We sometimes like to think we are wayyy cooler than we actually are. :) It’s good to pause for a second and recall our roots because it helps us to appreciate where we are today and what we have at our fingertips. It’s not like we always shopped for Eames chairs and Cole & Son wallpaper, and most of us certainly didn’t have a Target or IKEA handy when growing up, am I right? Maybe you were in-the-know but frankly an Eames chair meant nothing to me until I was twentysomething. I’d seen them before but had no clue that those waiting room chairs from the ’70s were Eames and were actually considered cool. I had no idea they were destined to become a design classic and that people would go nuts bidding for originals on eBay in modern times.
I started thinking about my shopping habits, where I go, and where I’ve shopped in the past. I dug pretty deep and went as far as childhood. We shopped at Sherwin Williams for paint and wallpaper, and lived at the weekly flea market for anything and everything, Kmart for home basics, and Waccamaw Pottery for linens and dishware and everything else under the sun. My mother made a ton of stuff from clothes to soft furnishings in the home, and she loved to paint and wallpaper, so I remember her hitting the local hardware store often. But we didn’t have a Home Depot or a Lowe’s back in the day…We also loved some of the little gift shops in Litchfield and Pawley’s Island and I had a favorite stationery store that I hit on Friday when my parents gave me my weekly allowance money. That’s where I shopped for all of the Sanrio papers I craved, including smelly stickers, puffy stickers, and anything else I could get my hands on from My Melody to Little Twin Stars and Hello Kitty. As for clothing, my mother made lots of my stuff until I became aware of trends and brands, then I had to have the latest from Chic, Jordache, and Gasoline Jeans of course. When I was little, I was content with Kmart and Sears. As a young teen, I was more into Belk or the very few outlet stores we had around. I was also obsessed with OP (Ocean Pacific) and all of the other surfing brands so I lived in surf shops buying shorts and brightly colored, graphic t-shirts. I couldn’t get enough.
When I was in my late teens and we relocated from South Carolina to New England the 90s had begun. Being in a more metropolitan area just north of Boston we had more choices, minus my beloved surf shops, and Target, West Elm, Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn, DWR, those were not even around here back then. We also didn’t have blogs or online shops (or email for that matter). Most decorating magazines and design books were quite dull. It’s funny to look back and think about how much we have today that even just 10 years ago did not exist. I think this is also why interior designers back in the day really stood out as being quite unique and amazing. Today anyone can access design and find amazing things. Back then you really had to work for it. Ideas didn’t come easy. You had to be innovative if you wanted to infuse your home with a style all your own.
So for fun, I want to know — where did you shop with your parents as a kid? For clothes or the home, it doesn’t matter. Dig deep and think about it, I’m dying to know… And on the flipside, where do you shop today?
Care to share?
July 10th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
Really interesting post :)
My mom was an avid shopper at Sears. They had/still have everything. From paint to clothes to appliances, that was her one stop shop. Now I shop online for basically everything.
I’m looking forward to reading the other responses!
July 10th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
Shopping as a kid – Mervyns, Payless shoes, JC Penneys and Sears. Endless torturous hours at Sherwin Williams and Home Depot.
Shopping now – for home – target, sur la table, william sonoma, amazon, etsy
for clothes – BCBG (sale only), Banana Republic (tall), Target, high-end consignment stores.
July 10th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
Sears. My mom worked there, and she was a genius at finding the sales. We also went to Target which was located next door to Sears.
Today, we shop at Target, the Co-op, Etsy, and Amazon.com.
July 10th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
I grew up in a very small town. Most shopping was done at KMart or Zares. School shopping was done out of the Sears and JCPenny catalogs. I think that’s where we got most stuff for the house too, or from the H&S Green Stamp retail store. If mom really splurged for the house she ordered it from Spiegels.
By middle school I had caught on about clothing and luckily had a friends mom who would drive us 2 hours to the closest mall. Merry-Go-Round, Contempo and 5-7-9 is where we spent most of our time.
July 10th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
This is fun — seems we all were big Sears shoppers! Do you remember Garananimals?
Oh and I have to add… Do you remember how EXCITING it was to get the annual Sears Christmas catalog. Oh my god, that was all I thought about after summer was over.
July 10th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
I LOVE this post! My favorite design post anywhere. I’m smiling, remembering shopping with our mom at:
Gemco, Goodwill (HATED!), a Sears Outlet (also HATED!). I think we got our furniture from the LaZBoy outlet – some really awful red/white/blue plaid sofas.
Of course, now I love the Goodwill, etsy, ikea, etc. We need a new sofa and have no idea who makes good one that isn’t plaid.
July 10th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
We lived in very rural Kentucky so we would drive to town, about 40 minutes. They had Sears and a Woolworths which still had a “Fountain” to get lunch. We went to the beach once in South Carolina and it was great to see the beach shops (I loved OP also).
Now I shop mostly independent shops, and flea markets. I still love the creative side of decorating and dressing and a lot of Department stores here (Southern Virginia) seem so the same. I did check out Anthropoligie when I was in Philladelphia.
