“One Man’s Trash is Another Man’s Treasure”

Used, hand-me-downs, second-hand, previously owned, vintage and/or recycled. Whatever you want to call it, you weren’t the first owner.  Bonus, you didn’t pay full price. Not new, can be very deceptive. My first pair of Louboutins (and only—so far ;o) I purchased in a consignment store. Technically used, second-hand, previously owned… But they had never been worn. Score! I procured them for a third of the price. Sadly, I didn’t get the fancy box, however I was spared the enormous price tag. I will survive somehow. The wife of a billionaire who lives in Las Vegas happens to fancy fabulous footwear, and just so happens to wear my size. Sin City has now become even more dangerous. Selling unwanted goods second-hand instead of discarding them obviously benefits the seller, you get a little cash on the back end. Yes I know my Louboutins previous owner is a billionaire’s wife–but billions or no billions I can hear her husband “Did you really need another pair of shoes?” Some things are universal, bucko bucks or not. This way she gets a bit of petty cash. And I can acquire ridiculously expensive shoes at a slightly less ridiculous price. Win win! Hand- me-downs generally refer to used items, also previously owned but most of the time are gifted to you from a person cleaning out their closet. Anyone from a large family is very familiar with this concept. I have been the giver and the recipient of this exchange on many occasions. However when I ‘place’ a pair of my shoes in a new home I call it shoe adoption. My shoes are my babies and I need them to go to a good home. I also have had the good fortune of being on the receiving end of ‘new to me’ shoes. Generally they are not of the CFM glitz caliber I like but quite serviceable for the day-to-day deeds. And vintage is just fancy verbiage for used and old. But what constitutes vintage is up for debate. So the next time I travel to Vegas, it really will be because “ baby needs a new pair of shoes.” Laura