November 27, 2021

By Olivia Mizelle

Data Visualization by Olivia Gyapong

As more clothes are thrown away each year, mainstream fashion is leading to high waste accumulation and polluting water sources. A more sustainable alternative, second-hand shopping, has skyrocketed in popularity among those looking for guilt-free ways to shop.

Columbia has no shortage of secondhand stores available for conscious shoppers, including Maude Vintage, The Wardrobe and Leo’s Old Clothes — but thrifting is not entirely faultless. Low prices combined with the culture-driven need for new clothes can encourage overconsumption and over-donation. Large volumes of poor quality fast fashion items donated to thrift stores often have no resale value.

Not all of the clothing donated to charitable thrift stores ends up on the shelves. Evette Nissen, board chair of The Wardrobe, said her store tries to put out as much of their clothing as possible.

“The only stuff that doesn’t end up being sold is stuff that is stained or torn,” Nissen said. “At least 75% [of donated clothing] ends up on the floor.”

The Wardrobe gives their unsellable clothing to Remains, Inc., a St. Louis-based company that sends the clothing overseas to clothing recycling centers. According to the Council for Textile Recycling, most clothing recycling centers reuse 45% of the clothing provided to them, recycle 30% into absorbents and 20% into fiber. This leaves only 5% as waste.

A form of second-hand shopping that is often more expensive than traditional thrifting is vintage shopping. Vintage stores purchase their items from community members or vendors, meaning that all of the items will likely end up on the floor to be sold. Of course, some items will still not sell. Sabrina Garcia-Rubio, owner of Maude Vintage, donates her unsold items to charitable thrift stores.

“When you have things that have been marked down and are one-to-two years old, they end up just taking up space and possibly negating other pieces getting to shine,” Garcia-Rubio said. 

That is when she donates to smaller thrift stores, like The Wardrobe, that sell a higher volume of their clothing, rather than send them to large chains like Goodwill. 

Both Nissen and Garcia-Rubio said their customer demographics cover a wide range of ages and income levels. Garcia-Rubio said that, while her largest demographic is around 20 to 30 years old, she also has multiple families that come in.

“I had so many families this year that I recognize that come in yearly, and I just appreciate it,” Garcia-Rubio said. They know they’re supporting a local business, their kids love the unique pieces … I just think that that’s super cool.” 

42% of people in Generation Z said they purchased clothing secondhand in 2020, according to the thredUP 2021 resale report. Even though more young people are shopping secondhand, Garcia-Rubio said there is still a stigma surrounding it. 

“There’s a lot of ideas that secondhand clothes are gross or unsanitary,” Garcia-Rubio said. “Coming into a well-curated vintage shop shifts some of these perspectives about what quality is and what value means, and that’s what I’m trying to do here.”

Both Garcia-Rubio and Nissen’s motivations for being in the secondhand clothing industry lie in sustainability. Nissen said that she thinks there is too much waste in today’s society. Garcia-Rubio feels strongly about sustainability in fashion.

“Sustainability should be implemented in everything we do … but here in my slice of the pie, I do my part through secondhand clothing,” Garcia-Rubio said. “A vintage piece is usually such a quality-made garment that it’s not going to get thrown in the trash or be ready for the trash bin any time soon.”

Edited by Emmet Jamieson, ejamieson@themaneater.com