July 10th, 2008 at 9:03 pm
My mother is Swedish, so IKEA was long a staple growing up. I still remember the excitement when the Elizabeth, NJ, location opened! The vast majority of our furniture were antiques, though — nothing fancy, mostly Shaker pieces and a few simple family heirlooms. My parents also had a lot of stuff from the Door Store (does that still exist?) and Conran, which hasn’t always been as pricey as it is now.
I was unconsciously aware of design at that point; my paternal grandmother’s apartment was totally decked out in Danish modern furniture, and she had an Eames lounge chair that was always referred to as “Daddy’s Chair” (LOL). It wasn’t until I was in design school that I learned about where Daddy’s Chair came from, and why it was important. I can clearly remember visiting my aunt and uncle’s house (a place I had been to many times as a child) for the first time as an adult, and recognizing furniture from my design and architecture classes, and noting that she had chosen to upholster a Victorian chair with Marimekko fabric. Having a name for all of these things was so exciting. Up to that time, it was more that I knew that my family was just much more stylish than my friends’ families!
Cothing-wise, my mother sewed most of our clothes when we were little (I’m the youngest of 6, so most of what I had was a hand-me-down!). After the age of 8 or 9, my mother would take me to Marshalls or Annie Sez. By the time I was 13 or 14, I was buying everything from the Salvation Army and putting safety pins all over it. :)
When I was first living on my own, I had NO money. My furniture was almost entirely street finds, and mostly the kind of atomic-style mid-century stuff that I don’t really like much now. When I could get a ride to IKEA, I would buy things like blankets and glasses and picture frames. My big purchases were a sofa and two knockoff butterfly chairs from Pier 1 (my god, how I loathe that store, but they gave me a credit card, and the sofa was actually quite nice!). When I started making a little more money, I bought nicer mid-century things (which, at that time, were still pretty cheap and very easy to find at junk shops), most of which I still have and use.
And what about now? Well, most of my clothes come from Forever 21 and H&M! I still don’t like spending a lot of money on clothes, but I will fork over good money for nice bags and shoes. I’ve lived in or around NYC for my whole life, so just about any store imaginable has always been pretty accessible.
My furniture buying now is roughly 50% junk shops, Craigslist, flea markets, and antique stores. Another 25% is IKEA (I love IKEA, and I hate hearing complaints about it! I think they’ve done great things for the world of good, affordable, quality design); 20% is high-end (DWR, Conran, MoMA); 5% mid-range places like Crate & Barrel or Marimekko. I don’t buy very much online, since I like to see and touch housewears before I commit to them. I do buy small things from Etsy here and there, but in all honesty, I try very hard not to acquire too much “stuff”. I think carefully before buying things, otherwise my house would be packed to the gills. I also try to make sure that everything in my home is something I truly love, and that means I have to edit constantly.
Um, this is getting really long, sorry Holly! I’ll just stop now. ;)
July 10th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
I LOVED the sears wish/christmas book, we would pour over it for weeks. I remember it being like an encylopedia of wonderful. My sisters and I would go through it and put stars and our intials next to things we liked. Hours of entertainment.
July 10th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
I just bought an air conditioner at Sears in Brooklyn. I hadn’t been inside a Sears in, uh, years. I wound up buying one that’s too big for my apartment so they said I can return it two weeks later and without a receipt. Nice.
We were relatively well-off nouveau riche immigrants, so our whole house was decorated by a woman named Sue Ellen at Ethan Allen.
July 10th, 2008 at 9:09 pm
Is it bad that I don’t remember shopping as a child and I’m only 25? I’m from a fairly small town that SHOULD be full of cute little shops because we’re a University town, but alas… it’s not. I remember vividly when the put in [drum roll please] our first FREDMEYER. Now, years later – it’s still the only place to buy clothes. ;) Needless to say, I do a lot of thrifting and craigslist.com-ing!
July 10th, 2008 at 9:38 pm
OMG — we were a total “Love it at LEVITZ” family when I was growing up! We had the pickled-oak tables, the brown leather recliners, the whole shebang. For housewares, I’m pretty sure my mom just bought them in the home department at Macy’s. Our house was actually reasonably well-appointed, but I don’t remember interiors being something that people paid all that much attention to. At least my parents and their friends didn’t spend any time obsessing about them like we all seem to today …
When I was in college, I mostly decorated with my parents’ cast-offs, but had also discovered thrift stores and flea markets for funky vintage home stuff. Looking back, I had some pretty cool things then! Somehow, though, I “graduated” to more grown-up (i.e., boring) stuff in my mid-twenties — like, Pottery Barn was what I most aspired to.
Ugh — thank god I snapped out of that!
July 10th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
Hah, I love Anna’s comment about the safety pins! And meg’s about the christmas catalogue. I totally remember that and being really upset if my sister put hers beside mine because I was afraid my parents or santa would get it for her instead. How funny. That brings back some real memories of where I must get my views on shopping, because we never really got any of the stuff in the catalogue anyway. My parents were really into buying unique artisan-made pieces. I grew up in house that was entirely decorated in beautiful antiques that came from my dad’s family. He had a wonderful sense of style and taught us to really care for things so they lasted. It’s not like we lived in one of those houses where you couldn’t touch anything, we just had a lot of respect for things. He would explain that somebody had put hours and hours into carving a piece of wood into a chair or table and what kind of tree it came from and made it really tangible.
