If you have any fashion-focused TikToks on your “For You” page, there is a good chance you have come across Macy Eleni’s content, which has recently become extremely popular on the app. But you’re missing out if you haven’t checked out her profile on other platforms like Instagram and YouTube. Macy (aka Blazed and Glazed), is known for her thrift hauls, styling tips, and overall high energy content. Her unmatched thrifting expertise is exactly why SHEESH! reached out; we’re eager to learn more, and Macy is certainly capable of teaching us.
Although she lives in Los Angeles now, Macy grew up in Dayton, Ohio, which is where her love for thrifting blossomed. She told us why she first stepped foot in the Salvation Army right down the street, “I grew up raised by a single mom, and we didn’t have a ton of money for clothing, and back then in 2009 and 2010 the cool things to wear were brand names like Abercrombie and Hollister. I really started getting into Teen Vogue, and I just decided one day to go to a thrift store. I was wanting to recreate these outfits that I had seen in Teen Vogue and that I knew I couldn’t afford.” After her first trip, she was hooked. “I would go every Wednesday on family day—the whole entire store was fifty percent off. I would buy massive trash bags of clothing, haul them home with me, go down to the basement, do all my laundry, and then I would just put looks together.” This helped Macy grow her confidence and make her finally feel like she belonged in the world of fashion.
Since then, Macy Eleni has kept up her habit of frequent thrift trips, and she has really enjoyed the freedom it gives her when it comes to experimenting with fashion choices. One of her most recent finds is definitely experimental, but without a doubt fabulous: vintage lingerie shorts. With a ribbed white tank and oversized blazer, it is the perfect ensemble for fall in Los Angeles.
As of late, Macy has branched out to a new realm of vintage shopping by attending as many estate sales as she can. Here she scored a YSL button-up and Dior sweater vest, along with many other treasures. We both agreed that it’s fun to know who the clothing’s previous owners were, and even more fun to give the pieces another life.
Before we dive into Macy’s thrift tips, she would like to emphasize what she feels is the most important thing to remember while thrifting: “I feel like a big part of thrifting is just wearing what you want and being yourself. It is just about having fun and doing whatever you want and wearing whatever you want and going after it and not worrying about what other people think or where the clothes come from or how they look on your body. It is all about having fun and creating these characters and these vibes with yourself that make you happy. That is a big point I always want to drive.”
Keeping that in mind, here are five thrift tips from Macy Eleni to help you succeed while shopping.
1. Go By Yourself
“I like to go by myself, because honestly I find when you go with a friend—unless they’re a thrifter—people get a little bored, a little overwhelmed by everything.”
2. Take Your Time
“You just need to spend a lot of time there. You need to carve out a chunk of time and go, because it is really easy to walk in and be like, ‘Oh there’s nothing here.’ And I do that too sometimes, but then I’ll start looking and I’m like, ‘Okay, there is stuff.’ So definitely going often, and going for a bit.”
3. Estate Sales May Become Your New Go-To
“With estate sales, you can get on the computer and look up the estate sale you’re going to, and there’s usually pictures and descriptions of everything that is going to be there. So you can get a really good idea of if you should even go or not, versus in a thrift store, you’re not going to know what you’re going to get. Also, estate sales usually go on a whole weekend, and usually they are full-price the first day, 20% off the second day, 50% off the last day. If you want to find designer pieces, I would 100% recommend going to an estate sale over a thrift store.”
How do you find estate sales?
“Estatesales.net is the best nation-wide, but I am also on a couple of mailing lists. I’ve gotten on those mailing lists from following random vintage furniture shops in LA on Instagram. A lot of those vintage shops get their pieces from estate sales, so they promote estate sale companies a lot. I’ll pay attention to those, and that’s where I get on sneaky mailing lists and then get things that aren’t on estatesales.net.”
4. See an Item for What It Could Be
“I do think it’s great to go in with an idea of what you want, especially if you’re not a super experienced thrifter. I think it helps you to not get overwhelmed. But you also need to have an open mind, and see an item for what it could be, not for what it is. Like I found a great printed jacket, but it was too long so I cut off the bottom, made the bottom trim a tube top, and then it matched with the cropped jacket. And that was something that I had been looking for, because I had seen someone on Instagram with a tube top and matching cropped jacket.”
5. Donate!
“I am a big believer in my #1 thrift tip: you’ve got to give good shit to get good shit. Every single time I thrift, I try to bring a bag of donations with me. Once I have a moment or two or three in it, I want to pass it along to someone else so they can have their own moments in it. I’m very for cycling in and out; my closet is ever-rotating. If you see me wear something, I probably got rid of it the next day!”
To get more thrifting tips and style inspiration follow Macy Eleni on Instagram and TikTok, and subscribe to her YouTube channel.
