When senior Hope Pirtle walks through the doors of her main thrift shopping store, Goodwill, her eyes search through racks of old t-shirts and leggings. Next thing you know, she has an armful of her favorite type of clothing. Going into the popular thrift shop, she never knows what hipster hand-me-downs she will stumble upon next. One day she may have no luck in finding stylish clothes, but another day she might find things she can’t live without.

“You have to really search for it,” Pirtle said. “You never know what you’re gonna find.”

Thrift shopping for senior Eric Luster is a long, planned out, two hour process.

“You have to look through every section, even the women’s section,” Luster said, while wearing his overall shorts he found at Goodwill.

His purchases from Goodwill may be random and crazy in his opinion, but other people that see his clothes may find his style to be cool and different. His most recent two hour trip turned up many shirts, pants, and a pair of combat boots for only $11.

“I can get five t-shirts for five bucks,” Pirtle said. “If I go anywhere else, five dollars isn’t gonna get me anything.”

Sophomore Brittany Tomlinson, who usually shops at Value Village occasionally Goodwill, can get 9 or 10 items for about $25, the price of only one shirt from JC Penney.

Many students say thrift shopping is more entertaining with a friend tagging along. Tomlinson says being with a friend is more fun because they help you feel confident even when purchasing “crazy looking, polka dotted pants”. Pirtle agrees. When she finds crazy things, the opinion of a friend helps her know whether it’s a fashion “do” or a fashion “don’t”.

Luster, however, usually thrift shops by himself.

“Thrift shopping is like my ‘me’ time,” Luster said.

Sophomore Kaitlyn Baswell, who began thrift shopping last year, says that thrift shopping has become a huge bandwagon for today’s thriving hipsters. Baswell says the new iTunes chart-topper, rap song, “Thrift Shop” has encouraged more people to try out thrift shopping.

At first, most of today’s thrift shoppers found second-hand shopping to be uncomfortable and weird. The thought of having something a stranger has already worn was kind of odd for them. Now students like Pirtle and Luster go “thrifting” all the time,  whether they find the craziest outfit possible or just a simple, comfy t-shirt.