The Thrift Shop Maniac takes on Germantown Ave.

Shhhh! Don't tell anyone, but...

Forty years ago, secondhand, dumpster diving, trash picking, 'non-denominational' shoppers like me were legion, but underground. And I don't mean geothermal. We belonged to a secret society of adrenaline rushing, insider trading, foraging scavengers. With turf to guard, sources to protect and false dignity to maintain, we never, ever revealed what we were up to. To anyone.

Feeling the pressure of conventional mores, middle and upper class women could donate to and volunteer in, but never ever purchase anything from the local charity shop. It just wasn't done. Except on the QT. Family and peers were 'oh so shocked,' when I finally screwed up my courage and told all.

Now I brag to any and all: "I got it secondhand." Or, "I found it on the curb on trash day." Women weren't suppose to be knife wielding chefs or outspoken feminists, either. Eventually, I became both. For fun and out of necessity.

Researching The Thrift Shop Maniac's Guide (TSMG) I sleuthed new shops eavesdropping over the racks or driving around small towns. Websites and smartphones, women working outside the home, stay-at-home-dads, day care, cheap, mass produced off shore clothing, and 2008's economic freefall changed everything. Almost everything. Here's what one local main street looks like today, secondhand...

'A Bird in Hand is worth two in the bush' (8419 Germantown Ave., 19118) sports a big new sign, making sighting easier. Just a well-trod jaywalk from each other on this core block in Chestnut Hill's vibrant shopping district, ever-expanding Weaver's Way Food Co-op's green innovation, and Bird's old school ways converge and compliment.

Website pronouncements aside, little has changed at Bird since my volunteering days there. Then as now, it's like walking into the set design warehouse for Downton Abbey, and walking out with a pedigree-by-inference.

TIP: Consider purchasing your next wedding or anniversary gift here.

Now as then, the meticulously selected, feather-dusting-required knick knacks (acquired during a local family's Grand Tour?), initialed silver, linens, fine china and crystal, estate and vintage costume jewelry and curiosities, lamps and pottery, oils, watercolors and prints, small rugs and occasional furniture are all on consignment or donated. As a nonprofit, all sales ultimately benefit the local community.

TIP: Can you carry 'it' on your own? Then 'it' is potentially small enough for Bird in Hand to consider.

I did and still do observe antique shop owners, flea market vendors and pickers making the rounds, jeweler's loop at the ready, stooped over some precious geegaw, scouring for makers' marks and artist signatures, ferreting out resale profit margins and fresh treasure.

The large bow window's ever-changing themed display of goodies beckons, while affording an expansive view of Germantown Avenue, and a bird's eye view of the goings on of everyday, small town life. Linger in the back room with its display cases and dedicated sale area, and inadvertently catch up on 'who and what is doing what and to whom,' as the all-volunteer sales staff hold forth up front. TIP: Consignments selected by experienced appraisers.

This fall I made a rookie mistake. A lamp I purchased here required unexpected, immediate rewiring. TIP: Test used electrical anything before taking it home. TIP: Lamp rewiring? Kilian Hardware on the corner. Check Bird's website for details. Closed most of summer.

Find Bird in Hand in My MilkCrate here.

Statement Boutique (7942 Germantown Ave., 19118) is a gracious, high-end, women's only consignment shop located in what was once a smart dress and millinery shop. The vibe lingers. Channeling quiet elegance, mannequins sporting ever-changing outfits fill the big front window. Mirrors scattered about afford careful scrutiny from every angle. Soft lighting, wall to wall carpet and private, curtained dressing rooms assuage and assure.

Scattered about are all the requisite accessories you could possibly want or need, from purses and shoes to scarves and jewelry, all to complete madame's outfit and stir the female soul. Here Chico's, Ralph and Talbots are loss leaders. Core inventory? Think Prada, Ferragamo, Jil Sander and Barbara Bui.

Fifty and thirty percent off sale racks take some of the sting out of prices ranging from $80 for a Tahari day-into-evening, white wool coat and matching skirt, pieces sold separately, to around $4,000 for a drop dead gorgeous, exquisitely hand jeweled and embroidered evening coat displayed (price tag literally) out of reach, just inside the front door. The owner, a lawyer with no prior retail experience, draws on her international travels to source and filter high-end consignments sizes 0 to 3X.

TIP: Adjacent, free, customer-only parking available, which in bumper-car busy Chestnut Hill is no small thing.

Find Statement Boutique in My MilkCrate here.

Fashion Forward (7906 Germantown Ave., 19118) is tiny, but then, so is a Tiffany's jewel box. In my TSM glory days, we regularly took entire 50-seat busloads of credit card waving maniacs on all day tours of New York City's second hand boutiques. Save on Amtrak. Use SEPTA. Shop here. You never have to leave Philly again to shop Palm Beach, Fifth Avenue and the Champs Elysees, and their salad-only, dressing-on-the-side sizes.

Long and narrow with two dressing rooms set at the end, two steps up, elegant shoes peep out from underneath the floor to ceiling rack lined walls displaying well-known and in-the-know national and international labels. A heady, veritable who's who of vividly colored fashion house shopping bags displayed around the perimeter with names like BCBG, Pauline Trigere, Vince, Chanel, Lilith, Ungaro, and St. John echo the designer labels etched, stamped and sewn inside this amazing, jeans to ball gown, collection.

It's pricey. But, appropriately so. Be honest. How many times in a lifetime of secondhand shopping have you come up for air shouting, 'Eureka!' after unearthing that Hermes silk scarf or, hands trembling, realize you are holding a St. Laurent jacket, in your size, unearthed from a pile at your favorite bottomfeeder? Here every garment is a revelation.

Adding to the fun and frustration, small, independent single-site shops like this one can be just that: independent. Limited hours of operation: 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday, only add to the mystique. TIP: Call first just to be sure. 215-247-3868.

Gentle readers: The My MilkCrate team thrift shopping day was postponed.
NEXT TIME? Let's 'do' more shops in Center City.

Find Fashion Forward in My MilkCrate here.

To learn more about other local, sustainable businesses, resources and events, visit mymilkcrate.co. Have your own green living tips you want to share? E-mail us.