Denver recently hosted ThriftCon, a two-day all-thrifting event at the National Western Complex where vendors from all over the U.S. got to show off their unique shops of preloved clothes and various items to Coloradans.
Started in 2019 by co-founders Mars Conte, David Bywater and Ken Meade, the April 22-23 Denver ThriftCon event was filled corner to corner with boutiques. From vinyl records and old-school toy figurines to Mario Kart 64 competitions for discounts, Coloradans shopped and filled tote bags of clothes and items to take home.
Samantha and Raul, owners of The Valley and vendors at ThriftCon for four years, carefully picked out their clothing collection for the two-day exhibition. Traveling from New Mexico to various states with the convention, they were excited to see the turnout of thrift and vintage enthusiasts at their booths and the convention overall.
“We’re really happy that we actually came out here and people were really nice,” Samantha said.
Samantha attributes her love for shopping second-hand to seeing her favorite childhood artists and characters on T-shirts. The difference in quality is also an attractive feature, as many other vendors concurred vintage reigns over today’s cheaply made clothes.
“We have a shirt from the 80s and it’s in perfect condition,” Samantha said. “The old shirts we have are better made than the new ones that are coming out, like fast fashion. It’s very thin like paper. Older shirts are better quality and you know that they are gonna last you a long time.”
Hailing from Texas, Worn Twice vendors Cris, Alondra and Leslie were happy to see the younger generations were still into thrifting and the frugal practice is still the way to build a unique wardrobe.
“There’s mass producing, but with thrifting, it’s like a one-of-a-kind type of thing that you can’t find anywhere else—you might be able to but with thrifting, you’re not getting into fast fashion,” Alondra said.
Every year around Earth Day, the fashion industry becomes a topic of conversation due to its negative effects on the environment, specifically, the mass-produced trendy garments of fast fashion which makes up 10% of total global carbon emissions.
CU Boulder professor of theatre and environmental studies Beth Osnes works on projects with students revolving around sustainable fashion. She said our fashion choices impact our lives and vice versa.
“Clothing is so interesting because it’s our most intimate relationship we have with a thing, it’s a surface level of your body that’s been touched and protected and made beautiful or comfortable,” Osnes said. “It’s an important relationship we have with clothing, it’s one that we have so much power with. We can have such a good influence or unfortunately a negative one as well.”
With clothes being essential to everyday life, many think of ways to shop more sustainably and ethically to reduce the negative effects of the fashion industry on the environment. Although thrifting is one of the most sustainable ways to shop for clothes, “it doesn’t just disappear,” said Adam Minter, author of “Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale,” in a New York Times article.
“[Thrift stores] are just that last chain, that last ditch effort to give another life to a piece of clothing,” Osnes said.
With ever-changing trends, people are incentivized to set out and buy the latest items while they’re still hot. Once it cools down, off it goes to the thrift store.
“We’re buying so many more clothes than we ever have in the past and that’s what’s driving this, that’s why there’s so much waste,” Osnes said. “It’s the quality of what we’re buying and the quantity.”
With excessive consumption, thrift stores often become overwhelmed with donations, unable to distribute or sell their stock. Osnes explained that over time, when it comes to thrifting, the quality of clothing items is different and fabrics don’t hold up. They snag, pill, or rip. Overall, the lifespan of clothing has become significantly shorter. Today, over 60% of all clothing is made from synthetic fibers like polyester, nylon and acrylic made from plastic. When these garments end up in the landfill, they can release microplastics and are often non-biodegradable. Despite the substantial amounts of clothing donated to thrift stores, it’s better to donate than to throw it away.
“I think it’s important to know the ethical impact of your clothing on its entire life journey,” Osnes said. “People are buying and giving away so rapidly because of this kind of frenzy that fast fashion creates. It’s going to be harder to be able to discard things pretty soon because where are we putting all of this stuff? How are we dealing with it?”
The landscape of thrift stores has changed, transitioning from being run by nonprofit organizations revolving around charities like Arc and Goodwill to individuals taking on the pile of clothes of wearers and curating collections for specific fashion aesthetics.
While thrift and consignment stores like Apocalypse in Boulder and Plato’s Closet take on a wide variety of fashionable garments for customers to sort through, individual sellers like Worn Twice and The Valley curate their pieces for an intentional fashion audience by sorting through bigger shops to find what matches their style.
ThriftCon is no stranger to welcoming those interested in not letting landfills or trash cans be the last stop of a clothing piece’s life. Despite some downfalls, thrifting is still considered a good shopping practice due to its uniqueness and sustainability for taking something already made and giving it extra time on Earth.
