A woman turns up her nose. Another sifts through clothing at a thrift store.
If you're like me, you like to do a deep clean of your closet at least every five years. I pull it all out—the crazy hemlines and boho-chic tops—and even though I know they'll be back in style someday, I'm ready to start anew. I pile these clothes into garbage bags, thanking each item like I'm in an episode of a Marie Kondo docuseries and confidently walk into the nearest thrift store.
As instructed, I set all the clothes on the counter with confidence that they will be impressed by my impeccable style. This is almost never the case. In thinking about these experiences, I took to Threads to share one of my stories.
A screenshot of a joking comment I wrote on Threads. Photo Credit: Cecily Knobler, Threads
I wrote: "In 1999, I tried to sell a bunch of my clothes to the Buffalo Exchange thrift store. A lady picked through each piece and said 'Get back to us when you have a Marc Jacobs or a Dior.' I yelled 'Your store smells like an alley cat' very loudly and threw the clothes on the floor. There was no TikTok back then, so I'm telling you now."
Shockingly, this got nearly 4000 likes in just a few days and over 100 comments. People seemed to feel seen and I suddenly felt way less alone knowing so many resonated with my experience.
Some just shared that they had similar moments, writing, "Perfect! I've never felt more judged than when trying to sell clothing at a Buffalo Exchange." Another acknowledges, "Like any of us could afford Marc Jacobs or Dior in the 90s." This person astutely adds, "And if you had Dior or Marc Jacobs, they'd have offered you $4 for it. $5 in store credit."
Some in the comments were hilarious too, extra-restoring my faith in the idea that sometimes making light of not-so-pleasant shared experience can really help anxiety and shame. "Years ago, my daughter was going from 'little princess' to 'grouchy grunge teen' and wanted to turn in her Justice outfits. A LOT of sparkles and pastels. They were all lightly worn items. They looked at her and legit pushed the clothes back and said 'can't use them.' Meanwhile, they had 12 different USED Sublime t-shirts!"
Thrift store scene from Portlandia. www.youtube.com, Noah, IFC
And some truly made me laugh. "ALLEY CAT OLFACTORY REALNESS!" one writes in all-caps.
Comedic actress Julie Brown even got in on the fun! "That place has its head up its Buffalo's a%%."
Another shares, "Around 1985, I was selling stuff there in Tucson and another clerk walked by and glanced at my stuff being looked at and loudly said 'What is THAT, faux Gap???'"
But before we're too hard on the employees (they're just doing their jobs), they commented too in defense of company policy. One writes, "I worked at Buffalo Exchange in the 80s. We would get a lecture every shift about what we could and could not buy, based on what was currently overstocked, what season it was, etc. And get in trouble if we didn't follow the guidelines. It was tough (for me) having to say no to nice items. But also, some people brought in disgustingly dirty things. What a job. And yet, I still sell clothes there sometimes, ha."
Another tried to work there. "I applied for a job there in the early 90s. In 3 separate interviews, I had to name designers, identify fabrics, tell them about my favorite person. It was freaking bizarre. I did not make it through to the 4th interview."
And quite a few pointed out the issues that many plus-sized people are faced with: "It's even worse for plus size clothing sellers. I'm a very stylish and fashionable person and I went to a local place to sell. I had a ton of perfect condition, plus-size brand name clothes, and she didn't want anything because it was too alt/punk rock for them. Mind you, there was a ton of stuff on the racks that was uglier than my stuff, and they turned down my mint condition vintage purses too."
This aside, it's imperative to remember that thrifting is important for conservation and an excellent way to help environmental issues.
Thrift store. Giphy Dance Thrift GIF by pierogiqueen
On the Goodwill website (which incidentally can be a wonderful place to donate clothes and household items) they list the three reasons thrifting helps the environment: "Less resource consumption. Fewer things are thrown away. Less chemical pollution." They share, "Thrifting or shopping secondhand is a great way to reduce your environmental footprint while finding some really cool and unique items that you wouldn’t be able to get elsewhere. Buying items brand new might not seem like it has a very big impact on the environment, but every small action counts. By shopping for things second hand, you are voting with your dollar as a consumer to not support the industries that cause pollution and tons of waste."
So don't give up on second-hand shopping. But also, especially as we approach the holidays, try not to make a big scene (oops) in front of the salespeople, no matter how judged you might feel.