For many people, a thrift-store visit can be depressing. The lighting is harsh, the clothes tattered, the dishes chipped. What a dump!
This is not the case for Daniel Troppy, who has a way of sniffing designer labels out of the dreck.
The trim, smartly dressed visual artist, blogger and thrifter extraordinaire waltzes into Marietta's Value Village one recent morning with the bubbly anticipation of a child on Christmas morning. He is on the hunt for designer labels to re-sell at Doubletake Recycled Luxury, his new boutique at downtown’s Studioplex.
The first thing he spots is a pair of patent-leather Ferragamo slippers. He grabs them and moves on. Flipping through the racks, his eyes as sharp as a bar-code scanner, he is on the prowl for designer labels only: Chanel, Dior, Versace, Armani — high-end brands that can sell for thousands at Neiman-Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue.
“You never know,” he chirps as he heads into the coat department. “Maybe we’ll get a Burberry!”
Troppy has been perfecting his thrift-store finesse for 28 years. “When I was in school, and I didn’t have money for basics like sheets or furniture, that’s when I hit the Salvation Armies, the Goodwills, the thrift stores,” says the 46-year-old entrepreneur. He studied art at several Texas colleges and universities, moved to Atlanta in 1991 and eventually had his work shown at the tony Fay Gold and Marcia Wood galleries.
But to survive, every artist needs a Plan B.
In 2009, Troppy began posting a daily blog about his second-hand finds on his website, thethrifters.net. That led to an ongoing series of YouTube videos in which the zany personality plucked vintage Halston, Gucci and the occasional Fiorucci from a pedestrian shopping bag, crowing about the $4 and $5 purchases with a mixture of giddiness and disbelief.
Soon, busy career women with no time to shop were calling to ask if they could buy his wares. In October, his virtual boutique morphed into a storefront in the Studioplex courtyard off Auburn Avenue. Called a “thrift curator” by his friends, the serial thrifter deals exclusively in women’s clothing, because his space is limited and that’s where demand is.
“I could find a suitcase packed with 1950s Chanel gowns in a landfill and women wouldn’t give a hill of beans where it came from,” he exclaims dramatically over a cup of coffee at the Ansley Mall Starbucks before heading to Marietta to thrift. “They don’t care. At the end of the day, women want luxury. They want it at a bargain. They don’t care if it comes from a landfill. They don’t care if it comes from Bernie Madoff’s closet. They don’t care.”
“My clients," Troppy says, "are women who want to dress a little green, because that’s really what it comes down to is recycling. The green aspect is very influential to them.”
They also enjoy his zest and jest. When regular client Marsha Bolton holds up a black Cynthia Steffe see-through number one recent afternoon, he tells her she'd look good in it -- "with nothing else on."
"He has a great eye, and it's the perfect concept for right now," says Atlanta publicist Liz Lapidus, who bought a "fab" dress at Doubletake the day it opened.
Atlanta author Hollis Gillespie used Troppy as a character in her three books and credits him with shaping her public image. When she appeared on "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno in 2004, Troppy found her a jewel-blue cocktail suit ($30) at a Burbank thrift store and "forced" her to abandon the expensive get-up she'd bought at Macy's.
"Thank god," she says. "I returned the new outfit and saved $450."
Except for socks and underwear, there is almost nothing that Troppy won’t reclaim and re-use. He makes collages from trash. He scavenges for seeds and cuttings in parks and gardens. He and his partner, Mitch Waldman, once filled a ’60s, California-style split-level with Mies chairs and chases, Nelson benches and Noguchi lamps, all purchased at bargain-basement prices at Atlanta thrift-stores. (Today they live near the Castleberry neighborhood downtown.)
On this day, he's dressed to thrift in a Jil Sander jacket, ZegnaSport sweater, Saks Fifth Avenue vest, Michael Kors shirt, Helmut Lang jeans and Hugo Boss shoes. The Sander alone would have retailed for $800 to $1,200. He says he paid $26 for the entire outfit.
The son of a south Texas sugar-cane farmer, Troppy was into green before green was cool. His environmentally conscious dad saved water and turned off lights to conserve electricity. He’s just brought the practice to the fashion arena.
Troppy thrifts almost everyday, mapping out his journey, printing out directions so he won’t get lost and using his iPhone to find a Scoutmob coupon for lunch. (Never mind that it's a bad chicken-wing place; it's half off.) Flicking through a rack at Marietta’s Value Village, he says he tells folks seeking advice: “You’ve got to have plenty of time to kill and you’ve got to have stamina.”
His job is mind-numbing and keeps him on his toes. And fingers. The savvy social networker blogs daily (“I never let a holiday go”) and posts a YouTube video every other day. “You have got to keep those people entertained,” he says. “In the morning I can click on and look at my traffic and I’ve got 10 to 12 thousand hits. And that’s early in the morning.”
Troppy finishes up his Value Village shopping by adding a purple Michael Stors top and a Basler green velvet jacket to the Ferragamo shoes. He then heads down the street to Goodwill.
After flicking through a few aisles, he admires (but doesn’t buy) a $50 wedding gown and picks up a few odds and ends before circling in for the big kahuna: a Valentino jacket in a gold-rose print ($5.47) and a black Yves St. Laurent jacket ($5.59).
“Oh, my, God,” he screams at the sight of the YSL. “It’s a red tag.” In Goodwill speak, that means it’s 50 percent off.
Tips from a serial thrifter
Best time: Right now, when people are making charitable donations for 2010 tax write-offs. In general, though, no special day or time. It's just a matter of luck, Troppy says. "If you are hunting for Ann Taylor, Banana Republic or J. Crew, no problem. But if you are hunting for Prada, Gucci, YSL or Chanel, sit back and enjoy the hunt."
Best stores: Value Village, 119-D Cobb Parkway North, Marietta. Goodwill, 2667 Power Springs Road, Marietta. Goodwill, 3906 Roswell Road, Atlanta. It's true that affluent neighborhoods often have finer goods. That said, "I have found luxury at the most obscure thrift stores in the worst places in town. You have no idea where things are going to end up."
The fashion chain: Everything trickles down, Troppy says. If the department stores can't sell an item, it goes to discounters like Marshall, Ross and T.J. Maxx. If they can't sell it, it goes to a liquidator. If they can't sell it, it goes to charity. "Goodwill is the end of the line." Then it's the end of Auburn Avenue.
Other venues: Check craigslist.com daily for estate and yard sales. Shop consignment stores and clothing liquidators.
Stain removal: Troppy recommends a product called Carbona Stain Devils, which you can find in the grocery-store detergent aisle.
Where to find him: Doubletake Recycled Luxury, 659 Auburn Ave., No. G-7. 404-935-8253. On the Internet: thethrifters.net; dtroppy.blogspot.com
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