Head Back to School in Style With Thrifted Goodwill® Finds

By Felicia Czochanski Bisaro

From looking for a backpack that not only fits all your textbooks but also shows your style, to looking for the perfect pair of white sneakers that you can throw on to complete any outfit, back-to-school shopping is already top of mind. Your style may have changed during summer break. You or your child might be starting a new milestone year in school and want to mark the occasion with the perfect look for the first day. There is nothing like starting the year off right with a confidence boost from an outfit that makes you feel your best and like you’re ready to turn the page on a new chapter.

Of course, between books, computers, calculators and dorm essentials for the college-bound, budgets can be tighter when it comes to new back-to-school clothes. With inflation where it is, shopping at retail stores can feel unreasonable when you look at the price tag on a simple white t-shirt or a pair of sneakers. That’s why, increasingly, people are tapping into the trend of thrifting great secondhand pieces instead. At Goodwill, you could have a one-stop shop for clothes, shoes, backpacks and other school accessories — and each item will be marked at less than what you might expect to pay at a regular retail store. You never know what you might find at Goodwill, and in fact, not everything is actually secondhand. Sometimes people miss return windows on items that didn’t fit, and they will bring those new with tags treasures to Goodwill as a donation. I’ve found many amazing pieces this way, even some that are high-end designers!

I stopped into a local Goodwill store to get some back-to-school inspiration and recommend you do the same. Below, I’m sharing some of the great finds I came across and styled together for complete, thrifted back-to-school looks. You’ll see with some of the price tags that these outfits won’t break the bank. One of my favorite finds was this Vera Bradley backpack — which can retail for around $155-185. At Goodwill, it was a complete steal for $9.99!

For me, this is the magic of shopping at Goodwill. Sometimes it feels like the items that are meant for you somehow find their way to you. You could come across them on the racks or in the bins. It can turn into a fun treasure hunt, but the treasure is worth the adventure!

✨ Find Your Back-to-School Vibe with Goodwill!!

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