
Tips and tricks from a Colorado thrifting expert on how to thrift shop and score the best finds
Katie Bergman is an avid thrift shopper.
CBS
Like many people, Katie Bergman has always loved shopping and buying clothes. However, the prices of everything have gotten expensive, especially when trying to update your wardrobe and what's in your closet.
So, she became an avid thrift shopper and now has her own business where she's a thrift personal shopper and finds outfits and new wardrobes for clients.
Bergman recommends going to the store with a game plan, sticking to your budget, and making a list for yourself.
She also recommends shopping based on whatever colored tags are on sale for the day. You can find items 30% off or even 50% off based on the colored tags.
It's also recommended to get to the stores earlier in the day or throughout the week when stores are less busy.
Thrifting has become more popular as the cost of living increases.
CBS
"People will clean out their closets and things over the weekends, and so you will get lots of great things that people have cleaned out, and they're usually put on the racks earlier in the week. Tuesday, Wednesday are usually going to be your best days, and sometimes Monday, but they might be recovering from weekend sales."
Check every aisle and each item on the rack and inspect items carefully. Some stores also have sales racks too. Be on the lookout for designer items or certain brands that will last longer.
"Another thing you can look at is to shop off-season. So, if you want sweaters and long-sleeved shirts, now is the time to shop for those because they're not incredibly picked over at this point, and you can find a lot of really great items for cheap that you wouldn't normally find," said Bergman.
If you have sewing skills or are willing to get things tailored, keep that in mind as you're shopping. Always try to pick things that are bigger in size, rather than smaller, as those are easier to get tailored. Also, check the store's re-stock days. Have an open mind and have some fun.
Katie Bergman shows how to update your wardrobe by thrifting.
CBS
"I think thrift stores are overwhelming, and that's the main reason most people are kind of intimidated by shopping in a thrift store. But when you know what you're looking for, for example, a certain color jacket or something like that, or you're looking for long-sleeved shirts specifically. You stick to just those colors and just those items," said Bergman.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Forbes
41 minutes ago
- Forbes
Forget Rimowa. This Viral $100 Rolling Tote Is Now The Real Flex
For around $100, Hulken brings convenience and true style to the crotchety old roller bag. Hulken It's not every day that I see a tote bag at a farmer's market and go, holy whaaa?! But that happened when I spotted my first Hulken a few weeks ago. Imagine a tote somewhere between a giant shopping bag and a roller suitcase but elegantly outré enough to take to, say, the Oscars and you start to get a sense of the vibe. Hulken is what your Erewhon carry-out bag might be if it crossed with Rimowa luggage and a Roomba. My sighting happened at the Hollywood Farmer's Market. Then I made the mistake of Googling the bag and my algorithm was overtaken by Hulken influencers doing Hulken-y things like lugging entire booth setups with their Hulken to vendor shows or hauling 10 yoga mats or stashing a sorority's worth of Target purchases back to Tau Alpha Whatever house. Aside from the sheer visual glory of it all, what's great is the price. You can get a Hulken for just under $100. But I also love the Hulken origin story. The brand began, as many great narratives do, with a drummer schlepping his gear through Brooklyn. Yoni Sheleg, a touring musician and UX designer, was constantly moving cymbals, drum kits and stick cases in various cases and duffels until his father-in-law designed a rugged but not-so-pretty roller bag. Hulken is a hot item with Hollywood makeup artists, yoga moms, trade show hustlers and schleppers of all stripes. Hulken Yoni and his wife, Alex Schinasi, asked: why shouldn't this kind of industrial strength bag exist for everyday life? And what if we made it look super attractive? They launched Hulken in 2018, but when the pandemic hit in 2020, with Alex eight months pregnant and Yoni off the road, they doubled down. Packing orders from their NYC apartment, they worked through lockdown, bringing Hulkens to the hospital when their third child was born. A glowing Strategist review set buzz in motion, and soon, they moved to Geneva (where they have family) to grow the brand. The bags roll like buttah, clean easily and collapse for easy storage in a car or closet. Today, Hulken bags are designed in Switzerland, handmade in Hungary and visible on social feeds and in shopping aisles everywhere. Meet the Hulken co-founder Hulken co-founders Yoni Shelag and Alex Schinasi. Hulken As a journalist I am committed to bringing you interesting founder stories, so I connected with Hulken co-founder Alex Schinasi to ask a few nosy questions and see what the Hulken life is like in 2025. David Hochman: What was the moment you realized a 'normal' bag wasn't gonna cut it anymore. I know about Yoni's drum challenges. But what about