12B- The chigan Daily WeekendI gazine - Thursday, October, 1998 9
Discover hidden treasures by
naY a +ik shopping for used clothing
Buying tickets is easy
once you learn rules
The Michigan D*y Weekend Magazine - Tts ay, October 22, 1998 .%
By Kern Murphy
Daily Arts Writer
Whatever the purchases, there is
something addictive and euphoric about
spending money and having something
concrete to showcase in return.
Purchasing used clothing is no excep-
tion to this rule. Contrary to popular
belief, some say buying lower line and
vintage clothing for less can be far more
satisfying than buying name brand
clothes at full price.
With a plethora of used clothing stores
located anywhere from musty old attics
to the quaint little shops lining busy
streets, the used clothing industry is in
full force in Ann Arbor. The used cloth-
ing connoisseurs only problem quickly
becomes deciding which store to fre-
quent.
"This is my first time in this store, I go
to used clothing stores to get authentic
stuff and it's cheaper - for a college stu-
dent, that's a bonus," said LSA junior
Summer Franck, as she browsed the
racks of Retro Threads, located on South
State Street.
The elements that keep students com-
ing back range from the quality of the
clothes and their flashback style to the
financial benefits.
Retro Threads' forte lies in its detailed
representation of the decades. From
swing dresses with full skirts of the '50s
to the corduroy bell-bottoms and teth-
ered vests of the early '70s, this used
clothing store has more than you could
find in Grandma's dusty attic, which is
most appropriate considering Retro
Threads is located in the attic of its
building.
"There is always a good market for
vintage dresses for the theater groups,"
said David McNulty, owner of Retro
Threads. He attributes his success to his
wide variety of clothing sold at one-third
or one-fourth of its original price. Not all
the clothing is targeted towards theater
groups or leftover hippies of the '90s,
however, many of Retro Threads and
stores like it have merchandise that is
appealing to all students. Some are even
willing to risk family dispute to make
purchases.
"Jeans were made to last back then, I
shop at other stores but I go more to used
clothing stores. My mom hates it
because she works at Jacobson's," said
Franck.
Next door to Retro Threads sits Rebop
Vintage Clothing store at 209 State St.
The two stores' common thread, howev-
er, stems from their merchandise more
than their similar geographical locations.
Rebop, also living on top of the build-
ing just a short trek up a steep set of
stairs, specializes in costumes, clothes of
all decades and vintage clothing. The
clothing of the '50s is a popular purchase
- especially now that swing dancing is
making a huge comeback, many people
are rushing to the only stores that carry
the classic ensembles.
Scavenger Hunt is one of the more
well-known used clothing stores on cam-
pus, located on 325 East Liberty St.
Resembling a quaint little white house, it
is hard to miss.
The array of clothing, grouped mainly
by its decade and position in a persons'
wardrobe with the shoes and accessories
claiming the front half of the store, is not
on stock by chance, but is the end prod-
uct of a long and careful process.
Store Manger Jay Lantrip shed some
light on the process of buying.
With patience and a little Ingenuity, anything from a pair of jeans to an evening
gown can be found in a used clothing store. At Value Village, located at 987
Manufacturers in Westland, rows of low-priced clothing hide valuable finds.
"The buyers have specific sources that
they get clothing from," she said. "There
are estate sales when after people die the
buyers sort through the clothes. Some of
it comes from dead stock that has been
sitting in the warehouses, it is the best of
the best because it has never been wom"
Condition of the clothing is at fore-
front of buyers' priorities, but it is not the
only element taken into account.
"We try to pick things people will like
and wear, trendy things," said Lantrip.
But store owners say none of these
stores are hurting for business this time
of year.
"Halloween is our craziest time of
year. It's equivalent to a department
store's Christmas, we double our staff
and it's so much fun," Lantrip said.
Style Revival, a more upscale vintage
clothing store, is located on l 10 East
Liberty St. Like all the others, it spans
the decades.
"We mostly do the 1920s-'60s vintage
clothing for women, but some men's as
well," said store owner Mary Walewski.
Choosy retail selection is evident in
the Style Revival's decadent displays.
Antique wedding dresses and equally
ancient jewelry fill the store from wall to
wall, and browsing the racks with out the
intent of buying can prove exhilarating.
"We mostly buy from private individ-
uals, local original owners, by appoint-
ment. Its very selective and hand-
picked," said Walewski.
Style Revival's customers seem to be
older than those at other stores, due the
extent of which the clothing dates, with
the majority of the clothes coming from
the '40s. The funky bell-bottom and hip
hugging jeans make their debut once in
a while, attracting the younger shop-
pers. New items filter into the store
everyday which is a great thing for the
regulars who work or live in Ann Arbor.
