Thrifting turned Glamourous

Thrifting used to be this gross way to shop. It was something that my grandma did, or an occasional way to shop for random things like Halloween costumes. When I actually tried to thrift-shop for something wearable, I recall picking through garments, sloppily thrown together to simply 'get it out there'. The process of finding something was more of a chore than a desired experience. All in all, I never enjoyed it and eventually gave up trying, until about 10 years ago.

Although sustainable and slow fashion seems quite trendy now, it wasn't a few years ago. However, I was quickly thrown into a new love for thrift, after being educated on the truths of the fashion industry. It still amazes me how quickly I turned from grossed-out thrift shopper to almost exclusive thrift shopper, all because of education.

The stats are in and it's not looking good for the fashion industry. Environmental waste remains to be one of the largest contributions from 'fast fashion'. Growing from 7 million to 14 million tons of textiles created in the last couple years, the trend is growing - not slowing down. The figures for this year are expected to go into the 17 millions! What's worse is the average American throws away 81 pounds of clothes per year. On top of which, each garment is worn roughly 10 times prior to being dumped. This has to stop.

Buying new, for the most part, simply doesn't make sense anymore. It's great to support those designers who are doing it well, but let's further those efforts by re-using what is already out there. Continuing this by shopping our own closets and donating instead of throwing our garments away. There are so many things we can starting with thrift.

Thrift shops may have grossed me out a few years ago, but today I see them as a solution to a global problem. Just think of the environmental impact each of us could have simply by reusing what's out there, shopping our closets and donating back to thrift.

Let's save the world - together.

XOXO -

Jenny

LiveableME

Sustainable + Fair