On Saturday night, Sr. Xander Fredericksen and I were thrift shopping at the Salvation Army. After a bit of digging, I found one of my favorite pieces ever: a navy blue Nike New England Patriots hoodie with the team’s old school retro logo. Brand new, this hoodie would have cost between $75 – 90. I bought it for $7.99.

In Holland, thrifting can be done at stores such as Goodwill, the Gateway Center, Eagle’s Nest Resale, Africa’s Child, and Salvation Army. Throughout the last few years, thrifting has become very popular. Along with the recent popularization, the styles of the 80s and the 90s are coming back. This makes for some good finds. With the old styles coming back and all those old clothes being in thrift stores, teens now can easily find and buy style.

Many students throughout West Ottawa, including myself have picked up this hobby and thoroughly enjoy it. Here are some of West Ottawa students favorite and best thrift finds.

Sr. Xander Fredericksen is one of these students. Over the last year, he has taken up the hobby of thrifting. Fredericksen has also found a way to make some money out of this hobby. He runs an instagram account where he sells many of these thrifted items. Not sure if you’re into vintage? Check out @xander_fredericksen_closet on instagram.

One of Fredericksen’s favorite thrift finds was “an Orlando Magic Crewneck on a logo 7 tag that’s got a sweet

 blue and orange colorway.” This crew neck is exactly the type of vintage that students are looking for when thrift shopping. Thrifting can be used to find stylish clothing as well as expensive clothing. “My most expensive item that I was able to trade for with stuff I did get at thrift stores would be this 90’s Detroit Pistons varsity jacket that is around $90-110. I was able to trade for it by items I had thrifted previously”. Fredericksen actually didn’t even buy this vintage jacket himself, he traded for it Sr. Cam Ludy (@buggedoutvintage) with items that he already owned. Fredericksen has become quite fond of this hobby over the last year. “I enjoy thrifting mainly because I’m able to A. Wear unique clothes that you don’t regularly see as well as B. Not spending a casual $110 on some new clothes from Nike or what not. And C. You can find things that you can flip for a lot of profit and make some money on the side which is what I enjoy doing.”

One of Sr. Jackson Wigerink’s favorite finds is his “Vader was framed” t- shirt. He bought this shirt from Bibles for Mexico thrift store. It cost him around $5. “I’m a big Star Wars fan, so you see, coming across a shirt of this caliber was really exhilarating.”

Sr. Joey McNutt’s favorite find was a Columbia fleece. Brand new, an item like this could cost between $40 and 70 dollars.  “It’s comfy, in good shape, my style, and I found it at a good price.” McNutt’s most expensive thrift purchase was a USA space jam basketball jersey which cost him $30. “ I enjoy thrifting because I can get a ton of clothes that fit my style and that are in good shape while only paying a fraction of the price if such clothing was bought brand new.”

Sr. Kira Guerrin’s favorite thrift find is an “awesome wool patterned sweater. It helps me carry the swagger of a quirky grandfather

”. This awesome sweater cost Guerrin only a mere 3 dollars. “I really enjoy thrifting because it’s not only a fun and affordable activity to do with my friends, but it helps extend my wardrobe. I’m very passionate about fashion and curating a unique and distinct style for myself, and thrifting gives me the ability to find one-of-a-kind, authentic clothing.”

Sr. Cam Ludy is an avid thrifter. He even runs a small shop where he sells his thrift finds. You can find it on instagram @buggedoutvintage. Ludy’s favorite find is “a 1999 Sleepy Hollow horror movie shirt. It was my favorite just because I thought the graphic was sweet.” Some thrifted items can be worth a lot due to time period or rareness. “My most expensive thrift finds are either my 1967 art shirt or my 1950s marines crew neck. The art shirt is valued around 300 and the crew neck varies between 300-400.”

The new fad behind vintage clothing has created a new clothing market. The vintage market. A company called Mitten Vintage has taken advantage of this new market. To put it simply, Mitten Vintage finds the “good stuff” that people are looking for and resells it all in one place. Mitten Vintage holds a vintage flea market once a month that draws vintage clothing sellers from across several states. So if you’re looking for high quality vintage clothing at a great price, check out Mitten Vintage located at 12330 James St. According to a Mitten Vintage employee, one of the best pieces that has ever come through Mitten Vintage is a bright yellow graphic Beatles t-shirt. One of the most expensive pieces that has ever come through Mitten Vintage is a white long sleeve graphic shirt that reads “Puff Daddy & the family no way out tour 1998”. This shirt is valued at $500. One of Mitten Vintage’s employees favorite items are a white Mr. Potato Toy Story t-shirt and a blue tie dye grateful dead snowboard t-shirt.

One of my, (Mark Cosgrove) favorite items is a bright red and blue 1995 America Cup Colombia windbreaker. I bought this item for 10 or 15 dollars at the Mitten Vintage flea market through the seller, @shopthe231 on instagram. This is one of my favorite pieces because while sporting the bright red and blue, I have frequently been mistaken for Captain America.

What are you waiting for? Join the vintage clothing wave that is sweeping the youth nation and get some stylish clothes at a fantastic price.