Thrift store fail

One of the goals I set for myself for this year was to be more fashionable. I thought about it a little more, and my goal really isn't to be more fashionable, it's to be more put-together and more confident in my clothing. Five out of seven days I'm in a uniform. I'm off Tuesday but tend to spend the day around the house either reading and relaxing or cleaning so I don't worry too much about what I'm wearing. Sunday is church day and I actually have a few decent outfits to wear. It's all the other times that I struggle: going out to dinner, going out with friends, showers, parties, funerals, errands... But, because so much of my time is spent in a uniform I don't want to spend a significant amount of money on my wardrobe.

So today I decided to try some thrift store shopping. My options are limited. (Very limited as far as I can tell.) I had some free time this afternoon so I headed to Value Village to see what I could find. Fail. Big giant fail. I think I was overwhelmed. There were racks and racks of clothing. I wasn't looking for anything in particular so I just picked a section randomly and starting looking at things. And there was so much... crap. In the end I tried on 4 things (two of which originally came from Reitmans, where I do the vast majority of my shopping) but didn't take anything home except a couple of books.

Is there a trick to this whole thift store shopping thing? Am I missing the particular gene that makes somebody good at it? Or is it just one of those things that require practice? Because I have to say, the idea of paying $5.99 for jeans instead of $49.99 is really appealing...