Sarah Caulder / Daily Nexus

Every month or so, Isla Vista’s Pardall Road turns into a mini Rose Bowl: burly sunglassed men vending rows upon rows of colorful, oversized NASCAR jackets I can only hope to afford, college students selling rows of kitschy beaded jewelry, throngs of fashionable shoppers bedecked with piercings and sporting low-waisted jeans. 

I’m not the biggest fan of curated thrift collections — I’d rather practice delayed gratification and scrounge through racks and racks of grandma capris, wrinkled nurses’ scrubs and stained NBA T-shirts in search of the elusive mother lode (it’s about the journey as much as the result).

However, if I’m determined to walk away from my thrifting experience with something I know I’ll like, the booths set up shop along Pardall and I.V. are the place to be. 

One morning in early 2023, I was browsing the racks in search of nothing in particular when it caught my eye: a sheer off-white and red mesh top with a cartoon graphic of a girl on the front — think playful Y2K a la Polly Pocket. Though I’d wager that the top originally came from the Target girls’ section and the $25 price tag was above the ballpark of the original price, I forked out two 10s and a five without hesitation and left the booth satisfied with my purchase. 

After returning home, I discovered that the graphic of the girl on the front wrapped around to the back of the shirt, where the rest of the picture — an adorable dog on a leash — appeared. As someone who appreciates clothing items that come with originality and humor, I immediately started brainstorming ways I could style it: with a denim miniskirt and boots, under an oversized leather jacket, with a brown patchwork cap I borrowed from my mom. Possibilities seemed endless. 

Despite my personal success at the Pardall thrift booths, there’s been much contentious discussion in recent years about the virtue of curation in thrifting. Specifically, online debate focuses on whether it’s ethical to take items that were once cheap and widely available and resell them at increased prices in order to turn a profit. For example, items like Paul Frank baby tees, Juicy Couture tracksuits and Champion hoodies, once widely available at stores like Target and Walmart, are now high-ticket items on platforms like Depop and Poshmark, as well as at curated secondhand markets. People online have voiced complaints about resellers like these, arguing that resale for profit is “greedy” and unfairly depletes thrift stores, which often serve as go-to clothing sources for low-income shoppers, of their inventory. 

However, aside from the occasional and obviously egregious $80 for a T-shirt that originally belonged to a child, I personally don’t oppose vintage-oriented Depop sellers and pop-up vendors increasing a price beyond that of the original item. In an era of instant gratification, we tend to forget that curation and sourcing of vintage items is labor and a service in itself. 

And although resellers’ consistency and enthusiasm can make it look like thrift store inventories are being exhausted, a vast plurality of for-profit resellers focus on specific niches tailored to current trends, which far from exhausts the supply of clothing available for individual shoppers. 

My point is: While I wholeheartedly encourage you to search the Goodwill bins for the perfect colorblock windbreaker or True Religion jeans, it’s also important to appreciate the work that resellers do to bring collections of trendy-once-again clothing right to our phone screens or the I.V. streets we walk every day. 

As for me, I’m satisfied with my purchase because it encouraged me to explore pieces outside my comfort zone. Today, as much as I gravitate in the direction of bright colors and patterns while shopping, I’m someone whose everyday fashion sense tends to lean toward tried-and-true basics. 

But when the air chills and the mojo is right, I love pairing this top with medium-wash baggy jeans and an oversized tan utility jacket, and it receives a lot of compliments.

I always respond with “That’s not all. Look! There’s a dog on the back!”