Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen (and any/all genders). Today, I’m going to be talking about my journey with thrifting and how it has truly affected my perspective on a multitude of things (i.e., society, culture, fast fashion, etc.) But first, before I get into the depths of it, I’d just like to say that thrifting has taken me YEARS. Every time I have gone thrifting, I have struggled to find statement pieces worthy of keeping, and honestly, most of the time, I would come home with things I found less than desirable. I may have found it cute at the moment, but it doesn’t mean that when I tried it on in my mirror at home, it had the same appeal. So, a huge tip that I have for first-time thrifters is to really make sure you can see yourself wearing something you choose to thrift on multiple occasions, whether it be a cute shirt that you could envision yourself wearing with multiple pairs of pants/skirts, or even an easy pull-over sweatshirt. Like I said, it took me years to really solidify my closet, and I’m still looking.Â
Anyways, I started thrifting maybe 4-5 years ago, and I just remember wanting to either hop on the trend of thrifting and having the equivalent amount of a pair of American Eagle jeans to a whole bag of thrifted clothes. Either way, clothes at the thrift store were affordable and seemingly more ethical because, let’s be honest, Sydney Sweeney might have great jeans, but not enough for me to drop $50 or more on ONE PAIR OF PANTS?! So that’s when my journey began. Mind you, my closet was horrendous at first; I would buy literal grandma sweatshirts and jeans that were sagging off my hips that my belt couldn’t even salvage. At that point, I thought it was super cute (it was not…) but it was a start. Â
 As a girl that went to a predominantly small-town, country area high school, everyone pretty much wore the same things, which were either flannels and cowboy boots or more of a clean-girl aesthetic. There were a few thrifters here and there, but it hadn’t really come into the picture yet. Being a closeted (glass-doors) bisexual, thrifting was really my outlet to express myself since it was looked at as more of an alternative form of shopping and the only other person that I knew that had such an extravagant alternative style was gay and unafraid. The easiest part of being in high school with such a unique sense of style was that everyone knew me and my character, so no one would off-the-bat judge me for being different.Â
That story has since changed, considering that now I’m on a campus with over 4,000 people, I get stares left and right, guys don’t talk to me, and I’m often judged with how I present myself. However, it has ultimately showed me who my real friends are, and therefore, I couldn’t care less about what others think of me. I’ve made plenty of friends, so I do not hold onto my insecurity of being different. That goes for anyone: who CARES. Life is too short and too beautiful to hyperfocus on small things that in the end won’t mean anything. Being true to oneself is such a gift, and creativity is being muddled by minimalism. There’s nothing wrong with being different or being the same. As long as you’re comfortable in your own skin, then that is all that matters.Â
The last part of my article might be kind of controversial for some, but I think it’s best to be addressed: ethics. I’m not saying shopping at chain stores like American Eagle, or especially Shein, is damaging to anyone in particular…but look at what it is doing to our beautiful Earth. If you’re sitting there feeling bad about a purchase because you know it was from some fast-fashion website, then you might be proving my point. The earth can only handle so much slum from these factories mass-producing garbage clothing, not to mention the terrible conditions workers are put through (below minimum wage, back-breaking work). It is becoming even harder now to know who to support since Goodwill has since become corporate. At the end of the day, you can only do so much research before those “better brands” become unattainable since the nearest, most ethical store might be in a different state, and it would just be best to buy from the chain stores.Â
My biggest piece of advice would be to support smaller brands, but if they’re too pricy, either save up for something of value, or support a local thrift store. And worst comes to worst, the cheapest chain store clothing might just be what is on hand. But don’t beat yourself up for what’s attainable, the economy these days is daunting, and the last thing anyone should be worrying about is what they’re wearing. If you’re a student like me and you have the resources though, take your time to really appreciate what you wear and take care of vintage, older items if you do thrift them.Â
So, if you have the time, grab a coffee, put in your air pods/earphones/headphones, and head to a thrift store. Relax, take your time, and enjoy the racks; life is short, and so is enjoyment. Take care of yourself, and stop caring about what others think. If I cared what others thought about my attire, I wouldn’t push myself to look extraneous every day. And if that pushes people away from me, they weren’t my people in the first place. Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed!