I’ll wear your grandad’s clothes, I look incredible.
Posted by jelisacc on February 13, 2013
Yes. Those are actual lyrics to a song by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. It’s called “Thrift Shop” and glorifies buying used clothes. In my opinion, the song really ties in with the secondhand clothing essay. I remember when I was younger, kids used to joke on each other by making comments like “you buy your clothes at Goodwill!” Now, all of those kids that made those Goodwill comments are shopping there themselves. Clothing is one of the most spreadable artifacts in our history. No matter how old a clothing article is, there will be people that will purchase it, especially since the “vintage” look is very popular right now. Thrift stores provide more options for these “old-school” clothes that we’re into today more than any store you’ll find in the mall. It will be interesting to see how the popularity of secondhand clothing will grow, especially since there’s a new song that promotes it.
colleencourtney said
I was going to title my post “Pop Some Tags” until I saw this post haha. I agree with you that Goodwill has probably gotten extra business from the high school to college crowd because of that song. I bet that’s a trend parents can get behind, budget shopping.
samford said
One of the interesting differences with clothes, of course, is that the quality and durability of the content gets compromised over time. Clothes only last so long, and their spread often brings them closer to their demise. This is somewhat true of media content, of course, for anyone who used to watch their VHS tape until it started jumping speeds and wearing down…or who were watching a 5th-generation dub of something whose video quality had become quite compromised. But, in a digital age, reproduction often occurs at identical quality to the original, which makes for an interesting comparison when thinking about an “object”‘s spread.
andyarnoldpopculture said
Thrift stores are cheap and have a link to the past. That makes them valuable when viewed through a nostalgic lens. Perhaps buyers who find the cheapness distasteful can justify it with the trendy activity of “thrifting?”