Secondhand shopping surge: More Americans are buying used clothing

(Aging Untold) — Retail experts say many American consumers, including older shoppers, are seeking out pre-owned and sustainable products.

According to the 2025 Resale Report from ThredUp, the U.S. secondhand apparel market is growing at an average of about 9 percent each year.

The thrill of the hunt

For Stephanie Hernandez, a secondhand stylist based in Washington, D.C., thrift shopping is both a passion and a profession. Clients pay her to help them build a one-of-a-kind, sustainable wardrobe — because many want to shop more responsibly but don’t have the time to do it themselves.

“They want to be more sustainable, and they are kind of thinking about it more, but they don’t really have the time to go out to a thrift store and hunt for those amazing pieces,” Hernandez said.

Her motivation goes beyond fashion.

“I just feel like there’s already so much out there in the world, and buying new just creates more and more waste,” she said.

The Council for Textile Recycling estimates the average American throws away more than 70 pounds of clothing and other textiles each year. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned every single second globally.

“I’d see videos of clothes washing up on beaches in countries across the ocean and it breaks my heart. That’s kind of why I started the business, to educate people about that and show them that there are other options,” Hernandez said.

Sustainable fashion in the classroom

Mikki Taylor, a fashion design professor at Howard University’s Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts, teaches a course on sustainable fashion and says she practices what she preaches.

In her class, students examine their own closets, choices and patterns of consumption.

“I let them know all the chemicals that are involved in just one item, one T-shirt, a pair of jeans. It is incredibly important to teach them that because our environment is definitely being affected,” Taylor said.

Her advice for those new to secondhand shopping: “I would say just dive in. I mean really, just look at how much you have, what is it that you can remake or reinvent, and then what I always advise is to get a solid staple piece, and then build around it.”

Start with what you have

Hernandez said every new client begins by shopping their existing wardrobe before ever setting foot in a thrift store.

“We literally go through everything in their closet,” she said. “And we put outfits together with things that they already own — so kinda showing them you can breathe new life into things you already have!”

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