Stylin’: Extreme makeovers for thrift store threads create fashion
By Liz Barry on May. 07, 2008
Becca McCharen rarely shops at conventional clothing stores. Instead, she sifts through the racks of Goodwill hanger by hanger, searching for garments that inspire. Undaunted by stains and wrinkles, McCharen has an eye for forsaken beauty.
“When you find a piece in Goodwill, it’s like pulling up someone’s history,” she says. “It’s so rich and it’s so textured already.”
McCharen, 23, an urban planner for Lynchburg, gives a second life to thrift store clothing. Sometimes, all that’s required is a simple alteration. Other times, she cuts a garment to pieces and sews it into a new creation.
Goodwill hunting
Creativity and basic sewing skills are all that’s needed to give a second-hand garment a new identity. A silk bathrobe can be fashioned into a mod wrap dress. Long-sleeved shirts can be remade into tank tops. A vintage skirt can be transformed into a bold handbag.
The reasons for shopping second-hand are as varied as the bleach stains on acid washed jeans.
For some, it’s a reaction to mass production and consumer culture, a way to recycle instead of adding to the waste. For some, it’s about the hunt for quirky vintage pieces amid hideous muumuus and bad polyester. For others, it’s simply cheaper. And given the state of gas and food prices these days, the number of people in this camp is likely growing.
Lynchburg is not lacking in thrift stores. There are three warehouse-sized Goodwills within a 20-mile radius of downtown (Wards Road, Lakeside Drive and Amelon Square in Madison Heights) and a handful of cozy, family-owned shops.
Cheap is the bottom line. Prices range from $3.50 for shirts, $2.50 for shoes, $3.50 for pants. Almost everything is less than five bucks.
The sheer amount of clothing can be daunting. The Goodwill on Wards Road displays 2,400 garments at a time. They are crammed on long metal racks — row upon row of stripes, polka dots, prints and solids in every hue. Some are wrinkled or lightly stained; others still sport a price tag.
But for those willing to sort through the junk, the results can be worth it.
Form and function
For McCharen, reworking thrift store clothes is an extension of the other art she creates. With a degree in architecture, she has an eye for structure and design. She also paints and creates collages, incorporating found materials into her work.
McCharen learned to sew during a stint making costumes for the drama department in college and applied what she learned to her own wardrobe.
One of McCharen’s favorite creations is a pink and white cotton dress she fashioned from a pair of oversized pajamas. The dress has a bustle in the back and quirky details, like a miniature pocket that covers a stain on the fabric. Today, McCharen wears a homemade red skirt that looks like an upside-down rose blossom. On top, she wears a striped collared shirt and a navy blue hoodie with the sleeves cut out.
McCharen’s second-hand style is also about recycling. She went through a phase in college where she vowed never to buy anything new again, relying on second–hand stores and discarded items from Dumpsters.
“I was one of those punk kids,” she says. “So against ‘The Man.’”
Now, she says she has the same ideals but is less extreme about implementing them.
Down to earth
Jen Rahn, 23, a Floridian who now lives in Lynchburg, is a minimalist. She owns a modest number of clothes, and gives what she doesn’t wear to friends or to homeless shelters. But it wasn’t always that way.
In high school, Rahn was a self-described “fashion diva” — always trying to keep up with the latest trend.
But it wasn’t sustainable — on a monetary or personal level. Too much of her identity was tied up in her fashion choices.
Now, Rahn mostly wears neutrals and describes her style as an “earthy, antique look.” Today, Rahn is casual in faded skinny jeans and a green tank top. Her hair is wavy brown and a silver ring pierces the middle of her lower lip.
“I’m not really into paying $30 for a shirt that’s going to end up here anyway,” she says.
She alters thrift store clothing to make it fit better or to tweak the look. For example, she will turn a long-sleeved shirt into a vest or tank top. She also shops for material to use for patches, belts and headbands.
Rahn does most of her sewing by hand, but eventually wants to master the sewing machine.
“Eventually, I want to get to the point where I am making my own clothes completely from scratch,” she says.
Retro revised
Courtney Brown, 18, has been modifying clothes for more than three years. The Liberty University freshman started sewing in high school. First, she worked on costumes for musical theater. Later, she designed her own line of clothes for the senior year fashion show.
Brown, who sports a blunt bob, is inspired by retro fashion. She loves Elvis and has been exposed to the styles of decades past through her participation in musical theater. Her favorite decades are the ’40s, ’50s, ’70s and ’80s.
“I always have dressed outside the box,” Brown says. “People are like, ‘You’re weird because you don’t wear Abercrombie all the time.’”
Brown likes the idea of recycling old clothing, but for her shopping at Goodwill is more about finding vintage pieces for cheap.
Altering thrift store clothing is a creative outlet and a way to tailor clothes to fit her body. It also liberates Brown from cookie cutter trends that can be found in malls across America.
Rock star chic
Sam Gravitt, 27, is another thrifty shopper. His self-described “rock star” aesthetic is about fusing edgy pieces with classic elements.
“The shopping in Lynchburg leaves something to be desired,” Gravitt says.
“Most of the retail stores around here cater to a more preppy crowd,” he adds.
Gravitt, who works at Bull Branch and Fusion Salon, alters clothing he buys at discount stores, like Rugged Warehouse and TJ Maxx. He prefers new garments because the fabric tends to be easier to work with.
“I’m a clothing whore,” Gravitt says with a laugh. “I know when they get their trucks in, and I hit it up weekly.”
Gravitt has been modifying clothes since high school when he would add orange and green panels to his jeans to make the ’70s bell-bottoms — a phase he is glad to have left in the past.
A four-year stint working for J. Crew taught Gravitt about fabrics, textures and design. He put his newfound knowledge to the test when he began modifying dresses for drag shows. For drag, Gravitt couldn’t wear the same piece twice, so he would have to transform women’s clothes to fit him or to redo an old look.
Now that Gravitt only performs in drag shows once or twice a year, most of his sewing goes toward his everyday wardrobe. The blazer he is working on now cost $9 at Rugged Warehouse in Candler’s Mountain Station. He wore it for New Year’s and is now embellishing it with silver studs.
His mainstay is a T-shirt with a blazer and jeans. Today, he rocks a black and white striped T-shirt under a sleek black blazer with dark jeans. His bleach-blonde hair is spiked into a faux-hawk.
Gravitt’s edgy look is par for the course in big cities like New York and Los Angeles. But in Lynchburg, he sometimes stands out.
“When I go to New York, I don’t feel original or creative because everybody there dresses cool,” he says. J
For ideas on do-it-yourself fashion, check out these Web sites:
http://www.threadbanger.com
http://www.etsy.com
http://www.craftster.org
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