Real Living in Clothing: The Art of Thrifting

          This article was written for Seaside Magazines April issue in the fashion section. Thank you so much to the team at Seaside for inviting us to share. This was a feel good project for us as it combined two of our favourite things; writing and up-cycling. It was an absolute pleasure diving into both the why and the art behind thrifting. 

"More and more we are seeing thrifted and up-cycled clothing come into trend. Not only are we being educated with more transparency on the environmental impacts from the traditional fashion industry, but we also believe people are falling in love with the art and creativity of finding and reusing quality clothing.

The manifesting, dreaming, curating, and altering of a piece— the process of it, that is where the deep satisfaction comes from. 

It’s about understanding what may be in style and working with what you find— what already exists. Fundamentally keeping your relationship with your clothing personal because you felt your way there, hand picking the piece out of a sea of many without any influence of specific branded guidance or pressure.

Taking more responsibility for the clothing you wear and how you wear it can in my experience have a very positive effect on your self confidence. Thrifting and altering leaves room for individuality and includes hands on curiosity and positive stimulation. 

I enjoy first having a vision. Almost a goal set— “this is what I’d like to find today” being mostly general, letting the specifics fill in their own blanks. This way you are always open to opportunity. Then the hunt… almost meditative as we cruise through the isle— often with headphones in listening to something that gets us in a flow state of mind… fingertips moving along fast because they know what they’re after. Colour tones and materials stimulate senses and with practice become easier to fine tune and collect. Then comes making it yours. Why was a piece possibly thrifted in the first place? Was there a mark on the bottom? A missing button? A stretched out pocket? Pants too long? Too short? This is where we play. Holding the piece up and in my mind redesigning. Could I replace the missing button even intentionally having it be a different from the rest? Could I crop the top to remove the stained portion? Could I remove the pocket that is the only “flaw”? Could I live with the small paint splatter and call them beauty marks? — Weren’t clothings meant to be lived in anyway?"