#(to be fair my clothes are almost exclusively thrifted but like. still ��)

[moptopper]

the scary thing they don't tell you about beatles brain rot: unwise sweater vest purchases

[theantiinfluencer]

Our Thrift Journey: Featuring Market by The Pound

What has happened to Thrifting in Toronto? I used to exclusively by from Thrift and Vintage stores in Toronto. Why? Because that is all I could afford and I really care about the quality of my clothes. As a student working part-time in the 2010s, I have very little disposable income but I loved clothing, therefore, my only option was to go to Value Village or a Vintage Stores. Some of my favorites were Kind Exchange and King of Kensington.

Fast forward 10 years, I make a decent living, yet still almost exclusively buy second hand clothing. It is still by far the best way to buy quality clothing for a great price But lately, the prices like have sky rocketed. I wanted to buy a pair of light denim, preferably 501 Levi's and a light wash denim jacket. I could not find anything under $80. What the heck? That's double the price of what I used to find those things for. And I'm sorry but Common Sort has kind of gone downhill in my opinion. I can hardly find anything I like and they hardly buy anything from me anymore, that's probably just a me problem but still. I only buy good quality stuff, therefore I only sell good quality stuff to them and they don't seem want it, yet I look at some of the stuff they are selling and I'm like really? Maybe I'm just out of touch.

When my girlfriend got her first office job and asked to go with her to buy a whole new work wardrobe on a tight budget, I could not think of a place we could go to accomplish that. Then, by accident, we drove past Market by the Pound. I did not know to expect but I figured, why not check it out. There you buy clothes for $4.75 per pound doesn't matter the item, the brand, or condition. No curated items for more, nothing like that.

I am proud to say out first time there she was able to get enough clothes to start and eventually built a full business casual wardrobe in 3 weeks plus a few nice casual pieces. We spent a total of $125. With brands like TNA, Club Monaco, J Crew, Abercrombie and Fitch, and Banana Republic. While I was there, I got a sportscoat from Tombilini, a Harrington Jacket from Barracuta, and a laptop bag from Ted baker for $25. To be fair, I did not get as lucky in my other trips but some highlights are a few Club Monaco shirts, Roots sweatpants, and a Samuelsohn sportscoat. Each time we left the place, we thought, "why would we buy clothes anywhere else?"

Now, there is are some sacrifices you need to make for these deals. First, you got to dig around for quite a while, say an hour at least to find some good stuff. Second, its hit or miss, you could spend all that time and find nothing. Third, it can get quite crowded and have a "Black Friday" feel to it, which may not be for everyone. And it goes without saying but none of it is curated so you limited in what you can get. If you need something specific, you might not find it, but then again, you may find it and pay next to nothing for it. That is the gamble you make, but for me that's the fun part.

If I evaluate Market by the Pound and compare it to other second hand places, its not fair to compare them to high consignment stores, even though I have found some items that you would like find in those store. I wouldn't compare it Vintage stores as they are typically heavily curated. The closet comparisons are places like Value Village and Common Sort. Which mostly sells fast fashion and middle of the road Mall brands. If I look at the last 6 months, the amount of times I left Market by the Pound with something that I was happy with and ended up using is more than the other two places. With the added bonus of spending much less than I would have.

With secondhand clothes shopping not being what it was, Market by the Pound is a breath of fresh air. You could come in, spend a lot of time digging through crap and find nothing. Or you could get a grand worth of stuff for $25.

[residentanchor]

Practicality/Theorem Fun Facts!

I wrote this a while ago but I forgot to save it when I moved blogs. So! Before the sequel goes up, I’m re-writing it to give you all a refresher! It has been 2 months! Edit: Chapter 1 of the sequel is now up!

Logan

Abilities: Telekinesis/mind reader

Stereotypical sweater vest nerd with telekinesis 

Brown hair and hazel eyes that almost glow gold when he uses abilities (Sometimes, very rarely blue??? Why???)

He tries hiding it through his glasses

“No, that was probably just the sun on my glasses.”

He doesn’t talk about his past much but has let it slip his parents were very supportive of his abilities

was very open about using them when he was younger

He tries not using them AT ALL if he can help it

The others convinced him to be a bit more laid back about it

He’s found himself at least moving or catching things from time to time

Has a bachelor’s degree but doesn’t use it anymore

He used to do online work and work from home but now just works at a bookstore with another job at a bakery (he’s worked there before)

He wears a plain black shirt with a tie when he goes to work--it makes him look nice but not too formal

Patton thinks he looks like a school teacher when he does

I always hinted he was probably on the ace spectrum--he’s Biromantic

It took forever to recognize and admit his feelings for Patton

He’s a hopeless nerd sometimes

Totally doesn’t have a tragic backstory

Patton

Abilities: Multiply(he can make near perfect copies of himself)/Empath

Patton has a love for terrible graphic tees/sweaters with puns and Argyle patterns

 Like he even has argyle socks he wears sometimes

It’s mostly just comfy sweaters/shirts 

He’s actually the shortest of the group, just barely shorter than Logan

He’s 5′7 and Logan’s 5′9

Despite that, he is the oldest of the group

He has blue eyes and his hair is wavy/almost curly and he just lets it do what it wants

He does have some light freckles on his face and arms you wouldn’t notice at first

He’s an only child and his parents baby him a bit too much sometimes

His mom doesn’t like his powers and tells him he can be ‘normal’ if he wants

Honestly it’s because she’s a bit of a worrywart and just wants to keep Patton safe

He likes his pals though and would never give them up!

