Chapel Hill has a great wealth of thrift stores, from consignment shops such as Rumors to traditional second-hand stores like Clothes Mentor and PTA. East students, like sophomore Violet Briggs, spend many of their weekends browsing these stores, picking up all kinds of apparel from brands known and unknown, all for incredibly low prices.
“I thrift to save money and also to combat fast fashion, which is a big environmental issue because it contributes to so much global warming,” says Briggs.
Thrifting is reducing the previous fad of fast fashion that big corporations are an expert in. Fast fashion not only moves clothing quickly from runway to the market, but also from the market to the garbage.
Thrifting could be affecting large fashion corporations. Lots of clothing found in thrift stores is branded from Forever 21, and now Forever 21 is having to file for bankruptcy with the direct cause unclear. Even larger corporations like Macy’s and Nordstrom are working to expand to an off-price market, which means providing allegedly high-quality goods at cheap prices.
Thrifting is set out to be a $33 billion industry by 2021, says Forbes Business. The internal environment of our local thrift stores keep customers coming back repeatedly.
According to Forbes Business, 94 percent of women will rarely buy clothing unless it’s marked down, making secondhand apparel the most logical option for them. Women that are environmentally conscientious also have reason to thrift. By thrifting, apparel is provided with a second life.
It takes about 1,800 gallons of water to grow the cotton to produce one pair of jeans, and an additional 9,900 for the dye and machine washing. By buying secondhand, this excessive water usage is reduced from fewer new jeans.
Purchasing from thrift stores also helps the community in a variety of ways. Sophomore Rebecca Massing’s mother works for Goodwill in the web design department. Massing says that there’s a lot more to thrifting than just saving the environment.
“I like to support her,” Massing said. “It’s interesting to have family members that work in thrift stores because it gives you an additional insight into how much the business is helping and giving back to the community.”
Secondhand clothing industry poised to take over fast fashion
