"Buy what you need and will wear and love, and leave the rest for someone else to use and reuse." --Gemma Jackson, GRade 9
Thrift shopping has become incredibly popular in the last decade, especially with teenagers and young adults. Low prices, nostalgic and unique styles, and low environmental impact make it an enticing way to shop.
Thrift stores offer a wide variety of clothing, from people of many walks of life. Within the racks of thrift stores, one can often find vintage or custom clothes, and even clothes from brands that don’t exist anymore. There’s a wide selection of one-of-a-kind, often somewhat bizarre pieces, such as random graphic tees or varsity jackets with a random name on the back. Because of this, thrifting is a great way to find more eccentric clothes if you have a more creative style.
It’s not surprising that a lot of OSA students thrift, since the halls are filled with students sporting unique outfits. The responses to a survey sent out in early April prove this, with fifty-three of the fifty-eight respondents saying that they do thrift.
Thrift stores offer a wide variety of clothing, from people of many walks of life. Within the racks of thrift stores, one can often find vintage or custom clothes, and even clothes from brands that don’t exist anymore. There’s a wide selection of one-of-a-kind, often somewhat bizarre pieces, such as random graphic tees or varsity jackets with a random name on the back. Because of this, thrifting is a great way to find more eccentric clothes if you have a more creative style.
It’s not surprising that a lot of OSA students thrift, since the halls are filled with students sporting unique outfits. The responses to a survey sent out in early April prove this, with fifty-three of the fifty-eight respondents saying that they do thrift.
There are many reasons why people thrift. Some thrift out of financial necessity, some thrift because they can find more interesting clothes, and some thrift because it’s more sustainable than normal shopping.
It’s important to note the fact that many people need thrift stores because they don’t have the means to shop at regular stores. Now that thrifting is a big trend, even among the wealthy, prices at thrift stores are rising, making it more difficult for many people to afford. As shoppers, we have to be responsible about how much we consume so that we are both not harming the environment or depriving people who don’t have a choice between secondhand and firsthand shopping from the things they need.
The third most common answer to the question of why OSA students thrift was for sustainability. This is the main reason why thrifting became so popular in the 2010s.
In the 2000s, the fast fashion industry was growing fast, with trends moving at the speed of light, natural resources being used up for clothing, and fast fashion workers being treated extremely poorly. It was all about having the trends of the moment, even if that meant supporting unethical workplace practices and harming the environment. A lot of this is still true of the fashion industry today, though it is slowly getting better. Eventually, we realized how horrible this industry is, which is how the thrifting trend exploded.
There have been many instances of unethical workplace practices in the fast fashion industry, starting much earlier than the turn of the century; Nike was exposed for using sweatshops starting in the 90s, though now has mostly redeemed itself. The reality of how horribly this industry treats their employees literally crashed down on the world with the collapse of the Rana Plaza Building in 2013. The building in Dhaka, Bangladesh, housed several clothing factories. This horrible accident killed over 1000 workers and injured over 2000.
The fast fashion industry’s other big problem is how unsustainable it is. It is often considered the second most harmful industry to the environment, only after the oil industry. In fact, the fashion industry accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions today. According to Good on You, 92 million tons of textile waste is created each year, a result of the toxic fast fashion cycle.
Gen Z, the current generation of teenagers, are reportedly more concerned about climate change than prior generations. Gen Z cares about their effect on the environment, so thrifting has become a way for teens to lower their footprint.
Over time, some fashion brands have started to adopt more sustainable, ethical practices. Unfortunately, though, many of these companies are extremely expensive. For example, Reformation, an LA-based clothing company, has a reputation as one of the most sustainable brands out there, but their dresses retail from anywhere from $80 to a whopping $330. Firsthand sustainable fashion tends to be extremely expensive.
Thrifting, on the other hand, is a much cheaper way to boycott the fast fashion industry. It also promotes a circular fashion cycle, where clothing is reused rather than tossed out after one person’s ownership of the item.
According to the 2021 ThredUp Fashion Resale Market Report, the environmental footprint of a used garment is less than a third of that of a new garment. Even when you buy a brand new garment from a thrift store, you are preventing that garment from being thrown into a landfill. By choosing secondhand over fast fashion, we state that we care about the earth. And so, thrifting has become incredibly popular in the last decade.
The ThredUp report also shows that the percentage of consumers who are open to or have thrift shopped has increased from 45% in 2016 to 86% in 2020.
The third most common answer to the question of why OSA students thrift was for sustainability. This is the main reason why thrifting became so popular in the 2010s.
In the 2000s, the fast fashion industry was growing fast, with trends moving at the speed of light, natural resources being used up for clothing, and fast fashion workers being treated extremely poorly. It was all about having the trends of the moment, even if that meant supporting unethical workplace practices and harming the environment. A lot of this is still true of the fashion industry today, though it is slowly getting better. Eventually, we realized how horrible this industry is, which is how the thrifting trend exploded.
There have been many instances of unethical workplace practices in the fast fashion industry, starting much earlier than the turn of the century; Nike was exposed for using sweatshops starting in the 90s, though now has mostly redeemed itself. The reality of how horribly this industry treats their employees literally crashed down on the world with the collapse of the Rana Plaza Building in 2013. The building in Dhaka, Bangladesh, housed several clothing factories. This horrible accident killed over 1000 workers and injured over 2000.
