Over the years, we have seen an influx of younger millennials and Gen Z embrace the idea of thrifting. What once was an outlet to buy cheaper, second-hand clothes for the less-privileged, now became the main outlet for trendy kids looking for a sustainable approach to shopping. Do not get me wrong, I am an avid thrift shopper. Ever since I learned and understood the negative effects of fast-fashion, I swore to try my best not to shop fast-fashion anymore. It was difficult at first but once I figured out the tricks to buying and repurposing second-hand clothing, it all came easy to me.
However, can we—as a generation—also agree that what was once an innocent, sustainable idea has now starting to show negative effects? Due to the heightened popularity of “thrift flips”, “thrift hauls”, Y2K Depop stores, and any other curated second-hand stores on Instagram, we slowly start to see that maybe, this is not as sustainable as we thought? With that being said, I think we, as consumers, can still enjoy our vintage pieces while also acknowledging our privileges. Here are some ways we can consciously shop at thrift stores:
1. Shop with a purpose.
Make a list or a Pinterest board. Go into the store knowing what you want and what you need. Going in with no goal in mind can leave you to a) not buy anything at all or b) get overwhelmed by the amount of clothes and end up buying ten pieces you may or may not even use. Sure, thrifting is sustainable but it loses its essence once we start buying too much for no reason.
2. Buy only what fits you.
As much as I love an oversized look, we have to stop buying clothes three times larger than our regular sizes. Those XXL graphic t-shirts may look good with knee-high boots and leather jacket, but please consider that some people out there actually need those sizes.
3. Avoid shopping from those “curated vintage” Instagram and Depop pages.
Okay, first let’s differentiate legit vintage online stores and those that resell thrifted clothes from their local Salvation Army.
A legit vintage store actually curate real vintage. They carry pieces from different eras and they most likely have a supplier and/or accept consignment offers. That is the place to go.
Depop or Instagram pages that offer a bunch last season’s Zara or Brandy Melville are not it. If you see a page with xhundreds of items, they most likely went out of their way to buy from Goodwill with the intention of reselling it (with a higher price). Capitalizing on this segment of thrift shopping is harmful because once your local thrift store sees the increase in demand, they can mark up their prices. This will ultimately make it hard for people who solely relies on thrift stores; people who are less-privileged than us.
Regardless, I still believe thrifting is for everyone and should be encouraged because it really is a great approach to living sustainably. Fashion as we know, is one of the biggest pollutants in the world. The least we can do is to repurpose clothes and treat it with care to prolong its product life cycle. We need to acknowledge that some people may rely on shopping at thrift stores so let us not abuse the system and negatively impact those people.
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