Why I Only Shop at Thrift Stores
When I was a kid, I always kicked off a new school year by revamping my wardrobe. I threw out the old jeans that had ripped in the crotch area and donated the “babyish” t-shirts decorated with glitter and ponies to the Goodwill.
Afterward, I always went shopping for new back-to-school outfits with my mom. Except, these outfits weren’t really new — they were someone else’s unwanted clothes. They came from dim, carpeted thrift stores, not the fluorescent lights of Macy’s.
Throughout my childhood, I only ever shopped at thrift stores.
While my friends prided themselves on their designer outfits they’d plucked off the mannequin, I was sifting through the racks of the nearest thrift store. I won’t lie and say I didn’t also want designer clothes, but I didn’t have a choice. My parents lived on a shoe-string budget for most of my childhood, and they didn’t have the money to spend hundreds of dollars on clothing.
If I wanted more than a t-shirt from JCPenney, I had to get creative. I spent a lot of time scouring the local Goodwill for a diamond in the rough. I learned how to put an outfit together — what colors complemented each other, and which ones clashed.
