Devoted Thrift-Shopping
© Katja Scheibler
Raychel, 21, Aarhus
“I consider myself to have a hippie-style and all my friends are calling me that, too. It makes sense, honestly, because I really like clothes from the 60´s and 70´s.”
Against the background of the Fashion Revolution Week, TFL got together with Raychel, a student from California, who loves thrift shopping. According to Raychel, half of her closet is second-hand.
Raychel’s main motivation to thrift shop is of an economical nature. She is quite strict about her self-imposed ‘no item should cost more than $10’ -rule, which turns out to be trickier in Denmark than in the States. “Three years ago I started thrift shopping, because I realised I don’t have to pay so much for clothes. Here, I found pretty cool stuff for even three bucks, but other pieces are way overpriced. It kind of depends on the store and if they have a discount”, she says about the second-hand stores in Aarhus.
“Thrift shopping is a bigger thing in California than it is in Denmark. The stock here is okay, but it is just not as good as back home. It’s mostly really old clothes, like some grandma just dropped out her closet. And the stores are pretty small here, too. Back home, since there are so many different people who are dropping off things, you can find some pretty cool stuff from everywhere,” she adds.
Her favourite second-hand pieces are guy’s button-up shirts. She craves their extraordinary colour combinations and crazy patterns. Raychel loves her style to be different, she doesn’t like to wear the same thing as somebody else. “I consider myself to have a hippie-style and all my friends are calling me that, too. It makes sense honestly, because I really like clothes from the 60´s and 70´s.”
Even though it’s tough work, she has recently even started customising and beautifying her clothes. “I got really into pins and patches. The patches on this denim jacket, for example, took forever and then my friend painted me this cute little hippie”, she describes her statement jacket.
© Katja Scheibler
Raychel justifies her creativity with the Cali environment she grew up in, and that also made her discover music as a passion. Raychel is a singer and joined the choir from an early age on. Even though her voice rather fits Jazz, she loves to sing all genres. Back in the States, she studies vocals and journalism. Here in Aarhus, she goes to the Danish School of Journalism and is about to graduate. “ Journalism is more of a career [option], and music more a love of mine. I don’t plan on pursuing music as a profession itself, but I actually want to mix my two passions in one profession, like being a music journalist."