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Thrift It!

By: Maddie Tewksbury

5$ for a size 6 pair of Levi jeans in perfect condition? Sold. And an instant serotonin increase? Sold, once again.

These ladies and gentlemen are two simple beauties that come out of the activity, and concept of thrifting. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the art of thrifting was discovered, and since then people who are interested in fashion, and saving a buck, have been hitting the thrift stores like crazy.

Financially & Sustainability

The reasons to choose thrifting, and buying second-hand, rather than buying new are plentiful. Other than it being a fun activity to do with your friends, it is a financially, and environmentally responsible move.

The price tags on items at the thrift store (clothes to be exact) can range anywhere from 99 cents to 10$, (sometimes higher if it is a big-named brand). You could walk into the thrift store, pick out 5 shirts, 3 pairs of pants, and some accessories, and very easily spend less than 15$. If you shopped at a store such as American Eagle for example and purchased the same number of items, you’d be spending 100$ or more. Don’t get me wrong, it is nice to purchase new items of good quality at a store like American Eagle.

But I think a misconception of thrifting your clothes is that they are bad quality and much used, and while that can sometimes be the case, there are an extensive number of items at the thrift that are new and never worn before. You just have to be willing to search for them. Overall, thrifting saves you hundreds of dollars on clothes, and a bonus is that your clothes are unique and more stylish (in my opinion). And you are contributing to a sustainable environment.

It is no secret that fast fashion is hurting our environment tremendously. Overproduction from brands like Shein contributes to over 92 million tons of textile waste that is being created each year. This is a huge problem. Not to mention the clothes that are made by these fast fashion brands, are of extremely poor quality and are more than capable of falling apart after just one wear. Basically, people are buying all these clothes, and not wearing them, which is what generates waste. Buying second-hand cuts out the initial process of creating more waste. There are plenty of clothes to go around, and reusing and re-wearing is a smart idea, and will help to reverse the harmful actions created by fast fashion.

Thrifting Tips

As a seasoned thrift store shopper, I have much knowledge to pass on to beginners, because there are methods to the madness.

Give yourself plenty of time!

When you are thrift shopping, there are hundreds of items to look through, and if you want to find the best pieces, you need to be thorough. This will allow you to look through all the sections and really hunt for a treasure!

Quality over Quantity

It is almost too easy to go, let’s say “hog wild” in the thrift store, you could get so much stuff for very little cost. But buying up the whole store is not necessarily the way to go. Look for items you will actually wear/use. Otherwise, you are adding more fuel to the fire, which is your closet.

Repurpose

So many times when I’m thrifting, I will grab pieces that I know I can repurpose and turn into something really cool. For example, say you find a big t-shirt that you love the color of, well, cut a solid amount off the bottom of the shirt and turn it into a crop top. And if you really want to go nuts, you can use the leftover fabric by cutting the shirt down the back vertically, and make holes going down, and stringing the leftover fabric like a shoelace through the holes to make a corset. The possibilities are endless here, this is my favorite part of thrifting, making my own creations!

Discount Days

A lot of thrift stores will offer discount days once a week. Salvation Army, for example, offers a half-priced day every Wednesday where certain color tags on items are discounted by 50% Thrifting is already a cheap affair, but saving even less money is an absolute steal. I highly recommend taking advantage of this.