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Photo by Jim Graham
Shopping secondhand around the Brandywine Valley has never been more productive and fun.
Gina Tomassone likes to say she has a black belt in shopping. Her passion for fashion led her to Laguna Beach, California, where she opened G. Marie Boutique. “The vintage collection took up a cute little corner of the store and quickly became popular,” says Tomassone. “I knew I wanted to keep the vintage business as a separate entity.”
Now back on the East Coast, Tomassone curates her G. Marie Vintage collection at Shoppe Lieu in Kennett Square, capitalizing on a secondhand trend that’s taken off nationwide. The appeal is obvious. Thrift shops offer serious bargains and unique items you won’t find in any boutique or department store. There’s also the eco-friendly angle, with Gen Z leading the way. It can take over 700 gallons of water to manufacture a single new cotton T-shirt. Sustainable fashion combats the waste and pollution generated by an industry that currently accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions.
In the United States alone, the secondhand apparel market is on track to grow by 127% over the next three years. That’s three times faster than the global apparel market overall, which was valued at $177 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach $350 billion by the year 2032.
Wilmington’s Great Stuff Savvy Resale has seen sales double since COVID. The store was founded as a fundraising arm of the Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition, and many of its volunteers are breast cancer survivors. “I think the younger generation is starting to not like fast fashion, and a lot of it is driven by awareness of waste,” she says volunteer Karen Miller, who’s seen Louis Vuitton, Ferragamo, Christian Louboutin and other high-end brands pass through the racks at Great Stuff. “Plus, a lot of young people have started to get into vintage.”
North Wilmington’s Tamara Cimalore will never forget the first time she stepped into Great Stuff Savvy Resale. She once found a Hermès scarf—but she especially cherishes the vintage pins she bought for a mere $3 each.
Tomassone is among the millennials who’ve taken up a passion for vintage fashion. And she’s on the prowl “everywhere and all the time” for vintage finds. “I enjoy watching trends as they occur, and you can recreate any look you want with vintage items. It’s all about the styling of the complete look,” she says. “I can go into a thrift store, scan it and know what I want to see.”
Gina Tomassone jumpstarted her G. Marie Vintage in Southern California before bringing it to Kennett Square.
Cimalore loves that the inventory at Great Stuff is vastly different every time she visits. “I’ve been here several times a week, and it looks totally different,” she says. “It’s like a completely new experience than it was two days ago,”
Cimalore tries to shop sustainably as often as she can. For her, it’s a feel-good experience—especially when she connects with other customers as they curate outfits together. “It’s good for the community, my wallet and the planet,” she says. “More importantly, it’s good for the soul.”
Related: 7 Tips to Boost Your Brandywine Valley Home’s Overall Appearance
