“I never, have ever, shopped at a ‘normal’ store,” Billie Eilish once famously said and she isn’t the only one. Whereas celebrity fashion is usually fancied with new-off-the-runway designer and astronomically high prices, an increasing variety of stars are updating the fashion playbook with a greener spin thrifting.
These A-listers aren’t playing at secondhand shopping for the purposes of a cute Instagram update. They’re creating wardrobes around secondhand gems, recycling legendary pieces down the red carpet, and leveraging their platforms to bring attention to the environmental advantages of purchasing vintage. From $6 Goodwill gowns to archive couture treasures, their selections are demonstration that secondhand style can be just as glamorous and frequently more one-of-a-kind than new designer fashion.
Here’s how nine celebrities are making thrifting and rewearing the ultimate style flex, and why their habits might just inspire your next shopping trip.
1. Olivia Rodrigo’s Tour-Stop Thrift Hunts
Olivia Rodrigo’s cool-girl aesthetic is as much about her music as it is about her knack for finding vintage gems. She takes care to shop thrift in every new town she plays, and she’s equally at home browsing Depop or Vestiaire Collective as she is crafting number one songs. Talking to Vogue, she explained that patience and foresight are necessary occasionally a piece must be tweaked, but it’ll be worth it in the end. Blending online vintage with in-store treasure hunts, she maintains her style fresh, unique, and earth-friendly.
2. Helen Mirren’s Pack-Light, Shop-Local Philosophy
Dame Helen Mirren has made thrifting a holiday tradition. For trips to colder climates, she is notorious for packing nothing but lingerie, then picking up boots, jumpers, and scarves at a local charity shop on the way from the airport, frequently for less than £30. Upon returning home, she donates them back. Not only does this save her luggage space, but it also benefits local communities and keeps clothes in circulation triple-sustainable bliss.
3. Macklemore’s Hip-Hop Thrift Anthem
Even before sustainability was a buzzword, Macklemore was spitting bars about it. His 2012 hit “Thrift Shop” wasn’t merely a hit hook it was a salute to a lifelong practice. In an interview with NPR, he explained that although hip-hop tends to celebrate conspicuous consumption and bling, he’s happy to call “a bunch of clothes from thrift stores” his own, in addition to his more expensive items. For him, it’s about saving money, being different, and rebelling against the culture of spend-more promoted by his industry.
4. Drew Barrymore’s Upcycling Awakening
Drew Barrymore has been dressing in vintage for years, but only just linked her behavior to its environmentally friendly effect. Appearing on her own talk show, she referred to upcycling as “an amazing way that we can be ecofriendly, save money,” explaining that there’s “not one wrong thing about it.” Outside of fashion, she searches for second-hand furniture, lamps, and artwork, showing that her passion for pre-loved items goes far beyond her wardrobe.
5. Emma Watson’s Small-Change, Big-Impact Strategy
Emma Watson couples her red carpet clout with eco-activism. Working with thredUP, she espoused their Fashion Footprint Calculator to illustrate how “small changes, like thrifting over buying new” have a massive impact on the environment. Whether she’s rocking couture or easy street attire, her options reveal how sustainable fashion doesn’t equal trading style for substance rather, it’s about making smart exchanges that do it add up.
6. Shailene Woodley’s Secondhand-Only Rule
Shailene Woodley keeps her wardrobe almost entirely secondhand. At Uber’s Go-Get Zero event in 2024, she revealed that “everything, apart from the socks I’m wearing, is secondhand.” She’s a fan of platforms like The RealReal, which let her both buy and resell pieces, creating what she calls a “fun system to interact with.” For her, thrifting isn’t just about the purchase it’s about the ongoing life of a garment.
7. Billie Eilish’s Mindset of Endless Possibilities
Billie Eilish has been thrift shopping since she was a child, and she’s become an expert at racing through racks at lightning speed. In conversation at the Overheated Live conference, she referred to thrift stores as “this giant warehouse and kind of everything under the sun that you can imagine.” Billie prefers second-hand shopping in that it isn’t so much a matter of stalking a particular item but rather a joy in the creative disorder of what she may discover.
8. Eva Mendes’ Red Carpet Goodwill Moment
Eva Mendes’ debut red carpet appearance? A $6 Goodwill dress. She still seeks that thrill, explaining to People she can “feel when there’s a little something. where there’s gold in the hills.” That hunter-gatherer sense brings her back to the thrift shops, demonstrating that even Hollywood glamour can be launched with a bargain bin discovery.
9. Winona Ryder’s Oscars-Worthy Vintage
Winona Ryder has shown up to the Oscars in $10 vintage gowns and cheerfully re-worn them to other glamorous occasions. She’s unapologetic about defying the “one-and-done” rule of the fashion community, asking, “Why do you have to wear it only once if you love it?” Her philosophy celebrates both sustainability and individuality, demonstrating that fashion is about attachment to the garments, not necessarily their first use.
From Olivia Rodrigo’s city-to-city thrift store treasures to Winona Ryder’s bold red carpet revisits, these stars are showing us that thrift shopping is not just a cost-cutting measure it’s a fashion philosophy. By opting for second-hand items, they’re minimizing waste, shopping local economies, and creating wardrobes that no one else can match. Amidst the fast-fashion world, their options remind us that the most enduring looks tend to have a history and occasionally, a second chance.