Anyway, I remember loving my best friends house because she was european and the entire house was decorated from IKEA because they couldn’t find anything they liked that was affordable over here. LOL. This planted the seed of my LOVE for the store, and I agree with Anna, I think it takes a great mind to do the planning they put into a piece that has to be put together by any person with only an allen key. My father loathed IKEA and the first bit of rebelling I did was to develop my own secret affair with the IKEA catalogue.
For clothes, I lived five minutes north of the US border and once a year before school we would drive to seattle to do our school shopping. This meant that I would show up at school with clothes that were guaranteed to be different than anyone else’s at school! I loved that. That was the only time every year we would get new clothes though. I don’t even remember the names of the stores because they were mostly foreign to me. These days everything is pretty much the same across the border but then we didn’t have the same stores.
I wasn’t really a shopper though then and I am not now. My family have always had money but we travelled a lot and only owned things that we really loved so we had them forever. My parents’ taste was very traditional and classic and so not a lot changed. He still has most of his furniture but his horrible new wife has amazingly poor taste and he pretty much got rid of all his “old” furniture when she told him to. I took a few pieces, but my taste is far more ecclectic and artsy so it was for nostalgia’s sake more than anything. Now I pretty much shop exclusively at thrift stores for clothes and even then not very often. For furniture I have an EXPEDIT bookshelf and everything else is made by local artists. I live in a small arts town that has two art schools and there is no end to the unique and beautiful pieces you can get here for what you would pay at any other decent furniture place. And I would hate to have whatever sofa or table is the “thing” knowing everyone else has the same one.
What a great idea for a post! Loved that trip down memory lane!
July 10th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
Wow, so many Sears families out there … am I the first from a JC Penney clan?
When I was young, there was a big, old-fashioned Penneys department store downtown. Maybe 3 floors, with a candy counter on the 1st floor that I remember particularly well! So many of my childhood shopping memories come from that store … first bra, horrible one-piece striped uniform required for junior high gym, furniture for my first big-girl bedroom.
Now is the antithesis of that experience — I shop ENTIRELY online. If it’s not on eBay, I don’t need it!!
July 10th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
Not only did we shop at Sears and JC Penney, but we also spent endless hours at their outlets – torture as a kid! I always wanted Guess jeans when I was about 12, like all the really cool girls, but I’m glad my mom never gave in. Those things were like $40 a pair!
Now I’m all about craigslist and ebay, even for vintage clothes – dresses are my fave. I am tired of having other people’s furniture as my own, but it makes sense while our kids are young. When they learn not to eat on the furniture then we’ll get nicer stuff, like Crate & Barrel;)
July 10th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Well I grew up in Guatemala Central Amercia, so when I was a child my mom used to take us to store called KINDER… Now I shop in kenzie,Shooga (in La Antigua Guatemala) or online!!! I like to buy things that we don?t have in my country!!! …
July 10th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Chemin de Fers were the coolest French jeans. I think Rod Stewart wore them…I saved up and got a pair when I was about 14. We lived on the beach in California so surf shops and little boutiques were fun to look at, but expensive places to shop. OP, Vans and Hang Ten were hot labels. Contempo and Judy’s at the mall were the best. Does anyone remember Judy’s? It was very 80′s ish. I worked there for awhile. My first credit card was for I.Magnin. At 18my taste was already way too expensive for my bank account. Starting working at Nordstrom at 20 and never really had any money after that. Everything went to my wardrobe. Charles Jourdan shoes (CFM) and dolphin shorts..not at the same time of course…fun days.
Today it’s Anthropologie, J.Crew, Marshall’s, Forever 21, Gap and Abercrombie and Fitch and Abercrombie for my 12 year old.
Fun to remember those days…thanks Holly.
July 10th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
As a kid in a small town: mostly thrift stores (my mother always made them seem like a treat!) and the Bon Marche, which was the most upscale thing around.
Still living in a small town: mostly thrift stores, with a few ventures into Macy’s, Target, or Walmart for the “necessities”. I would love to shop for new furniture sometime, but the stuff I like is waaaay out of my budget and the nearest Ikea is 300 miles away. You really can’t go wrong poking around in thrift/antique stores until you find the thing you really like, though!
July 10th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
This is hysterical. I normally don’t fess up to spending some formative years in Myrtle Beach, but I did. Waccamaw Pottery was a FAV, and I was OP-obsessed, too! Did you also wear a ton of swatch watches, and high-top Reeboks?
July 10th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
We’ve been vacationing in Litchfield and Pawleys Island since I was little. Those shops are the best! Once I buy my house I’m finally going to order a hammock.
July 10th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
Ugh, as a kid in a small, suburban town we shopped at TJ-Maxx, Farm and Fleet, K-mart, Walmart, Sam’s Club.
NOW! I shop at anthropologie, BEBE, Marciano, Pottery Barn, Pier One, lots of online retailers, ebay and Target for house supplies.
I will not enter Sam’s Club, K-mart or Walmart unless it’s for dog food or I’m stranded somewhere and absolutely have to.
