Over Spring break, some of the online Statesman staff members (Caroline, Cathleen, Riley, Slater and I) went to Savers to go thrift shopping. The overall goal of the experience was to find some outfits we would wear in our daily life and have an entertaining time doing so.

As a new thrifter, I was surprised by my experience. The variety of clothing and the good deals one can find while simultaneously helping recycle previously used clothes made me rethink my traditional way of shopping for clothing.

While on my thrifting journey, I found many interesting pieces of clothing, such as shirts and pants I couldn’t imagine wearing in my daily life and others that I was surprised I would find in a thrift store. Looking around for interesting pieces of clothing for Caroline and me to wear was a fun trip while hanging out with friends, but the one downside to doing so was how time-consuming finding the right items was. In a normal department store or while shopping online, picking out clothes to purchase is easy and time efficient because you generally have an idea of what you are looking for before shopping. However, I feel as though the time spent searching in thrift stores adds to the “magic” of thrift shopping. Spending long periods of time sifting through clothes to revive rejects was a soothing process, and when you find an outfit for a price that is much less than normal retail price, it is even more satisfactory.

I ended up purchasing two quarter-zip jackets -one tan and the other navy blue- priced at $8.99 (tan) and $4.49 (navy blue). These two articles of clothing are ones that I can see myself wearing as winter comes to an end and spring begins because of the windy, semi-cold, but slowly rising temperatures. I feel as though the two items I purchased were well worth my money and I will be able to put them to good use.

The shopping experience was exciting; however, the best part of going thrift shopping was going with friends. Some of my favorite moments of the trip to Savers stemmed from inside jokes of the Statesman staff or comments that Slater and Caroline made while looking for clothes.

I would definitely go back to thrift stores around the city to find some everyday clothes and some pieces of clothing I could wear to sporting events or school dress-up days. I was surprised to find what I did and am excited to see what else I will encounter on my next trip thrifting.

Prior to the Statesfam’s thrift shopping extravaganza, I had only gone thrifting a few other times; however, the shopping day proved to be successful and thrifting is definitely an activity I want to partake in again.

At the beginning of our shopping journey, I had many doubts as to whether or not I would be able to find anything I actually enjoyed and wanted to wear, but after a couple of well-spent hours at Savers, I was able to find a few items I definitely think will become practical additions to my wardrobe.

With the help of my many fashion consultants, primarily Cathleen and Riley (sorry Landon and Slater), I was able to not only look for pieces of clothing that would be practical to wear now, but pieces of clothing that would be fashionable to wear in the future, if I were to tweak them a bit.

One of the best aspects of thrifting is how it allows shoppers to be creative with their purchases. When one thrifts, they constantly have to be thinking about ways they could change a piece of clothing slightly to meet a preferred style. For instance, a common phrase we said while shopping was, “You could just crop it!” Currently, high waisted pants are pretty popular among females, so as a result, cropped shirts, sweaters, jackets and sweatshirts have also become popular. The convenience of cropping clothing items yourself is that you get to decide exactly how short or long you want to make them, instead of relying on companies and stores to make that decision for you.

Another thrifting hack I discovered was to shop in the men’s section in addition to the women’s section. I know it sounds a little unlikely, but two of the items I ended up purchasing were from the men’s section. In my opinion, the men’s items are easier to adjust to meet your needs and tend to be in colors and designs preferable for a lot of current shoppers.

The first item I found while shopping was a pair of sneakers I saw by chance, or, as some would say, fate. I was walking through the men’s shoe section with Cathleen and Riley, looking for some shoes to bring Landon to try on when I spotted a pair of adidas Superstar sneakers. I picked up the shoes to check their size, when I realized that, yes, they might be in the men’s section, but they happened to be the equivalent to my size in a women’s shoe. What was previously a $70 sneaker, I had managed to come across for just $14.99. I was pretty ecstatic.

The second item I decided to purchase was very simple, but a solid find nonetheless. Cathleen found a plain black turtleneck from the women’s rack. I was happy she came across it because I had been wanting to purchase either a plain black or white turtleneck, so that I could pair it with pieces of clothing I already owned. The turtleneck only cost $4.99, which I thought was a pretty good deal.

The third and final item I decided to purchase was a sweater. This was the second piece I found in the men’s section. When Riley first held the sweater up, Landon thought it was for him. Landon tried the sweater on, but it fit him too tight through the shoulders, so he ended up tossing it over my stall for me to try on next. Surprisingly enough, I ended up liking the sweater and decided to purchase it for $7.99 because I tend to wear a lot of sweaters and long sleeves during the winter.

Another unexpected gift to the Statesfam occurred because we had been looking through items of clothing so carefully and for so long. A manager handing us some coupon cards for choosing to spend our afternoon at Savers. This gave us an additional 30 percent off of our total spendings.

In the end, I definitely recommend thrift shopping, especially for the typical broke high school student. I also suggest bringing a few friends as your own “fashion consultants” and trying clothes on before buying or discarding. Thrifters would be surprised at what looks good and what does not. Another benefit of thrifting is that it makes us more sustainable consumers, which in turn makes us more environmentally friendly and environmentally conscious. Although thrifting takes more time than traditional shopping, you definitely find super unique pieces for super low prices.