#ThriftTok has people popping tags with only $20 in their pockets.
Wearing thrifted vintage has become a trend for these last few years. On social media, people will show their thrift hauls of all their “vintage” sweaters and pants they picked up.
People have romanticized thrift shopping and trying to find the perfect thrifted fit, and are beginning to lean away from fast fashion and mass-produced clothing stores to support a more sustainable route.
Many people have turned to sustainable fashion, wanting to protect the environment by recycling old clothes. In particular, recent generations have become environmentally conscious, trying to do their part for the earth.
There are two thrift stores in Laramie, Goodwill and NU2U. Goodwill is a donation center, while NU2U is a clothing resale store where people can sell old clothes and get store credit for them.
While some people thrift to help the environment, others thrift to find unique clothing for their unique taste in fashion.
At thrift stores, one can find an old grandmother’s sweater, flared pants, and old t-shirts. When thrift shopping, people find one of a kind pieces that their peers don’t own as well.
Not only can people express their unique style, but thrifting is cheaper than buying from mass consumerism. Brand names can be costly, while used clothes are cheaper and typically good quality.
Tommy Perez, a psychology student at the University of Wyoming, moved from South Carolina to Wyoming and didn’t have any winter clothes. He went to NU2U to find some warm clothes and found some jackets that would have cost considerably more brand new.
“A majority of the stuff that I have are jackets that are like $65 to $70, and I’m getting them for $15 to $30. It’s a lot more convenient,” he said.
A couple traveling from Illinois on a cross-country road trip, and on their way home they are stopping at all the thrift stores. When asked about why they think vintage thrifting has become so popular, Zack Grayson said,
“Tik Tok definitely makes it on trend. It’s a lot of people posting themselves getting dressed, and all of it is vintage stuff. I mean, they get so much traction on their pages. So yeah, it really is just the algorithm right now.”
Once stigmatized, the thrifting scene has become so popular that prices are on the rise, even overcharging for some ‘hot’ items. Resellers are opening up resale shops online and buying clothes from thrift stores, then doubling, even tripling the price by labeling it ‘vintage.’
Lexie Gibson expressed the struggle of buying vintage and the cost going up.
“It is resale shoppers coming in, and then buying a bunch of stuff, and then it just sits in their house and they don’t sell it,” she said. “Prices are continuously going up. A shop opened probably two years ago, prices were way cheaper. [Items] for less than $60 online, [they’re selling] $90 pants, $150 shirts, I mean they’re just running it crazy.”
