Are thrift stores the new high street?
We all want to be vintage and different, don't we?
Teenagers in this day and age are more interested in looking back. We look back at the music of the past, we look back their style, their fashion, their TV shows. We keep looking back at the past because the future isn't as pretty and glamorous as we make it seem. We've made leaps and bounds in technological advances, but sometimes we still yearn for the good old days when everything was easier, cheaper, freer.
Thrift stores and charity shops hold a small glimpse to our past, of a simpler time filled with so much nostalgia. It's one of the few places where you can dig around through a pile of old clothes and stumble upon a vintage t-shirt of 'the grateful dead' that someone bought 30 years ago at a Wood Stock festival; now available at the low low price of about 4 quid. There's an old saying that goes 'we are never in the decade we want to be in'. The bittersweet sense of nostalgia is alive in all of us, we find it easier to think about memories of the past, than face the reality of the present. Thrift stores get to fuel that nostalgia; at least for me it does. It helps me relate to the cool things from the past I missed out on because I was too busy not being born yet; mostly cool rock bands from the 90's.
Thrift stores and charity stores are dramatically increasing in popularity. One of the many reasons this is happening is simply because of the low-cost aspect of it. When I walk down the street and into a clothing store, as I shimmy past the vast amount of people, I look up and notice about every girl there is basically dressed identical. We all adorn the same scrunchies on our wrists from TopShop, the same phone cases on our iPhones from Urban Outfitters, the same puffer jackets on our backs from NorthFace. We innocently fork over all our hard-earned pocket money and willingly pay way more than we need to for a simple t-shirt or pair of jeans. We all thought we were so different, so cool, so unique. But we’re not.
When really, we are nothing more than simply another consumer clog in the capitalist machine.
A big chain store will feed you the lie of uniqueness and individuality, some form of self-expression and identity. But how can that be so if hundreds of people are wearing the same top that you just bought?
I'm not preaching down with the brands and chains, but if you are a person that likes to think of your clothes as a way of self-expression and individuality maybe big brands and chains aren't for you. Walk into your local thrift store or charity shop and have a look inside, take a minute to walk through the aisles and really appreciate the space.
Search through the mountains of clothes on the racks because hiding underneath it all will be the perfect item that you take home with you.
Comments