He’s very overprotective of 3 since an incident...

his dad is a bit more laid back but stopped getting in between the two

Works in a library as a tech

literally everyone knows him because he’s so friendly

I’ve mentioned he ‘doesn’t care to find where he is LGBT+’ wise. He just ‘loves everyone equally’

Logan is pretty sure he’s Pansexual but doesn’t question it further. You don’t need a label!

Virgil

Abilities: Time control (Can freeze and break away from time)/Time travel (Creates portals when he does so)

Virgil buys his clothes almost exclusively at thrift stores

His NASA hoodie he wears sometimes isn’t vintage by choice, it’s just really that old

He loves buying old clothes and adding his own touches to them

Like this black hoodie he added purple plaid patches to he loves and wears the most

most of his style involves hoodies

He got into makeup when his Ex took him to the ren faire and he dressed up like an evil warlock but keeps it very laid back

Working at a craft store has taught him a lot too

He learned how to knit simply because an old lady made a joke about how the needles make great self-defense weapons

also he learned it’s good for his anxiety

he doesn’t share any of that though

He looks to be almost as tall as Roman but is actually sliiightly taller

He slouches a lot so he seems shorter than he is

His brown hair is so dark it looks black, same as his brown eyes

Obviously the palest of everyone 

Has always had weird odds and ends jobs at local mom and pop stores (That’s how he sticks it to the man)

currently has been working at this one for a while, his longest lasting job

He loves his bosses because they keep people away from him as long as he gets his work done

Also the wife also suffers from anxiety so they accommodate him very well

Has dated mostly men in the past but is bisexual

His dad was a little freaked out about his powers but has come to just accept it

His mother died when he was younger and he still wishes he could have done more to help her

Hates his powers but mostly uses them to get through panic attacks and other issues alone(and naps)

Not the best coping mechanism and he knows it, but he’d rather suffer silently alone then look like a mess in front of someone else

Definitely perfectly okay after the ending of Practicality

Roman

Abilities: Electromagnetic Manipulation/Pretty much a walking battery/magnet

When he decides to dress casual, most of his clothes seem to come from the Disney store

Other than that, you will always find him dressed semi-formal

Button down shirts, dress pants and open jacket are staple Roman attire most days(jacket optional)

Roman has spent more and more of his time outside and running around dressed up in a Prince costume trying to ‘be a hero’ and ‘save the world from evil’

His first costume was from one of his theater shows

He’s very much into dressing up and costumes and makeup and acting though he doesn’t let it slip into his normal life ‘much’ 

Everyone knows he's in denial about that though

His hair is light brown and his eyes are brown/hazel

He’s also a bit tan. (I always imagined him hispanic)

He makes up for the blandness in appearance in everything else he does

His prince’s outfit comes with a masquerade mask and his hair is usually slicked back

His parents and friends growing up all knew about his abilities

he described it as that ‘one character trait everyone has’ like wearing glasses so they thought nothing of it

He never formally came out as gay, his parents just accepted it and kinda had a feeling

He is the only one with another sibling--a little sister named Julie

She has no powers but always thought her brother would be taken away to become an X-Men when she was younger

They bicker and fight but she looks up to him a lot and while fulfilling her sisterly duties of being annoying, she would do anything for Ro.

His parents have and I quote “the best romance love story in history” which is why they named their kids Roman and Julie. (*cough Romeo and Juliet cough*)

He has a fan club, did you know about it?

He’s totally a real superhero with an actual fan club and it’s awesome

Went to college to get the degree his parents wanted and got a desk job

lost it shortly before moving in with the others

Life has been a roller coaster since then

Thomas

Abilities: Power absorption (Hmm, guess there is no second one, huh? ;) Strange...) EDIT: Power amplification! Surprise!

Totally didn’t have powers until he was greeted by this guy one day

Tried telling him he had abilities and just kind of freaked him out

Something weird happened and the guy kind of walked away and he tried to forget the whole thing

Met him months later and learned he copied abilities??? 

He told his closest friend Joan about the whole weird situation and gave him the address he was going to for answers when he left

Turns out he DOES have powers, who knew?

These guys just made his life a whole lot more interesting and stressful

You know the story, it’s Thomas, guys!

Life after the whole mess has been weird for him

Logan keeps looking at him weird but pretty much all his memories have returned

He gets random facts wrong he swore he knew

Someone will ask him a question and he will freeze, drawing a blank

Patton keeps in contact a lot and lets him know whats going on

While he doesn’t hang out with the group often since they all moved, he keeps in contact with all of the others in some way

He’s already invited to movie night at the new place

Secretly follows ‘Princey’s’ actions throughout the city to make sure Roman isn’t doing anything too stupid

Visits Virgil sometimes when Talyn needs stuff for some random thing they’re making

He tries to catch Logan at work and gets a new book when he can

Has grown closer to Logan who has a strange interest in his powers...

Hope you’re all ready for the sequel because I’m not haha but maybe I’ll make a newer updated one of this?