you? Were you holding 16 tote bags and losing circulation in your hand and said, "This thing needs wheels??' Alex Schinasi: As a young mom and entrepreneur living in New York City, I couldn't believe there wasn't a more stylish, convenient way to schlep. Every trip to Trader Joe's, the laundromat or vintage shops in the Lower East Side ended with me practically breaking my shoulders and carving red lines into my arms from carrying too many tote bags. One day, I called my dad [an industrial designer] and asked him to send me one of the rolling totes he'd designed. At the time, I didn't realize just how genius it was. But the moment it landed in my Flatiron apartment, I knew it would change not just my life but the lives of all New Yorkers and beyond. Then COVID hit. My drummer husband, who had just finished touring with Cass McCombs and Amen Dunes, suddenly found himself without stages to play on. So he opened a Shopify site, and we started selling our family product organically. The timing was everything. People saw Hulken as the perfect alternative to germy shopping carts. While so many businesses were folding, ours grew wings and had its first viral moments. Hochman: What's one Hulken feature you obsessed over that no one notices but you? Schinasi: I'd say the 'memory fabric.' It's what lets Hulken stand upright without any bulky internal frame. Before we spent a dime on marketing, we were laser-focused on perfecting the product. Small details that most people don't even realize are special are what make Hulken so distinctive. We own our manufacturing and don't depend on third parties, which allows us to innovate and move faster than anyone. Hochman: What's your favorite Hulken-in-the-wild story? The Hulken person I saw in Hollywood worked as a movie makeup person. There must be a lot of famous Hulkeners, no? Kristin Davis, as Charlotte, seen on the set of 'And Just Like That' with a Hulken in Rose Gold. Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images Schinasi: Paparazzi shots always blow my mind. Last year, my DMs exploded when a paparazzi snapped Charlotte York with a Hulken on the set of And Just Like That . She had Chanel on one arm, Hulken on the other. That was a total pinch-me moment. Chrissy Teigen was looking effortlessly chic with her Silver Hulken, hauling supplies so her dad could do arts and crafts with the kids. But honestly, nothing beats walking through the streets of New York City and spotting Hulkens everywhere. That's what makes it all worth it—the young hustlers, the thrifters, and as you say, the makeup artists. They're the community that makes Hulken truly special. That speaks to our core customer, which is people who schlepp hard but want to do it with style, whether it's stylists, makeup artists, moms, teachers, packers or iconic New Yorkers. Hochman: As a founder, what's a lesson you learned the hard way that you'd love to spare other founders from? Schinasi: Don't chase perfection. Move fast. If you wait too long to execute, you lose momentum, and with it, the opportunities. Speed creates magic! Hochman: If a Hulken bag showed up in a movie scene, what film should it be in—and what kind of character's using it? Schinasi: I love it! Anne Hathaway in The Devil Wears Prada . She's hustling, her life is chaos, she's juggling a million tasks. But she's trying to do it all in style. That's the Hulken spirit. Hochman: What's the most embarrassing early version of the Hulken? What did it look like, and how did it die? Schinasi: The first version was a bright blue and yellow and didn't even stand up properly. It looked super industrial. I was embarrassed…but what founder isn't embarrassed by their first product? That version was the starting line. I love that it's now a fashion accessory. Hochman: What's something you've definitely ruled out for Hulken's future, even if people keep asking for it? Schinasi: What I've learned from past ventures is to never say never. We try not to rule anything out entirely because the world moves fast, customers evolve, and opportunities change. So while there are things we're saying 'not right now' to--like raising outside capital—we stay open to anything that could truly serve our customers or the business long term Hochman: Is there a problem you're secretly scheming to solve next—but haven't told anyone yet? Schinasi: Yes! I want to create a Hulken for kids. Our kids are obsessed and there's so much potential in designing something fun and functional for school, camp, after-school activities, and beyond. Also, this random but I want to build a tea brand. I drink tea every day but most brands are either boring or filled with microplastics. There's so much white space and I can't stop thinking about it. Hochman: Tiny tea bags on wheels! I love the idea! This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. MORE FROM FORBES Forbes AI Bird Feeders Are The Latest Tech Toy You Didn't Know You Needed By David Hochman Forbes This Surprising New Los Angeles Restaurant Is Hiding Near LAX By David Hochman Forbes Why Everyone In Los Angeles Is Dressing Up To See Movies In A Cemetery By David Hochman

Wall Street Journal
41 minutes ago
- Wall Street Journal
That Instagram-Worthy Room Probably Cost $150,000. Here's How to Get the Look for Less.
