When we gave you tips for thrift store shopping last month, our experts advised you to stay away from clothes that have a certain stink to them, because the smell probably won’t go away. Well, Janie Bryant, the costume designer for “Mad Men,” says otherwise. Her trick for getting rid of that musty, old-clothes stench is to mix one part vodka with two parts water in a spray bottle and douse the offending article with the mixture. “It works every time—that’s the power of vodka for you,” Bryant said. And we believe anything this woman says. After all, she’s managed to make pen necklaces popular, a feat not accomplished since the TV show “Ghostwriter” in the ‘90s. [Valet]

Despite it being shopping season right now, none of us are buying as much we did last year—at least not from regular stores. While the retail industry is in its worst slump in 35 years, resale and thrift shops have reported increases in sales. I have definitely contributed to that rise; Besides a new winter coat (and underwear, of course), I haven’t bought any new new clothes since this summer. I even went to a super fancy wedding in a dress that cost $3! Below, find out how to work the Goodwill racks like a pro from three highly successful thrifters…