Edzani Kelapile smiled in his entirely thrifted outfit. He discussed the impacts of thrifting and why he chose to shop second-hand.
In the clothing racks of Goodwill, between the softly worn corduroy pants and baby tees, laid the possible solution to achieving sustainable fashion. Thrift stores served as a means to purchase clothing at a low price without sacrificing quality; but with the increasing rise of fast-fashion, second-hand stores slowly started to see cheap brands matriculate into their donation bins.
Thrifting culture shifted dramatically, from once being stigmatized to now being a quirky weekend indulgence. It’s now trendy to shop second-hand, almost comparable to looking for treasure. In the plethora of graphic shirts and denim jeans, thrifters seek for vintage “gems” amid the abundance of clothing.
But what’s the motivation for the shift in thrifting culture?
“Everybody comes to Goodwill looking for vintage pieces, pieces from the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s because there’s that void for that quality which is not there in fast fashion,” said Goodwill associate, Semi Galway.
Since the boom of the fast-fashion industry, thrift stores witnessed firsthand the issue with fast-fashion trickling down into their donation bins and interrupting the integrity of the stores’ clothing.
“Fast fashion is very bad because the amount of clothes you go through is very fast compared to how worn it gets. You may get a nice shirt that you then throw away because the next fashion trend has come along,” said Jacob Nelson, an environmentalist who studied fast-fashion intensely.
Mass-produced clothing brands like SHEIN and ROMWE had the benefit of quick turnover when it came to trends. According to FourweekMBA, selling their clothes at an absurdly low price, SHEIN’s profit margins resulted from a lack of a physical store, cheap labor and shorter design-manufacturing-distribution cycles. Because of this, their clothes were created with a distinct lack of quality.
“I have noticed that more and more fast fashion is starting to come into the stores when it should go into trash,” said Galway.
Such a surge of unsustainable clothing into local thrift stores fared poorly in the long term. More clothes, after they quickly and inevitably deteriorated, ended up in landfills. Buyers who were unaware of fast-fashion brands might have inadvertently purchased clothes that simply didn’t last. This posed an issue for shoppers who thrift for economic reasons since they had to replace their clothes more frequently.
“I do take into consideration sustainability. Most of the clothes I’ve bought in the last couple months have been from thrift stores or on EBAY,” said Kelapile.
Historically, the purpose of thrift stores was to sell donated clothing at a cheaper rate to people who need them. Therefore, thrifting was predominantly done by the working-class and lower-income demographic. But alongside this history of thrifting also came the social implications of shopping second-hand.
According to TIME magazine, “there was a stigma attached to wearing used clothes that had been owned by a stranger. Not only were the items themselves a sign of a lack of money, but there was also bias against the people selling them.”
A social shift in thrifting culture occurred as shopping second-hand became de-stigmatized. Thrift stores saw an influx of customers as the activity became normalized by the mainstream public. But why? A few avid thrifters said they had a multitude of reasons why they shop at second-hand stores like Goodwill, Boomerangs and Salvation Army.
“I thrift because I think it’s an economical and nice way to get new clothes that I didn’t think I’d be able to get,” said Edzani Kelapile, a regular thrifter in the Boston area.
Similarly, Anna Dormitzer, a college student in environmental studies said, “I thrift because I like to try and get clothing that’s sustainable. If you buy leather for example, it’s better to get it thrifted than new.”
But accompanying the social normalization of thrifting was an economic downside. Thrift stores became popularized by those that may not need the clothes. As a result, prices were driven up by the increase in customers as seen by the comparison of Goodwill’s 2016 and 2021 valuation guide.
The culture of thrifting changed to be notably more expensive. Though the shift was technically an increase of a just few dollars, this change made shopping second-hand more economically inaccessible to those who relied entirely on thrifting for clothes.
So while the amount of clothes Goodwill carried didn’t decrease, the inflation of prices marginalized the low-income demographic. Specifically in the Boston area, the conglomeration of colleges possibly seemed to contribute to the “gentrification” of thrift stores.
On this issue, Galway said, “I think that everybody that needed stuff in the community wouldn’t be able to wear all this stuff, so I think [college students] are just one cog in the wheel to sustainability. My general consensus in the younger generation is everything is like ‘eh, throw it away, I don’t need it, I don’t want to bring it with me,’ so college students make up a big part of the community that gives back as well.”
Overall, the social, economic and environment shift in thrifting successfully de-stigmatized second-hand shopping, increased prices of donated goods but remained a good solution for sustainability in fashion. Even though fast-fashion matriculated into thrift stores, shoppers could avoid fast-fashion brands to ensure their wardrobe lasted past the next wash cycle.
So while thrifting changed drastically, one thing remained true: there’s always the hopeful aspect of finding a vintage “gem.”
After all, “there’s always something cool [at thrift stores] that you can’t usually find elsewhere,” said Nelson.
Cited Sources
Cuofano, Gennaro. “Fast Fashion Business Model in a Nutshell.” FourWeekMBA, 1 July 2021, https://fourweekmba.com/fast-fashion/.
Waxman, Olivia B. “History of Thrift Stores.” Time, Time, 17 Aug. 2018, https://time.com/5364170/thrift-store-history/.
Images
All photography taken by Kylee Hendrie
Goodwill valuation guide published by Goodwill Industries International Inc.
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