As you may or may not know I’m a big fan of thrifting. My mother handed me down the love of going into a shop and not knowing what great piece I may find when I was young and it still thrills me everytime I go in my local second-hand clothing store.
Indeed not only it is more sustainable for your bank account as you can find great items for way cheaper than if you went to the shopping centre but it is also a way to find some clothes that you wouldn’t find anymore in regular fast fashion shops. Thrift stores are perfect for those who look for a more vintage style and struggle to find it anywhere else; you can find clothes dating 20 years back or even more. Depending on the place you go to and what is there at that moment, it is ever changing !
Only there is a certain mentality that you have to adopt when you decide to go into a thrift shop. If you come in with a specific idea of what you want you’ll have to accept that you may not find it there on the first time in the first store you go to. Moreover to enjoy your experience there it is better to go with an open mind - it is a thrift store, try what you want to try, dare trying on something that you think is out of your comfort zone and even buying it if you love it but are unsure of if you’re going to rock it ! It doesn’t cost much, you will be able to try some new styles and realise that you can wear things that you never thought you could before.
In a nutshell thrift stores are a great way of getting great unique vintage pieces (you’ll never have someone with the same clothes as you), trying new styles for cheap, shopping on a budget (as students we know the struggle), getting rid of old clothing that you don’t wear anymore that will most likely make someone else happy, and last but not least reducing your participation in the fast fashion industry thus being more ethical in your shopping !
Indeed fast fashion (which describes inexpensive designs that move quickly from the catwalk to stores to meet new trends cheaply) has a montruous impact on our world, from contributing to global pollution to modern slavery. Thus changing our shopping habits to more sustainable ones is not only agreeable but more humane. Yes, you cannot change these habits in the blink of an eye but being aware of the choices you make is important and knowing what’s behind the brands you see everyday enables you to have a more critical view of the industry. Yes, you may not be able to go full thrift, local and ethical brands etc, however the most important is reducing your consumption of fast fashion. I believe the human contact made through thrifting whatever your reasons may be to chose that kind of shopping is something very unique and enables clothes to have another life.
In short thrifting is also to me an easy and affordable way to make an impact and shop ethically !
(To get a summary on the impact of fast fashion and the ways in which you can limit your fast fashion consumption you can check out a video from HautLeMode called Fast Fashion is Disgusting ( https://youtu.be/8ox72V4DM2w ), it is actually how I discovered this aspect of the stores that I used to go to without really thinking about the process behind the clothes. Netflix has also a great documentary called The True Cost if you want to get more in depth.)
Between I forgot to sign !
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