Resale Clothing A Highlight at 2012 Mid-Winter Square Dance Festival in Albany

From the length of the line winding around the clothing resale area Friday night at the Mid-Winter festival, I deduce that shopping is a favorite activity for square dancers. A national caller and cuer were on stage in other buildings of the Expo center, but still dancers waited in line for the single cashier to ring up their purchases. I saw people walk out of the resale room carrying bulging 32-gallon leaf bags of clothes. 

I visited the resale area not to shop but to inspect. For the first time ever, I had tried out Mid-Winter’s nifty computerized resale form, and offered four blouses and two skirts for consignment. Now I wanted to see if I could find my garments on the racks…or if they had sold. The too-small blue blouse was nowhere to be seen. Sold? I hope so.

Shoppers carefully select clothing in the resale area at Mid-Winter 2012.

The beautiful maroon blouse with the double ruffled sleeves was absent from the rack holding red blouses. Sold? Probably. It was lovely. I’ve had second thoughts on selling that one, but I already had a maroon blouse when my Mom gave me this one. Maybe I should have sold my original maroon blouse. It was plainer. But Mom had made it. That blouse has sentimental value even if it lacks the resale blouse’s style. No, stop thinking like that! After all, I’ll get $5– minus the consignment charge– for the maroon blouse. That thought makes me feel even worse. 

The prettiest petticoats go fast at Mid-Winter's resale.

The white blouse with the capped sleeves was still hanging with the other white blouses. I found the too-big-for-me polka-dotted mauve blouse hanging between other colors. It apparently defied categorizing. The matching mauve skirt (too small for me) was gone. I found the white skirt with lace insets and straightened it on the hanger.

Racks of used square dance clothing fill the end of the round dance hall.

I ran into a friend buying an armload of clothes. “This blouse looks just like yours,” she said, holding up a red lacy blouse like the one my mom gave me for Christmas when I first started square dancing. The blouse looked new (no, it wasn’t mine). “And these sandals. I just ordered a pair like them for $120. These are $18,” she said. I asked if she planned to return the new ones.

Resale is a great way to purge a too-tightly packed closet. And it’s a great way to expand one’s wardrobe affordably. A big thanks to the Mid-Winter staff, which works long hours to provide the resale room.