Flashback

a story about my thrifting origins, and not becoming a journalist

I started going to thrift stores during my sophomore year in college, when I lived in Palo Alto. I shopped alone, and thoroughly enjoyed myself, making my way through the dozen or so locations I found in the phone book or by driving around until I found a store with an interesting window.

After weeks gathering used books and art for my dorm walls and pieces of clothing to make up an approximation of a wardrobe, I decided to pitch my first-ever freelance article to the Palo Alto Weekly: a tour of the local thrift shops. I was writing for the Stanford Daily at the time, book reviews and restaurant reviews (even though I was a vegetarian) and an occasional feature article. I was practicing the idea of becoming a journalist, despite my deeper yearning to be a novelist.

As soon as the editors at the Palo Alto Weekly approved my pitch, I got to work. They seemed to like what I turned in, but also explained that the article would benefit from some visuals. Would I be willing to visit a few of the stores with a photographer?

Off we went, the photographer and I. He (I’m sure it was a he, although every detail about him has been long-forgotten) suggested I try on a few outfits at each shop and pose in them. For one, I chose a sleeveless pink crop top over a pair of magenta pants. Memory fades out at this point, though I’m certain there were several outfits and several photos. I didn’t purchase any of the clothes, but the afternoon was silly and fun and I waited eagerly to see my article in print. For my byline, I mentioned that half of my wardrobe came from thrift shops.

A few days later, someone said, “I saw your picture in the paper!” I hadn’t gotten hold of a copy yet. “But did you see the article too?” “There was an article?” For my one and only appearance in the Palo Alto Weekly: a two-page spread, featuring a series of rather large photos of me. The photos had captions of one or two lines. There was no article. There were photos, with captions.