A Thrifty Teenage Dirtbag

My So-Called Thrift Life

Thrift stores are my life. Yes, literally. Before you roll your eyes, I don’t mean that as a girl who is obsessed with the vintage-shopping aesthetic. I actually grew up with parents who ran their own thrift store since 1997.

To be real, I don’t remember caring so much about second-hand clothing, let alone my parents shop. I was a teenager who loved the latest trends from Mandees, Wet Seal, Contempo Casuals and Claire's. (Side note: I bought denim patch jeans from Contempo Causals because Christina Aguilera wore similar jeans in one of her music videos. Did I ever wear it in public? Nope. Did I wear them in my room and reenact the music video? Yup.

Contempo Casuals

2000 Jeans Pop inspired
I think like most kids, you tend to be really disinterested in what your parents do for a living. School work, MTV, and the complicated love life of my friends took up 99% of my attention. It was only up until the millennium hit, I started to get bored with the trends. It seemed like fashion was heading towards a “Y2K” direction, while I was just beginning to discover the different eras in fashion, like the 50’s -80s. All I wanted to wear were those stockings with the seam down the back of the leg and vintage costume jewelry. Jamie and I were teen girls with metro cards and no cellphones. We aimlessly walked around the city and would accidentally stumble across vintage gems. It was such thrill, like discovering new uncharted territory, but expensive territory.

Vintage Costume jewelry
It was only then that, I started to visit my parents shop a bit more frequently. My parents were really cool with me taking whatever I wanted, so I made sure I set aside cool pieces for my bestie and I. Since we were never invited to 50’s themed parties, we decided to throw one every Saturday night. We’d pick our favorite pin-up dress and emulate the pin-up models plastered on my wall. ( I wasn't going to share but honestly I dont think anyone will read this blog lol)


Sometimes I kick myself for being so blind to having free access to the vintage goldmine that was my parents shop. Could you imagine what my closet would've looked like if I saved every vintage piece my parents sold in the late 90s? Damn, my Depop shop would be lit af.

Back to blog

Leave a comment