A couple of style conscious First State women called the Thrift Mobb are helping other women curate their wardrobes – on a budget.
Tia Jones and Thea Lopez arrange monthly meet-up events at First State thrift shops.
“It’s really about being fly on a dime and recreating today’s hottest trends and vintage pieces," Lopez said. "That’s something we really pride ourselves on because you don’t have to spend a lot of money to look good. In all actuality, fashion is really a form of art. That’s pretty much how I see it.”
Tia and Thea started hosting thrifting meet-up groups in 2013 after they met at a fashion show in Philly, but took a break for a couple of years before making it an official thing just last year. They have an Instagram page and even offer closet organization, personal shopping tours and more. They also practice what they preach.
“A month ago I’m on Zara’s website and I’m about to buy a denim skirt," Jones said. "I’m looking at the price, it’s like $35 which is ok. But then I thought, I’ll wait until Wednesday, go to Salvation Army when it’s half off and I’ll find a denim skirt. So I found this skirt, I just ripped the hems so it could fringe right here and I took the pockets off and it’s literally almost the exact same skirt from Zara.”
I visited one of their meet ups at Wilmington’s Family Thrift Store to see if Tia found any good deals.
"Today has been great, I literally just walked in like 10 minutes ago and you see…this is my favorite so far, I don’t know why, sometimes I’m just drawn to things, I don’t know what I’d wear with it….but is that not cool? No shoulder pads of course, take the shoulder pads out…..”
Her favorite find: an 80s beaded, sequin button-up shirt. And she was wearing a thrift shop find as well. But that wasn’t all:
“And I found a couple of dresses that we’re thinking about using for our fall collection. Red is a big color this fall, so there’s this red dress: it looks like an 80s prom dress, maybe, or an 80s cocktail dress. It’s off the shoulder which is really popular right now," Jones said.
They plan to sell tailored items – with the help of Tia’s grandmother – online and at pop up events this fall.