Thrift is it!
>> Tuesday, May 1, 2012 –
outfits
What are your thoughts on thrifting?
I read this article the other day about this girl who wanted to recreate a JCrew look for less. She mentioned that she found all the necessary pieces at a thrift store, but seemed embarrassed by it. And then she mentioned that it was OK since when you thrift you are really buying "vintage" pieces. While the words are interchangeable it seems that people embarrassed to wear previously worn clothes make it a point to call them vintage. Her tone changed at the end of the article when she mentioned she really only spent $12 to recreate a look in the $280 range.
Me? I love thrifting- the hunt for something that you may or may not find- and then when you do and pay a fraction of the cost...well nothing tastes sweeter. I also love the idea that the pieces have a previous history. It kind of reminds me of that movie the Red Violin.
So why be embarrassed that you went thrifting, that you spent a fraction of the cost on unique pieces? That you are "recycling" something that someone else no longer wanted. I don't see anything wrong with that. Do you?
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Not me. I've been thrifting since high school, and let me tell you, depending on where you go, you can find some really great contemporary pieces that are in-no-way vintage. There's no shame in the $5 H&M skirt that I just found in the perfect size! Just give it a wash and you're fine!
I also think making excused about thrifting just speaks to the lack of awareness most of society has about consumerism and the acquiring of stuff. You should be PROUD of the fact that you are doing your part to keep useable and wearable things out of trash heaps, all while gettin' your fashion on. >end rant... maybe... <
Thank you for this, my thoughts exactly! I mean, I do actually call items "vintage" if they are as well, but I am in no way embarrassed by the fact that they are second hand! (I have to call them vintage- I run a vintage shop! haha).
People are SO strange when it comes to second hand clothing sometimes and I honestly don't get it! A girl from my office has told me on multiple occasions that she likes my outfit. Usually at least one piece of what I am wearing every day is thrifted, and if it is, I tell it with pride! THEY told me they liked my outfit- thus they like how my clothes look- and you could tell she was slightly appalled when I said the whole outfit was thrifted! Uhm hello, I am spending 1/ 10th of what you are spending at the mall, and you still like what I am wearing!
Okay, I will stop my rant now! Thanks for posting this, and whether you call it vintage/ thrifted/ secondhand... it is one hundred percent the best way to go :)
Hope you are having a terrific day!
xo Hannah