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Thrift 90% of your wardrobe
Thrift / eco-friendly

How I Thrift 90% of My Family’s Wardrobe

That moment when you realize you haven’t purchased anything new in forever, and all of your favorite clothes are thrifted, you can’t keep that good info to yourself. Keep reading to see how I created a 90% thrifted wardrobe for my family.

Thrift 90% of your wardrobe

That’s right. My closet is a full of clothes that I popped thrift store tags off of. Or, begrudgingly removed two time stapled tags from, just hoping it wouldn’t rip the fabric. Ya know, however they chose to attach it! While it’s super cool to thrift, before we get to the how, let’s chat about the why. I make it a point to shop for the majority of my clothes and my son’s clothes at the thrift store for many beneficial reasons.

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How to thrift 90% of your wardrobe

Why I Want a Thrifted Wardrobe

  • Cost – it is so much cheaper to buy second hand clothes than to buy new clothes
  • Variety – a thrift store will have many more brands, styles, clothes from different decades – vintage and retro, all in one place. At the end of summer, you can find some summer clothes as well as pieces for fall and winter. I used to hate those moments of going to a retail store and asking if they have anything from the current season left, only to find them pushing out only things for the upcoming season. Thrift stores provide much more variety.
  • Kids outgrow clothes quickly – from 0 to 1 year old, I changed my child’s wardrobe 4 times. Each season, and every 3 months, my child was in a different size. Some kids grow faster, some grow slower, but it always happens quickly. Thrifting for those clothes was fun, easy, and cost effective for me, so a completely thrifted wardrobe is a no-brainer for me.
  • Easier to donate – when I buy second hand clothes, it is easier for me to donate them to a thrift store or give them to someone who needs them because the same was done for me. I think it’s a little harder when the clothes are expensive.
  • Sustainable – last, but definitely not least, it is more sustainable to reuse what already exists! By thrifting for the majority of my wardrobe, I make the conscious choice to not buy new unless absolutely necessary.

Why not thrift ALL of our wardrobe?

It would be amazing if I thrift absolutely everything and avoid new fashion products. However, I do enjoy ethically and sustainably made clothes. I also can’t buy second hand underwear because that is not sanitary, though I find and buy sports bras. It is difficult for me to find shoes for myself, but I am able to find them sometimes.

Ok, now to back to how I thrift the majority of our wardrobe…


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How I Thrift 90% of My Family’s Wardrobe

1) Thrift EARLY

I start thrifting a season ahead of time. For fall and winter clothes for Little Boo, I head to the thrift store in July. When you start your search early, it eliminates the need for a last minute scramble to find the perfect clothes that will work for the fast approaching new season. Those types of scrambles can lead you in a fast fashion store to make it “easier,” but ultimately making your fashion choices less sustainable and more expensive.

2) Thrift SALES

This is one of my “thrift like a pro” thrifting tips. Get to know your local stores – follow them on social media, sign up for their email or text message lists. By being in contact and seeing the communication they send out, you’ll be privy of the sales that they have. Or, if your local stores are smaller – get to know the folks who work there, and then ask them about any sales that they have.

3) Thrift OFTEN

When you thrift for the next season’s clothes early and ahead of time, you have time to more purposefully build that wardrobe. That means you don’t have to go all out and buy everything you see in one trip (unless that’s what you want to do). Thrifting often gives you even more variety to choose from because new clothes will be on the racks when you go back to the thrift store.

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Hello from the garden today. Lots of visitors probably due to the heavy rains.
Hello from the garden today. Lots of visitors probably due to the heavy rains.
Hello from the garden today. Lots of visitors probably due to the heavy rains.
Hello from the garden today. Lots of visitors probably due to the heavy rains.
Hello from the garden today. Lots of visitors probably due to the heavy rains.
oldworldnew
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Hello from the garden today. Lots of visitors probably due to the heavy rains.
2 weeks ago
View on Instagram |
1/5
Happy Earth Day 🌍🫶🏾🌱

I used to think “let me just get 5k followers.. 10k followers… one day I’ll have 20k followers…” to help people live more sustainably with the blog posts and social media posts I created. 10+ years of that led to burnout. And it never felt the same as when my friends and family started to live a little more sustainably because of something they learned from me. 

