Celebrating the Many Lives of our Wardrobe

Growing up with two brothers, I never had the opportunity to steal clothes from a sister's closet. As I began making my own choices about style, I learned to celebrate the many lives of borrowed clothes. Jessi Arrington's TED Talk, How Can Thrifting Clothes Help the Environment- And Your Style, promotes a similar message. Coming to the TED conference with only 7 pairs of underwear, Arrington was confident that she could borrow, thrift, and trade her way through a week of stylish outfits. And she did just that. When asked about fast fashion in a TED Radio Hour interview, Arrington said, “We’re trained to do [consume fast fashion]. It’s almost been told to us that it's our patriotic duty to… “go shop!”. However, I think we need to rethink not only consumerism, but economies in general, and how we can base them less on consumption, consumption, consumption at all costs, without being thoughtful.”

Thrifting clothes can be a thoughtful, personal experience. Searching through the racks, it's a pretty spectacular feeling when you find something that’s just your style and size — not to mention it's a deal. Buying used clothes can be an intimate experience. You consider whose piece this was prior, where they wore it — sometimes even wonder what decade it’s from. My favorite thrifting finds include a vintage Missoni dress and a hand-stitched tagless shirt with groovy vibes. Even when I don't find anything, I love summer afternoons spent thrifting with friends.

I love thrifting, but I admit that my closet is still littered with fast fashion. It is easy to feel pressure to find something new, cute, and fast for the event tomorrow or the date next week. But, instead of running to a store with questionable environmental and labor standards, try calling a friend to borrow that dress you love. If your sizes don’t quite match up, maybe try asking a friend’s friend for a look in their closet. I was hesitant to do this at first, but this process ended up being fun, costing nothing, and initiated a borrowing and trading partnership. Last week, I traded clothes with my best friend whose red and black dress I’d been eyeing. We traced its lineage to a Buffalo Exchange that COVID-19 sadly shut down, she bought the dress second hand, and after loving it and living in it, she passed the dress down to me. I wonder if this is its third or fourth life, and how many people it's known. I’m sure if the dress could talk, it would tell us stories of its many lives.

Changing our fashion narrative from one of consumption to one of community through thrifting, borrowing, and trading seems exactly what TED speaker Jessie Arrington wants. Even though I have yet to live in Claremont, I’ve definitely noticed my fellow students’ stylish Instagram pictures. I am excited to see what kind of borrowing, trading, and thrifting community we can create on campus next year. Thrifting isn't just for the edgy or retro outfit; it's a sustainably-minded way to build your closet. Even weddings, one of the most formal dressing occasions, traditionally calls for something borrowed. Maybe, your next outfit will be borrowed from someone you’ll meet in your next life whose clothes you purchase at a thrift store.