Cheap and Chic: America’s Greatest Thrift Stores

The art of thrift-store shopping combines attitude, planning and follow-through.

First off, get over the smell. Some of the better class of thrift stores may not have that musty, grandma's closet smell, but many terrific ones do. You're sacrificing ambiance for truly super savings: These are the places where you find amazing clothes for just a few bucks. Anyway, you're going to wash everything as soon as you get it home. If the smell is a deal breaker for you, stick with the stores that call themselves vintage (read: expensive old stuff, the equivalent of antiques vs. junk) or consignment.

Rule two: Wash everything as soon as you get it home. Dump that huge bag of new clothes straight into the washer, or take dry-clean-only items directly to the cleaner, and try not to cringe when you pay more for the cleaning than you did for that sweet linen blazer.

Thirdly, good thrifting takes time. Most items you paw through will be stained, ugly, hopelessly out of fashion, or not your size -- often all of the above. Thrift stores are not celebrated for their organization any more than for their aroma. Men's and women's are usually separate, although items like sweaters will have a lot of overlap. Beyond that, some stores organize by color, some by type (skirts, suits, etc.), a very few by size -- but you can't fully trust these categories. Much as a true music junkie will dig through every bin in a record store, real thrifting involves laying hands on pretty much every item in the place -- flip through rapidly, judging by sight for color and fit and letting your fingers evaluate the quality of the fabric. A post-shop hand-wash is mandatory.

A thrift store may or may not have a changing room. If it does: great. If not, dress for the occasion. Ladies: A loose skirt and a camisole will do nicely for putting tops on over and pants or skirts on under. Everyone else will be doing the same, so you won't stand out. Guys should wear a T-shirt they can try on shirts and sweaters over and should have their trouser measurements memorized. A waist size and inseam will take you far, and you should know by now whether you prefer pleats or flat fronts. If they don't fit perfectly, well, you only wasted a few bucks.

Thrifting, in any case, is about taking chances. Will you paw through all that trash to find a Chanel suit, or even a Banana Republic sweater? Perhaps. Or perhaps you'll locate an amazing vintage dress from the '70s. A few cool T-shirts with funny slogans will give you fantastic hipster cred, especially for about $2 a pop. It's worth trying on absolutely everything that might remotely fit. Try the strange and potentially terrible, and you might just find a great new look. There's so little to lose -- a few dollars, a little dignity -- and so much to gain.