Blazer: YSTR via Swap Society | Tee: Reformation | Shorts: Reformation | Shoes: TOMS
The first job I ever had in fashion was an internship with a cut-to-order, ethical fashion startup — YSTR. To say working at YSTR was a dream job is an understatement. I worked with a team of women, our patternmakers and sewing team worked in our office space, and I got to see a company with a mission I believed in grow right in front of my eyes. The office space was in the heart of the LA garment district. The walls were pink and there were racks upon racks of beautiful clothing and accessories. And if you look real close, you can see this blazer on the rack.
As an intern I helped keep the YSTR social media accounts up and running, so I constantly had my eye on the latest pieces. Much to my dismay, this company shut down in the blink of an eye when our CEO and investor decided to part ways. It all happened so fast that I wasn’t able to buy some of my favorite items before the website was taken down. I’d had my eye on this blazer for months and had waited too long to get my hands on it. But this was a year ago and I just kept thinking to myself: life goes on. And it does.
Since the end of this internship, I’ve dived even deeper into the sustainable and ethical fashion industry. I’ve kept up with my blog, I’ve taken college courses to learn more about environmental studies and ethics, and I’ve attended panels and events with change-makers in the industry. One of my favorite events of the past year was the Sustainable Fashion Forum, and one of the speakers that I remember most clearly is the founder of Swap Society —an online thrift swapping website.
During my last closet cleanout, I decided to send in some things to Swap Society and see what that site was all about. I wound up with 250 points to shop with, and there were hundreds of pages of secondhand clothes to choose from. Each item is $4.99 plus points, with point amounts ranging from 1 to 500+ depending on the quality of the items. To my surprise, as I scrolled through one of those pages of women’s items I came across this very YSTR blazer that I regretted not purchasing. I immediately added it to my cart and got this jacket for $4.99 and 21 points.
As I graduate in a few days with my undergraduate degree and move into a new chapter of my young-adult life, this blazer has been a perfect reminder of the good that is possible in the fashion industry and the growth that I’ve experienced — especially over the past year. It seems like this whole year has been full of full circle moments (like this one with The Giving Keys). One of the coolest things about the secondhand clothing market is the possibility of fostering full circle moments like this and allowing clothing with great stories to live on.
a little more about Swap Society
My post about white environmentalism and thrifting from a few weeks ago struck a chord with a lot of you, and it has had me thinking a lot more about what I contribute to the thrifting market and what I take from it, and my shopping experience on Swap Society really illuminated this exact issue. Swap Society only allows for swaps — you can only use as many points as you have. I even tried to place a second order and swiftly got an email from Swap Society’s customer service asking if I had a new shipment of swaps on their way in, because I only had a few points left in my account. In terms of points, Swap Society says “you get what you give”. You are only able to swap out items from point ranges as high as the most valuable item that you swap in. This allows for only equal swaps, a key recommendation from my blog post about how to thrift without stripping thrift stores of resources that are not meant for you.
One Response
I love serendipitous moments like this! I used to work at Anthropologie and couldn’t afford a lot of the stuff even with a discount, and now I can always spot it at thrift stores and buy it there! Which is also better since Anthro has such bad practices anyway.