Environmentally friendly, affordable, and if shoppers look hard enough- quality finds. Thrift shopping has taken a wild upturn in popularity in the last couple of years, especially with millenials and teens. As old clothing trends make a comeback like the bomber jacket, loafers, and light wash denim jeans, the staples of every used clothing store are finding new owners. When these trends started coming back, clothing brands were not creating a new style, instead it was them just recreating looks that already exist for a fancy price. The local thrift store however already carries authentic and original pieces for an average of $4.50 or less on basically anything thrifters can find.

(Alexa Funk in her thrifted sweater)

Looking further into what it is that starts these cultural trends of bringing back the 70’s-90’s we look to younger generations. Alexa Funk, a junior at Grandville High school claims these young thrifters “Are not creative and resort to dependence on fashion that has already happened, labeling it a modern movement.” Alexa says she thrifts because it is cheap and loves having oversized clothing. She goes on to mention, “I use my own creativity to remake clothing I thrift, to battle the dependence on older fashions as a form of expression.

The majority of people that were interviewed agreed with what Alexa said about using thrifting as a form of “fake creativity.” However,  when asked personally how they used thrifting in their lifestyle many of them claimed that they used it as their own means of expression not to fitting into this category of “fake creativity.” Is this a statement that is only used when describing the shoppers who buy the expensive new clothing, or is it the shoppers who let professional thrifters do the dirty work of finding the on trend pieces and reselling them as vintage? Both are reasonable examples of who Alexa Funk and others would label as a fake thrifter.

Regardless of how people thrift and how they spend their money, used clothing is taking the fashion world by storm. Check out locations like Goodwill, World Mission, and Plato’s Closet to find the perfect throwback outfit for every occasion.