It’s New to You!

From a tag on a clothing item offered recently at a new-item price by retailer Urban Outfitters: “This unique found item was hand-selected for you from a yard sale or flea market. Any tears, holes, paint stains or other ‘defects’ we consider a virtue and not a flaw. Wear it well.” So an item that might have been donated overseas or to a Goodwill or Salvation Army store is sold to “urban” clotheshounds at “new” prices. Urban Outfitters defended the practice, calling any such items “curated” by their expert buyers, “hand-picked” for their “uniqueness” and sometimes “truly one-of-a-kind, which means once they’re gone, they’re gone.”