HOW TO SHOP

Not only is thrifting sustainable, it's a way to find unique pieces of clothing for a great price and you can feel good about where it's coming from. If you have old clothes you don't wear, you can even find certain second-hand clothing shops to either donate to or sale for store credit and save yourself some money.

Before heading out to shop, spend a day or two pulling ALL of your clothes out of the closet and getting rid of what you don't need.

A good rule of thumb is, if you haven't worn it in a year, it's safe to get rid of it. This is because you have gone through all four seasons (if you live in a seasonal area) and anything you didn't wear, is merely just taking up space.

​

*NOTE: if it's a sentimental piece of clothing, don't toss it - it's understandable to not want to ruin sentimental items.

If you struggle with knowing what to look for beyond tops and bottoms, particular colors, etc. This is for you!

​

There's so many styles of clothing items and a lot to look at in stores. Try pinpointing what style you're looking to explore: streetwear, light or dark academia, Parisian chic, 90's, etc. Figure out what style you want and finding pieces that fit that specific style will be a lot easier to find if you're already familiar with what it looks like.

If you already have an idea on what you want, you avoid walking out of a store with meaningless clothing items. I love using Pinterest to build up outfit inspirations and only allowing myself to buy items that help fulfill that vision.

Clearance racks are such a blessing for finding stylish clothes at an affordable price. I've learned to look at stores around the end of the season as a lot of the clothes will be knocked down in price to make room for the incoming seasonal clothes. It's easy to find clothing items that will fit any season.

For anyone who finds sorting through the overflowing racks of clothing at stores to be a nightmare, it's your lucky day because I love searching through racks of clothes. I love seeing all of the materials, patterns, and colors. It's almost like a fun game to see what treasures I can find that people didn't have the patience to.

​

The easiest piece of advice I can give to make this task quicker is to have colors in mind that complement you and the types of clothes you want.

EX: if you're looking for crop tops or fitted shirts, pass by any long sleeves you see, only focus on the fitted looking shirts and pinpoint colors that catch your eye or that you already have in mind. If you don't look good in red, don't even focus on red clothing items.