The resale rack is beating the retail rack these days. The U.S. secondhand apparel market is projected to reach $74 billion by 2029, growing about 9 percent annually, according to ThredUp’s 2025 Resale Report. A big share of that growth is coming from older shoppers, including plenty of retirees and snowbirds right here on the Suncoast who’d rather spend wisely than chase every trend.
The environmental case is just as strong as the financial one. The average American throws away more than 70 pounds of clothing and textiles each year, and globally the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned every second. Secondhand stylists like Stephanie Hernandez help clients build distinctive wardrobes from thrifted finds and pieces they already own. Howard University professor Mikki Taylor takes it a step further in her sustainable fashion course, teaching students to look at what’s already hanging in their closets before buying anything new. Her advice: remake it, reinvent it, build around the staples.
Around Sarasota and Manatee County, that could mean a Saturday morning at a consignment shop on St. Armands, a church thrift store off US-41, or just a honest conversation with your own closet before hurricane season packing starts. Good clothes deserve more than one life. So what’s the best secondhand find you’ve ever scored around town?
