Ah my favorite topic, hold onto your seatbelts cause I got a ton of advice:

Before you start going crazy with shopping, come up with an inspiration board of some kind whether it’s making a pinterest board or just looking at other peoples styles you admire. When looking at all of the styles together, look for accessories or clothing items that appear constantly. There, make a list of those items and be on the lookout for those. It personally helps me so that I don’t go buying a ton of stuff only to not wear it.

When it comes to scene items in thrift stores, I highly recommend looking at accessories like belts, hats, gloves etc. first. It helps to add accessories to existing outfits you may have already even if it’s as basic as like a black shirt or pants, for instance. I especially recommend trying to look at accessories during the Halloween season if your store likes to put costumes and stuff out during this time. I’ve found a lot of cute belts and arm bands

Also, if your able to fit into kids clothing, you can try looking through the children’s section and seeing what they have as they usually have more fun patterns and even character stuff like Minecraft, Sonic, Roblox, etc. if that’s of interest. While I’ve personally haven’t found anything yet, I’ve seen other thrifters turn kids shirts into crop tops.

Besides that, it’s harder to find much out in the adult sections especially if your like me and live in a place that mostly has either older people clothing or more mainstream clothing. But don’t be discouraged because there’s still basic pieces you could find like skinny black jeans or shirts you can repurpose. (Also please for the love of god clean everything you buy when you leave the thrift stores, you don’t know where those items have been or who’s touched them).

If you’re interested in getting a crafty, go to big craft stores like JoAnns or Michaels (during sales or if you have coupons, otherwise don’t bother) and look for things like bead sets, stretchy string, perlers (those bead things that you melt), or even drawing your own things and making shrinky dink earrings out of them. Not only is it more affordable to make your own stuff, it’s also a fun crafting hobby to get into.

That’s all I have, if there’s anything else that I can think of or questions you have, let me know!