The Breakfast Club Taught Me How To Thrift

Our next contributor is Anne. If you follow The Justin and Ian Podcast, you might be familiar with her. She is a friend and is known for her vintage/thrift god status. For more on Anne, visit her Instagram: @gr.anne.pa where you can see her vintage/thrift god fits in action.

As the first outside contributor to the Televised Film Recommendations, I am recommending the amazing film that is The Breakfast Club (1985). Now, I don’t think I need to remind you of how iconic a film this is as you have all likely heard of its existence. But if you still, despite all the hype, have yet to have watched it, you should reconsider. Not because it is an iconic film or because it is what is seen as a quirky movie from the 90s, but because it is an excellent film. The Breakfast Club is about five highschool students decorated with their own set of problems who find themselves unlucky enough to be stuck in Saturday detention together. Each of the five at first fits a classic character trope; depicted as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal, but as the film progresses they develop as people, unbounded by their cliques to form a bond that they never thought they’d have. I have seen The Breakfast Club at least five times now, the first being in high school and the most recent being just now, and I will never get tired of the film. The Breakfast Club breaks the confines of social circles, makes you reevaluate your views of others, and overall just feels like a movie you’d watch on a lazy Saturday night with friends. Although The Breakfast Club is filmed in the bland, beige hallways of a high school and the confines of a carpeted library, the quality of real film and light wash of colours make for an enjoyable watch. On the fashion side, every character oozes effortless style and masters the art of layering. Whether it be with Bender’s white tee, flannel, and (now vintage) washed denim jacket or Claire’s burgundy leather jacket, gloves, and midi skirt outfit. This film proves that simple pieces layered together can make a look. Specifically, an abundance of scarves (men and women), midi skirts, statement jackets, fitted sweatshirts and of course white tees are all styled to perfection. The next time I can leave my house and visit my local thrift I will be looking for a midi skirt and a plain white tee that I somehow still don’t own. Coming from someone who completely lacked style in high school, having to wear a uniform every day, I like to think that my brain stored a mood board of fashion from all of the media I have consumed over the years, including this film. My fashion sense then emerged when I started thrifting post highschool. When I walked into my local Value Village for the first time, I in no way knew how to thrift yet despite having watched a few Youtube videos on the topic. What I found though was that I gravitated towards a lot of vintage pieces. It was especially helpful that I thrifted in an area where the demographic consisted of older middle-class French people that both wore my size and had good taste. Although, I like to imagine that I may be thrifting from one single person’s donated closet because there is no way this many pairs of pants fit me from the thrift, but besides the point, what was most important for me was to have fun with thrifting. I looked through every aisle with my best friend, picking up anything I could imagine myself wearing in an interesting colour or texture and filled an entire cart with items to try on. I then emerged from the changing room with 4 to 6 items that I loved and wasn’t constricted by price in buying. Many of those pieces happened to come from the era of The Breakfast Club, and I still wear at least half of them to this day as I continue to thrift. I have definitely felt a shift in my confidence and other people’s perception of my confidence since I started dressing better. The Breakfast Club has a lot to say about fashion and the way people perceive you based on how you dress or the social circles you belong to, especially coming from Allison’s transformation, but I’ll leave that for you to watch and figure out yourself. If you want an inner look at what your favourite (or least favourite) people’s lives may actually be like, want to be swept away by the appeal of the 90s — a time we wish we grew up in, or get inspired by the art of layering and come out a Princess yourself, I give you The Breakfast Club. The Breakfast Club is available on Hulu and Amazon Prime Video.