Wednesdays with Carol, April 26, 2017

A Spring Adventure
in Beacon's Closet
My friends, Valerie and Jean, The Idiosyncratic Fashionistas, told me about a store called Beacon's Closet where you can shop for second-hand clothes. They have found some wonderful items there, and I was curious to see the place for myself.

Beacon's Closet also buys clothes. You bring your bag of clothes to a counter in the back of the store, where an employee will review your pieces, and if they accept an item, price it on the spot. You get 35 percent of their retail price. In winnowing my wardrobe, I had found things that either did not fit me anymore or which had been a purchase mistake in the first place.

So on this cloudy, drizzly Wednesday at the end of April, my friend, Tobi, joined me for a visit to Beacon's Closet on west 13th Street, just off 5th Avenue.

 Employees reviewing items.

They hold up your item,

look it over, and if they want it,

declare a price with a question mark at the

end of the sentence.

"$29.95?"

I said yes every time. Why quibble?

 Tobi and I were tempted by these

boots, but our podiatrists

would have had serious objections.

 The store was full of shoppers

perusing the jam-packed display racks.

I sold this pink Agnès B sweater

with a bizillion silver snaps down the front.

Too hard to snap all the snaps.

I sold almost all my items and netted $70.00

 Lunch with Tobi was at Mi-Ne, a Japanese restaurant

on 6th Avenue.

 Tobi and I shared the shrimp shumai which

was delicious.

My lunch was shrimp sushi, tuna avocado roll

and salmon sashimi. All tasty.

The staff was delightful.

 After lunch, Tobi took the 6th Avenue bus

to return home, and I stopped at the

Angel Thrift Shop on 17th Street.

I donated my unsold items here.

 The Angel Thrift Shop curates their windows and

items are sold when the shop opens on

Saturday mornings.

 Next door to the Angel is Pippin Vintage with

a glorious hodge-podge of  jewelry,

hats, handbags and what-nots.

 China candy dishes full of pretty pins.

 On the same block, Ariston Flowers

does spring bouquets.

Since I was in the neighborhood, 
I thought that I would like to walk through

the Union Square Greenmarket.

It's the most popular greenmarket in New York.

 Ramp up your Ramp recipes.

Only in Spring....

 Every Spring I like to buy at least one

bunch of Lilacs. But these looked picked over
at the end of the day, so I passed them up.

 I am channeling Bill Cunningham,

the great New York Times photographer who

died last year. He would always make visits to the greenmarket
on a beautiful day and find color and pattern to photograph. 
 I love the patchwork umbrella.

She did smile at me after I took this shot.

 Statue of Ghandi in the

Union Square garden.

 Union Square on 14th Street.

Transportation hub and scene of protests,

performers and events of all kinds.

 Like -- the hari krishna who

have returned from their long exile in

Katmandu.

 From Union Square, I took the Avenue A

M-14 bus to 9th Street and walked home from there.

My final stop was the excellent vintage shop,

Edith Machinist on Rivington Street.

Edith Machinist has a superlative

collection of shoes and handbags.

À Bientôt!