Revolutionizing Thrifting: Unveiling Innovative Approaches to Sustainable Fashion and Smart Savings

By Courtney Coleman

Dec 11, 2022

There is a balance between affordability, sustainability, and trendy for many consumers which equals thrifting.

  It seems like up-shopping and shopping from pre-owned items are more important to consumers now. With the rise of social media, Tiktok uses especially, now are bringing their own stylists and designers and developing a new wave of secondhand.

When “thrifting” and buying secondhand people often come up with good pieces. Just by scrolling on Tiktok for the first few seconds there is someone going thrifting or talking about buying second hand. They will gawk over how vintage and worn-in a piece is and they are in love with it. Already imagining the outfit, where they will wear it to, and how their pictures are going to be shot in the outfit.

Youtuber Rebecca Ko, who is from DC, known for her thrift and lifestyle content when on another thrifting adventure in her adventure in a recent video. In the video, a woman found an amazing leather jacket and gave it to her (apparently for the value of $700). With her strategy of going about picking out pieces; it's all about the vibe, the option on if she feels confident in it, she sometimes asks others for their opinions, and if it fits her. She ended up picking out a gray and black half trench coat, an 80’s style pattern sweater, a beige and gray animal print sweater, a Columbia Carolina blue and gray rain jacket, the leather jacket (previously discussed), a dark denim jacket, and  a foggy green fisherman's vest. I think with her style and thrifting videos she doesn't really fit an aesthetic.

Another Youtuber by the name of Kim Ebrahimi, who is from Canada, went thrifting in New York but she often goes thrifting in Vancouver. She’s not so much as curated thrift or but she is organized in thrifting when it comes to making a trip to the states. She likes to play it smart when shopping. They don’t have Goodwill in Canada, so that's the first place she went and browsed through the clothes. Most of the “premium” items were priced at $20 to $30 USD which is almost $30 to $40 Canadian, and she decided not to splurge on those items. I think from watching her you will see how to be strategic on what she wants to spend money on. 

We are transitioning into this period and the generation  where preservation is big. Tying into the sustainability wave and trying to do the right thing to save what we have left of the place we all call home. So thrifting isn’t just a trend for this generation, its movement and a way of life for many. The avenues for thrifting and secondhand shopping are so wide spread now. There’s apps and sites like Depop, an online marketplace where you can set up your shop to sell your clothes just from your phone.

Hannah Valentine, a Depop seller, says “I think of my job as a second-hand clothing rehoming service,”(Refinery29).

Sweatshops aren’t healthy either, so the more you can narrow down and slow down this process the better. Fast fashion is a never ending cycle and the more they produce, the more people they will need to work. People form all over and most of the time, in harsh conditions, take the job with not good odds on their side. So, if we can do something to put an end to the endangerment and harsh labor people have to go through with just shopping secondhand, then we should try. 

For instance, there are companies like Boohoo, H&M, and Topshop being exposed for having terrible working conditions according to reports from the United Kingdom.

“From Bangalore to Leicester, the fashion industry is built upon the mass exploitation of those who work within its supply chains. There is no redemption for fast fashion, no alternative ethical model in which workers rights are prioritized. It’s a race to the bottom for who can pay their workers the least to produce the clothes the quickest and cheapest,” (EuroNews). I feel like I should deliver this message because I am in this generation of “thrifters” and “sustainability savior”. So I am surrounded by them and I am one of them.

WORK CITED

Ko, Rebecca, director. MY LUCKIEST THRIFT WITH ME (FT. TIFF). YouTube, 27 Oct. 2022, https://youtu.be/pG69-d19VIA 

Ebrahimi, Kim, director. THRIFT WITH ME IN NYC ♡ Goodwill, Buffalo Exchange, Ludlow Flea, Bins. YouTube, 30 Oct. 2022, https://youtu.be/kaCqgix9OSE 

Morgan, Blake. “The Fashion Industry Is Ready for a Makeover: 4 Changes We'll See in the Future.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 12 Oct. 2022, https://www.forbes.com/sites/blakemorgan/2020/12/03/the-fashion-industry-is-ready-for-a-makeover-4-changes-well-see-in-the-future/?sh=48ef6d66914a

Huber, Eliza. “For Gen Z, Thrifting Isn't Just a Way to Shop, It's a Lifestyle.” Why Gen-Z Loves Thrifting, Second-Hand Shopping So Much, 29 Oct. 2020, https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/10/10014753/thrifting-gen-z-thrift-shopping-trend 

Leach, Frankie. “It's Time to Dismantle Fast Fashion and Its Exploitative Practices.” EuronNews.Green, 28 July 2020, https://www.euronews.com/green/2020/07/10/exploitation-and-sweatshops-are-at-the-core-of-fast-fashion-it-s-time-to-dismantle-the-sys