July 10th, 2008 at 11:02 pm
Sara – Hey Kelly Wearstler grew up in North Myrtle Beach so there’s nothing wrong with being a coastal S.C. girl! I never lived right in Myrtle Beach, we were further south… I spent so much time at Brookgreen gardens in the summer I think it’s always going to be one of my favorite spots on this planet.
July 10th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
my mom was a younkers & jc penney kind of lady. i always wanted to take trips to detroit or ann arbor & shop at the gap & j crew. i remember going to urban outfitters in 7th grade & buying velvet converses with my older brother.
now i shop mainly at nordstrom, macy’s, smaller local shops in seattle (apri, red light, atlas) & thrift stores. i still love my j crew though. mmmm preppy lust. for housewares, i always find good deals on craigslist, goodwill and urban.
July 10th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
This is such a fun post! Your post brought back memories. I remember the days of Sherwin Williams paint stores with my parents. I wanted a McDonald’s Strawberry milkshake pink room. My Dad indulged me so off to McD for the milkshake and a few trips to S Wms to get the color just right. We didn’t have Target while I was growing up so KMart was the store to go to for the things I know shop at Target for. Kmart was the place to always buy my new white Keds. As for furniture, I remember trips to Ethan Allen while my parents picked out new furniture for the house. That furniture is still around after 30 years (of course it has been recovered over the years!). Antiques fill my parents house now. As for clothing as a kid – we had the variety. I had a passion for clothing as a young child – I remember dresses from Polly Flinders to my first “designer” jeans.
As for today and where I shop…Twig of course for my clothing and shoes (when I shop outside of my own store it is at a couple of favorite spots in Charleston (where my husband is from) and a small boutique in NY. And of course Anthropologie is a favorite at sale time. As for home furnishings – antiques from my family, some unique finds from here and there, and a few new pieces on the way (Cherner bar stools arriving any day :) and am getting ready to order a sofa from Montauk). DWR/Hive Modern are some of my favorite sites to drool over).
I have found the older I get that quality plays a much higher priority over quantity. I try to buy handmade when possible and support independent designers/artists.
And of course I was (still am) a huge Hello Kitty fan. I found at my parents some of my old HK stuff that I’ve been saving for my kids. :)
July 11th, 2008 at 12:13 am
I remember buying my first set of towels ( to go off to college) at JC Penny. They are blue and white striped “Cannon” ( I learned later when I became a towel designer – that they were more of a promotional brand – an embarrassing first question from my new employer at the time – ” And what kind of towels do you use?” ) – They still hold a place deep in my linen closet – not cool, but functional. My maiden name is still embroidered on the hem…
July 11th, 2008 at 12:32 am
Growing up my dad was in the military and I lived all over. Furniture, to me, should always be handmade and last a lifetime. My parents bought most of their furniture in Japan and then some in Belgium. In japan, as a kid I used to collect erasers $1 for 4 and stationary. What I used to collect is probably what is now known as kawaii.
My mom liked to buy things a lot, so as I grew up, I hated decorating. I actually still do. I appreciate it, but I don’t like buying things unless it’s something I bought on vacation that I can’t get at home. So, my wall decor is a combination of paintings and art work from different places I travelled. Or something I made myself.
As for furniture, we bought our couch from Havertys. Everything else was given to us and we will probably update with furniture from Belgium when we move to germany. Maybe from Denmark. Unless we see something else we like. My necessary decorations (candle holders, vases and things like that) are from Target, Restoration Hardware or Crate & Barrel.
As for clothes, we always either shopped on the military base or jc pennys. When I started recognizing clothes, I loved the gap & Banana Republic. When I moved to Germany, I fell in love with H&M. I still like the Gap, H&M and Banana Republic. I also love anthropologie. I like this dress store a lot, but I always forget the name.
I love this post.
July 11th, 2008 at 1:53 am
Oddly enough, I grew up shopping at Target, and still shop there today. Of course, we lived close to KMart, and we’d drive to the largest nearby town to go to the mall and shop at JCPenney’s, Sears, and Carson Pirie Scott. I seem to remember a lot of clothes coming from KMart – we’d put them in layaway when they came out with the next season’s clothes (always way to early to actually wear them, anyway), and by the time they were all paid for it was time to wear them.
I still shop Target and department stores for clothes and furnishings…
July 11th, 2008 at 1:56 am
JCPenny, Sears, A place called Sun Rx (or something like that) which was a pharmacy, general store, carry a little of everything place. As little kids, we loved to get lost in the long, over stocked aisles of this store.
Lord & Taylor for special stuff, and last but not least (and its not really shopping) but we use to save green stamps, which you may be to young to remember, but we use to save them and then redeem them for something like a vacuum cleaner or such. Ah, the good old days.
July 11th, 2008 at 1:57 am
During my teen years we lived in a town that only had a JCPenney. And, we only made trips to the mall an hour away, once a year for Christmas gifts. If we were lucky, and traveling sometimes we’d end up by an outlet mall near back to school time.
I grew up very clueless about name brands, or the things other people thought were cool.
I think this serves me well today. While I appreciate finely crafted items. I am not picky where I get them from.
