Professional Thrifting Stylist Shares 3 Tips to Bag the Best Finds

Fashion has turned toward sustainability and affordability, with "thrifting" at its core.

A new wave of personal stylists, adept in the art of thrifting and creating social media content, are keen to revolutionize how we shop for clothing and prove that style doesn't have to come at a premium. Among them is Kalita Amberle Hon, known at @kalitaku online.

The 23-year-old U.S.-born and Taiwan-raised personal stylist has always had a passion for fashion but was unsure how to turn this interest into a career robust enough to pay the bills after graduating with a major in psychology from Connecticut's Wesleyan College.

She turned to social media, where she began sharing thrifting "hauls" and styling tips with her growing audience. Like many before her who dabbled in content creation and found success and a source of income online thanks to unexpected popularity, Hon now has more than 120,000 followers across TikTok and Instagram, the platforms she concentrates on.

"It all took off from there," Hon, who is based in the States, told Newsweek.

"I started creating content in May 2023 by posting the style bundles that I had made, which is what I call a curated collection of clothing that reflects on mine or a client's personal style. They became really popular. It was all very sudden and quick," she added.

Hon's now a fully-fledged stylist with a list of clients to boot. But one thing that sets her apart from others in the style set is her incorporation of thrifted items in her collections. Almost all of the so-called style bundles she curates from her home in Los Angeles are made from secondhand or pre-loved pieces she breathes new life into.

"I'd been thrifting since middle school because I needed a way to find affordable yet cute clothes," Hon said.

"At the moment, I use the mood boards that my clients provide me with to curate outfits for them from thrift store pieces," she added.

The stylist's latest viral clip centers around the thrifting fails one can encounter—which mainly entails going to a thrift store and not finding anything worthy of purchasing.

Hon was worried that she'd portrayed a romanticized image of thrifting through her content, one where the shopper waltzes into a thrift store and finds boundless supplies of designer goods in untouched condition, and sought to produce a "realistic thrift with me" video instead.

In the video, shared to TikTok on March 6, Hon explains that she's become known for "amazing thrift hauls," but that this "is not the case on every thrifting trip."

The stylist proceeds to try on a load of items at an L.A. thrift store that either don't fit properly, clash with her style, or are by her own admission just plain unflattering. The video, which has been viewed more than 740,000 times to date, highlights the reality that thrifting is all about trial and error.

"I wanted to help more people get into thrifting by making this video," Hon explained.

"That way, people will be less discouraged about going on thrift hauls themselves. Thrift content nowadays can create a skewed image of what it's actually like. It's OK not to find the best piece of clothing straight away. That's not how thrifting looks half the time."

Stylist's Top Thrifting Tips

While much of being a successful thrifter comes down to sampling many thrift stores, and as frequently as possible, there are a few tricks according to Hon that can speed up the process of securing a brilliant buy.

"Be picky, don't just buy whatever is in the thrift store. Be more critical about what you purchase, but to do that you need to see more items," Hon said.

"Look at all the racks and sections in the store. A lot of thrift stores can misplace cute items because of how large their stock is. You never know what you will find!"

"Lastly, get up and head to the thrift store early. The best finds are usually in the morning before anyone else has gotten them," she added.

The style lover hopes that her videos will encourage more people, particularly younger people, to thrift, but why?

'It's a Treasure Hunt'

Carley Lake is the co-founder and CEO of Lucky Sweater, a community clothing swap app that aims to make sourcing and swapping secondhand clothing a doddle. Lake also runs a thrifting fashion blog while the platform is busy trading over 50,000 items.

"Thrifting is the art of finding joy in pre-loved items or unique pieces that you can't find elsewhere, from clothing to unique home decorations, all at lower prices than buying something new," Lake told Newsweek.

"It's a treasure hunt where every discovery has its own story and charm."

"According to the British Fashion Council, our world has enough clothes to dress six generations! There is enough here we can share without having to buy new things. By choosing to thrift, we're keeping items in circulation, reducing waste, and conserving resources. Thrifting means less demand for new goods, which translates to less environmental strain and a happier earth," she added.

Is It Really Nifty to Be Thrifty?

As Lake says, it's no secret that the fashion industry has left a big environmental impact on the planet. And, as we grow more concerned about the state of environmental degradation we are facing—and are due to continue facing in the future—clothing manufacturers' carbon footprint has long been called into question.

Clothing retailers like to make cheaper and more affordable fashionable pieces to satisfy the needs of young consumers. After all, few teenagers have the funds to purchase high-quality, upmarket and ethically produced clothing as they are always far more expensive.

But the pollution caused by the fast fashion industry results in devastating impacts to natural environments, with harmful effects linked to habitat degradation, proliferation of chemicals and microplastics in waterways.

According to the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP), the fast fashion industry is the second-biggest consumer of water and is responsible for about 10 percent of global carbon emissions.

Princeton University writes online that the fashion industry is currently responsible for more annual carbon emissions than all international flights and maritime shipping combined.

In comes thrifting—a solution often thought of as an attractive way to secure branded clothing, spend less cash and reduce your carbon footprint.

As thrifting has become more trendy and popular, in part due to creators like Hon spreading their passion for it online, the demand for thrifted goods has risen.

What was once primarily known as an affordable way for people on lower incomes to find pre-loved clothing, has stretched into the orbit of wealthy people hoping to bag vintage goods and the eyelines of business enthusiasts keen to make a profit by reselling thrifted items with a higher price tag online. This has all led to ethical questions.

Some resellers have turned their post-thrift trade into lucrative careers. Plenty of spectators are pleased for them, while plenty of others feel concerned that this may lead to a once forgiving way to find nice clothes alienating its original clientele.

But Hon is confident that thrifting is still a great way to shop, no matter its rise in popularity and its subsequent rise in price.

"I want to encourage everyone to thrift," she said.

Update 5/10/24, 2:03 p.m. ET: This story was updated to clarify Hon's birthplace.

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