Ever feel like the clothes you wear aren’t truly you? Maybe it’s time to ditch the constant rotation of trends and discover your own style – one thrifted gem at a time.

In recent years, Op shops have had a significant increase in popularity in the fashion community. They are a source of cheap and sustainable fashion and you can find unique pieces on a wallet-friendly budget. Not only does shopping at Op shops allow you to be environmentally and budget conscious, but it can also allow you to better explore your personal style.

When you’re shopping at any clothing brand like Cotton On, Glassons, Zimmerman or even small local businesses, you are seeing the clothes through their perspective. These brands - obviously - design and create the clothes they sell but they also present them in a way that is aligned with their brand identity. Through glossy photoshoots, websites, styling, mannequins and even their store layouts, it’s all about how they want to be perceived. These factors work together to contribute to the brand’s visual identity which is essentially determined by what is currently considered ‘trendy’ or ‘fashionable’ and what will sell the best.

It is hard to think creatively when the vision is created and presented for you.

Under the influence of this heavy branding, it is hard to know whether you genuinely like something. The polished, cohesive and visually pleasing nature of brand photoshoots essentially overwhelms and confuses you into thinking what the brand thinks is fashionable is what you personally like. While these two things might sometimes be the same, being so heavily influenced by branding is not conducive to developing your own unique sense of style and self-expression through clothing. Shopping at Op shops allows you to bring your own perspective and preferences to the forefront and develop an authentic style, without the lens of brand and store curators and marketers.

Op shops represent the opposite of this heavy curation and branding. Now, I am not talking about vintage stores or resellers, I am talking about your local Vinnies, Salvos and other charity op shops that take clothing donations. Vintage stores and resellers involve a high level of curation by the seller and they are often very selective in sourcing their pieces. I’m certainly not saying these stores are in any way bad, they stock some amazing vintage and second-hand pieces, and they are also so much more sustainable than shopping new. However, you are still to a large extent, looking at the clothes through their vision, what they post on their Instagrams and Depop’s and the brand identity they present.

In comparison, Op shops are limited completely by the donations they receive. Rummaging through racks of un-curated, essentially random assortments of clothes allows you to develop a sense of the fabrics, textures, colours and patterns that genuinely appeal to you. While combing the racks something completely unexpected might jump out at you, a top with a gorgeous pattern on it or a skirt in an unusual colour. You can decide whether you like certain pieces without being influenced by how amazing they look on a model in a professional photoshoot. Ultimately, you aren’t gaslit into thinking it looks good on you because it’s trending. This leads you to discover what aspects or types of clothing genuinely appeal to you which then forms the basis of your style. Armed with this knowledge you can then shop more consciously at brand stores, knowing what you actually like and staying true to yourself.

Being surrounded by hundreds of assorted, unique clothing items forces you to think for yourself as there are no surrounding influences on how the pieces are meant to be styled.

This is something that I think really can take your op-shopping to the next level. Being able to take a piece further than what it is plainly on the hanger is what I think makes a great op-shopper (and trust me, op-shopping is a skill!). Each piece in an op-shop is already one-of-a-kind, this combined with the fact that there are no branded photoshoots showing you how to style the clothes allows you to really personalise it.

Even more creative and crafty options are open when you shop second-hand such as ‘thrift-flipping’, cropping, cutting, hemming or repurposing which is probably not something you’d try with a brand-new top you just paid fifty dollars for. Op-shop’s low prices are also great compared to shopping new, especially if you’re planning a complete style overhaul! You can feel more liberated to buy something risky or ‘out there’ compared to what you usually wear without the strain or stress on your wallet. If it’s not your thing you can always keep fashion circular and donate it again so someone else can have a chance to love it.

Op-shopping can be a truly liberating experience in terms of finding your own style. It allows you to develop a more authentic sense of what you really like when it comes to clothes, and developing your personal style. Next time you need some new clothes, why not challenge yourself to find one standout item at your local Op-shop? You might just uncover your new favourite piece.

See you at the Salvos!