Collegiate Times

Second Time Around thrift store offers an eclectic array of clothing and accessories, like wigs and hats.

For sophomore Mary Anne Carter, Halloween doesn't come just once a year.

"I celebrate Halloween every day ... I'm less thrifty than usual," Carter said, as she lightly tugged on an earring and looked at her outfit of black boots, leggings, a shawl and a black-and-white striped dress. Her boots and necklace were both thrift store finds.

While many students only peruse thrift store shelves in the fall to find inexpensive Halloween costumes, some like Carter go three to four times a week and are always in search of a good find.

Max Brooks, a junior English major who was shopping with Carter, frequents thrift shops because, "it's ecological. People think that if something's second hand, it's pissed on or vomited on."

But Brooks knows that's not true. He was wearing a secondhand black wool jacket with a patched shoulder.

Even though Carter celebrates every day, Carter will be dressed as a "uni-corn" come Oct. 31.

"That's 'uni'-'corn.' I'm going as a unicorn and a husk of corn," said Carter, who found a unicorn head at the YMCA Thrift Store in Blacksburg.

Carter was in the Humane Society of Montgomery County's Second Time Around thrift store last Saturday in search of hooves for her costume.  

"I like the antique shop feel here," said Carter, a communication and art history major, of the thrift store tucked away on Ellett Road in Blacksburg. Carter said her most interesting Second Time Around find was a riding crop, or whip, that she used as a motivational tool to help her friend keep running.

Assistant Manager of Second Time Around, Mary Moyer, has volunteered at the store for over four years, and said they receive about 10 garbage bags full of potential sale items per week.

"We always have something new," Moyer said.

Almost all the proceeds generated from the store benefit the Humane Society of Montgomery County. Second Time Around also accepts donations of dry pet food and welcomes cats and dogs into their store, though they ask that dogs be on leashes.

Moyer said they don't receive many traditional Halloween costumes for adults -- but that doesn't mean shoppers and volunteers can't be creative.

A volunteer since 1993, Christa Hinkelmann is dressing as Raggedy Ann for a Halloween party she is hosting. She will be wearing a floral pattern dress with a white-doily collar that she found at Second Time Around.

"We've had Elvis before," Hinkelmann said of one man who found a unique jacket for his costume. "He wore a green lam coat."

Second Time Around carries books, pet food, glassware, LPs, shoes, knickknacks, wigs, hats, VHS tapes, and small appliances.

Accessories range in price from 75 cents to $3.50, and clothes are $3 to $10. Last Saturday, the thrift store had racks full of unique clothing including: a blue, polyester and nylon snake-skin coat and a red synthetic snake-skin jacket, each for $7.50, a $30 Etienne Aigner light-brown leather blazer, a $20 brown felt fedora, a $5 faux leopard fur cap, and a red velour pantsuit.

There is an entire bookcase full of men's shoes -- including a pair of 14 EE men's New Balance running shoes and a $5 pair of women's size-14 patent leather dress shoes.  

A checkered white blouse caught the eye of junior English and art history major Katie DeMoss, who was shopping with her friend, Carter. DeMoss is dressing as an Ouija board for Halloween and saw the white blouse as a potential board.

"We thrift at home," DeMoss said of herself and Carter, who both hail from Charlotte, N.C. "We've gotten jewelry, shoes, furniture and scarves."

For those new to the art of thrifting, Carter had a few words of advice.

"Go a few times a week. Be patient. Try something on."

While Carter takes bargain hunting more seriously than most, she also remembers to have fun.

"I think Britney Spears wore these once," said Carter, as she held up a pair of pants with a glitter tiger print. "I already have a tiger sweatshirt to go with it."