Perhaps the college poorhouse paralyzes your wallet, then disengages your ability to keep up with a trend of the month - or at least buy that snazzy pair of New Balances. Weep no more - a cheap and unique alternative to the mall exists in thrift shopping.
“The things that are really unique, unusual and special - that’s the allure for vintage clothing in general,” said Jason Lantrip, a pro-thrifter and owner of Scavenger Hunt, 321 E. Grand River Ave., who said everything he owns is used - besides his socks and knickers.
From garage sales and attics to vintage wholesalers, Lantrip hits up a diverse base to keep stocked. With a tip or two from pros like him and advice from the thrift-loving, your own closet can be stocked with quality old stuff too.
Thrift in the raw
To utilize ultra-cheap and charitable prices of Salvation Army, Goodwill and Volunteers of America-type thrift stores, gear up for an archeological dig of sorts.
A hardy rummage through neon leg warmers and polyester nighties may turn up a used and rare thrift gem, but such an endeavor takes patience.
“Look at everything, you never know when you can find something cool,” business junior Rudy Delgado advised. “You can find something buried in between other things where you’d never look.”
Having a thrift goal may be beneficial as well.
For Delgado, Izod cardigans hold a special spot in his heart, one reminiscent of a Kurt Cobain grunge era gone by.
“We’d go to Goodwill all the time for Izod stuff,” Delgado said of his high school days in Flushing, Mich., while eyeing the Izod section at Scavenger Hunt on Monday. “I like the cardigans from way back when.”
Today he looks for the unusual.
“I go for really dumb stuff, like a ‘Funkadelic’ T-shirt, or anything funny and old you couldn’t get from a regular store,” Delgado said.
Sarah Cline, an employee at Volunteers of America, 5411 S. Cedar Street in Lansing, estimated a majority of its clientele are college students.
She said she has found good steals from Volunteers of America’s shelves, such as a pair of Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars she bought for 90 cents that she later saw on eBay for $20.
“You usually get a pretty good deal here,” she said.
Pre-sorted for your approval
If a relentless scour for a hidden thrift prize at Goodwill doesn’t entice, local businesses Chicken Heads, 543 E. Grand River Ave., and Scavenger Hunt will do the search for you.
The archeological dig of raw thrifting thus becomes a browse at a vintage museum - with the displays on sale. The store’s goods are marked up more than donor-based thrift stores, but many prefer dishing dollars to picking through the racks.
“We have a wider selection of vintage than you’d find at a garage sale or Goodwill type,” said Stanley Blanchard, Chicken Heads Co-owner. “You get better prices there, but here we do all the searching for you.”
Scavenger Hunt’s Lantrip is also a middle-man thrifter who sifts the funky from the junky, then presents the results tidily on his stores racks and shelves for the picking.
Lantrip said Goodwill and Salvation Army-type stores are OK as a source, but he primarily uses garage sales, estate sales, vintage wholesalers and buys much of his stuff “through the door.”
“It’s a hustle,” he said. “Any way we can find good clothes to keep the shelves stocked.”
Lantrip said most items at Scavenger Hunt are cheaper than $30; Blanchard said Chicken Heads prices usually ride below $15.
Pilfering from parents, ganking granny’s goods
The nice thing about fashion rebirth, be it a bell-bottom redux or ’80s Puma explosion, is that recent generations have done it all before. Remnants may emerge from parents’ closets, maybe even a grandma’s attic. Best of all, relatives’ hand-me-downs are usually free of charge.
Communication junior Nina DiNatale’s favorite jacket is a velour number she scored from her dad’s closet.
“It’s an official 1984 Olympic warm-up suit, and the jacket is my favorite,” she said. “I just found it in my dad’s closet and asked him if I could have it.
“I’ll wear it to parties and people will be chanting, ‘USA, USA!’ It’s just kind of fun, and it’s cool.”
For the willing, the poor and the poor at heart dig through thrift store racks, or parents’ closets, may uncover desired cheap-but-cool threads - be it a quality pair of old-school kicks or a Western classic recently thrust to fashion rebirth.
“One of my favorite shirts is a Radio Shack TRS-80 computer camp with a big TRS-80 computer picture on the front,” Lantrip said. “It may not be worth much, but I don’t think I’ll ever see one again.”
Lantrip said that is the real draw.
“If you find something good,” Lantrip says, “odds are you’ll never see anyone else wearing it.”
