Undoubtedly, fashion is a big part of many people’s lives, especially students. To avoid fast fashion and reuse clothing in a more ethical, environmental-friendly way, many in State College thrift. But how do we know which thrift store to put our trust in? To answer this question, I went to a few of the thrift stores in State College to figure out which one was the best place to get your clothes for this upcoming fall.

To decide on which was the best, I used a ranking scale out of 5. This includes the quality of the clothes, the amount of clothes, the quality and amount of accessories, and general pricing. With one being the lowest score you can get, and five being the highest, I set out on my quest to find the best thrift store in State College.

GOODWILL

I’ve always been a fan of Goodwill. Just the sheer amount of clothes that they have is overwhelming. Not to mention with glasses, tech, furniture, and other miscellaneous items, the abundance of products at Goodwill is simply wonderful.

QUALITY OF CLOTHES: 2/5

When it comes to the quality of clothes, I would give goodwill a solid 2/5. You could be looking for over an hour and only have five or six good finds, depending on what your style is. You would have to look through the racks for a while if you wanted to do a full closet makeover.
If you’re just looking for a few things, I would say come here if you have a lot of time to spend filing through clothes. Though many people (including myself) have found some amazing things at Goodwill, they generally take a longer time to find.
Other than that, when you do find clothes, they are generally ripped, torn, old, or stained. They seem to be just thrown in all together (the ripped things, the stained things, and the old things) with the good quality clothes that you can sometimes find at Goodwill.

AMOUNT OF CLOTHES: 5/5

You could come here and spend days looking through all the clothes, just because of the sheer amount of them. Because Goodwill takes all the clothes that you donate, that means they have many clothes to sell, and so many to sort through.
If you enjoy spending time in a thrift store, I would suggest going here. Day turns into night when you’re searching for good finds and the right outfits.

QUALITY/AMOUNT OF ACCESSORIES: 1/5

For most people, the quality of accessories at Goodwill is underwhelming. You could spend your time going through the bracelets, necklaces, and rings, but in the end, more often than not, you won’t find anything you like. They do have a decent amount of accessories, but very few of them seem to be any good.

QUALITY/AMOUNT OF EXTRAS: 4/5

While Goodwill does have a bunch of extra things in their stores, including furniture, books, CDs, records, fabrics, and more, most of the things that you find are poor quality. Most of the books I found were none that would appeal to me, and the furniture is very worn and drab. I would say their tech is outdated, and their other things are simply that—”things.” To top it all off, their records are very scratched up. But when it comes to the amount, Goodwill has it all. They have everything your mind desires and even a little bit more.

My favorite part of it all though, is their used glassware. You can find some really cool things there, including Mason Jars, old Coca Cola bottles, and fun glasses for your drinks.

Overall, Goodwill is befitting to its name and reputation. While you can find good clothes there, it might take you a while to find what’s right for you.

UPTOWN CHEAPSKATE

I’ve known about Uptown Cheapskate for a while now, but I’ve only shopped there one or two times. From my first impression, it was clean, orderly, and well put together.

QUALITY OF CLOTHES: 4/5

Though their clothes are very good quality, I would think that some of them are a little pricey, and not exactly my style. I’ve found some extremely cute pieces in there though, and I’ve fallen in love with a few of them. Some of my favorite Penn State gear is from there as well. They have the cutest jeans and some really great flannels, not to mention their dresses and tops.

AMOUNT OF CLOTHES: 4/5

Though their amount of clothes is good, it wasn’t really outstanding to me. There were a few empty racks at the time I went, and some of the shelves were less packed than they should have been.
The stark amount of different clothes they had was what pushed me to give them extra points. From men’s and women’s activewear, to jeans, pants, tops (tanks, long, and short), dresses, and skirts, Uptown Cheapskate had it all. I was in love with all the uniqueness of the clothes, especially in comparison to Goodwill, which had mostly tops and little amounts of everything else.

QUALITY/AMOUNT OF ACCESSORIES: 5/5

I was shocked at the quality of their accessories. They looked brand new, were stylish and trendy, and overall catered to any style. The amount was just right, and to me, that means a lot. There were lots of different things to choose from, and I loved all of them. Not to mention the shoes, which were in good shape and fitting to the theme of the store.

QUALITY/AMOUNT OF EXTRAS: 1/5

Though they had some good stuff, such as makeup wipes, makeup, and soap, it was all underwhelming. There were only a few things to choose from and none of them were that good.

Uptown Cheapskate, overall, did pretty well, though it did have some downfalls. I think Uptown Cheapskate is a pretty good thrifting store, especially because you can get money for the clothes that you bring them.

Out of all the thrift stores in State College, these two are definitely up in the high ranks. With Goodwill’s amount of clothes and Uptown Cheapskate’s quality, these two are definitely contenders in the running of the best thrift store in State College.
Come back for part two, where I review Plato’s Closet and Love it Boutique.