Lumpeks, ciucholand, szmaciarnia, ciuszek, tania odzież, odzież używana… I still can’t believe how many names thrift store has in Polish. My aunt usually used to call them szmaciarnia, coming from word szmata (rag). My mom either used only root szmaty or lumpeks. The latter one comes from a combination of word lump which can be translated as bum, hobo with -ex (-eks if spelled phonetically) suffix - which comes from Pewex stores which carried hard to find western goods, of course paid for in American Dollar 1.
Thrift stores, post-1989, weren’t a new phenomenon. Back in PRL they appeared in slightly different form, as Komisy Odzieżowe which were stocked mostly with clothing sent to people by families living in diaspora (usually in the United States) that turned out to be either too big or too small. Prices were high and main clientele was more affluent and it wasn’t available to an average Pole.
After fall of iron curtain imported goods, both new and used, become abundant. It led to a massive boom of the second-hand clothing stores. More and more were springing like mushrooms after the rain. It was a very profitable business. Only in 2001 thrift stores resulted in 17 million USD of tax revenue for importing 55 million tons of clothing paid to Polish IRS (Urząd Skarbowy). Soon after they became associated with being dumps of low quality clothing, sold without any disinfection or it wasn’t really sorted - but still were incredibly popular.
Badania przeprowadzone przez TNS OBOP głoszą, że ponad połowa Polaków nosi używaną odzież. 42% sięga po nią często, 13% zagląda do second-handów od czasu do czasu. Co piąty Polak przyznaje, że nigdy nie założyłby używanej rzeczy, ale fani buszowania po lumpeksach nadal stanowią znaczącą większość. (2011)
Survey conducted by TNS OBOP says, that over a half of Poles wears used clothing. 42% buys it frequently, 13% goes to second-hand stores from time to time. One in five Poles admits that, they never would wear a used garment, but fans of second-hand hunting still are majority. 2
Soon after Polish government, in July 2002, decided to crack down on thrift stores with a bill banning import and sale of unsorted and not disinfected clothing. It was met with a criticism, since it would drive up prices in stores up and would endanger around 40 thousand jobs in the industry.
During the 90s, there were occasional pieces in women’s magazines on vintage clothing. Which attempted to warm up image of thrift stores and promote them a way to get stylish clothing, including this editorial and report on specialized vintage botiques abroad from May 1999 issue of Twój Styl.
Elegancja z odzysku (Recycled Elegance). Shot by Magda Wuensche, styled by Iza Woźny and Iza Cisek, make-up by Sergiusz Osmański 3, hair by Piotr Pogodziński. Shot on location at Warsaw Metro, SGH Warsaw School of Economics, internet cafe. Models: Renata, Agnieszka, Ania.
Knit top, linen trousers and a slip from 1950s, it’s our finds from cheap clothing store in Świdnik near Lublin. Shimmery light coat bought for 1 złoty in Kraków. Slides (new), English Shop.
A Hoodie (1970s), bias cut skirt. Elastic top from the 1960s, gray pinstripe trousers. Everything 18zł. Slides - Claire and English Shop. Left: Sky blue mohair sweater from the 1960s. Top from woolen knit fabric with metallic tread has around 10 years, but nowadays is very fashionable. Each sweater - 7zł
Vinyl coat from the 1970s,. Poplin jacket, bell-bottom pants from bistor fabric also in 1970s style. Price for both sets - 22zł. Shoes from mail order catalogue Elios and Benetton slides. Right: Orange lurex top with deep nekcline, jacket from metallized foil and bell-bottoms from poly-cotton blend costed in total 12zł.
The photoshoot was styled in a such contemporary way - with nod of minimalism that was burgeoning on runways, it’s utility-chic subset with nod to 60s and 70s revival styling. So many of these pieces barely feel dated because of the trend cycle and revivals, but also due to their simplicity. It was accompanied by a write-up by Joanna Bojańczyk, which was realistic about state of typical used clothing stores and talked about lack of curated vintage boutiques.
It was followed by a long (5 page) feature on curated vintage botirques and thrift stores in three major cities, two of them being fashion capials - Paris, New York and Rome. There’s something about local history of these stores, how they operate. Specific locations mentioned include famous vintage botique Reciproque, founded in 1978 by Nicole Morel and located in 14th arrondissement of Paris at rue de la Pompe, at which author of the Paris report herself was a customer. For NYC Jackie Kennedy’s favorite Encoresituated near her Madison Avenue residence, between 84th and 85th Street get a mention, alongside many others specialized stores in area. Rome probably had most curious ones like very intimate L’Oca Giuliva (Satisfied Goose), which was hidden in an old tennement house and advertised only by word of mouth. One thing that hit me was how much it focused on designer clothing - obsession which continues until today, in similar way to brand obsession which is mainstay of aspecific set of (mostly millennial) thrift influencers nowadays.
At the end of this report, 4 known women, mostly in creative industry, were asked about thrifting. All of them loved it - Barbara Hanicka, a stage designer used thrift stores to source props for stage design. Kayah, a singer who is known for her eclectic music and unique fashion sense, talked about her experiences about trifting in the LA and her personal treasures. Agata Passent 4 told about her experience while studying in the USA - thrifting was common among students, who didn’t have much money. She herself used them to buy special occassion clothes - long, white dress priced at 10$ for her high school graduation and a purple velvet dress for her college diploma ceremony. Agnieszka Dark, an actress, loved used clothing stores in Amsterdam, since their equivalents in Poland were lackluster. She was open about her love for vintage clothing with soul, over anything new and from known brands.
By 1999 long awaited, back then revered fast fashion chains started to come in, with Zara being a first foreign chain to appear, then H&M in 2003. There was also home-grown fast fashion chain which debuted in 1998, after founders of LPP Marek Piechocki i Jerzy Lubianiec contracted manufacturers in Shanghai, called Reserved. Since everyone desired everything new and access to cheap and on trend (and produced in dubious conditions and using exploited labour) clothing thrifting started to fall out of fashion as a fashion statement, before a revival in 2010s which continues strong until today.
1 -ex suffix became highly popular in company names during transformation era, post-1989.
2 Sourced from newsweek.pl and dontpaniconline.pl. Second link was used as main resource in general.
3 Sergiusz Osmański was makeup artist for Margaret Astor, a brand which was popular during the 90s and had very aggressive advertising in Poland. He worked most closely with Twój Styl and he had own, advertorial, column with makeup advice during the late 90s.
4More on her will be here later. Daughter of famed songwriter Agnieszka Osiecka and journalist Daniel Passent.