July 11th, 2008 at 2:01 am
How Fun! Shopping Then: K Mart, Zares (my mom use to go there to get small sewing notions), Hancock Fabrics(my mom & I would spend hours looking at pattern books…aaah memories), Woolworths, Sears, JCPenny, Montgomery Ward, there was a little burger joint in our town called Whataburger, Food World & B&H for groceries, Goodwill(and I LOVED it…I hated wearing the same things as my classmates so I would find old clothes jazz them up and refurbish them and wear them to school. 5-7-9:when I had a much smaller figure:), Service Merchandise, Tuesday Morning, Steinmart, Uptons, Parisian, Sams Warehouse, & Marshalls!
Shopping Now: I still shop at Goodwill, and I still LOVE it, Etsy, Barnes & Noble, Williams & Sanoma, any thrift shop or flea market, Target, Wal-Mart, Amazon, Crate & Barrel, Bed Bath & Beyond: for kitchen trinkets only, Michaels, Jo Anns, Urban outfitters, Anthropologie..and any other indie/handmade shop or boutique I run across..I pretty much love shopping any and everywhere…well…except the mall…:)
July 11th, 2008 at 2:39 am
wow i feel old reading this as we didn’t have target or ikea growing up in NJ. We shopped at Sears, Two Guys, Caldor, Bambergers, Sterns and Gimbels. My parents were into mid century modern stuff in the 70′s so we would go to weird modern shops in obscure places and I never understood why my parents wanted our house to look like a spaceship- I guess they were just ahead of their time.
Now of course I shop at Target, Ikea, Etsy, Designers Guild, Anthroplogie, and local Santa Fe shops.
Kim
July 11th, 2008 at 3:31 am
Okay, I’m feeling kind of left out from the Sears crowd! I have no childhood Sears memories at all, I’m not even sure there was one near where I grew up back then. There definitely was a Montgomery Ward, though! Aww, Monkey Wards.
On my way home tonight I was thinking about all of these comments, and my mind wandered back to Terrill, the girl who was my best friend when I was 8-10 years old. Her family was RICH (like, they had 4 horses AT THEIR HOUSE), and mine was…not. She always had the Guess jeans and the Esprit dresses and the Benetton sweaters (remember the ones with the big B on them, and the green and white rugby shirts??), and I was really really envious. I think it’s the only time in my life that I can remember BEGGING my mother to buy me something that I knew we couldn’t afford. As I recall, I had to be satisfied with a pair of Benetton socks (with a B on them, of course). I remember cherishing the clear, green plastic drawstring bag they came in, and using it to carry stuff to school after. How embarrassing! I’m glad I had that experience, though, because looking back I think it was what propelled me in later years to want to be intentionally “different” from the mainstream kids in my high school, and to generally look like a freak (by suburban NY standards!). It was SUCH a relief to finally give up trying to fit in.
I’ve really loved reading all of these comments. It’s so fun to read about where people come from, and how they change and develop as they get older. It’s comforting to see how many similar experiences everyone seems to have had, even if I don’t fit in. ;)
July 11th, 2008 at 3:37 am
I grew up in the rural Midwest (yep, I’m still here). Shopping wasn’t convenient, plus my mother hated it anyway so we did virtually everything by catalogue. Sears and JC Penney. We four girls fought over the Christmas Wish Books! My mother’s style was to pick out something and then order one in every color. This applied to her wardrobe as well as us girls. I hated that and I think that’s why I am so inspired now to have everything unique and personal. Or is it just being trendy to avoid the trends? I don’t know. It’s late and I’m getting too philosophical.
Love your blog!
July 11th, 2008 at 5:04 am
How fun! My mind immediately went to a store we had in our local mall called Bonanza 88…basically like a dollar store now but everything was 88 cents. I LOVED going there to buy nail polish; I remember they had what seemed like aisles and aisles of different colors and brands – and this was back when the crazy colors were everywhere (green, blue, yellow) – and my mom would let me buy WHATEVER COLOR I WANTED! It was fabulous.
We also shopped at JCPenny because my dad was a manager at our local store, and we got the requisite employee discount. Of course my favorite part was that my sister and I sort of had the run of the place, and it was really cool that the employees all knew who we were and would say hi when we came in. We got to see the attic of the store – it was HUGE to me – where they kept old mannequins and display fixtures, sort of a department store boneyard. We also got to go in The Backroom behind the layaway/gift wrapping counter, which, for some reason, was really cool. I remember the big rolls of wrapping paper and ribbons and the general mess that accompanies that sort of thing.
I haven’t thought about all that in a long time…thanks for taking me back to happy times!
July 11th, 2008 at 6:10 am
i grew up shopping at ross for clothes, chinatown for groceries, target for furniture, woolworths & walgreens for drugstore stuff. i still shop at ross sometimes. i remember in middle school all the girls had old navy fleece vests. i think i wanted one too, but we couldnt afford them. i’m actually glad i never got one because looking back i think they are hideous!
July 11th, 2008 at 6:26 am
The Nordstrom Rack (known as The Rack) will always bring back fond memories of childhood shopping for me. I was an ’82 child so most of my formative years were spent in the early 90s. We’d find the ugliest shoes there, take them home and make something great out of them. My mother is the queen of re-invention.
