#1 Army Jacket $40

On a whim, fellow Canberra blogger Heather (Heatstorm Blog) and I decided to venture out of north Canberra to see what south side’s opshops had to offer. We ended up at the Phillip Salvo’s, where I spotted a rack of what looked to be assorted army uniforms. Without thinking, I nabbed this jacket like it was the only jacket left on earth. It was part of a full jacket and pant suit for $40, and the Salvo’s doesn’t sell in separates, so I paid the full price for the jacket alone. After I got this home and examined it closely, I realised just how much indication there was that it was previously owned by an actual soldier – the threads left over where badges were sewn to the shoulders and the nametag on the lining inscribed with ‘LT. COL. HUNTER’. It made me feel a little guilty about having bought it, thinking that this belonged in a museum somewhere, or kept in the family of whom ever ‘Lieutenant Colonel Hunter’ was. The moral implications aside, this is, undoubtedly, one beautiful jacket – perfect above the hip length, amazing roomy sleeves that I love but is so hard to find (like the amazing Wildwood Bomber Jacket). While the price takes it out of the range I would usually buy from opshops, this is still my number one November thirft buy.

I wore this here.

#2 ‘I Heart NY’ T Shirt $3.50

As I discovered, T Shirts are dirt cheap at opshops, and is always worth a good browse. I’ve never been to New York, and yet I’ve previously owned various versions of the ‘I Heart NY’ T’s. The lettering and configuration are just visually appealing, I guess. It’s the cut of this shirt that got me interested. I love a boy cut T shirt with a round neck and extra length in the arms (for rolling) and hem (for tucking).

I wore this here.

#3 Mirrored Wayfarer Sunglasses $10

I always look through sunglasses at opshops because it’s a great place to get unusual styles. What you find is usually mediocre quality and unbranded, but might look great just the same. Somehow it feels better buying a Bali rip-off or kiosk no-brand from an opshop. I guess it’s the knowledge that someone else was duped into buying it first, and perhaps you’re just making the best of their misguided impulse buy. These unique clear plastic and mirrored wayfarers were from Hipsley Lane in Braddon, which has gone back to it opshop roots as of late. I love anything in clear plastic right now, and the style is reminiscent of the Carerra Craze.

#4 Annapelle Black Leather Satchel $4

I usually never bother to look at bags at opshops because there’s always a great pile of cheap polyester bags from shops like Equip or Kmart that are not worth thrifting, no matter how cute. The hope is always that you’ll come across a great find that even the shop keeper didn’t know about. This time I was able to find a beautiful leather Annapelle satchel minus the shoulder straps. It had no price tag, and the shopkeeper let me have it for $4. Annapelle is sort of an unexciting David Jones brand marketed towards sensible women, but they’re leather bags are always superior quality, and definitely worth more than $4!

 What did you thrift in November?