A Thrifting Mode for Every Vibe

Why go through the effort of thrifting?

The reasons to thrift have evolved with our planet and our people. In the 1800s thrifting culture began as a means of providing more affordable items to the poor. Today it is the way people from all economic backgrounds fill specific needs, not always centered around price tags.

According to Earth.org, 92 million tons of clothing end up in landfills every year, and by 2030 the fashion industry’s global emissions are on track to double from what they are today. This creates an additional, urgent drive for the eco-conscious to shop second-hand.

But it’s also cool to thrift. We all know it’s a vibe and a consistently good one, but why has the hip energy stuck? Why has thrifting remained cool even outside of serious ecological and economic concerns throughout time? What makes thrifted clothes more palpably special than new ones? Yellow Scene Magazine turned to ARC, one of Colorado’s largest and most popular thrift stores, and tuned into their second-hand-happy podcast, Get Thrifty, to find out.

What stuck out while listening to an array of folks discuss their thrifting habits and strategies on the “Get Thrifty Podcast” with host Maggie Scivicque is that thrifting is so much more than clothes shopping. Items you can find outside of clothing at quality second-hand stores include furniture, art, musical instruments, costumes, jewelry, hats, cowboy boots, sunglasses, scarves, holiday decorations, kitchen items, cast iron, dishware, and beyond.

Many of the guests on the podcasts cited the unique energy that used items bring to your home and your day. Old items are like old homes. When you step into an old house, you can feel its soul. The same holds true for thrifted items. Each piece of furniture, item of clothing, etc. has had a life elsewhere. A reupholstered, overstuffed chair where someone sat to cry, and have a conversation about what turn their life might take, cushions still humming with their own personal history of sitters. A dress worn by a young woman on her first date with a man who would become her husband of 40 years, set back into circulation by her daughter who cleaned out her mother’s closet after her death. There is an existing life infused into the item you’ve chosen to style into your own life. And that fact alone brings value.

An additional bonus with used, old items is that if you find something in good shape, it is likely better made and will last longer than a similar new item on the market. It’s also easier to express yourself through these thoughtfully constructed, old items because they’re not held hostage to the trends of the time and are unique. There aren’t 7,000 of them sitting in boxes in a warehouse ready to ship out all over the country or world. Instead, there are high-quality items that will last over a lifetime that are unique to you and only you. From this perspective, it’s wild that everyone isn’t shopping used.

Finally, before we get into why we thrift and why we should continue to, we wanted to touch on the upscale brand of the art of thrifting. The RealReal — whose goal is to “extend the life cycle of luxury items” — allows sellers and buyers to circulate brand-name, luxury second-hand items. Besides bringing the wealthy and high-fashion-conscious into the thrifting conversation, it allows those with less spending money to “binge” on a coveted brand name for a special event or just because. It’s a win-win, as it brings more art-driven designer brands to the doorsteps of the masses while giving a piece a second, third, or fourth life. There’s also a fair amount of inventory with the tags still on — an opportunity to save wearable art from a wasted life!

Where to thrift locally

There are so many modes of thrifting. From “the bins” — or properly, a Goodwill Outlet — to the upscale, online The RealReal, to Garage Sale Vintage with an in-house tequila bar, as well as Déjà Blue, Goodwill’s boutique for high-end, second-hand finds, we’ll sort through some of the diverse approaches to thrifting that have evolved out of demand for curated, or not, second-hand items over the years.

If you haven’t been to a Goodwill Outlet, Yellow Scene Magazine suggests you schedule a day trip to Englewood, Denver, or Colorado Springs to experience this unique brand of thrifting that lies somewhere between a garage sale and a sample sale. Goodwill Outlets — housed in big warehouses filled with rejected items from the standard Goodwill stores — are lined with bins on legs or folding tables to sift through mounds of second-hand goods. Employees roll out bins overflowing with used clothes and other items, which you can pull out and sort through on the plastic tables.