Whatever age or motivation be for
entering vintage clothing stores, there
can be something endearing about
shopping for the past.
"I never used to believe in this
because of the germs, but sometimes
you get nostalgic for the past and some-
times something unique catches your
eye," shopper Tedy Welker said.
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By Amy Barber
Daily Arts Writer
You discover that your favorite band is
coming to town, so you devise a plan to
get up at the crack of dawn the day tick-
ets go on sale to guarantee yourself the
best possible seats in the venue.
You have visions of you and your
friends singing and dancing recklessly as
the sweat from the chest of your favorite
performer drips on your cheek, which
you will vow never to wash again.
But months later, you find yourself sit-
ting 500 feet away, bitter and disappoint-
ed as your friends pass the binoculars.
And you wonder what happened.
Now, with this handy six-step guide,
produced by students who have already
been around the block, the next time you
head to Ticketmaster before the sun
comes up, your trip will be worth it.
Tip No. I - Don't go to the busiest
outlet in the state of Michigan.
Going to The Union to buy Pearl Jam
tickets is a mistake. If you have a car, take
advantage of it. Find an outlet that is
close by but not where everyone and their
mother will be in line by 5 a.m.
"Last year I got in line at the Union
three hoom before tickets went on sale
for a show at the Michigan Theatre," said
LSA junior Chris Jackson. "It's not that
big a place so I figured there wouldn't be
a huge demand for tickets. But when I
got there, there were already at least 25
people in line.
"My friend who got in line 10 minutes
before tickets went on sale for the same
show in Birmingham got better tickets
than me," he said.
"Last week I went to the Union hours
early to buy Dave Matthews Band tick-
ets," said LSA sophomore Sarah
Shumaker. "I couldn't believe how many
people were down there. And it didn't
even matter that I got there that early
because they did it by lottery anyway."
That leads to tip No. 2 - Find out
ahead of time how tickets will be distrib-
uted.
Nothing is more frustrating than sit-
ting in line forever only to hear someone
announce a half hour before tickets go on
sale that a random number policy will be
in effect. But if you don't want to wait in
line for more than an hour, you should go
to a Ticketmaster with a random number
policy, where you can get there shortly
before sale time and still receive a low
lottery to get great seats.
Tip No. 3 - If you have friends
(extremely generous, morning people)
who live in another state, consider asking
them to buy tickets and mail them to you.
One place you can be sure the lines
won't be long to purchase tickets to a
show at The Palace, The Silverdome, or
any venue in Michigan, is out of state.
"I've had people in NewYork buy tick-
ets to a couple big concerts for me
before," said LSA sophomore Debbie
Smith. "They didn't have to wait in line
and I got good seats."
Tip No. 4 - Avoid buying tickets by
phone.
If you're trying frantically to get
through to Ticketmaster by phone the
second Hanson tickets go on sale, and
you're wondering why you keep getting a
busy signal, you should realize that hun-
dreds, maybe thousands of pre-teenage
girls are trying to do the exact same
thing.
It would take a small miracle for you
to get through to a Ticketmaster repre-
sentative by phone in time to get good
seats to a major event.
Tip No. 5 - Avoid buying tickets
through the Internet.
"Buying tickets online seems kind of
random," said LSA sophomore Lacea
Curtis. "I once got eighth row seats to
Dave Matthews Band by ordering
through the Internet. But I've also gotten
really bad seats."
Tip No. 6 - Don't buy too many tick-
ets together.
This may only make a subtle differ-
ence, but if you're buying 12 tickets
you're probably better off not buying
them all together.
"One time I bought tickets and then
found out the people behind me got bet-
ter seats than I did," said Smith. "I bought
eight tickets together and they only
bought four and they split them up into
two groups of two"
Following these rules should guaran-
tee you good seats to almost any concert
-but it will probably never guarantee you
the best seats. Don't be surprised if you
wait in line all night and weeks later your
friend finds out that she can get better
tickets than the ones you have because
her dad has "connections," or just
because she's lucky.
"I went to a show at Pine Knob once
and my friend and I managed to sneak up
to one of the front rows," said Shumaker.
"The concert had sold out but there were
still all these empty seats in front. We did-
n't get it until we looked at the seats we
were sitting in and saw that they belonged
to so and so's big, rich law firm.
"I guess they just decided that even
though they had great tickets to see my
favorite band, it wasn't even worth their
time to show up and check it out."
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