#002: Only Thrifting w/ Erika Veurink

The Iowa native and former thrifting babysitter (!!) shares her love of old-school J.Crew, vintage nightgowns, and why thrifting with your best friend is always a slice of heaven.

One of the most special things about thrifting—like better than finding early 2000s Miu Miu—is finding your people. Our people. You know, the ones who despite thrifting being a strange language to many seem to always speak it so fluently, so beautifully, and you just want to sit around and thrift or talk thrifting with them All Day Long. I have people in my life that are thrifting soulmates, and given you’re reading this rn, you probably do, too. These are the people I can at any moment of the day (or night) dive head-first into any eBay search or nearby Savers and spend a few hours delighting from a few aisles away in each other’s gleeful yelps or howls when one of us finds something outstanding.

(Just writing that makes me want to go thrifting immediately.)

I have never gone thrifting with writer and brand strategist Erika Veurink, but in my mind we go thrifting all the time. Whenever she writes about vintage denim or topsiders or why the creative director of J. Crew’s outfit requires urgent enthusiastic discussion—most often in her wonderful newsletter “Long Live”—I know without a shadow of a doubt we WILL go thrifting together…someday! And so, when I started this column, she was one of the first people on my list to feature. Someone I like to follow, learn from, compare finds with, and someday power thrift our way together through the nearest Goodwill outlet. I knew she’d have many secrets and gems to share, not just about thrifting, but about how thrifting helps us know ourselves—and our style—better…so, let’s get into it!

Erika in Levi’s from eBay, a thrifted basket, and her dad's “old shirt.”