For ten years I was obsessed with finding one Corduroy car coat from the 1970s like the one Wynona Ryder wears in the first season of Stranger Things. Not a ‘vintage-inspired’ fashion version, but an American classic that has become velvety soft through wear. That meant thrifting at resale stores.
Always on guard, I never scored because the selection of outerwear in my size (large) was dismal. But today I’m thrifting in the age of Ozempic, where women jettison entire wardrobes as an act of reinvention after dramatic weight loss, often making money through consignment and resale. As all the larger sizes flooded into stores, I finally own my unicorn: a historic LL Bean corduroy coat as soft as cashmere in the hip retro color of faded lemon, all for the price of a burger at my neighborhood cafe.
Where I used to have trouble finding my size, the popularity of GLP-1 medications almost provides too many options. Winter has always been the low point of my wardrobe: black, black and, for a bit of fun, maybe some charcoal gray. But now my closet looks like I’m in the wrong house. Colour! Texture! Print! Thanks to Ozempic, the selection is huge and extremely diverse, and the prices are low.
A thrift bonanza
I’m not chasing couture; I shop for solid “regular ladies” brands that are still in good condition even as resale items because they are not fast fashion. Although I’ve never worn a blazer, I now have two: bouclé wool in deep sienna and a tuxedo-style tuxedo jacket with green velvet lapels and buttons. Each great addition to the cabinet cost me less than two bowls of pho.
Women don’t sell wardrobes because their clothes are out of fashion. Using GLP-1 drugs can revolutionize sizing, forcing even beloved items to go, and I’m far from the only one benefiting from this quality-saving bonanza.
According to data from online resale marketplace ThredUpthe annual Capital One Shopping Reportand spending behavior analysts Consumer Edge, the U.S. second-hand market is estimated to be worth $56 billion by 2025 (up 14.3% from 2024) and visits to resale stores are up 39.5% in 2025 (compared to Q2 2019), with an 80% increase in thrift and consignment spending among GLP-1 users.
There are many reasons why people visit resale stores, from economic to environmental reasons. About a third of clothing and apparel items purchased in the U.S. last year were second-hand, saving production resources and carbon emissions.
A renewed sense of discovery
But for me, the best part of thrift shopping is cultural. Regular resale stores can provide that fun, cozy experience we once had when our shopping companions were friends and not phones. I am often surrounded by other shoppers, inspired and excited by the prospect of what we might find and open to the unexpected. Because the nature of resale makes the clothing unique, it creates a sense of discovery and camaraderie, with conversations even among strangers about a garment’s value and discussions about its fit.
With the wider range of sizes and diversity of brands, today’s stores are becoming more like independent boutiques, which are becoming increasingly difficult to find due to the financial challenges brought on by fluctuating consumer habits. These old-fashioned stores were based on a vision, with emotional traders who put together purposeful collections of many different brands, often with a traditional atmosphere. Their small inventories were constantly percolating and bringing out something new, unlike brand-run stores that offer mass-produced clothing under the same label: racks of algorithm-driven styles that may work conceptually in the boardroom, but not so much in the dressing room.
How to choose your spot
Since people tend to sell quantities of clothing close to home, the best way to be thrifty in the Ozempic era is to choose a store in an area where women are likely to wear the brands you want to find, and go there regularly.
My usual spot is on a cobblestone-lined street in a village-like neighborhood, a short train ride from the center of the city where I live, once called a railroad district. Find a well-lit, well-organized store where clothing hangs neatly on uniform hangers.
If you become a regular and see the same items of clothing week after week, move on: that store isn’t getting enough traffic to keep it interesting. Because you don’t have to settle. The cupboard upheavals resulting from GLP-1 drugs are plentiful, giving us many options. So experiment until you find your own good outlet and then start building the wardrobe you’ve always wanted: their loss is your gain.
#Thrift #age #Ozempic