How are you able to thrift everything you wear?
Victoria Roman
In a dreary world of Shein and H&Ms, I grew tired of following trends and feeling like my style wasn’t encompassing who I was as a person. So when I became aware of thrifting culture, I knew this was something I could really get behind. Not only are the clothes cheaper and more accessible, but I know I’m doing the Earth a solid by not oversaturating it with low quality, fast fashion that is contributing to thousands of pounds of waste every year. After at least a year of thrifting, many great finds, and countless unsuccessful trips, I’m approached more and complimented on my style, and I feel like I’m finally dressing how I want to be perceived. I’ve run through Goodwills, Family Thrift Outlets, and plenty of markets, so when I tell others that I thrift they ask me: Victoria, how are you able to thrift everything you wear? I think I’ve gotten it down to a science.
The first, or I’d argue 0, step is to do the proper prep. This is where many people get it wrong, as without doing the proper preparation, you have no direction. Most thrift trips can already be exhausting and monotonous, so direction and intent are very important to successfully thrifting. This boils down to one, simple question: What am I looking to find? This is often glossed over because we are so consumed in trends that we just hop on and don’t take the time to reflect on who we are, our personal style, and how we want to display that. This involves knowing what colors suit you best, how you want your clothes to fit, and what style you want to cultivate. This may seem daunting, but there are so many accessible ways to find out what you want. Social media is a great resource for finding inspiration, such as Pinterest, Instagram, and TikTok (I’m a Pinterest girlie myself). You can start by searching for key terms that resonate with you, and that can start with just one word. If you like wearing the color pink, look up pink clothes! It doesn’t have to be as complicated as it seems on social media, and as time goes on your feed will relate content that fits your vibe. You can go as general or specific as you like, but I like to have specific pieces in mind whenever I go thrifting. A piece just means a piece of clothing, whether that’s jeans, tank tops, or whatever you’d like. Styles can be broken down into pieces. For example, the streetwear style can be broken up into large, baggy jeans, jerseys, baggy graphic tees, sneakers, and more. It’s all up to you to mix and match these items to best represent you, but there are plenty of cheat sheets. I like to keep an eye out for baggy jeans, neutral basics, and dark winter colors. This sharpens your focus and allows you to selectively spend your time and energy looking for what you know you want, rather than spending hours scouring everything to maybe find things that you may or may not want.
Now that you have some ideas to work with fresh on your mind, it’s time to create a war plan. Placing a little bit of strategy into your trips can save hours of hard labor. More than anything, it’s important to set realistic goals and expectations. There are so many types of thrift stores, whether it be vintage, outlets, bins, donation centers, and markets. Some stores will be color coded and neatly sorted while the others will be ravaged and hectic. Some will offer hand selected pieces by curators and others will require you looking for what feels like a needle in a haystack. This seems intimidating, but a rule of thumb that I live by is there’s going to be a tradeoff between effort and novelty. There is also a slight negative correlation between price and effort. In application, this means that places with a more curated experience will require less effort to find great pieces, but you may have to pay a higher premium since the vendors did the work for you to find them. On the other hand, if you toil your hands digging in the bins and find a novelty item, you’ll find you’re paying a much lower price since you were the one who found it amongst many other items. With that being said, you will be able to find great finds wherever you go, but starting at more organized stores can build your patience and better prepare you to maintain motivation for more unorganized stores. I honestly can’t stand the bins myself, but many use it as their primary source for great statement pieces. In addition, Youtube has plenty of content creators who thrift, so you can start there if you don’t want to create a game plan from scratch.
So you know what you’re looking for and how you’ll go about it; here are a few tips to keep in mind in execution. Thrifting is a very energy intensive activity, so it’s important to make sure you’re energized and engaged when going in. Whether that means a pre-thrift snack or drink, going with friends, or listening to music, these are just a few ways to stay locked in. You’ll be swiping through dozens of pieces, so you might as well be jamming to your favorite playlist while you’re doing it. Or maybe you’d rather listen to slow jams, the best part and worst part is that you determine the experience! Thrifting also requires patience; no matter where you go, you’re in control. It’s not very often that the perfect piece falls into your hand. It’s also good to note that temptation runs rampant at the thrift. You may find twenty pieces that jump out to you, but you have to be a little harsh in your decision making. Will you wear this piece more than once? Can this piece be incorporated into different outfits? If not, it may be safe to leave it on the rack. Trust your gut, and this will save many long sighs when you look in the mirror and have post-thrift clarity.
Congratulations! Now you own the blueprint, but this isn’t one-size fits all. Thrifting is a very personalized experience, and often a long one. Your closet will not magically transform after one trip, but after many small victories this translates into a thrill for the hunt. Spoiler alert, not every trip will be fruitful, and that’s a part of the game. As time goes on, little by little you will see progress towards your dream style; one that accurately portrays who you are and involves versatility and thoughtfulness. I used to laugh at people that would consider thrifting a hobby, but once you get the hang of it, it becomes an art form in of itself and you become the canvas.