Thrifting is a cheap, eco-friendly and accessible way for many people to buy products, making it trendy in today’s community. The appeal of thrifting, according to Juliana Park ‘24, is “how good it is for the environment. It’s cheap, which is obviously nice, but it also is less detrimental for the ecosystem. I can shop without feeling guilty.” 

A popular store on Pearl, Apocalypse was surprisingly not once mentioned by name. The only reference to the store was from Will Curl ‘23, “The one on Pearl.” One intriguing conversation between Heidi Naumov and Mireia Haynes about thrift stores went like this: “A thrift store?” Heidi asked, to which Mireia whispered under her breath, “just make something up,” and then suddenly, “Oh yeah! Target!” Target is obviously not a thrift store but it is a favorite among many students. Its wide range of options is appealing, but it is so easy to drop 100 dollars in only a few minutes. You could easily get the same amount of items from a thrift store for way less.

Furniture, cheap jeans, jewelry and so much more can be found at thrift stores. Embla Weibring, ‘24, excitedly told me, “I found a pair of new Air Jordans, for only five dollars.” I think we can all assume she was probably fudging the truth but regardless, more often than not there are some great selections, “You never know what you are going to find,” L.J Jingozian ‘23 added, showing off their silver chain belt found at Plato’s Closet. The rewarding feeling of getting an incredible item is also often mixed with the thrill of not knowing what you are going to find, or what is going to happen. “That’s one of the more exhilarating parts of thrifting,” claims Abigail Parker ‘24, “you may find a really cute top, or you might get kidnapped, either way it’s definitely something.” Parker luckily has had some successful thrift shopping adventures. She found a blue Corduroy Jacket, “that was Ralph Lauren!” This was clearly one of the more exciting moments of her life, so after basking in her enthusiasm she “mansplained” thrifting to me. “Thrifting prevents fast fashion and it is so fun.” 

Shein, ROMWE and ASOS are some of the most popular online fast fashion shops. Laborers, who are often children, are forced to work in sweatshops with very little pay. Clothes and accessories are mass produced for a cheap price, and then sold out into the world. But oftentimes 30% of the clothes produced are never sold. The copious amount of clothes that are produced lead to ridiculous amounts of waste. Fast Fashion is one of the largest polluters, producing about 13 million tons of waste. 

The vast range of items one can find in just one store is incredible. This attracts all different kinds of people, tipping this trend and changing consumer culture.