Growing up, thrift stores were the quintessential place for whatever our family needed. They contained everything and anything, like winter coats for surprise growth spurts, random toys needing a new home, and the occasional fine china collection for my mom. For me, rummaging through racks and racks of shirts a couple of days a week is my idea of heaven. Nowadays, thrift stores are slim pickings; hundreds of pre-pubescent teens swarm the stores trying to buy anything they deem to be cool. Vintage clothing is more popular than ever before. Why has it become so big? Why do people want unwanted clothes?
In the world of fashion, one’s trash is another’s treasure. Wearing “old clothes” is no longer looked down upon. Not only is every piece of clothing unique in its age and wear, but it separates you from someone who bought a shirt that was made in a sweatshop and sold in the mall. This gratification of being unique and different is why a lot of kids spend their time in dusty, mildew-smelling stores that pump out clothing still covered in the lint from the '80s. Instead of collecting hot wheels and beenie babies, kids are now searching for cool and one-off shirts their parents would have worn.
There is always the argument that wearing “old clothes” is raggedy. Every stain, rip, hole, fading, and wrinkle gives every piece its own character and wear. Two shirts bought at the same time, yet one was worn thousands of times over and over; while one sits in a closet not exposed to the sun, hundreds of trips to the washer, and snags on doors. The first shirt lived its life to the fullest, while the other one never got to experience what was outside that closet door. Wearing old clothes is wearing someone’s story that is written out in detail with no villain and a happy ending where the girl gets the guy.
There is more to buying old clothes than trying to be cool; wearing old clothes is a sustainable way to look at fashion. Getting all the life out of clothing is an important factor in conserving and protecting the environment and the industry. Today, garments are made in third-world countries that neglect the environment and ignore ethical labor practices. There are many factors to environmental pollution in the fashion industry; pesticides causing cancer in farmers, dyes washing into our waterways, and synthetic fibers produced with harsh chemicals. Buying old clothes not only mitigates these effects on the environment, but it also makes manufacturers reevaluate their way of doing things.
The perfect combination of history, art, fashion, and sustainability is why I spend so much time mining for gold in a dimly lit store. Clothing is embedded in the culture as a universal need, why not have fun with it. Vintage clothing expresses your individuality and character. Maybe one day, your donation of clothes to Goodwill will end up on a teenager that was searching through the aisles for something to wear to their first day of school.
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