• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

College Magazine

College Life, Dating, Career & Campus Advice

  • Colleges
    • College Guides
    • College Rankings
    • Campus Life
      • Academics
      • Dating
      • Freshman Year
      • Health
      • Social Change
      • Party
  • Majors
    • All Majors
    • Most Popular Majors
    • Choosing a Major
  • Intern
    • Internship Directory
    • How to Get an Internship
    • How to Write a Resume
    • How to Write a Cover Letter
    • How to Interview
    • How to Network
    • Career 101
    • Find Your Passion Career
  • Money
    • How to Make Money
    • How to Save Money
    • How to Get a Job
    • Credit Cards 101
    • FAFSA
    • Ramen Project
  • Travel
    • Study Abroad
    • College Spring Break
    • How to Travel Cheap
    • Things to Do
  • Shop
    • Writer Course
    • College Magazine Shop
    • Gift Guides
    • College Packing List
  • Find your college or university
  • Colleges
    • College Guides
    • College Rankings
    • Campus Life
      • Academics
      • Dating
      • Freshman Year
      • Health
      • Social Change
      • Party
  • Majors
    • All Majors
    • Most Popular Majors
    • Choosing a Major
  • Intern
    • Internship Directory
    • How to Get an Internship
    • How to Write a Resume
    • How to Write a Cover Letter
    • How to Interview
    • How to Network
    • Career 101
    • Find Your Passion Career
  • Money
    • How to Make Money
    • How to Save Money
    • How to Get a Job
    • Credit Cards 101
    • FAFSA
    • Ramen Project
  • Travel
    • Study Abroad
    • College Spring Break
    • How to Travel Cheap
    • Things to Do
  • Shop
    • Writer Course
    • College Magazine Shop
    • Gift Guides
    • College Packing List
  • Find your college or university
  • About Us
  • Team
  • Write
  • Apply
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sign Up
  • Advertise
  • My Account
  • Cart

You are here: Home / Shop / Poppin’ Some Thrift Store Tags as a Broke College Student

Poppin’ Some Thrift Store Tags as a Broke College Student

January 7, 2019 //  by Jess Badinghaus

Shares6FacebookTweet

To others, the thrift store sells used clothes and a high-risk of bed bugs to low-income individuals.

To me, thrifting brings excitement of new, affordable clothing with the potential of creating a gorgeous outfit with original pieces.

unsplash.com

I started my thrift career at the beginning of high school.

A few friends and I would go mostly as a joke. We hoped to find weird t-shirts or sweat shirts to maybe get a few laughs. It was also one of the only stores selling clothes within our budget. I mean, shirts can sell for as low as a dollar. A steal if you ask me.

So every few months we’d ask our parents to drop us off at the local thrift store. They would reluctantly agree, thinking that the thrift store was a place for people who could only afford cheap clothing, not children.

flickr.com

But 30 minutes later we would all walk out, bag in hand, feverishly giggling about the rainbow t-shirt or some weird sweatshirt that said, “Bye Felicia.”

We found these trips very amusing, but it wasn’t until the end of high school that I started venturing out of the t-shirt aisle and into the women’s trousers. My friends and I thought we could find decent jeans to cut into jean shorts for the summer.

We all brought home a pair of 99 cent jeans to chop up. It quickly became a competition between us all to see who could make the best jean shorts. Caroline perfected fraying, so her jean shorts looked like they came straight out of Forever 21. Then Gillian and I stepped up our game by watching hundreds of YouTube videos to discover a method to cut each pair to the right length.We used scissors to fray the ends and cheese graters to create a distressed look. The obsession continued as we bought new jeans. However, we eventually got tired of making them after we each owned about 20 pairs.

flickr.com

It was time to venture even further into the endless racks of clothing, which changed our thrift game forever.

We were shocked to see brands we recognized on the racks at a fourth of the retail price. They had Nike sweatpants, Calvin Klein sweaters and GAP sweatshirts. Crop tops were sold at Forever 21 for $10, but we bought ours for only $2.

Now thrifting became a game. Who could find the coolest piece at the thrift store? Who could find the best brand at the lowest price? Who could crop their shirt or sweater to make it trendy? And now that we could drive ourselves, our visits became weekly. My mom still was not thrilled about the risks associated with wearing used clothing, so she had me wash each item as soon as I returned. You can never be too careful.

To this day, I probably thrift every two weeks. I come home with long jean skirts or old sweaters only to cut and rip them up so no one ever suspects my clothes come from the thrift store. My mom even thought about buying me clothes for Christmas but opted out, thinking I would probably just cut them up.

As a college student who only has money for food and beer, I find majority of my clothes at the thrift store and style them into something new.

Going to different stores and searching the racks helps me create a style of my own. I’ve gotten many of my college friends to love it too. I introduced them to my hobby by showing them my finds. For example, I bought a long dressed with an elastic top. I cut the long skirt off and now have a crop top to wear with jean shorts or skirts during the summer. The hunt and potential of finding a cute piece keeps me coming back.

