FOCUS ON BUSINESS - March 2005

Style on a shoestring
Students frequent thrift stores for affordable, creative fashion

By Matylda Czarnecka
Focus on Business Editor

Ginger Bradley visits thrift stores about once a month and spends about $10 – a tradition from sophomore year in high school when she first ventured into a thrift store with her mother.

Like classmates at Fort Lewis College, she roams Durango thrift shops for fun and profit.

"I buy what I wouldn’t buy in a regular store, and it’s worth it because it’s only a dollar," said the 20-year-old student. On the rare occasions that Bradley goes into a retail store, she buys only from sales racks. Clothes, she said, always seem more comfortable when they’ve already been worn.

She even prefers thrift stores for special occasions. "We threw an ugly-sweater Christmas party and Volunteers of America had a whole rack of sweaters that were great," she said. And most students donated the attire back to the local thrift stores after the party.

Garrett Dinnel, 22, frequently seeks such items as shirts with pearl snap buttons. "Thrift stores help me have my own style," he said.

In his middle-school and early high-school years, Dinnel recalled a weakness for "old man polyester pants." Thrift stores proved to be an abundant source, offering "hundreds in all different colors," he said.

An infrequent shopper, Dinnel appreciates the affordability of an occasional stop at a thrift shop. "They let me express myself cheaply," he said. One of his favorite finds was a glow-in-the-dark, long-sleeved shirt depicting a moon with a flashlight running the 10K. The damage: a mere 75 cents.

Thrift stores don’t always offer such deals, however. "Seven dollars and fifty cents for a pair of jeans is steep," said Kelly Mosinski, 21. She considers $3 to $4 items to be reasonable. The fact that others discard them "should make them cheap," she said. Even so, bimonthly visits cost her $10 at the cash register.

Erin Stroup, 21, sought her Halloween costume in a thrift store. She found everything needed to be Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, including a pair of red pumps. However, she admitted, seeking the perfect fit can take some tenacity. "A lot of people shop at thrift stores, so you have to really search for the good stuff."

Ashley Sullivan, 20, is a thrift store regular, averaging $10 every other weekend. "For the most part," she said, "I can buy jeans and a T-shirt for $10 that I can mix and match with stuff I already have." She frequents the Methodist Thrift Shop and the Volunteers of America Thrift Store. "And if I need something in a pinch," she noted, "I always go to Reruns."

Though each thrift store is unique, what they share is a benefit to the community. "People should support thrift stores because they support a better cause," Dinnel said. "They’re fun, creative and affordable," Sullivan added. "You can’t beat that."