Thrifting has become very popular in the last decade or so. The definition of “thrifting” has become very loose, though. The actual definition of thrifting is interpreted differently in the cases of going to a flea market, thrift store, or garage sale to get objects and clothes at a discounted price.
People have become very loose about what the term thrifting means. Some think thrifting is just buying clothes not from the original distribution source. For some, this means even if items are brand new if they are bought from a reseller, they would call them thriftied. When there are online resale sites like Depop, Etsy, or Poshmark, it becomes a debate whether buying clothes online is thrifting. This is because clothes go through shipping and lots of fees are added on top of that. This goes against what thrifting was originally used for, helping people with lower income be able to get clothes.
People’s increased interest in thrifting is a good idea at first glance, but that means that thrift stores have been making their prices higher. While it is good for the companies to make more money, this makes it less accessible to people who genuinely need the clothes. I think that it is good to thrift, but one has to do it in moderation.
Though a very hard topic to describe because everyone’s experiences are different, thrifting is a very fun activity to do with friends and family. Whether one is going to a single thrift store or multiple stores, it is a fun activity to try on clothes that may not be found in a regular store. Thrifting can help someone find their clothing style and express themselves as a person.
It can also help with the very new problem of overconsumption. This is a term referring to buyers wanting to buy more and more new stuff just because they feel like they have or want to. Thrifting helps with this because if people are buying already used clothes that means big factories do not have to make more than they need. Thrifting does not seem very important in the big scheme of things, but over time it has been shown to help cut down on overconsumption.