There isn’t one sweater, or purse in her house today that hasn’t been embellished by her hand.
The other was Thrift Town, and various other consignment shops. Although I have had the same thought about Eames chairs as a child, I always grew up loving vintage style (pre 1970s until recently).
I think the worst purchase I ever made was in Jr. High and I bought hot pink and black herringbone skinny leg jeans from the Rack. I wore them regularly and looked quite hilarious. What I’d kill for now to have them back!
July 11th, 2008 at 7:22 am
OMG how I love this place and since there is another andi I’ll add an a.
We shopped at Sears for some sort of candy that my mom ate and didn’t share. We got new clothes at the beginning of the school year. My mom would either make or buy an Easter dress every year. I started working pretty early to change that selling olympic cards and babysitting. I then would take my little cash to nbc discount store and spread it as far as possible, I didnt have many high name brands but I loved to layer and create “looks” lol. Later I shoopped in the American Eagle Outfitters that I worked in and the sales at Limited and Banana Republic.
In college there was the best big old antique mall with a booth full of vintage, I could actually fit the stuff too :).
Our house was all mishmash second hand for the most part. We sold some of the best housewares stuff that I would gladly buy back now in a big garage sale when I was a teenager it was great fifties stuff left in the attic.
I still love Banana Republic and Jcrew for the way the pants hang, but its a bigger treat now to shop there when I can. I love this dollar thrift store that I found earlier this year OMG. I now sell vintage clothing. I’m not fitting that stuff anytime soon.
Housewares antique stores on a Sunday or a Thursday afternoon (just trust me), curbside big trash day, local auctions (find the one who has been doing it the longest), estate sales late on a Saturday….the list goes on way too long…. gnitey.
Now my faves for shopping are
July 11th, 2008 at 7:25 am
To be honest when I was little, I don’t that I was that bothered with interiors. My mum was always very good at it but as a kid I think it is something you take for granted. I think she was getting things from La Redoute, Prisunic and other French shops that may mean nothing to you. However one thing that shaped my way of buying now is the fact she took my sister and I to every single flea markets and junk shops she could find and over the years we discovered some pretty amazing vintage things. To her credit, our weekend trips serve me well as I can walk up to stall, into a shop or an interiors trade fair, scan the room very quickly and spot the things that are going to work for my home or for BODIE and FOU.
I got really into it in my 20s when I got my first flat at Uni away from home….but like you it took me several years of reading interiors magazines to get to know the great designers. When I was working at Universal Pictures International, they were throwing away two beautiful leather chairs. I loved their design and I knew they were from a famous designer but at that time I couldnt say who. Anyway the chairs made it to my home and a few weeks later I worked out that they were Charles & Ray Eames’chairs
July 11th, 2008 at 9:40 am
What a great post, back in the day my mom shopped at Sears, Montgomery Wards, Venture, Wiebolts. My parents owned a general store in the 70′s and 80′s and they sold a little bit of everything. I can remember them selling brightly colored mushroom salt and pepper shakers and they sold rhinestone encrusted pins and necklaces. Huge pottery that they bought from this guy whob had a small casting store that sold those big rosy cheeked pig and also elephant plant stands. I remember going to woolworth and buying those plastic clip on charms to go on those plastic link chains. My mom had a red and white living room suite that was covered in plastic. It was tufted and upholstered in a fine loop fabric that had a bit of sheen to it. It was all white and tufted and it had red buttons and trim. My parents didn’t buy furniture from a store they bought directly from a manufacturer because they had the business connections to do so. My mom would dress me in all red a lot until my grandma complained so my mom put me in all pink, then all yellow. I was very fashionable and I can remember my favorite outfit was a red white and blue sailor dress. We would also shop at Jewtown which is in Chicago, there you can buy everything it was a huge flea market of all sorts of stuff and my Dad,my grandmother would sell overstock from their stores there and my Dad would buy merchandise there too. The market is still here in Chicago on Sundays starting at 5 am they shut down Canal street from Roosevelt road and they have the vendors setting up shop. They moved the original Jewtown because University of Illinois bought up the area where the original market was located and UIC expanded the University campus. My parents also sold those infamous bathroom plaques that said “if you sprinkle when you tinkle be a sweetie and wipe the seatie” I remember getting a spanking because I poked a hole in a Betty Crocker doll that came with a huge Betty Crocker, a baking oven and cake mix. I was eating the cake mix and I thought this doll should be mine and I was mad that my dad was selling off all of them around Christmas and he was not trying to give me one. I was 6 and I knew who really was Santa Claus…my parents. Well I will stop here I can go on and on…maybe I will blog about it at another time…thanks for jogging my memory, great post topic!
