By Natalie Murphy

Growing up in a retirement community in Hot Springs Village, Arkansas, Annalise Robins was no stranger to her local thrift stores. Frequenting the Salvation Army and Habitat For Humanity ReStore, she began experimenting with her personal style at the age of 15, buying items heavily reminiscent of the 1970s, 1990s and early 2000s.

For the University of Arkansas freshman, thrifting isn’t just a hobby, but a means of self expression. She enjoys the “treasure hunt” of digging through racks and piles of clothes for unique, one-of-a-kind pieces she said, but she isn’t just looking for herself. 

Since the beginning of February, Robins has made a career out of her passion. After thrifting items for her peers in her high school years and starting a short-lived Instagram resell page with a friend in 2019, she missed the feeling of shopping for others, all leading to her creating Finders Keepers, a vintage retro online clothing store. 

“I was just really really good at finding things at thrift stores and I was constantly going and doing it. It wasn’t necessarily ‘I would love to make money from it,’ it was just such a fun hobby,” she said.

Although online shopping has taken the reins of consumption, online thrifting was popularized only recently in 2020 due to the pandemic. After thrift stores closed down and people, being separated from one another, began growing individually, sites such as eBay, Depop and Poshmark were highly popularized by those in search of their authentic style.

During this time, vintage shops in Northwest Arkansas, which already had an online following, also began using Instagram as their main platform for keeping their business alive. Warehouse 479, a non-profit vintage store supporting Samaritan Community Center in Rogers, was one of them.

The store, that’s Instagram account has over 5,000 followers, uses its stories and posts religiously to post curated clothing drops all in order to raise money and awareness to help feed local families. The clothing and home decor sold is all sourced from the Samaritan donation bins giving shoppers equal access to quality vintage goods for unbeatable prices.

“Sometimes, I’ll go back to the beginning of our Instagram just to remember what it was like in the beginning. It was really fun seeing people’s reactions and what they liked and didn’t like so much, and now I feel like we’ve really honed in on what our clientele wants,” said Warehouse 479 Manager Brandy Wasem.

Since starting her store, Robins has taken inspiration from WH479 and other online thrift shops success. She also supports their businesses in the pursuit of finding clothes for her own closet. Pieces that make her feel confident and more like herself.

“Personal style is just expression of what you want day by day,” Robins said. “I spend a lot of time getting ready in the morning because I have to figure out my personal style for that day. I have to figure out what I want to dress like and look like.”

As college students, putting together expressive outfits for class every morning isn’t always prioritized. In a time where it’s been normalized to attend class in sweatpants and athleisure, it is easy to get stuck in a trend cycle of looking like everyone else.  

Its people such as Robins and sophomore Mia Bingaman who go against the grain, wearing thrifted and vintage items that make them feel confident in their classes and daily life. 

“I do think style is a way lots of people could express themselves, and I think it is important to make yourself stand out and be an individual in a lot of ways, and this is kind of just one way you can show that outwardly,” Bingaman said. 

For Bingaman, her personal style is a contrast of masculine and feminine pieces all made of organic thrifted materials such as silk blouses and wool sweaters. When looking for inspiration, instead of going on social media, she tends to watch old films, taking note of 1960s Parisian style and much more.

Clothing isn’t the only thing she takes style inspiration from, as she often looks to antique furniture fabrics and structures to create a vision. She even said that she often sees couches that she wishes she could wear and will look for clothes representative of them.

When it comes to what sparks excitement for the WH479 staff, they usually look to their customers as well as each other for fashion influence. Johan Trejo, WH479’s personnel for online drops, says the shop’s social media manager Gabby Jesse and Wasem are practically “walking billboards” for the store, inspiring people all over NWA with their outfits.

Trejo’s thoughts on curating one’s individual style is a refreshing take, one that affects mental health.

“I think finding a personal style overall, as silly as it sounds, raises your quality of life. Once you find it, you feel comfortable, you can carry yourself comfortably, you overall just feel better and I think that’s really beneficial, and something people often just don’t think about when it comes to style, how life changing it can be,” Trejo explained.

Along with his point, Robins and Bingaman both noted the good that comes from friendships brought on by shared style. Whether thrifting with others or alone, there is a vast community of second-hand lovers who are easily able to find each other through their unique styles. 

“I just really like how you can find people that are similar to you on a deeper level just based off how they dress themself,” Bingaman said.

The pursuit of thrifting goes deeper than finding a new wardrobe. It inspires individuality, confidence, and friendship as well as sustainability. Robins highlights that around 70%-90% of donated clothes at thrift stores usually end up in landfills, a statistic that’s gained prominent attention as a means to stop overconsumption. 

For those interested in beginning their personal style journey through thrifting, there are more than enough clothes being donated to go around. In part, it will help decrease waste. 

Bingaman suggests new thrifters be patient when it comes to finding good pieces as a way to not get discouraged but to also take risks. She advises taking a friend or listening to music or a podcast to keep yourself entertained throughout your hunt. 

The WH497 staff also mentions creating inspiration boards and even trying curated vintage stores, such as theirs, so it is less overwhelming.

“I tend to make a list on my phone and go through my closet and (make note of) things that I might be lacking in my wardrobe, and that helps speed up the process and then you don’t over consume,” Jesse said.

As Bingaman correctly puts it, thrifting is a risk. It might be the risk of wasting a day on an unsuccessful thrift trip, but it pays off when you find the perfect piece that you will cherish and pass on for generations. It could also be a risk of conformity and potential comfortability, but the outcome of individuality and self-confidence exceeds that.