Instagram is a torture device that makes you want things you can't have. That influencer's abs. Those Loewe shoes. That Amalfi vacation. I care about none of those things. It's high-end interior design that torments me. Specifically, Lucy Doswell's library in the 2023 Kips Bay Decorator Show House in Palm Beach. Summer Thornton's master bedroom in her Sayulita project. Literally anything Rita Konig touches. You haven't known pain until you've realized the Christopher Farr fabric on the sofa in Isabella Worsley's latest seaside escape will cost you around $223 a yard—and you need 24 yards. For the past few years, I've devoted myself to decorating my San Francisco one-bedroom apartment in the style of something you might find in Architectural Digest—or better yet, the bible of eclectic British decor, House & Garden. Did I mention it's a modest rental? That I don't have an unlimited budget? No matter. Thanks to the intimacy of Instagram, the interiors I covet feel almost within reach. Plus: As a reporter, I have investigative journalism skills! Indeed, I blame that potent combo for convincing me that, armed with grit and a little hustle, I could approximate the sort of results one usually only gets from professionals who might require a six-figure spend. In pursuit of my mission, I've done some crazy and mildly annoying things, like requesting a quote for a rug that turned out to be $17,000, driving four hours to buy a banquette in a bank parking lot and messaging a designer about a chair, only to be told it was 'bespoke.' Which I think loosely translates to: 'You can't have it.' Yet, I wasn't totally delusional. Despite some challenges and aided by a bit of reasonably priced professional help, I've managed to conjure a space anyone would be proud to post. Would I still love for Lucy, Rita or Isabella to design my home head to toe someday? You bet. (And it would be worth every penny.) But today is not that day. In the meantime, if—like me—you're striving for aspirational while bumping up against reality, here's what to do. First, remember that many rooms on Instagram have been professionally photographed and lit. Commenters like to ask designers, 'What's that paint?' But chances are the color won't look the same in your home as it does in that photo. Take it from someone who painted her bedroom Farrow & Ball's 'Setting Plaster' after spying it in a post by Olivine Design. In my place the designer-favorite reads more 'Silly Putty' than soft blush. To avoid the same fate, bring the picture to your local paint shop and ask for options that could achieve the same look. Also: Ask yourself what you love in a room, and be sure it's a shoppable item and not a detail you can't replicate. It took my father pointing out that I don't have 14-foot ceilings and french doors to make me see that buying a pair of Schumacher bird-print chairs wasn't going to recreate a dining area I loved. Some generous designers occasionally do 'Ask Me Anythings' on Instagram. Find those pros and follow them. Chicago-based Alexandra Kaehler and Katie Rosenfeld of Wellesley, Mass., are two of my favorites. To improve the odds your question gets selected, choose one that other folks might also find valuable. When I queried Kaehler about pet-friendly sofa fabric, she suggested I just wrap my couch cushions in a Kantha quilt, and provided a link to a $28 Etsy option. While the colors didn't work with my scheme, her advice made me rethink buying a new sofa. You can also message designers directly—but consider how aggressive you want to be. On the one hand, designers have a right to be gatekeepers of their own hard work. On the other, you can't win if you don't play. Last year I reached out to the Atlanta designer Cate Dunning to find out more about a lovely painting she'd posted. It turned out Dunning had painted the piece herself. She sold it to me—already framed—and it's a showstopper. Can I tell you a secret? Some interior designers have junior employees sourcing furniture and art and saving it to public Pinterest boards. Others busily pin away themselves, giving you leads to track down their favorites. I've kept tabs on the finds of the staff of Redmond Aldrich Design, a firm in Berkeley, Calif., for about seven years now. You may be surprised to learn that many design teams source items from all over, including some eminently accessible retailers like Anthropologie, Serena & Lily, Restoration Hardware and even Zara Home. I hesitate to drum up even more competition on Facebook Marketplace, but to train the algorithm and score big, you must troll for goods beyond your zip code. I keep my search radius set to a cool 250 miles. My Samsung Frame TV, which displays digital art and spares my living room the black-box-on-the-wall look, enjoyed a previously unopened-life near Napa, Calif. I saved about $1,000 off the sticker price. For smaller items that pack up easily like draperies, lamps and cushions, widen your search nationwide. I like to plug in the zip codes where people with deep pockets and good taste are known to live—think Rye, N.Y., Greenwich, Conn., or Winnetka, Ill. Then I use search terms like 'custom' or 'designer.' Feeling ambitious? Bid on larger items and find someone on a service like uShip to deliver it to you. That's how my cousin got an Ilve range from Atlanta to Chicago and how I landed a vintage rug from a designer in Los Angeles who purchased it from A-list fave Nickey Kehoe. Every once in a while you hit the jackpot. For me that was stumbling on a Redmond Aldrich Design client who was downsizing and tasked their personal assistant with selling stuff, as one does. I scored a room-size rug usually available only to the trade and, for $450, a bed upholstered in a Christopher Farr silk ikat (new: