Thrifting Offers an Affordable and Sustainable Alternative to Fast Fashion

Story by Helen Widman, Photos Provided by Nia Harris

Whether it be a pair of black high-top boots, a colorful chunky sweater or a tough leather jacket, people like to have a sense of individuality that allows them to somewhat control how others perceive them. Luckily, the concept of thrifting is tailored perfectly toward those who seek to stand out sustainably—and on a budget.

Trina Gannon, a professor who teaches classes in retail merchandising and fashion product development at Ohio University, says that thrifting is more of a shift in consumer behavior than a temporary cultural trend.

“The trend of thrift store shopping isn’t really a trend anymore,” Gannon says. “It’s kind of more like a norm. You go into places like Forever 21 or a store like Anthropologie—everything is vintage based.”

Reusing clothing is not a new phenomenon. Up until the late 19th century, according to an online article by Time magazine, people would reuse and re-wear clothing until it could no longer be of any use to them.

But when the Industrial Revolution hit the United States, the way clothing was produced changed quickly as demand grew in big cities.

Time reports that in 1897, the Salvation Army started out of a basement of a men’s shelter, where people lived in exchange for collecting used clothes from their neighbors.

According to Time, “By 1935, there were nearly 100 Goodwill stores nationwide.” Thrift stores have only continued to go in and out of fashion ever since, but nevertheless have maintained their business.

Christo Siegel, a freshman at OU, says that he enjoys thrifting for its convenience, as well as the experience.

“A lot of it [why I thrift] has to do with prices,” Siegel says. “Because thrift shops, it’s a lot—it’s definitely a lot—cheaper. It’s also given me a variety of things that I can’t find from somebody else.”

According to Gannon, however, middle to upper class communities have historically looked down on thrifting.

“I think thrift store shopping is awesome. I’ve done it my whole life,” Gannon says. “I was actually made fun of in middle school for shopping at thrift stores.

“I had a cool dress on, and a girl actually really liked it. She said, ‘Where’d you get it?’ and I said a thrift store, and then of course I was made fun of for that, [she thought] ‘Yeah, that’s so gross.'”

Siegel says he used to worry a lot more about brand name clothing and shoes.

“In middle school, I always wanted to have Nikes, I always wanted to have super nice shoes,” he says.

Now, thrifting has shown Siegel that brand name labels aren’t as important.

“[Thrifting] just provides a bunch of variety and different things that you won’t necessarily get from name brand places,” Siegel says.

One of the main reasons why thrifting has become more popular is that buying second-hand clothing helps the environment.

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) website, “The main source of textiles in municipal solid waste (MSW) is discarded clothing, although other smaller sources include furniture, carpets, tires, footwear, and other nondurable goods such as sheets and towels.”

Freshman Nia Harris as a child, wearing thrifted clothing.

In 2017, the EPA estimated that 11.2 million tons of MSW went to landfills. This number is higher than the 3.2 million tons of textiles that were combusted and the 2.6 million tons that were recycled.

Nia Harris, another OU freshman, says that the environmental impact of thrifting is one of the reasons why she thrifts.

“I feel like it’s important to do our part to stop that [problems with fast fashion] or just decrease our impact with fast fashion,” Harris says. “I’m a teenager and I don’t make that much money, and thrifting is very cheap and it helps me save up on money that way.”

Nia Harris wearing a thrifted white polo to complete her outfit.

The cheaper prices of thrift stores combined with the unique items may be a major contributing factor in why teens today opt to shop second-hand.

Siegel seems to agree with Harris and says that the environmental impact of secondhand clothing is a bonus in addition to the cheap prices.

“When I was younger, I would get a lot of hand-me-downs from family friends,” Siegel says.

"I can now see that was actually a really good idea because of expenses, and how that helps the environment – kind of recycling clothes instead of having to buy brand new ones from places.”

One issue that people may have with thrifting is that when members of the middle to upper class start buying at thrift shops, those shops may then have to increase their prices to continue to profit. And when prices at thrift stores increase, it becomes more difficult for the people who rely on thrifting to afford it.

According to Gannon, prices in thrift stores have definitely increased over the years: “You look on Etsy and you find a 1970s shirt for 30 bucks, 30 bucks! 20 years ago, that was like 90 cents in the thrift store.”

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires people who donate to stores like Goodwill to value their items. In turn, Goodwill’s Valuation Guide shows items of clothing at a range instead of one set value. For example, a woman’s blouse may cost anywhere from $2-12 if it is in good condition.

These price ranges show that if donated items are brought in good condition, Goodwill then is able to mark up the price, as long as it fits in the item’s range on the estimated valuation scale.

Others argue that thrifting is not accessible for people of all different sizes, or that not everyone has a thrift store in their area in order to shop second-hand and reduce the harmful environmental impact of fast fashion.

However, shopping second-hand is not limited to in-person thrift stores anymore. Companies like Poshmark and Depop allow people to resell their gently used clothing online. thredUP’s website even claims to be the “largest online thrift store," where they resell designer brands at reduced prices.

Some teenagers today have taken to social media to resell items out of their closets or even to buy thrifted items and resell them to those who may not want to take the trip to the thrift store themselves.

“I like the idea now of people using social media [to resell thrifted clothing] ... it’s like they’re entrepreneurs,” Gannon says. “They’re starting a business.”

“Do I disagree with it? Not necessarily, but would I support it? No, because I could go to a thrift store myself. But does everybody want to do that? No.”

Harris recalls wearing a thrifted shirt in the first grade and being made fun of it by a group of girls.

“Now, those same girls I’ve seen have posted taking trips to go to the thrift store,” Harris says. “[Thrifting has] become a lot more widespread, I think, in American culture.”

Siegel opposes the concept of buying trendy clothes second-hand for the sole purpose of reselling them.

“Buying something cute to take away from someone else, and then selling it for a higher price... just kind of feels like it defeats the purpose of it, thrifting,” Siegel says.

In terms of today’s generation of teenagers, Harris believes that her peers are becoming more aware of issues in the clothing industry.

“I feel like [our generation] is the most socially conscious,” Harris says. “A lot of people my age are always researching different issues, just in that [socially conscious] way.”