A comprehensive guide to used-clothes-shopping in Princeton

I'd been saving the best for last, or not quite the best for hardly the last: that is, I'd waited until November to look (again) at what is to my knowledge Princeton's only thrift shop. (There is also a "consignment" establishment, which on a past visit I decided was not worth the bother, but I'm willing to reconsider.) Somewhat depressingly, entirely predictably, it sells pilled (but much cheaper!) versions of what's available on Nassau St. I'd never been in a Talbots, but I now have a very good sense of what people buy there and then tire of. The strength of the shop - which is for the most part just clothing - seems to be cashmere, with a great range of sweaters in the $10 range. Not necessarily a better deal than the $50 ones new at Uniqlo, but once you factor in the extra $33 to get to Uniqlo, not bad.

Neither of the two items on my if-I-ever-do-in-fact-go-shopping-where-there-are-in-fact-stores-this-is-what-I'd-buy list - short, low-heeled, pull-on black or gray leather boots with buckles; gold-rimmed aviator sunglasses - were anywhere to be found, which is like saying that Nassau St. is not, in fact, lower Fifth Avenue or the Boulevard St. Germain. (There were, however, red-soled stilettos by Nine West - paging litigious Louboutin!) As in, I was not expecting to find either, but I needed to do something on my way to do work at Small World, because it's always just Small World, and I'm more than set for library books and Italian groceries. I thought I'd like the cast-offs of wealthy suburban women (and their taller/chubbier children), that this would go with at least one of my many fashion personalities. But I guess these ladies hang onto things like their navy quilted jackets, their camel capes, their equestrian-chic get-ups, and what they donate, they donate for a reason.