The Thrift Store Is My Midlife Rebellion

Buying less, buying better, and finding power and joy in clothes with a past.

It’s time we stop apologizing for thrifting and for midlife. We’ve been taught that wanting nice things at our age is greedy, and caring about our appearance is vain. Both are lies.

Enough.

Menopause sucks. Silence makes it worse. The planet deserves better too.

I’m Madeleine. I thrift. And I’m done with your judgement.

Fast Fashion Is Killing the Planet

Overmanufacturing and overconsumption are the problem. According to the EPA, the U.S. alone generates about 17 million tons of textile waste (including unwanted clothes) annually. Secondhand clothes cut landfill waste and the footprint of new manufacturing. Thrifting—good for the planet and midlife bodies—has grown three times faster than mainstream retail. It’s more than shopping; it’s a movement.

Rewriting the Rules of Style

Green-awareness and thrifting-savvy are suddenly cool. Actress Helen Mirren said she only packs underwear when she travels, preferring to thrift what she needs, then donate it back when she departs. Sarah Jessica Parker, known for her vintage-rich wardrobes on Sex and the City and And Just Like That, said she only bought used clothing for her son and committed to an entirely previously owned wardrobe for HBO’s Divorce.

Meanwhile, 25-year-old influencers are getting praised for “discovering” what working-class women have done out of necessity for decades. Celebrity stylist Stacy London concurs that secondhand isn’t just ecologically responsible, but also “one of the only ways to really stand out and not be part of a trend.”

Let me have an amen there on behalf of all my sisters rejecting crop tops, hard denim, and anything that defies a bra. Lately, too many trends feel “been there” or just “ugh, pass.” Retail, London said, “is aimed at those in their 20s and 30s. You lose a lot of the care of what others think in your 50s. I’m out of f*cks to give.” If retail gave up on us the minute we hit 40, why are we still engaging with an industry that considers us irrelevant? The answer: We stop. We dress for ourselves instead.

Clothes with a Past, Style With a Future

The freedom of self-expression over pleasing others is, frankly, a rush—one encouraged by the unlimited potential of used clothes. These garments have lived entire lives before us—love affairs, career changes, relocations. They have history. Like we do.

The risk of a new look could raise nerves, but it might also reveal a previously unknown self. London described the thrill of the thrifting hunt as a dopamine hit, as well as a creative experiment. “Your body is the canvas,” she said. “It’s more fun as we age. Play with it.” The fashion industry wants us to believe our bodies are the problem. What if the real problem is their failure of imagination and we can pick up where they fall short?

Stylist Elysha Lenkin sees thrifting as “an opportunity to get playful and try something different, find new ideas.” Who are you in an oddly gorgeous pair of over-knee purple suede boots? A fashion bomb can be, as Lenkin said, “a delightful surprise.”

London similarly encourages mixing it up, buying a silver sequin opera coat to wear with a t-shirt and pants or a vintage nightgown over wide-leg jeans. Maybe you slow walk it, adding and subtracting bits and pieces to try the effect. Or perhaps you damn the torpedoes and embrace complete transformation. My recently acquired cinnabar bracelets and black faux fur bolero were baby steps into reinvention. Who is this person? I’m not sure, but I want to get to know her.

Clearing Out, Moving Forward

My daughter’s departure to college pushed me to purge, reconsider, and then add back in. As we think about next life stages, downsizing and discarding, we often find that we own too much and too little of it makes us happy. “Clear what’s not working anymore and draining energy,” Lenkin said. I’m letting go of old-sized clothes and shoes, donating my wedding dress, and admitting I’m not an evening gown person.

Time for it all to move along. 

A Closet Revolution, One Find at a Time

I now buy fewer but better pieces that will last through trends and transitions, cutting down on wasted space, money, and materials. My friend Sandra introduced me to her “secret thrift” when we met in our 20s. That’s where I learned to sort the wheat from the chaff: vintage dresses, Theory pants, and cashmere that was someone else’s shrunk-in-the-wash.

Sandra now lives in Dublin and thrifts her way across Europe; her recent prize find was a handmade wool sweater for 10 euros, a long-term addition to her closet. “It’s breathtaking in its simplicity and form,” she said, much like her “perfect Hermes scarf for $5.99.” Previous ownership makes high-end, investment-level pieces attainable, providing style and sustainability.

Beyond the Bargain: Fashion With a Future

Thrifting is a marathon—the antidote to fast fashion, creating a highly personal wardrobe that fits our current bodies and lives. We can have—and deserve—nice things, and we can challenge and revise who we are by incorporating them into our lives. Clothes with a past fire the imagination and kickstart reinvention.

Every thrifted find is a small act of rebellion—against waste, against ageism, against the assumption that women over 50 are unseen and unheard. Wearing a sequined opera coat means neither could possibly be true ever again.