Some people may argue that thrift stores should only be for low-income families and that shopping there takes clothes from them. But I see it differently. The intent of the store is to provide low-cost options to the whole public. Thrifting helps the community because it keeps the store in business. The environment benefits too because thrifting keeps unwanted clothes out of landfills and into the hands of new owners.

flickr.com

Sustainable fashion never popped upon my radar until I began thrifting.

I realized how much clothing is thrown out because people don’t know what to do with a piece once it doesn’t fit or is not their style anymore. On average, Americans generate 11 billion pounds of clothing waste each year, all of which can be donated. Thrifting keeps clothing from polluting the Earth and you come out with low-cost clothing.

Call me Macklemore, but thrifting and up-cycling are two of my favorite hobbies. Every time I make a trip to the thrift, I come home with clothing that has the potential to resemble current trends but isn’t mass produced in factories for stores like H&M. If you are a broke college student like me looking for affordable clothing, I highly recommend you hit up your local thrift. It helps the community and you walk out with one-of-a-kind outfit. All the piece needs is a little inspiration from Pinterest and a few cuts and stitches.

Shares6FacebookTweet

Filed Under: Life Money Shop Style

About Jess Badinghaus

Jess is a student at Ohio State University studying Strategic Communications, minoring in Design Thinking and Professional Writing. When she isn't editing or writing, she enjoys traveling, spending time with friends and family and watching movies.

You May Also Like

gifts for music lovers

Top 10 Gifts for Music Lovers 2020

Christmas

10 Gifts For Parents That They Want But Haven’t Asked For

a wrapped christmas gift for your boyfriend gifts for college guys

10 Gifts Your Boyfriend Actually Wants

friends film still

21 Gifts for Your Roommates—Whether You Like Them or Not

10 Virtual Gifts for Your BFF that Will Make Them Love You Forever

Real News: 10 Gifts for the Future Journalist in Your Life

marvel

Top 10 Marvel-ous Gifts for MCU Fans that Say “I Love You 3000”

Halloween decorations stand in the foreground in front of the Silverbullet rollercoaster.

10 Orange County Sights COVID-19 Hasn’t Ruined

girl in bed at home on her laptop

Buy These 15 Amazon Products and One-Up the 2020 School Year

15 Easy Ways to Spice Up Your Living Space and Your Life

quarantine outfits

Mask It Up: 14 Outfits for the Socially Distanced Summer

fathers day diy gifts for dad

10 DIY Gifts for Dad Easy Enough for Any Craftsman

joyful products

10 Joyful Products to Create a More Positive Living Space

10 Ways to Rule Your Campus with Your $150 Shopping Spree

Did Someone Say Coffee? Top 10 Coffeehouses in Iowa City

The College Girl’s Guide to LA Style on a Budget

Your guide to the best backpacks for college

CM’s Top 10 Backpacks for College

friends

21 Gifts for the Artist in Your Life

sue and lexie the middle gifts for college students

Top 10 Gifts Every College Student Actually Wants

30 Foolproof Gifts for Every Type of Boyfriend

gift ideas for girlfriend hipster girlfriend

Top 10 Gifts for Your Hipster Girlfriend

dorm essentials

21 Dorm Room Essentials No One Tells You About

Me and my big ideas college planners

10 College Planners To Cure Your Due Date Amnesia

10 Gifts to Show Your BFF They’re the Platonic Love of Your Life

Previous Post: «fast food what is minimum wage Can You Make Minimum Wage Work in College?
Next Post: 10 Advantages of Taking a Gap Year When You’re Unsure of Your Life man standing on rock what is a gap year?»

Primary Sidebar



Trending Posts

102

10 St. John’s University Finals Activities to Help You De-Stress

mental health
95

Pandemic and Academic Blues: Being Aware of Your Mental Health

23

A Gator’s Bucket-List: 21 Things to Do Before Graduating From UF

Broadway
15

10 Musical Soundtracks to Make Study Sessions That Much Easier

songs to belt out
14

21 Songs to Belt Out in the Shower

Featured Chapter: St. John’s University

Footer

logo

College Magazine is the national daily guide to campus life. Our articles for college students feature university rankings of U.S. colleges, college guides, academic advice, college prep, career advice, student health and collegiate dating tips.

Written by students for students, by a team of journalists from universities nationwide, we’re on the pulse of the college experience.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Colleges

  • College Guides
  • College Rankings
  • Campus life
  • Academics
  • Dating
  • Freshmen Year
  • Health
  • Party

Majors

  • All College Majors
  • Most Popular Majors
  • Choosing a Major

Intern

  • Internships Directory
  • How to Write a Resume
  • How to Write a Cover Letter
  • How to Interview
  • How to Get an Internship
  • How to Network

Money

  • How to Make Money
  • How to Save Money
  • How to Get a Job
  • Credit Cards 101
  • College Loans

Travel

  • Study Abroad
  • College Spring Break
  • How to Travel Cheap
  • Things to Do

Shop

  • College Packing List
  • Gift Guides
  • About Us
  • Team
  • Write
  • Apply
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sign Up
  • Advertise
  • My Account
  • Cart

Copyright © 2021 College Magazine · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc.