And Ralph Lauren for $3.oo is a great buy.I shop thrift for work clothes because there is usually a real good selection of smaller sizes.The nice thing about the thrifts is that the clothes are usually organized into sizes,style and color.But for used clothing there is nothing to beat a yard sale.The same three dollar pants can be had for a quarter if you have the energy to roll through a pile of yard sales.I was just musing last week that I have found designer brands on the clearance rack at TJay Mox and Russ fer Less for as little as two or three dollars.They are new.At the thrift store I can get a decent shirt for two or three dollars used.I use the thrift for jeans and shorts and longer wearing clothes,and try to buy the shirts at the yard sales or at a good discount store 'cause I know I will get more wear out of them for the extra buck,and I won't be clipped at a yard sale the way I am at the thrift.

I posted this in lighting, but maybe you knowledgeable decorators lurking here know this gentleman. I don't post pics, but I was told at a lampshade store that the aforementioned man, now in his 80's perhaps, made lamps using some kind of heavy, kind of rough or "nubby" plaster, usually topped by a painted simple wood ball finial. The lamp I found at thrift store is white and looks like a woman's long dress, sashed at the waist, forming lovely puddles and folds at the bottom and at the "shoulders". Or one could imagine it to look like a gathered drapery fabric. It is heavy, solid material. It looked really unique next to the usual circa 1980's ginger jar lamps that are a dime a dozen in all the thrift shops. My eye was drawn to it. Off to my favorite lampshade store went I, and it was the proprietor who mentioned that it could have been done by him, or by a company called Rod International, or The Down By The Sea Lamp Company. Suffice it to say, when I selected a lovely new lampshade for it, it is a delightful addition in the bedroom!!! Anyone have any information on this lamp maker or these company's names??? Thanks! Acey...

I finally was able to get to the store bac717 recommended - great store and thanks so much for that. Found the shade I was looking for and they were very helpful. Just wanted to get back and let people who responded know how helpful you were in getting me there. Here is a photo after polishing up the brass (oh, yes brass in my house too) and adding the shade. And you were right my3dogs, the shade was three times what I paid for the lamp, but I like it so I'm good to go. All your help is really appreciated! wig Not great lighting but you get the idea. I got a shade that is gold on the inside, black on outside.

Buying a lampshade without your lamp, is like buying a hat without your HEAD. Go to a specialty lighting repair store. be prepared to experiment with shades and harps to hold them and with finials. It is not an online endeavor. Where and what room will it be in? It could be a a green silk silk drum shade, it could be a parchment shade, it could be a lot of things but it CAN NOT be bright white, and it should not be black either. You have to go off the couch and the phone : ) You test in the store with a bulb in the lamp, and plugged in. There is no other better method along with a sales person who knows what he's doing, so put it in the car