When school resumes after Thanksgiving break, students will be sporting secondhand fashion thanks to Palo Alto High School’s Thrift Fair during lunch on Friday outside the library.
According to Leilani Chen, sophomore vice president, the fair was organized by the Associated Student Body to provide students with access to sustainable shopping, right on campus.
“I feel like this [Thrift Fair] really helps the environment and helps people get access to new things without having to put money towards it,” Chen said. “I think it also helps people get rid of stuff that they don’t need and give it a nice new use.”
Similarly, Spirit Commissioner Arabella Guinle said the fair emphasizes the importance of donating and upcycling.
“We’re trying to spread awareness of reusing clothes, like if you don’t wear them, then donate them,” Guinle said. “It’s important to always be donating because if you’re buying new clothes, you can get rid of old clothes you don’t use and extend the longevity of each piece.”
According to Guinle, the event brought in large amounts of donated clothes from students and parents.
“One of the main reasons for this Thrift Fair being such a huge success is the fact that we were able to get parents to donate,” Guinle said. “They provided a lot and once we were able to reach out to parents, we got a surplus of clothing, which is why we have so much engagement … I’m really glad that all these families were willing to donate.”
Many students, including sophomore Samanvika Senthil Kumar, said she enjoyed exchanging clothes with peers.
“I’m finding a lot of graphic T-shirts, which I think are cool,” Kumar said. “It’s fun that people can get rid of things they don’t want to wear anymore and other people can then find those things. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”
Sophomore Aurelia McKinney said she also liked exploring classmates’ styles.
“It’s good to be able to get free clothes and see what other people are wearing,” McKinney said. “There’s a lot of people who don’t find value in old clothes and I think it’s important to see the value in that, especially with stopping consumer waste.”
For others, such as senior Kalia Wooden, the fair was an opportunity to find clothes to resell.
“I found these shorts, and I’m just thinking about reselling everything right now,” Wooden said. “These are all good brands.”
Looking to the future, Guinle said ASB is considering an additional Thrift Fair after receiving an excess of donations.
“One of our biggest problems was that we had too many donations, which was actually a great problem to have,” Guinle said. “We hope to hold a second Thrift Fair since we had so many donations thanks to all the Paly families.”
