While thrift shopping has always been a concept and in some cases a necessity, it recently has become popular, especially for Bonita Vista High (BVH) students. Students wander up and down the aisles of thrift stores, finding different things that fit their style and spending time with their friends. 

BVH students, like juniors Amy Callaghan, Sebastian Villegas and Merseis Marinelli, thrift because it’s a cheaper alternative to retail stores while also giving them more control over what fits their styles. Callaghan talks about how she’s been thrifting for over five years. 

“I [started thrifting] when I was young, but I started thrifting more when I was in middle school. So around seventh grade [is] when I started actually wearing clothes that I thrifted,” Callaghan said.

A large perk of fashion is the recyclability of clothing. Trends are fluid, styles change and sizes fluctuate, which means many clothes get donated and can be bought secondhand. Callaghan talks about how being in a transitional period in age, such as middle and high school, can make it counterproductive to buy new clothes.

“Especially when I was younger, I feel like it [was] a waste of money to buy new clothes for kids when [they’re] just gonna grow out of it,” Callaghan said. 

Due to constant changes in styles and trends, there’s never a shortage of donated clothing. Some teens, like Marinelli, feel that the clothes found at retail stores don’t reflect their personal style in the way that thrifted clothing does. 

“I feel like clothing at the mall is more trendy and I don’t really like the styles. [Unlike the mall] I’ll find good stuff at the thrift store that I’ll actually like and wear,” Marinelli said. 

The environments people grow up in can have a long-lasting effect on the way that they shop. Thrifting has always been popular among people on the lower end of economic standings. Often, kids who grew up lower-class carry habits like thrifting throughout their lives. Marinelli talks about how growing up impacted why she shops at thrifting stores.

“[Growing up] most of the time we had six to seven people living [in the house] because of my siblings. Since we had so many people and lived in a townhouse, we couldn’t spend that much money. So we went to the thrift store because it was cheaper,” Marinelli said.

Other than thrift stores’ attractive and affordable prices for students, many teenagers also enjoy having the chance to spend time with their friends and experiment with their style. For many, a unique part of the thrifting experience is finding one outstanding great item and being able to say that it was thrifted. Callaghan further explains why she enjoys thrifting.

“I enjoy it because I like the thrill of looking for something that I like and it comes [out] at a good price. And, it’s fun to show off to people, like, ‘Oh, I thrifted this’,” Callaghan said.

San Diego has a large number and variety of thrift stores. Local thrift stores are easy to find and have a diverse selection of items, prices and discounts. Places like Goodwill and Salvation Army are examples of stores located in San Diego. Villegas shares his preferred places to thrift.

“I go to the Salvation Army or Veterans Thrift Store, because those are the cheapest, unlike Goodwill,” Villegas said.

Marinelli, Callaghan and Villegas all say that thrifting doesn’t require a process. For them, it’s about taking time to look through the aisles while having fun, rather than being precise and thorough. Similarly, all three students usually first look for pants, then tops and other items. Eventually, they end up walking around the store to wander aisles. 

“I heard that they restock on Mondays and Tuesdays, in the morning, so I’ll go with my friends [on those days] when we’re on breaks,” Villegas said.

Although thrifting has gained popularity in the last few years and prices at some thrift stores have risen, shopping at thrift stores tends to be a cheaper and more sustainable alternative to shopping at retail stores. Textile waste in landfills rises every year and thrifting is a direct way to combat this waste and help the environment while also finding unique items more personal to oneself. 

“[Thrifting is] good because all those clothes that get donated to thrift stores are just going to be thrown out anyway, and a lot of the clothes are in really good condition,” Marinelli said.  “So [we] might as well just buy them because why wouldn’t you?”