Thrifty, Please!

Urban Renewals, a color coordinated place of wonder | Photo by Patricia Bruce

I love to shop. If I could, I would shop all day every day and constantly have an ever expanding wardrobe. However, I am a college student. On top of that, I am a college student in Boston. I can’t shop as much as I want, unfortunately. But alas! Luckily, one of the many benefits of living in Boston is the ever expanding thrift market – constantly “new,” constantly changing.

Sure, there are some people that don’t want to wear “used” clothing. What these people don’t realize is that there are multiple benefits to it.

“It’s better for the environment,” Anna Guzikowski (CAS ’13)  said. “You’re not spending money and supporting companies that continue to create new things, it’s cheap, too.”

Cheap is right. I live in five and three dollar sweaters and cardigans, let me tell you. Thrift stores fulfill my need to shop in a whole new way – I’m able to find ten things for under 35 dollars – something I could never do at Urban Outfitters or American Apparel.

So where are all these wonderful, environmentally friendly, money saving, thrift stores? Well, of course I have not yet been able to make it to ALL of the thrift stores around the Greater Boston area, but I’ve managed a list of places I’ve come to experience and just enough about them to get you hooked on thrifting.

URBAN RENEWALS

On 122 Brighton Ave. lives a beautiful, fantastic place that I did not even know existed for over a year. Urban Renewals is definitely one of my all-time favorite thrift stores – it’s where I find my three dollar cardigans, my five dollar button downs, and two dollar belts. It does take some patience, because this place is absolutely MASSIVE.  Luckily, everything is color-coordinated, which makes sorting through some of the not so great things not half as bad.
Pros: Super cheap, color coordinated, massive
Cons: Again, MASSIVE,  takes a bit more patience to find pieces you’re interested in, every now and then you’ll experience an encounter with a creeper

Goodwill in all its glory | Photo by Patricia Bruce

GOODWILL

I’m sure that we’ve all made fun of it when we were kids, but when it comes down to it, Goodwill is amazing. I wouldn’t be able to live without the men’s sweater section, especially in the winter. Goodwill’s items are generally about the same price as Urban Renewals, give or take a few extra dollars. It’s full of magic and wonder just waiting to be found. It’s not as massive a place as Urban Renewals, but still pretty big. Remember, with patience comes awesome, ridiculously cheap clothes! Goodwill can be found at 965 Commonwealth Ave (Right next to Paradise!)

Pros: Super cheap, color-coordinated, pretty big
Cons: Takes some patience, sometimes the shelves are overstocked and a bit difficult to sort through, creepers

BUFFALO EXCHANGE

Though it does sell some new items, Buffalo Exchange is still a great place to thrift. A bit pricier, (~$15) Buffalo Exchange is a place where you can sell those items that just don’t make you happy anymore, but you can’t justify just giving away. What’s awesome is that once you do that, you gain store credit and can “exchange” for other things you find that might strike your fancy. It’s easier to find items that you’ll like, as the items are “higher quality” than the majority of things you’ll find at Urban Renewals or Goodwill. Buffalo Exchange lives on 180 Harvard Ave.
Pros: Fancy, easy to find things, sell/exchange, cheaper than new
Cons: Pricier

RESCUE

Rescue is currently closed, but it will be opening again in March bigger and better than ever. Soon, at 297 Newbury Street, Rescue will exist once again. Like Buffalo Exchange, Rescue tends to be a bit pricier, as you are able to sell or exchange your clothes in store, as well. I have personally found one of my favorite dresses at Rescue, something I know I wouldn’t have stumbled across in any regular retail store. There are some pretty cheap items, as I’ve seen shirts for just about six dollars. If you ask me, that’s a lot better than thirty at Urban Outfitters, and environmentally friendly!

Pros: Some nice, cheap items, easy to find things that tickle your fancy, sell/exchange, low chance of creeper encounter
Cons: Smallish, pricier items

A few items I've thrifted recently | Photo by Patricia Bruce

THE GARMENT DISTRICT

“The Garment District is good times,” says Guzikowski.

Far away in Cambridge-land on 200 Broadway Ave, is a quaint little place known as the Garment District. I’m sorry, but you just can’t get better than a dollar for a pound of clothing. That’s right, a dollar a pound. The Garment District has a pile of clothing that customers are free to rummage through and collect in a plastic bag, which is paid for by weight. Sure, it’s near impossible to find something that actually appeals to you – but when it happens, it’s amazing. Additionally, the Garment District has an entire upstairs area devoted to “contemporary” second hand items as well as new items. These are a bit pricier too, but the majority of these items are excellent finds. You can sell your old clothes and shoes here, too!

Pros: Dollar a pound, nice items, generally friendly staff, moderately large
Cons: Can’t usually find too much in the dollar a pound pile, nice items a bit pricey, far, far away

SECOND TIME AROUND

With three locations on Newbury Street (164, 219, and 324) and one in Harvard Square, Second Time Around gets around. This is the place to go when you’re looking for normal-priced clothes that just happen to be used, generally. Though Second Time Around typically has “fancier” and more “upscale” items, the majority of them are just overpriced. I love going there, however, and every now and then I will find something moderately priced that I wouldn’t be able to find elsewhere. But sadly, the only real benefit with STA is that the items are thrifted, and not new.

Pros: Thrift store
Cons: Expensive

Aside from these few thrift stores, there are countless others around Boston that are just waiting to be found and shopped out. I myself plan to soon devote an entire weekend to discovering new places to thrift, as well as scope out all of the ones I have already mentioned. Maybe you don’t like the idea of wearing clothes that have been worn before, but that’s what washing machines are for! Go out, and for the benefit of your wallet and the rest of the world, thrift!

About Patricia Bruce

Patricia Bruce is a junior in COM/CAS majoring in philosophy & photojournalism. She enjoys things with ph's, and is the photo as well as fashion editor for the Quad. The end.

View all posts by Patricia Bruce →

One Comment on “Thrifty, Please!”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *