Congresswoman-elect Cori Bush of Missouri has brought thrifting back in vogue. “The reality of being a regular person going to Congress is that it’s really expensive to get the business clothes I need for the Hill. So I’m going thrift shopping tomorrow,” Bush tweeted last week. She later shared a trio of selfies amid the racks and snippets of a mini fashion show in the dressing room where she modeled her smashing finds—a maroon patterned blazer, a tangerine peacoat and a long violet trench.
True confession: Not only am I a loyal secondhand shopper, but two decades ago a friend and I opened our own brick-and-mortar swap shop. Dubbed “A Joint in the Family Way” by The New York Times in 2003, it was equal parts community haven and source for affordable clothing for kids. I spent my days buried in piles of other people’s cast-offs, which inevitably were a