July 11th, 2008 at 11:30 am
omg, what a fun post. i spent my fair share of time in sears growing up as well…i also remember being traumatized having to go into kmart for their bluelight specials, but now think that sounds really fun and kitsch and miss being far from a target, etc,. in anti-big box store san francisco…
does anyone remember melrose in middle school for clothes?
or places like service merchandise and best for home gadgets, electronics type stuff? that was def. more dad than mom…
holly, i also lived in south carloina for my last half of high school and belk was THE place to shop. i remember saving up from my job at piggly wiggly (seriously!) to buy some calvin klein jeans.
i am noticing a common theme here — perhaps it’s because we all had pretty limited shopping growing up that made us turn to design/fashion professionally as adults?
as for where i shope these days, i think it’s pretty safe to say i do a lot of it online (hence the creation of bussbuss!). i also am addicted to past perfect in san francisco for furniture/design stuff though…
July 11th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
What a fun post! You are bringing back many memories…hello kitty puffy stickers, Jordache jeans and surf shorts! And lets not forget about Esprit!
I grew up in Los Angeles and we’d shop for clothes and house items at Bullocks, Broadway, I. Magnin…old department stores no longer in existence. Also back then, there were many more little boutique shops.
As for now, I do a lot of shopping online…we don’t have the best selection of stores here in Pittsburgh:)
July 11th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
I remember an old Montgomery Ward store in downtown we used to shop at, Penney’s, a Children’s boutique clothing store and for furniture my mom shopped at Ethan Allen…
Does anyone else remember the stamp stores with various appliances – you saved stamps from groceries and could spend the stamps at these little outlets – that was interesting.
thanks for jogging my memory…
July 11th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
This is so fun. I think we did a lot of JC Penny, Higbees, and Gold Circle shopping. And of course Kmart. I can remember one summer where everything I owned from my new ten speed to my fake izod shirts came from Kmart and I was mildly horrified by it. I wore a uniform to school for 12 years, so I don’t remember a lot of clothes shopping until I started to care in about 8th grade. Then I saved and saved and bought one thing at Benneton and a few things from The Limited. Then I started my salvation army phase. (Not quite safety pins, but old jeans that I cut off into shorts and bleached a la Baby in Dirty Dancing.) Now I love Target, Anthropologie, and we don’t have an ikea so I shop at Scandinavian Designs for furniture. I do a lot more window/magazine/blog shopping than actual shopping though.
July 11th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
I remember my mom picking up some decorative home items @ the Blue Chip Redemption Center! am I totally showing my age and no one knows what the heck I’m talking about??? we did the majority of our day-to-day shopping @ KMart. I went thru a phase where I would not even LOOK at anything on a “sale” rack during my mid-teens. now I’m all about scoring @ TJ Maxx and Home Goods, Target, and flea markets. I fought my mom’s obsession for bargain hunting but I guess it’s just in my genes. (thanks Mom) xo
July 11th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
My family went through a period of having little money, so Goodwill was our answer. Sounds weird to say it now, but as a kid I had no idea – I thought it was great! I would even re-do many of the clothes to satify my style – no one ever knew they were Goodwill purchases. That time in my life really made a difference to appreciate items, re-use, and create new ones. Now I’m a big lover of Ann Taylor Loft – hello petites! But, I still take a visit to Goodwill here and there ;)
July 11th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
As a child we never had much. All the furniture was 2nd had, but my mother had a flare for design (still do, it’s genetic) and could make a hole look fab. Add to that, the woman could sew anything. My entire wadrobe until I was 18, she made and it was great. When I was 11 we moved from ATL to Boston and discovered Crate & Barrel. And all the fabulous stores that were not in Atlanta. And don’t forget the fabric stores. In high school, thats when Marshall’s started springing up & she loved Peir 1. She bought her silverware there, I sware she still has it too. And I quess she vested in me that you can find great treasures at unexpected locations, so I still shop Marshall’s/TJMaxx/Ross, plus the Ikea since they brought it to Atlanta. I love ALL furniture stores, but can’t always afford, but definatly take away with me ideas and find it cheaper at Target/JCPenny’s/Sears. Who knows what my children will remember about me and shopping when they are grown.
July 11th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
My parents work overseas, so I grew up in a rural area of the Philippines. The department stores rarely had caucasian- sized clothes for us, so that was pretty tricky. We found a huge section in the open markets that was selling clothes donated by the US and Japan (“okai- okai” which translates to “mix mix.”) We found THE coolest vintage clothes there! We went to an international boarding school for highschool,and always looked forward to going home and shopping the okai- okai for the most unique clothes.
While most kids growing up in a foreign country end up consumed with trying to look like a regular American kid, we usually felt pretty stylish when we came back to visit. I still think about some of those little 1940′s shift dresses or flowy creations from the 60′s, and kick myself for ever purging them from my closet.
Now it’s mostly Anthropologie, but I still like to see if I can find anything in the local thrift stores that could compete with those clothes donated as foreign aid.
July 11th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
As a kid, we had Kmart, Pic N Save, a Roses dept store.
(I loved the cafeteria in Roses. It probably was tainted with Salmonella all over, but I didn’t care. It had cool bar stools, and little booths).
For appliances, they came from Sears usually Kenmore Brand.
My parents house was 1970′s paneling so there was no painting, or wall papering until recently.
Furniture usually was family furniture passed down- Grandma’s table, or from local furniture stores, mostly locally owned vs. big chain ones.
July 11th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
oh yea, kerri! I loved Judy’s and Contempo. Remember Clothestime, it was a Southern California staple? That was my first job, started shopping there when I had to buy my own clothes.
