Thrift Love

My take on Thrifting:

What it is (my words): Exercising frugality in order to land yourself a great deal on a previously loved item.

Wiki's def: "Thriting refers to the act of shopping at a thrift store, flea market, garage sale, or a shop of a charitable organization, usually with the intent of finding interesting items at a cheap price. A larger philosophy permeates the act of thrifting which celebrates the recycling of formerly-owned items, finding new use and new love for vintage material goods which had been thrown out, and the thrill of imagining what the former life of the item was like."

Thrift shopping has been a huge passion of mine since high school. I started shopping at thrift stores to find outdated clothes to use as costumes in shows and began to realize they had some great stuff buried in the racks. Part of why I love shopping is 'the hunt' for the perfect item. It has to have everything: the right price, the right look, the right fit. The thrifting scene really intensifies this hunt; hiding amazing finds between worn out overalls and grandma's old mu-mu! I enjoy the thrilling search to find this perfect item, sometimes I come out victorious with bag-fulls of things that worked just right, other times I leave empty handed- but every time I enjoy the experience. But other than 'the hunt' why do I enjoy thrift shopping?

Why thrift shop?
I do it for several reasons: 
1. To save money
For our generation, our financial stability is looking bleak. Most of us start out in the world thousands of dollars in debt! We need to save money wherever we can! And saving it in clothing and other small items is a perfect idea to spare a few dollars (and sometimes a ton of dollars). 
2. It's good for the environment
Recycling clothing and other products is good for the earth. It practices reuse, recycle, and restyle: this means less things are ending up in the landfills and going to waste. I also love the idea of finding discarded items and giving them a new life, a sort of material reincarnation. 
3. It's usually supports charity
This is not true for most garage sales, or flea markets, but generally thrift stores like; Goodwill and Salvation Army support charities. 
4. Unique finds!
If there is one thing I notice about our generation, it is our intense desire to prove ourselves as indivduals; Show that we are creative and unique people, and can offer the world something special. It's only natural we should want our clothes to reflect that attitude. Finding unique and interesting buys from a plethera of eras gives us a great base to start building our own style identity!
5. At least good for a laugh
Sometimes I go to the thrift store and seek out the most hideous outfits I can find. I don't know why, but I find it extremely humorous to try on silly/ugly outfits... (this could explain my obsession with Ugly Sweaters!) So even if you don't find an outift, there will always be a sparkly tye-dyed jumpsuit or an entirely denim ball gown to cheer you up.

By now, you should hopefully be convinced to at least take a whack at second-hand shopping! But don't worry I am not about to leave you in the deep end without swimmies... Hang on to the edge of the pool until tomorrow when I will start a mini-series of posts about the thriftiest tips for shopping complied by my mom, sister, and I!