Secondhand Fashion Queen

The shirt is an old one from my dad that I cropped. The pants are men’s jeans from Salvation’s Army’ that took in and sewed the legs smaller. The belt is from Goodwill.

Exactly one year ago, I made a promise to myself that I would completely swear off fast and slow fashion and only buy secondhand clothes moving forward.

After being a passive fan of sustainability and ethical clothing production, I decided to do something big. I'd seen too many stories from my ethics class (shoutout to my awesome prof Kelly Eskew!) and social media feed about the horrendous violations the fashion industry, specifically fast fashion companies, were making against human rights and our Earth.

I learned about the massive garment factory in Bangladesh that killed 1138 workers and injured 2600 workers due to unacceptable working conditions and structural flaws in the building in 2013. JC Penny, The Children's Place, Primark (British store similar to Forever 21), Mango, Joe Fresh, and more were all sourcing clothing from this Bangladesh factory. Reading all about this inspired me to dig deeper and learn more.

Fast fashion has created an insane culture of $2 tshirts and $10 dresses, and competition for low prices has caused companies to violate their workers rights by paying them illegal and miniscule wages. If you see a beautiful piece of clothing and see that the price tag is SO CHEAP (I'm talking H&M, Forever21, Cupshe, Shein, etc.) then there's definitely a garment worked on the other end getting screwed. According to the Los Angeles Times and the US Department of Labor, they found that " 77 Los Angeles garment factories from April through July of 2016 and found that workers were paid as little as $4 and an average of $7 an hour for 10-hour days spent sewing clothes for Forever 21, Ross Dress for Less and TJ Maxx. One worker in West Covina made as little as $3.42 per hour during three weeks of sewing TJ Maxx clothing." Those scary facts are found throughout the fast fashion industry.

Shopping secondhand is so freeing! The jacket is from Goodwill. The dress is Urban Outfitters from Goodwill. The boots are Nasty Gal from Depop

Beyond human rights abuses, the fashion industry is so bad to the environment. While there are many progressive companies starting to grow steam with sustainable materials and practices (aka slow fashion), the majority of companies and manufacturers are creating a carbon footprint that's so big you cannot believe it. According to McKinsey "more than $500 billion of value is lost every year because of clothing that is seldom worn and rarely recycled." Furthermore "since global clothing sales are on track to increase fivefold by 2050, the industry’s footprint could expand to catastrophic proportions if business goes on as usual." Fashion uses up so much water and raw materials, all while creating a culture of wear once and then throw it. Landfills are full of cheap clothing people didn't even bother to donate.

The more I learned about these mind-numbing facts, I knew I had to make a change. The first thing I knew I could do was to remove myself from this system. I was going to Reduce my clothing consumption, Reuse materials by learning how to sew (I’m obsessed with BestDressed thrift flips), and Recycle clothing by shopping exclusively in the secondhand market. Shopping secondhand means saving garments from the landfill. It also means no longer contributing to the manufacturers carbon footprint and human rights violations on my behalf. I wasn't going to suddenly throw out all the clothes I own, but I was going to only add items from secondhand stores. If I didn't want a piece of clothing, I made sure to donate it to get reworn or get recycled into textile fiber.

I've always been a fashion gal, and I knew I could still be dressing, even with my new vow to only secondhand shop. I love fashion, and I spend so much of my time thinking about what I'm going to wear or what others are wearing. I've watched Project Runway since I was super little, and I am glued to my phone during fashion weeks and the Met Gala. I knew I had it in me to be the same fashion queen I'd always been, even with some new constraints.

Goodwill has become my new best friend. I love searching through the hundreds of racks to find one spectacular piece. Thrifting has become my version of treasure hunting. A goodwill shopping trip definitely takes time, and you need to be prepared to dig and try on. I try to shop in person as much as I can to cut down on online transportation waste (truck fuel, packaging, etc), and I always love being surrounded by clothes in the physical stores. Here are some of my favorite goodwill finds!

The gingham skirt and white top is from Goodwill

I was so excited to find this classic white shirt at Goodwill

I got the pants, jacket, and top from Goodwill! I have worn this tiny little tank more times than I can count. The jacket is a thick utility men’s button up that I cropped into a jacket

Look at this amazing jumpsuit!!! This is of my all time favorite Goodwill finds.

I’ve been looking for linen pants forever, and I finally found some in the matching sets area of Goodwill! I think they were made for comfy grandmas, but I’m rocking them instead

Some other physical stores I have shopped at include Plato's Closet, Salvation Army, local secondhand stores, and Vintage Vogue! Vintage Vogue is Goodwill's vintage store that I've found many a gorgeous purse from. My favorite find is a white Salvatore Ferragamo handbag I'm now obsessed with.

Pic one of my favorite purse find! The jacket is from goodwill

Pic two of the white Salvatore Ferragamo bag! The top is one of my dad’s that I cropped

When in person secondhand shopping just isn't enough, I turn to online companies like Thredup, Poshmark, Depop, Curtsy, and Ebay. My all time favorite of these is ThredUp! They've got a beautifully designed app and website, good return policy, they take photos of all clothing, and they list the measurements of garments. I've gotten great pieces from Thredup that come from Nordstrom, Urban Outfitters, Ann Taylor, and more. I love them so much that I’ve recommended them to almost everyone I know. It’s not sponsored, I just think they’re a high quality company with a mission of sustainability. If you’re a new customer, you can even use my referral code to shop! You’ll get $10 Thredup credit, and so will I. I didn’t realize there was a referral code until after i recommended everyone I knew to use it. Now I gotta make it up, and reap the referral rewards.

Check out this fluffly white Nordstrom coat from ThredUp!

This summer dress and shoes are from ThredUp

Embroidred tshirt and platform espadrilles are from ThredUp

Blue work dress makes me feel like a boss and it’s from ThredUp

Love a good leather jacket and mine is from ThredUp

However, when I am looking for something specific, I turn towards Poshmark, Depop, and Ebay. They often have specific colors, brands, and styles of pieces. I recently was looking for a pair of White Naturalizer flats that support the messed up arch of my feet, and I found them on Ebay!

Found this brand new suit secondhand on ThredUp!

I can't believe it's been a year since I started! I've been almost perfect on my secondhand shopping promise, but I did slip up last July when I bought a couple things from Forever 21 and TJ Maxx out of desperation. I feel pretty guilty about it, but I haven't broken my promise since! My initial promise started off as only secondhand clothes, but I’m learning how to make it work for shoes, jewelry, and even bathing suits (you can find brand new secondhand ones). Shopping secondhand can be quite a transition, so don't worry if you takes some time! As long as you're making an effort, the Earth appreciates it.

I encourage you to join me on my secondhand shopping mission, and please ask me any questions about it! You too can be a secondhand fashion queen! It saves our world and your dolla dolla bills! Our generation is in charge of the future, and together we can make it better.

Coming up next is a dedicated post on how I secondhand shop! Stay tuned as I take you on a Goodwill shopping trip and how I peruse my favorite online secondhand stores. If you want to see more secondhand outfits of mine, keep on perusing below!