In the hit 2012 single Thrift Shop by hip hop duo Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, Macklemore sings about the joys of saving money by shopping at local area thrift stores, second hand shops and Goodwill. And he makes a valid point. Shopping at Goodwill, and thrift stores such as Lillys Find’s Resale & Consignments and Katy Christian Ministries, and some of the best places one can find fashionable, lightly worn clothes for pennies on the dollar and a convenient way to give back to the community.

“I shop at Goodwill because I like the way their clothes look. It’s inexpensive and I can get really big comfy T-shirts,” said junior Brett Lee.

Goodwill industries was founded in 1905 by Reverend Edgar J Helms to provide work for people with disabilities or people without a formal education or work experience. Now, over one hundred years later, Goodwill continues its goal of employing those with disabilities in the community and providing a place for people to donate used items.

This donating aspect is one of the best things about thrift stores in general; considering that the items on the racks were at once owned by sensible people shows that the items being sold are of some kind of quality. Clothing items can range from old printed T-shirts from school functions or organizations to quality knitted sweaters or wind breakers, and even such hidden treasures as leather jackets and excellent shoes.

Although these big ticket items are usually racked in a different part of the store with a higher price, one may find some of these high fidelity garments among the cheaper stuff, but at the same price as the cheap stuff. All one has to do to find such items is to keep their eyes peeled.

Due to thrift stores providing cheaper clothes in abundance, it it very easy to go there to find clothes to customize, DIY style. This can range from taking the denim from jeans and fashioning them into a jacket, or even something as simple as cutting up a shirt. One may also be fortunate enough to find DIY products on the racks already, such as tie dyed shirts or custom screen printed tees.

“So, I own this really big pair of men’s jeans. I wear like a 25 in women’s and these are a 46 in men’s, so they’re huge on me. What I do is put on a really tight belt and I roll the legs up. I also have a lot of dad shirts that I either tie up or cut into crop tops and sometimes I wear them just really big,” said Lee.

Lee points out that more expensive stores such as Urban Outfitters in the past have tried to emulate urban fashion naturally found at thrift stores, but not exactly to a tee, and certainly not at the same price.

“I realized that you could just go to Goodwill to find clothes like that,” said Lee.
This just goes to show that being fashionable yet remaining frugal can go hand in hand, when shopping at Goodwill.