why thrifting is great — and why you should do it too
Taking a subway back home from my long-due thrifting trip, I decided I wanted to write about it. The world has to know: thrifting is so meta1.
It's a shame I learned about thrifting so late in my life. The first time I went to a thrift store was two and a half years ago, when I moved to an apartment by myself after a divorce. I had to buy furniture that would fit a minimalist Japandi or mid-century modern aesthetic, and that was hard to come across on Marketplace. Needless to say, if you look it up, you will understand why buying new was out of the question. When I finally went thrifting, I was already 28 years old. That's twenty-eight years of a wasted opportunity. Here's why.
it's recycling
The main reason to buy used items is obvious — sustainability. We already produced enough crap in this world. According to a recently released Netflix documentary “Buy Now: The Shopping Conspiracy” — which I highly recommend watching — here are some crazy statistics to make you think:
Every hour produced:
- 2.5 million shoes
- 68,733 phones
- 11.4 million garments
Just let it sink in: 11.4 million garments. Considering our current world's population of 8.2 billion people, we only need two and a half years to produce 30 items of clothing for every person on the planet.
8200 mil * 30 items / 11.4 mil / 24 hours / 365 days = 2.46
But what do we do with the rest of it, produced throughout our lifetime?
it's cheap
Today I bought 2 pants, 1 sweater and 1 shirt for a total cost of $48 CAD (34 USD or 32 EUR). Perhaps, I shouldn't say cheap — nothing is cheap in this world anymore. Affordable. Buying the same clothes new would have cost me at least $200.
I remember buying Levi's jeans last year. The new pair didn't last as long as I had hoped, and two months in, I was already dissatisfied with my purchase. The pants didn't fit me that well after all. They were skinnier than I prefer, and above all, I had to get them adjusted — yes, I have a weird body composition, and men's clothing doesn't usually fit me right away, but funny enough, women's almost always does. This new pair cost me $100 at the store, and tailoring them was an extra $20. Plus, the tailor didn't care to make an even cut, so the bottoms of my pants looked like two tiny roller coaster tracks. When I went to a thrift store today, I found the same pair. It was priced at $8, still looking very much like new. Fifteen times less.
I no longer buy new clothes apart from a few exceptions. T-shirts — I have six black and four gray crew-neck t-shirts that I rotate about once a year, — socks, underwear, and shoes. The latter is because I mostly wear barefoot shoes2, and I have yet to find them in a thrift store. But pants, shirts, jackets, and sweaters are easy to come across almost anywhere, in most shapes, and most sizes.
it's exciting
Shopping is boring, and thrifting can also be, especially if done alone. Make it an event. Make it social. Bring a friend along — ideally, the one who knows a thing or two about styles because nobody wants to look like a homeless person unintentionally — and do a full “thrift day” on a weekend. Break it with a lunch at your favorite restaurant, and grab a drink after the trip is over. You'll end up with memories for the next year and will save enough money to buy an iPhone. Just kidding — you don't need a new iPhone!
So many times I came home thrilled about a rare item I found at the thrift store. I never had a similar feeling buying new. It's always nice to find an item that is 'just right' or 'just my style'. But when I get it both 'just right' and 'cheap af', that's a feeling compared to an orgasm.
I hate shopping, but I love thrifting. Still, I am not a big spender and typically make only 3–5 trips a year. The key to liking it is learning about your style. The things that fit you the most. The items, colors, and shapes that look really good on you. Talk to your most stylish friend, the “Carrie from Sex and the City” sort of friend. Ask them to take you thrifting with them. Chances are, that's where they buy all their clothes anyway.