The fast fashion industry’s other big problem is how unsustainable it is. It is often considered the second most harmful industry to the environment, only after the oil industry. In fact, the fashion industry accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions today. According to Good on You, 92 million tons of textile waste is created each year, a result of the toxic fast fashion cycle.
Gen Z, the current generation of teenagers, are reportedly more concerned about climate change than prior generations. Gen Z cares about their effect on the environment, so thrifting has become a way for teens to lower their footprint.
Over time, some fashion brands have started to adopt more sustainable, ethical practices. Unfortunately, though, many of these companies are extremely expensive. For example, Reformation, an LA-based clothing company, has a reputation as one of the most sustainable brands out there, but their dresses retail from anywhere from $80 to a whopping $330. Firsthand sustainable fashion tends to be extremely expensive.
Thrifting, on the other hand, is a much cheaper way to boycott the fast fashion industry. It also promotes a circular fashion cycle, where clothing is reused rather than tossed out after one person’s ownership of the item.
According to the 2021 ThredUp Fashion Resale Market Report, the environmental footprint of a used garment is less than a third of that of a new garment. Even when you buy a brand new garment from a thrift store, you are preventing that garment from being thrown into a landfill. By choosing secondhand over fast fashion, we state that we care about the earth. And so, thrifting has become incredibly popular in the last decade.
The ThredUp report also shows that the percentage of consumers who are open to or have thrift shopped has increased from 45% in 2016 to 86% in 2020.
From Thredup
Also according to the ThredUp report, Gen Z and Millennials thrift more than past generations. This makes sense since the younger generations are, in general, most concerned about climate change.
From Thredup
Over time, thrifting has gained even more popularity because of its wide array of style options. Many thrifters say that this wide variety at thrift stores has helped them shape their personal style. 65% of respondents to the OSA survey who do thrift said that it has helped them shape their personal style.
One respondent explained their response above by saying “I've found myself to be more open about the things that I end up getting…. I personally believe this is because when first entering a thrift store you already have to be pretty open minded to go in and look for things.”
Another student feels that “thrifting has given me the skill of picturing the potential in every item I find. How can I make this work for me? How many outfits can I style?”
Another student said that “Non-thrift stores are limited to trendy clothes, which limits my style to trendy clothes only. When I thrift, I have many different clothing styles to choose from. Experimenting with so many different styles is what has helped me find my style.”
Chloe Fischer, an 8th grade OSA student, said “[When thrifting,] you have more freedom to explore your identity because you have access to more trends from earlier times. But in general, thrifting is one big trend and feels the same as shopping at a regular store…”
The co-chairs of the Fashion Club also shared some thoughts on thrifting, as their club hosts monthly thrifting events. One of the co-chairs, OSA senior Alyssa Alegria, said “Thrifting is a good way to reuse clothing that’s your style or can also [be remade] into something new, by taking the clothing garment apart and [sewing it] into a new outfit.” She also shared that she “[thinks] that thrifting promotes helping me [be] open minded to others' styles and what that means to them.”
The Fashion Club’s thrifting events take place once a month (this month’s is on Thursday, May 19) in the Fashion Design room. These events are in collaboration with the Womxn of Color Club. “Each student will also enter the 'thrifting event' for $2 and if anyone wants to sell their own clothing or other objects it will be for $10,” Alegria explained.
If you are already a thrifter or want to get into it, these events would be a great way to get involved!
Thrifting is great in many ways: it’s cheaper, more sustainable, and offers more variety in style. It’s a great way to find your style and help the environment at the same time. However, it’s extremely important to remember that it’s always bad to over-consume and over-shop, even at thrift stores. We need to be conscious of our consumption so that we don’t cause another problem by making it difficult for people who need thrift stores to afford them. Buy what you need and will wear and love, and leave the rest for someone else to use and reuse.
Another student feels that “thrifting has given me the skill of picturing the potential in every item I find. How can I make this work for me? How many outfits can I style?”
Another student said that “Non-thrift stores are limited to trendy clothes, which limits my style to trendy clothes only. When I thrift, I have many different clothing styles to choose from. Experimenting with so many different styles is what has helped me find my style.”
Chloe Fischer, an 8th grade OSA student, said “[When thrifting,] you have more freedom to explore your identity because you have access to more trends from earlier times. But in general, thrifting is one big trend and feels the same as shopping at a regular store…”
The co-chairs of the Fashion Club also shared some thoughts on thrifting, as their club hosts monthly thrifting events. One of the co-chairs, OSA senior Alyssa Alegria, said “Thrifting is a good way to reuse clothing that’s your style or can also [be remade] into something new, by taking the clothing garment apart and [sewing it] into a new outfit.” She also shared that she “[thinks] that thrifting promotes helping me [be] open minded to others' styles and what that means to them.”
The Fashion Club’s thrifting events take place once a month (this month’s is on Thursday, May 19) in the Fashion Design room. These events are in collaboration with the Womxn of Color Club. “Each student will also enter the 'thrifting event' for $2 and if anyone wants to sell their own clothing or other objects it will be for $10,” Alegria explained.
If you are already a thrifter or want to get into it, these events would be a great way to get involved!
Thrifting is great in many ways: it’s cheaper, more sustainable, and offers more variety in style. It’s a great way to find your style and help the environment at the same time. However, it’s extremely important to remember that it’s always bad to over-consume and over-shop, even at thrift stores. We need to be conscious of our consumption so that we don’t cause another problem by making it difficult for people who need thrift stores to afford them. Buy what you need and will wear and love, and leave the rest for someone else to use and reuse.