around $6,000). But, beware: An incredible value can give you the design equivalent of beer goggles. That steal of a bed? After living with it for a while, I found the scale of the print on the headboard a bit too large. I think about recovering it all the time. Some designers tag everything from furniture to fabric swatches in their posts, making it easy to track down what you like. Many don't. When that happens, take a screenshot and run it through a Google image search. That should give you the language you need to hunt down a similar version. For instance, not long ago I became fixated on a dining table posted by designer Heidi Caillier, who has a cult following among the grandmillenial set. A Google image search revealed it was a French wine-tasting table. Caillier's was custom—but I found a near-dupe at an antique shop in Sonoma. If you fall in love with textiles that are sold to the trade but you don't have a designer on retainer, use image search to learn the pattern's name, then search for remnants on eBay, Chairish or other auction sites. My beloved burl ottomans are upholstered in Wicker, a $286-a-yard linen fabric by Fermoie; I found remnants on eBay and a U.K. discount-fabric site for one-third of that price. The downside: Random bits may not be identical. Because I purchased the fabric from different places, one seat is slightly lighter than the other. Design services are getting more democratized. On the online platform the Expert, prices for 55-minute consultations range from a few hundred dollars for lesser-known names to $3,600 for 115 minutes with my girl Rita Konig. But in my experience, the better route is to find a designer in your area who's open to small projects and sells hourly blocks. I worked with Alexis Smith, who runs an interior design studio and a lethally charming boutique, Shoshin, in Carmel-by-the-Sea, Calif. Smith saved me a bananas amount of money by vetoing items that would have been mistakes, paying attention to scale and dimensions and sharing her knowledge of things like fabric durability. She also picked out one of my favorite pieces, a bone-inlay settee that sits in my bay window. This brings me to my last piece of advice: If you're planning to invest real money in your space—and thanks to a weakness for expensive lighting and designer fabrics, I did—there's no substitute for a little professional help. You can have great taste and be skilled at picking out individual items but the ability to envision how fabrics, furniture and finishes all work together (or won't!) is where Smith earned every dollar I paid her. Amateurs make mistakes and mistakes can be costly in the form of regret or actual dollars—both, more often than not. My next mission: Decide on a new sofa fabric. Because the other thing I've learned in this process is that you're never done decorating.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Travis Kelce's Coach Andy Reid Reacts to His Body Transformation
Originally appeared on E! Online Travis Kelce is ready for the next NFL season. In fact, Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said the 35-year-old now "looks like he's 20" after working on his physique during the off-season. "He's svelte right now," Reid told reporters July 24. "He's doing a great job. He's in great shape." The 67-year-old continued of Kelce, "You can see he's been working out." Indeed, the tight end has been focused on transforming his body since losing the 2025 Super Bowl to the Philadelphia Eagles in February. As he previously put it, "I am down some weight from the end of the season last year." "This year, I got some time to work on some form running and some things early on in the offseason that I just didn't have time for last year," Kelce shared at a June press conference. "I'm certainly feeling good, and hopefully it'll pay off." More from E! Online How Bryan Kohberger's Mom and Sister Reacted in Court to Idaho Murder Sentencing Brooke Hogan's Husband Addresses 'Challenging Time' After Hulk Hogan's Death And Just Like That: Fate of Carrie and Aidan's Relationship Revealed In addition, Kelce has also been enjoying his downtime with girlfriend Taylor Swift. As seen in photos shared on Instagram July 24, the couple of nearly two years went on a snowy vacation to Montana with and Charissa Thompson and threw a summer boat party complete with matching "Captain" and "First Mate" hats. "Had some adventures this offseason," Kelce wrote in the caption. "Kept it 100." And the athlete is grateful to have the "Blank Space" singer in his life. "I'm not here to hide anything," Kelce told Barstool Sports' Bussin' With The Boys podcast in June. "That's my girl. That's my lady. I'm proud of that, so I'm not sitting here trying to juggle, like, 'How can I keep this under wraps?'" "We're just enjoying life," he added. "We're having fun with it, man, being a couple." For more on Kelce and Swift's love story, keep reading... July 2023: So, Make the Friendship BraceletsSummer 2023: This Is Him TryingAugust 2023: Enchanted to Meet YouSeptember 2023: Sparks FlySeptember 2023: Cheer CaptainOctober 2023: Team UpOctober 2023: It's Nice to Have a FriendOctober 2023: Welcome to New YorkNovember 2023: Karma Is Her BoyfriendDecember 2023: Speak NowDecember 2023: You, Who Charmed Her DadJanuary 2024: All the MidnightsJanuary 2024: Chosen FamilyJanuary 2024: Saved by the Perfect KissFebruary 2024: Super Bowl ChampsFebruary 2024: TikTok OfficialJune 2024: Instagram OfficialJune 2024: Travis' Eras Tour Stage DebutSeptember 2024: Back in the GameSeptember 2024: Wedding DateSeptember 2024: U.S. Open DateOctober 2024: Double DateDecember 2024: Empire State of MindMarch 2025: Off-Season Adventures For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News App