I Went Thrifting Again

Encouraged by my Margiela find the other day I went thrifting again at Phsar Krolayn. I went with my friend Faith and we bumped into Andy who I told about thrifting there. He didn't ask about the going rate of the prices so he was somehow ripped off at $1 each for his finds. Somehow if you're a barang (foreigner), especially westerners, the prices are jacked up. He could have gotten his finds for 500 riels to 1000 riels, maximum. Well, we showed him the other sellers whose pieces go for only 300 riels, about 3 cents only.

I went back to where I found the Margiela hoping to score another fabulous find. I guess that was really it because I got only two pieces, a Moschino kids denim jacket for Freedom (Faith's 5 year old son) and a Levi's 501 jeans. I decided to check out the other stalls and there I got lucky. I found this embroidered tee from 10 Corso Como x Comme des Garcons. I also got a tank top from Calvin Klein, a skirt from Vivienne Tam and other non branded stuff that I can deconstruct and use the materials for my designs.

Not yet tired, we checked out the other stalls we usually don't buy because of their higher prices. In our suki, we usually get our pieces not higher than 500 riels. The other stalls sell their thrift clothes at 1000 riels. I was able to find a Michiko Koshino kids tailored jacket for Freedom and a Plantation Issey Miyake black woven jacket with an interesting ruching at the back.

We were kinda spent after that one but on the way out we spied more stalls sellling bags. Of course, we have to check it out. There were about 6 more stalls we haven't seen before and some of them just sells bags and bed covers. Some bags are priced at $6 which I think is a bit steep. On the last stall though was where I found my lucky find! It was a prestine Prada backpack from the 90's with brown nylon and leather straps, signature Tessuto nylon body and pewter metal hardware. Very Clueless, very 90's chic. I got it for $2 and has become my default day bag now. That's actually the 3rd thrifted Prada backpack I found here in Cambodia.

I went to Battambang yesterday with some friends to visit the art school there and my eyes lighted up because in the local map there's a place indicated for secondhand clothing. Alas, we didn't have time to discover the place but it's something I want to explore when I go back there again. Who knows what treasure I could find, non?

And speaking of treasures, here's an inspiring story that happened to someone I know. This guy went thrifting one day in their local thrift store. Out of the corner of his eyes he spied a painting with its paper wrapper partially torn and revealing an image of what he thought was a Filipina. He didn't mind at first but his instinct keeps nagging him to check out the whole painting, and he did. It was indeed a painting of a Filipina selling fruits with a Japanese soldier bearing a Japanese flag on the background. It was a scene during the Second World War in the Philippines during the Japanese occupation. He bought the painting for $75 and sold it for $1.8 million pesos. The painting was a Fernando Amorsolo.