Thrift Glossary
Understand every thrift term. From Y2K and Deadstock to Upcycled, our glossary helps you hunt like a pro.
- Y2K
- Refers to the late 90s and early 2000s fashion. Think low-rise jeans, butterfly clips, and tech-silver aesthetics.
- Vintage
- Clothing that is typically at least 20 years old. Verified vintage often features unique tags and construction methods.
- Retro
- Modern clothing designed to look like a past era. Not necessarily vintage, but carries the vintage aesthetic.
- Streetwear
- Casual, comfortable clothing inspired by hip-hop, skate culture, and high-fashion hype.
- Gorpcore
- A style built around technical outdoor and hiking gear — fleeces, shell jackets, and trail sneakers worn as everyday fashion.
- Cottagecore
- A romanticised rural aesthetic featuring florals, linens, prairie dresses, and handmade-looking garments.
- Old Money / Quiet Luxury
- Understated, logo-free clothing in premium fabrics and neutral tones that signals wealth through quality rather than branding.
- Deadstock (DS)
- Original, unworn items from the past that were never sold and remained in stock. Often comes with original tags.
- NWT / NWOT
- New With Tags / New Without Tags — an unworn item that either still has its original retail tags (NWT) or has had them removed (NWOT).
- VNDS
- Very Near Deadstock — worn once or twice and in near-perfect condition, one tier below true deadstock.
- Pre-loved
- Items that have been previously owned. High-quality pre-loved items are often as good as new.
- Grail
- A highly coveted, rare, or hard-to-find item that collectors search for extensively.
- Upcycled / Reworked
- Old or discarded materials creatively transformed into a product of higher quality or value than the original.
- Curator
- A curator who handpicks and quality-checks second-hand pieces around a specific style, era, or standard before listing them.
- Thrift Flip
- Buying a cheap second-hand garment and altering or restyling it into something new and more valuable.
- Bale
- A large compressed bundle of mixed second-hand clothing that curators buy wholesale and sort through to find resellable pieces.
- Drop
- A scheduled release of new inventory at a set date and time, common with thrift curators to build anticipation.
- Haul
- A batch of items bought in a single thrifting session, often shared as content to showcase finds.
- Circular Fashion
- A system where clothing is designed with high longevity, recyclability, and resource efficiency in mind. Thrifting is core to this.
- Slow Fashion
- An approach to fashion that prioritizes quality, ethical production, and long-term wear over fast-paced trends.
- Fast Fashion
- Mass-produced, trend-driven clothing made quickly and cheaply, associated with high textile waste and short garment lifespans.
- Capsule Wardrobe
- A small, curated set of versatile, interchangeable garments that maximise outfits while minimising consumption.
- Curated
- A selection of items handpicked by curators based on a specific style, quality, or theme.