My typical day has two necessities: a black coffee and a cool outfit. Although I’m not pursuing fashion, the confidence that comes from wearing an outfit you feel good in is the most empowering personal pleasure. The creative process starts one day prior… yes, I am that person who picks out their outfit the night before. As I scan my closet and rampage through every one of my drawers, I work to create the “perfect” combination, which usually consists of some sort of mom/boyfriend jeans, a cute top, and some flannel/jean jacket/oversized dad sweaters that I can throw on throughout my day. The beauty of all this… most of it is thrifted.
Now, wearing the outfit is half the fun, but scouting for “just the right pieces” to add to my collection (or, as my mom calls it, “my unhealthy addiction”…pssst) is the best part. When I walk into a thrift store, I get a rush of excitement; it’s just me and this 10,000 square foot warehouse filled with endless possibilities.
As I begin to aggressively sort through the racks, I begin to imagine when I could wear that old school halter top or those Levi jeans I could later cut up. When I look at an item of clothing, I can see future memories. It’s more than “oh I can wear that to this…or this dress to that event”; it’s the excitement of “imagineering” the future and creating new associations with the piece of clothing in your hand to exciting times to come. My outfit-making creativity hijacks all thoughts. I am in the zone: it’s me, my imagination and 1,000 pieces of clothes… what could be better?
I continue to race down the aisles like a ten-year-old chasing an ice cream truck as I begin to realize that the world around me has now vanished. After about an hour or two you get a headache from your eyes darting from bright neons colors to god-awful patterns that your grandma probably has in her closet from the 60s. I then enter a who-knows-what’s-been-here dressing room and proceed to powerpose in the mirror with my new sick-ass clothing (each piece for under $10). As I approach the checkout line and cash out, never in my life have I been more eager to hear the total price of my purchases. It gives me such satisfaction that I have found a dress, three tops, and vintage Levi jeans for a whopping price of 30 dollars: A.K.A the best feeling in the world.
Image credit: Seventeen