Thrifting is an incredible way to have fun while shopping, but it’s also an avenue to find unique styles, give clothes a new life, save tons of money, and personalize your look in a sustainable way.
But for many people, the first obstacle before getting into thrifting is how to actually do it – how do you find good pieces, and how do you make sure your clothes will look nice afterwards?
Thrift stores aren’t always the cleanest, so just in case you grab something revolting, bring hand sanitizer and any precautions. The amount of tacky, sticky, slimy, grimy things I’ve touched while looking for a T-shirt is crazy.
“Many people wear gloves because you never know what’s going to jump out at you,” freshman Rotem Goldschmidt said.
Sometimes, thrifting can get a little boring, so I always try to keep myself entertained. The vibes when thrifting are already immaculate, but while you imagine all the cool things you can find, maybe pop in some earbuds. There are plenty of thrift-themed playlists on Spotify, but beware: if you’re not a fan of underground indie music, this genre might not be for you.
Bringing a person into the thrift store is always a fun time and a good tool if you’re torn on a clothing item. Plus, someone to hype you up is always a confidence booster.
“I would just overall, bring myself and headphones, maybe a person with me,” freshman Paddy Daichendt said.
For thrifters on a student budget, the outfits you can find thrifting are so much less expensive than something you could get at the mall – you can even find luxury items at a fraction of the designer price.
When thrifting, you always need an open mind and always look for the vision in funky and unique pieces.
By creating a vision for each clothing item you find interesting, this will help yourself achieve a one-of-a-kind style and find the real gold behind thrifting. But also be careful of thrifting something too obscure, you also want to make sure you don’t thrift an item and never wear it again.
“I think my favorite thing is probably when people turn obscure things from the thrift into cute tops and pants,” freshman Sela Kahn said.
