Incredible twist after origin of $16 op shop dress revealed: 'I couldn't believe it'
Dee Salmin, 30, got much more than she bargained for when she purchased the bright pink dress.
More and more Aussies are turning to secondhand retailers in a bid to shop sustainably, with one woman's recent experience buying a dress at Savers highlighting just how "special" thrifting can be.
For over a decade Triple J host Dee Salmin, 30, has tried her best to avoid buying new clothes, and it was no different in September when she started searching for a dress to wear to a Collingwood awards night with her AFL star partner Darcy Moore.
She visited several op shops in Melbourne before settling on a $16 outfit because she "loved the colour".
"I did a bit of looking and liked this pink one in particular. It was a short, kind of a bubble, tule dress that I knew straight away was giving a bit of an 80s vibe. I tried it on and it fit perfectly," she told Yahoo News Australia on Monday.
After attending the event on October 4 and sharing photos of her evening online, Dee said she received a message from a stranger that left her stunned.
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Thrifter learns 'incredible' origin of secondhand dress
A woman named Brit told Dee the dress had once belonged to her mum Linda — and she had worn it to her 21st birthday party back in 1983.
"I couldn't believe it. At first I thought maybe she just thought the dress was similar to her mum's... surely it's not the actual dress. But no, it was — her mum had just dropped it off at Savers," Dee told Yahoo.
"This is one of the many reasons why I love buying secondhand clothes, especially vintage clothes... it's incredible."
Power of thrifting resonates with Aussies
After sharing the story on social media, Dee admitted the whole experience had been "reaffirming". Many others agreed it was a prime example of why Aussies should turn to thrifting and pointed out the economic and environmental benefits.
"How magical, if only we could find the stories of all the vintage pieces we find," one woman responded, while another shared her own story. "I bought an old brown vintage blazer and my friend's aunty asked me if I got it from the local thrift shop, turns out she'd donated it months earlier and it was 25 years old."
Dee told Yahoo News she will continue to champion secondhand shopping, saying her recent experience has been an overwhelmingly positive one.
"How cool that someone, like, 40 years ago, wore this dress to something, and it was a really special item of clothing for them... and now I'm wearing it... it's a piece of history I'm wearing," she said.
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