July 12th, 2008 at 3:09 am
Great topic! I grew up just West of Boston. We shopped at Bradlees and Lechmere. My parents used to take me into the city on the weekends to shop a a big flea market that is where the trendy shops and stalls at Fanuil Hall Marketplace is now! I got my first pet (cat) there for free.
I still love flea markets! Antique malls. I like home things from unique shops (so I don’t see them in everyone elses home). And I live in Target for just about everything.
July 13th, 2008 at 2:34 am
You just described my childhood in Greenville, South Carolina. :)
July 13th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Born and raised in South Florida, we shopped at Best, Luria’s, Sears, Levitz Furniture, Toys R Us, Burdines, Lord & Taylor(!). We were modest but growing with my dad’s successes. It’s a real shame not too many of those stores lasted forever. I still remember circling toys in the giant Best holiday catalog. Barbie central, that store was. :)
Now we shop at Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, Gap, Banana, JCrew, Pottery Barn, Etsy, etc.
July 13th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
My parents bought me the basics for back to school, but once I had the Benetton bug, I spent every spare minute babysitting and then going there to buy $80 sweaters, which at the time was a ridiculous prices, esp. when the going babysitting rate was $2-3/hour. When I left for college, I had 80 of them. I still have a few I never wear but can’t bear to give away, knowing how much I suffered to earn the ridiculous things. Oh yeah, ESPRIT got a lot of my money too – big crazy cropped pants with gray and charcoal hz. stripes.
Before that it was all about preppy Palmettos, Fair Isle sweaters knitted by my Mimi, Izod, Tretorns,and also OP Tees. This was in Cincinnati by the way!
The transitional period in between this and the Benetton bonanza was filled by Forenza and Outback Red, Polo and Guess. I hit TJ Maxx a lot – this is where i first learned my mad bargain hunting skills – pure necessity to stay in the running for “best dressed.” I also filled in with funkiness from Woolworths (great flat espadrilles) and the Army-Navy store (binocular case as purse, military web belts, etc.).
I can’t even believe how much money I wasted on clothing from 1983-1990. Thank God grunge came along and saved me from the rampant materialism and horribly unflattering Laura Ashley bloomers I wore senior years. I guess they were balanced out by my huge perm.
July 15th, 2008 at 9:27 am
Oh this is just so FUN!
The sears catalog was like “christmas come early” :) i would circle my entire wish list of things I wanted for me, for my friends, and for my “someday apt in Chicago” when I grew up…all this at age 9 and earlier.
My parents indulged me in Laura Ashley and Holly Hobby. I used to change my room around every couple of weeks and runs to woolworths for bits and bobs. A local Sherwin Williams paint store always allowed me to take dated wallpaper books and I’d make things from their pages, often redecorating Barbie’s houses. My parents were always huge into rummage sales and goodwill.
Great memories.
July 16th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
you grew up in sc!?
i want to know where!!
LOVE your stuff!!
August 26th, 2009 at 5:36 am
I’m discovering this fabulous blog and post one year later but nostalgia calls…
I grew up in a leafy Cleveland suburb and was imprisoned in a uniform on through high school, so splurging on something special to wear was always a treat. In the summer, and on weekends, my best friend and I would drool over a little, extremely with it shop called My Darling Daughter where you could find beautiful things by Lanz (do they still exist?). We were also crazed by Franklin Simon and Bonwit Teller downtown, all long gone now, and where we would mostly swoon. Our family went through financial setback when I was in high school, but tons of babysitting bought me the gown of my dreams for the Christmas Ball at 16. I was deeply in love with fashion and just couldn’t imagine wearing my short winter coat over a long dress. I snagged a red, full-length, kind of matte satin “dressing gown” or robe with 3/4 sleeves and an empire waist for $25 at FS that was perfect over my black velvet skinny-strapped dress! I froze but felt like a princess and was the only kid at the ball to have a luxurious full length “coat”!
Otherwise, we, too, drooled over the Sear’s catalog, the Spiegel catalog from Chicago…and the Neiman Marcus catalog from Texas that my grandmother doted on. But the Sunday New York Times fashion pages would really get me dreaming!
Our house was full of lovely antiques from both sides of the family and my mother and grandmother had a wonderful eye for color and decorating. I remember making a doll house out of cardboard boxes, complete with wallpaper and carpeting and tin foil chandeliers, definitely inspired by Grannie’s style. But I rebelled against all that “stale stuff” when I moved to France as a starving art student in the early 70′s. Flea markets, Prisu, Habitat were the cool places to pick up something simple and true to my generation. And I’m still here. I have evolved into an romantico-eclectic mix of old and new, genteel, flea, and quirky. I love all the European influences (French, Scandinavian, English, Italian, Middle Europe) and have re-discovered mid-century American design like everybody else. I love furniture and textiles and ceramics and art of every kind. Home passion has replaced my fashion hunger of old, though I still want to look cool, I’d rather do that on a shoestring and splurge on something great. There you have it, a long life history of a shopper! And now I am an incurable blog visitor and deco mag addict. I need to be de-toxed, as we say over here!