For college students and recent graduates, money to spend on clothing can be hard to come by. Personally, I avoid treating myself to new clothes and accepted that as part of life. However, when I went thrift shopping for the first time, it made me realize that I don’t have to empty my wallet to add to my closet.

I always pictured thrift shopping, at consignment shops, as a glorified version of digging through my older sibling’s closet, but it was one of the best shopping experiences I’ve ever had, which is saying a lot coming from a girl that hates shopping. My friends and I explored three or four different shops in Brooklyn, and they turned out to be just like any other store.... except way cheaper.

One of my proudest purchases of the day was a Calvin Klein denim jacket that, had barely been worn, for only thirteen dollars. My friends found tons of high-end name brands, for even more surprising prices. One of my friends found a red Michael Kors pea coat for fifteen dollars that wold have sold for around $200. Needless to say, the best parts of thrift shopping is looking up the original prices of the clothes you bought, to see how much you saved.

Not all of the consignment shops that we checked out lived up to our expectations. One shop that we visited seemed much smaller than the others, and as soon as we all looked at an item or two, we realized it was different than the rest. Even though it was a consignment shop, it was extremely expensive. One jacket that we found was a Chanel Boutique jacket that cost a whopping $2,100!

Besides the expensive shop, several locations around the city had quality clothes for very low prices. Another false preconception that I had about consignment shops was that there would not be many options. The stores had tons of different clothing options and sizes of every type of clothing imaginable. There were jeans of every shade and style, formal and casual dresses, blazers, leather jackets, winter coats, blouses, and shoes. Another store offered a section of t-shirts for one dollar each, and my friends left with tons of funny shirts for only a few bucks.In a time when money is tight, consignment shops are a good compromise for anyone. It's also important to remember that buying gently used clothes are a good way to actually be eco-friendly and prevent unnecessary waste.