Lady Luck

Thrifting is fun. Whether it be clothes, furniture and toys, the feeling of going treasure hunting and finding something that is almost as rare as a first edition Charizard Pokemon card is joyous. Stumbling upon something incredible by chance and knowing there will not be another person out there that has the same thing as you? What more could you ask for?

Well, the fact of the matter is, thrifting is all down to chance. The chance to find something out of the norm once every blue moon, and it’s this luck that makes the hunt so rewarding. I used to be a snob and wasn’t all that keen about thrifting, believing that it was only for ‘hipsters.’

However, as time passed, I eventually concede that the pieces that can be found at thrift stores are genuinely incredible and often at times were to my tastes as well. Another reason why I did concede, is for the fact that it does help the environment in some way.

Thrift stores help give items a second life, particularly when it comes to clothing you aren’t feeding into the fast fashion machine. Where leftover fabrics or ‘cabbage’ as it's called in the industry, isn’t just thrown out to become landfill or dumped into the oceans and harm nature, particularly synthetic fabrics, as they aren’t biodegradable and at times non-recyclable.

With that being said let’s talk about one item I found that I consider a beautiful find and I will never be as lucky as I was at that moment.

It starts back in the winter of 2018, at the time ski or mountaineering jackets had come to the forefront of the fashion world, largely in part by Balenciaga after their Fall/Winter 2018 show that featured a high-end take on ski jackets that featured oversized fits, cropped body and elongated sleeves. Creative Director Denma Gvasalia who also owns world-renowned brand Vetements reinforced this idea with an eventual collaboration with Canada Goose. The collaboration featured Canada Goose’s signature down jackets reworked into the same style as the Balenciaga’s.

When I saw these two styles of jackets through online media sites I was sold on the concepts, the designs were a hit and quickly became a trend. With Balenciaga and the Canada goose collaborations way, way, way out of budget, I sought other alternatives.

Most of my fashion and styling influence at the time came from 2 well-known YouTubers in the fashion genre. GearedTowardGear (aka Avery) and Sangiev. They each released a video about reworking vintage garments, and they both featured purchasing vintage ski-jackets and either DIY or hiring a seamstress/tailor to crop the jacket after the fact. Replicating the Balenciaga and Canada Goose jackets for a much reasonable price point, with the bonus of the jacket still maintaining its functionality.

With new-found knowledge of this method, I was inspired and started searching for the right jacket. Going to my local vintage stores that always carry the best stuff, such as RetroStar and American Rag. With a limited selection, as well as my meticulousness, I left those stores empty-handed. I guess luck wasn’t on my side that day, no matter since I decided I could just search through the internet to find something, and even after days of hunting, luck was once again not on my side and decided it just wasn’t meant to be and gave up.

A few days later, Sangiev released a vlog on his channel about him going to the vintage stores and purchasing this beautiful Descente Ski jacket. Similar to his opinion, I thought the jacket was incredible, with great contrasting colours, incredible fit and as he mentioned in the vlog incredibly functional.

After seeing that video I decided I needed to have the jacket in my wardrobe, so once again decided to go on the hunt. Decided not to go into actual stores again, as I remembered the pieces they had on sale and didn’t want to waste my time. After searching the internet for days, lady luck did not bless me once again and my search result came to naught.

Now some of you may know this, but your web browser does take information from you. Using this information they can drip feed you more related content based on previous searches. As I was scrolling through Instagram, an ad came up as I was scrubbing through stories for an online store called Reclaimed Vintage.

Not being familiar with the store, decided to check it out to see what they had on offer. Now, remember how I said earlier that thrifting is a game of chance and luck. Well, this time around luck was on my side, as I clicked on the jackets section the very first thing that was listed on the site…was a ski-jacket. Although not the exact Descente one Sangiev found, it was almost identical to it. From the colour, fit of the garment and also its functionality. Without hesitation, I bit the bullet there and then.

I still own the jacket to this day and wear it regularly during the winter here in Australia. Surprisingly despite how loud the jacket is, it is incredibly versatile and has fit my aesthetic seamlessly. I have received many compliments about the jacket and constantly get asked where I got it from, sometimes being asked to find one for them. I couldn’t have been happier with the piece and will keep it as long as I can.

So there you have it, my legendary, one in a million thrift find. Thrifting is all down to chance and sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. However, when you do find that one piece that levels away from what can usually be found in thrift or vintage stores, the tally eventually evens out.