The nation has been swept by a trend that has grown phenomenally in the last year: worn-in clothes. It seems every major store you go into, the ëhip' and ëtrendy' clothes are those that look far from brand new: Old Navy jeans are faded with cut-off waistbands, Abercrombie T-shirts look as if they've been washed 50 times, and designer baseball caps look like someone was paid to break them in.
This craze for older-looking clothing has been around for years in New York. Smart shoppers know that some of the best clothing buys in the city can be found at thrift shops, Goodwill stores and the Salvation Army. Entire wardrobes are based around this premise, as people take pride in the fact that one dollar T-shirts and five dollar pants are available and looking better than the over-priced selections offered at major chains.
So what's the appeal? It could be the largely student-headed hatred of corporate fashion establishments. I, for one, sometimes feel like a corporate whore when I pay too much for jeans, sweaters, and the like. It's that horrible feeling that I'm helping no one but a very rich group of executives that propels me to Goodwill for essentially the same clothing, but used and cheap.
On the other hand, it has also become somewhat of a trend in itself to buy used clothing. Campus activists and hipsters, who stalwartly stand against capitalism and the consumer mentality, can be seen smoking Marlboro cigarettes and talking on Nokia cellphones, but wouldn't dare walk into a Gap store. They're spottable from one 116th Street gate to the other, proudly wearing T-shirts of soccer teams they never played for, and wearing jackets of mechanics they never met.
Regardless, New York is known for its thrift store deals. Be it a vintage 1960s furniture and record store or a charity organization that puts corduroys right next to used toys, you can't really be a New Yorker without owning something from a thrift store, for whatever reason you choose to shop there.
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