I hope you’ll be the inspiration for someone in your life to be a little bit more sustainable today. It’s such a good feeling to see the people closest to you thrift more, consume less, and think differently — more sustainably — about how we treat our world. 

Don’t push it, just live it. 

Happy Earth Day 🌍🫶🏾🌱
oldworldnew
oldworldnew
•
Follow
Happy Earth Day 🌍🫶🏾🌱 I used to think “let me just get 5k followers.. 10k followers… one day I’ll have 20k followers…” to help people live more sustainably with the blog posts and social media posts I created. 10+ years of that led to burnout. And it never felt the same as when my friends and family started to live a little more sustainably because of something they learned from me. I hope you’ll be the inspiration for someone in your life to be a little bit more sustainable today. It’s such a good feeling to see the people closest to you thrift more, consume less, and think differently — more sustainably — about how we treat our world. Don’t push it, just live it. Happy Earth Day 🌍🫶🏾🌱
4 weeks ago
View on Instagram |
2/5
🥶❌🌱 Not my plant babies! 

It’s been cold in Texas the past few days, so I acted accordingly to protect my little backyard garden that’s barely underway. 

Using thrifted sheets (once back drops in my “thrift fashionista style content” days lol) and thrifted clothes pins (I knew they would come in handy! 😆🙌🏾), as well as some old jugs, bottles, containers, and twigs. Hopefully they help keep the plants from getting too cold to survive.
oldworldnew
oldworldnew
•
Follow
🥶❌🌱 Not my plant babies! It’s been cold in Texas the past few days, so I acted accordingly to protect my little backyard garden that’s barely underway. Using thrifted sheets (once back drops in my “thrift fashionista style content” days lol) and thrifted clothes pins (I knew they would come in handy! 😆🙌🏾), as well as some old jugs, bottles, containers, and twigs. Hopefully they help keep the plants from getting too cold to survive.
1 month ago
View on Instagram |
3/5
Finally got a migrating bird LIGHTS OUT sign 🤩

Turn off your lights (outdoor & indoor) to limit light pollution and to protect migrating birds 🫶🏾🕊️

TURN ‘EM OFF! (in my Teddy Pendergrass voice 😂)

#lightsouttexas #lightsout #lightpollution #migratorybirds
oldworldnew
oldworldnew
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Follow
Finally got a migrating bird LIGHTS OUT sign 🤩 Turn off your lights (outdoor & indoor) to limit light pollution and to protect migrating birds 🫶🏾🕊️ TURN ‘EM OFF! (in my Teddy Pendergrass voice 😂) #lightsouttexas #lightsout #lightpollution #migratorybirds
2 months ago
View on Instagram |
4/5
Do you reuse gift wrap?

Here are some things that I’ve thrifted to reuse as gift wrap each holiday season:

⭐️ tablecloths
⭐️ napkins & handkerchiefs (matching napkins sewn together can be used for larger gifts)
⭐️ Scarves (like from @wrappr)
⭐️ Cloth bags (like the ones your sheet sets come in)
⭐️ Pillowcases
⭐️ Curtains (can be used as gift wrap or to cover larger gifts like bikes or toy kitchens)

As long as you can fold the fabric into a square before wrapping the gift, it works well when using the furoshiki style wrapping technique. 

Comment WRAP for a few tips and tricks to wrap gifts in cloth fabric.
oldworldnew
oldworldnew
•
Follow
Do you reuse gift wrap? Here are some things that I’ve thrifted to reuse as gift wrap each holiday season: ⭐️ tablecloths ⭐️ napkins & handkerchiefs (matching napkins sewn together can be used for larger gifts) ⭐️ Scarves (like from @wrappr) ⭐️ Cloth bags (like the ones your sheet sets come in) ⭐️ Pillowcases ⭐️ Curtains (can be used as gift wrap or to cover larger gifts like bikes or toy kitchens) As long as you can fold the fabric into a square before wrapping the gift, it works well when using the furoshiki style wrapping technique. Comment WRAP for a few tips and tricks to wrap gifts in cloth fabric.
5 months ago
View on Instagram |
5/5
@oldworldnew

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