#childsnote

[araleighstudios]

Custom order! Client's (now grown) daughter had written a note that we wanted to memorialize so I made a little tube container necklace. Accented with sea glass, of course #seaglass #hollow #keepsake #silverjewelry #container #necklace #childsnote #customorder #araleighstudios (at Raleigh, North Carolina) https://www.instagram.com/p/By5mRWdH1WI/?igshid=85k1yhxkpkf9

[thriftchicago]

REVIEW: Ragstock (Belmont & Halsted)

★★★

Take a journey through Forever 21 for grimy queer teens

Ah, Ragstock! This two-floored store, which sandwiches the Hollywood Mirror on Belmont like a shoddy mercantile reuben, is one of those weird joints that toes the line between thrift, vintage, and those half-empty stores on Lawrence that sell itchy, trendy clothes with anti-thievery tags from, like, Mexican K-Mart.

In its heyday, when the southern end of Boystown was still kind of skeezy, this store was a major player in the thrift/vintage scene that you could always count on for cool finds. Ragstock’s nasty glory has faded in recent years, but it still fills some very specific thrifty niches better than any other place in the city.

Ahead: high school musicals, Tears of a Coconut, and the violent & sprawling machine of capitalism -->

MAJOR STRENGTHS: 

First, let me just say, kimonos. In the juicier days of the mid-2000s, a good half of Ragstock was devoted to vintage wear and a good quarter of that half was just straight kimonos. Today, there’s a rack or two of ‘em, but they’re not quite as magical.

~ ✽✾✽✾✽✾✽✾✽ ~

My high school did The Mikado in 2008 and my mom costumed the entire show with kimonos and obis from both Ragstock locales (there’s another in Wicker Park). In this production, I played Apparently A Japanese Person #12. Evidently not a single person in the entirety of Chicago Public Schools who signed off on this production stopped for a moment to think, “it might be kind of weird for a bunch of kids who aren’t Japanese to just like, pretend to be Japanese.” Please know that I feel weird about it today as an adult woman.

But my kimono was sick.

I’m the one in orange with a blue obi. Going back thru Facebook to find this photograph ruined my whole day.

Ragstock sells a vast collection of cotton basics - fitted shirts, leggings, skirts - in a dizzying array of colors. They are like $5 apiece and will be completely shredded by the third time you put them through the washing machine. Also, if you wear these shirts in combination with the retired Secret deodorant flavours “Tears of A Coconut” or “Pubescent Vanilla Sunrise”, it will coat the whole sleeve area in a waxy, highly scented toxic soup that no detergent can remove.

This is also a decent place to find sundresses, short-alls, and joggers, a mix of vintage and sketchy-but-new, all of questionable quality, in the $8 to $20 range. Is this kind of a lot of money? The answer is yes.

For if your Lolla look this summer is “toddler with expensive taste”

All of this is on the upper floor. Deep below the Hollywood Mirror, in the mens’ section, there’s a good selection of union suit pajamas for very large people (I desperately want one of these in my size) and military surplus pants.

Apparently, having a phase where you go to every monthly midnight showing of Rocky Horror and then wallow in teenage malaise while drinking a milkshake at a 24-hour diner shaped like a boxcar at like 3am isn’t as common a thing among people who came up in the early 2010s as I thought, but if you’re someone for whom that phase is currently happening, I have good news: $8 lamè booty shorts. Also, IT GETS BETTER.

MAJOR WEAKNESSES:

The prices in this joint are a pretty spicy meatball considering the very mediocre quality of the clothes. The character of Ragstock has always kind of been “Forever 21 for grimy queer teens” so I’m not even that mad about it - the store has always embraced its own questionable quality.

I am a little irked by the truly nonsensical merchandise Ragstock has taken to stocking these days. I’m not sure if the store thinks I’m a complete dunderhead who would wear this merchandise earnestly, or if I’m supposed to be purchasing it ironically, as if buying things as a joke doesn’t perpetuate the sprawling & violent machine of capitalism to the same hideous degree as buying them normally.

I’m furious

There’s also a decent amount of stuff that looks like this.

the cartoon rabbit boy is my favourite character from popular culture

You can also buy, like, a foam Sriracha costume. Just know that if you wear it to your man Braden’s Wrigleyville Halloween party this October, you will actually be going as an Awful Causcasian Shitshow. 

CLEANLINESS:

Ragstock tends to be a pretty clean establishment. The lack of housewares and toys means way less childsnot and accumulated layers of ancient saliva, and almost all the used merchandise appears to have been washed before it is displayed, unless washing it would cause to it to completely dissolve.

PRICING:

Smaller items and gee-gaws might be $5, nicer stuff might be more like $15 to $20, really vintage stuff like the old prom dresses in the back corner might be like $30. None of it will last super long. If money is a sticking point, Ragstock is probably not your best option.

WILDCARD FACTOR:

Since its boujee renaissance, Ragstock has had lost some of its wildcard cred. However, there’s still fun to be had, especially if you tie in Hollywood Mirror, which is located on the street-level space of the Ragstock building. Most of your finds will be largely useless, but entertaining/terrifying.

Five Nights At Fraggles

This week, I was delighted to find a stash of vintage Japanese baseball jerseys in the mens’ section downstairs.

SALES & SPECIAL BARGAINS:

As far as I know, Ragstock has no regular tag-based sale system but I believe there are seasonal sales events. There are also clearance racks in both the womens’ and mens’ sections.

MY BEST FINDS:

Let’s look at that kimono again:

Yup, still offensive.