of course, had never heard of before) and has always wanted to wear. He told me he never asked to have that stuff because he knew I couldn't afford it. Oh. My. Goddess. All this time he wanted to wear it but wouldn't ask. And he said he wanted to add color to his wardrobe. A teenager wanting color is akin to the second coming... wow....
So back to the store we go and he tries on a Blue Label shirt- it still had the original store tags on it: $96 and we got it for $9. He got a pair of Diesel jeans for $20, and something with an F on it, or in it or something--- it was $55 in the store but $8 at Plato's Closet. According to Mac and to everyone I've talked to about this (and according the research on the Internet) these are really good deals. He had shirts in red, purple and a black one. The jeans are... sort of blue with a sort of brownish tinge, I guess.
But the point here is that Mac knows clothes and for about $50 I got him all expensive name brand clothes for an affordable price. And stuff he's always been wanting. And I have to say, he looked damn cool when he went to school. He walked with his head held a little higher yesterday.
Guess I'm getting educated, and a little less nerdy,
Maggie
I've not been to Plato's Closet but have heard it's the place to go. LOL There's also (or at least it was there) Closet Mentor's which is for us just out of the early twenty-something range. ;-) Don't know how good it is but you might want to check it out the next time you're up this way AND GIVE ME A CALL!!!
ReplyDeleteHoney- thanks for the tip; I'll have to look for it. There was a place next to Plato's that was full of plus sizes, which I need and you don't, but I didn't go it to check if it was good stuff or not...
ReplyDeleteAnd the next time I'm up that way without plans I'll call first!
Oh, how I love Plato's!! But only for jeans. I've never had any luck finding anything else, but every pair of my favorite jeans is one I paid around $30 at Plato's for, and which retails for slightly less or slightly more than $200. And they're always in like new condition. I've even gotten lucky and found jeans that were hemmed short enough to fit my midget legs!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, I've never had luck in finding anything other than jeans for myself. Jim has given them plenty of chances, but he never finds anything decent. As far as the rest of the female items are concerned, I either don't fit into them, they only look good on someone not yet old enough to drink legally, or they're just crap. I simply don't have the patience.
I'm glad to hear that your findings were a hit with Mac. It can't be easy finding clothing for a teenager that they actually LOVE. Nice work!
Kelly- it's cool such a store exists. And you're right, that everything does look like new, which is impressive. I can't wear stuff, but so how great that you can get jeans there!
ReplyDeleteAnd it's awesome that Mac was happy; that's all that matters! :) Pure luck on my part, but still!