Be warned there are rules depending on the location. At some, you can’t start pulling clothes out of a bin until an employee has brought it over to the table and taken their hands off of it. Then the bin is fair game, and you can start peaceably sorting through or engage in tug-of-war with another thrifter depending on your style or mood. Some people recommend wearing gloves.

The grand beauty of this system is that beyond a unique and exciting shopping experience, the clothes are priced by the pound. Once you’re satisfied — or exhausted — you take your loot to the cashier to weigh it for your total. Pricing depends on the type of item. There are also bulk rates. If you’re serious about thrifting or just looking for a fun challenge, these are the second-hand destinations for you.

Garage Sale Vintage, born in Larimer Square in Denver, offers a more unique and leisurely way to thrift. Now with locations in Boulder, Denver, Nashville, and soon to open in New York City, Garage Sale brings a fresh twist to the vintage game. With eats and drinks at the bar in the front of the store including an astrology cocktail menu, you can take your time perusing through hand-picked, relevant second-hand items.

Boulder’s Pearl Street location is clean, cool, and homey. If you’re looking for a second-hand shop that’s hip with the vintage trends or just want to hang somewhere with good music and friendly company — or better yet a perfect marriage of the two — Garage Sale Vintage is the spot. And it is full of quality finds, even when you’re looking for something specific.

Another local option exists in Cherry Creek’s Déjà Blue. Goodwill funnels its donated high-end brands to Déjà Blue, located in Denver on University Blvd. The prices are a smidge steeper than at a traditional second-hand store, but you’ll still find huge savings in brand-name pieces when compared to new, full-priced twins. The store is organized and clean, invoking more of a boutique experience than that of a thrift store. This is a good shop to drop into regularly to peruse what’s new or snag the wide-legged pants you’ve been searching for but refuse to pay at full price.

Online also has some first-rate thrifting options. You can bid for items on Goodwill’s auction site or purchase from Noihsaf Bazaar — a second-hand online shop focused on used clothing made by independent designers, sustainable brands, and relevant vintage finds. You can also zip straight to the top and visit The RealReal’s website to shop gently used designer apparel for far less than what you would pay at a place like Bloomingdale’s. Like the brick and mortars, the online thrifting scene also has variety — an abundance of used goods for all shapes and styles.

Noihsaf Bazaar is a treasure trove of easy, online second-hand shopping. Because everything is filtered through employees, referred to as curators, looking for items that are current or vintage — and most often sustainable — little sifting is required. In fact, it’s the complete opposite of “the bins.” The clothes have been vetted, the aesthetically pleasing website is easy to use, and you can shop from the comfort of your desk or couch. You are also able to ask individual sellers specific questions about the items or if they’re willing to take a lower price. It’s an all-around pleasant shopping experience, with fair prices that allow you to feel like a clever little thief.

It’s also incredibly easy to sell your items on the Noihsaf site. You simply post a few photos, fill in the description and sizing fields, and wait for an employee/curator to approve them, which doesn’t take more than a couple of days. And items are rarely turned away. It seems the target audience that sells and shops Noihsaf has hit a sweet spot with similar tastes. Thrifting has come a long way.

Stop supporting throw-away goods

Our culture has a massive consumption problem, and clothing is a huge piece of that nasty pie. We continue to make, we continue to purchase when there exists on this planet more than enough to meet the needs of everyone here — and everyone to come — for a very long time. Creation is intrinsic to who we are. It is, in fact, one of the most valuable qualities of humans: this need to produce art. However, the creation of cheap, synthetic items intended to be used for a short time before being thrown out and replaced by another is unsustainable and irresponsible.

Let’s hold gratitude for what we have already and save creation and production for the artists — or at least producers who are thinking through the entire process from the items’ beginnings to their ends. We have the opportunity to put on the brakes and stop demanding more from the corporate fashion industry. We have the responsibility to use and wear what we already have. If you want something new to you, consider purchasing something with a story. It will enrich your life, save an item from the landfill, and add one fewer tick to the chart of demand for more.