GROW WITH SARAH GRACE

COVID-19 brought many heartbreaks and struggles, for sure, but somehow, it brought me a newfound love: thrifting. I slowly got into fashion when in lockdown but didn’t want to spend $50 on a basic tee so I decided to take up thrifting. It was meant to start out as a little shopping trip to get one or two items and turned into my entire wardrobe being thrifted within a few months. So after nearly two years of shopping second-hand, I have a few tips for you!

Find your go-to store and keep going, almost daily. After some trial and error, I found my go-to thrift store in Dayton, Ohio and one in Chicago. Once you find your stores, go there as much as you can! I recommend going to a thrift store at least once a week to make sure you aren’t missing prime deals or items. Personally, I dedicate a day of the week like Thursday to thrift store shopping and checking out my go-to stores on that day.

Go in with a general list. Before you step foot into the store, be sure to have a summarized list of things you might be looking for. Perhaps it’s blazers or basic essential tees and tanks, whatever it is, if you have a general idea of what you are looking for, you can target those sections first to find what you need ASAP. I also think that Pinterest helps a lot if you pin some outfits you love and search for those articles of clothing in the store.

Search on Pinterest for the items you are unsure of. If you find an item that you aren’t 100% sold on and can’t think of more than one outfit to wear with it, look up some outfit ideas on Pinterest to see if you can get some inspiration there. This can help you limit your purchases to ones that are fully worth it. Another side piece of advice, I always try to think of at least three outfits or places I could wear with the piece of clothing before I officially buy it. 

Keep an eye out for the deals. Both of my go-to stores (and most thrift stores in general) have colored tags on their clothing indicating discounts or the store has a storewide discount. For example, at my Dayton thrift store, stapled to the clothing is either a pink, blue, white, or green tag. On Monday, blue tags are 99 cents and green and pink tags are half off. Of course, when you figure out the routine of deals, it makes your job a lot easier. 

Grab everything at once then regroup later. My game plan anytime I am shopping at any store but especially thrift stores is to grab any item you might even slightly like and put it in the cart. Once I have looked through everything, I find a little corner in the store and go through all my items. This is when I usually come up with those three outfit ideas to justify my purchase. The thing with thrift stores is that there is (usually) only one of the things you are looking at so I would rather pick it up and put it back later once I know you don’t want it before it gets taken by another shopper. 

Save money and buy your basics. If I were to pick out all of my “basic” items of clothing, I can assure you that a majority, if not all are thrifted. Basic essential items of clothing like a black tank or tan blazer can make an outfit and nearly goes with everything. If you know you’re going to wear it a lot, why spend lots of money on it at a high-end store when you can find them for much cheaper and save that money for the extravagant items from high-end stores.

Have an open mind. Finally, you have to have an open mind when thrifting. Some items might look questionable when you first see them but if you sit back and think for a second, you could find your new favorite item of clothing. I’m in no way saying that you can turn anything that may look “ugly” into something cute because that’s not always the case but for most items, you can probably make it work a lot more than you think. Some of my favorite items of clothing have the funkiest patterns but when they are worn correctly, they can make an iconic outfit. 

Hopefully, after these tips and tricks, you can start (or improve) your thrifting journey. I enjoy thrifting for many reasons. It helped me improve my fashion sense but I’m also helping the planet one shopping trip at a time. The last little tip I have for you is to be sure to wash all your clothes before wearing them because although second-hand is great for the environment, you don’t know exactly where that item has been.