For 2025, fast fashion is out, and thrifting and shopping vintage are in.
For 2025, fast fashion is out, and thrifting and shopping vintage are in. Gen-Z has been rocking one-of-a-kind pieces that can only be found at thrift and vintage shops. This rise in demand for second-hand items over mainstream clothing brands has led to increased access to second-hand stores. Fortunately, Boulder has so many local shops to choose from, including our own SLCT Stock on The Hill.
thrift and vintage shops. This rise in demand for second-hand items over mainstream clothing brands has led to increased access to second-hand
cluding our own SLCT Stock on The Hill. near the IU campus, and has since expanded across the country with two stores: one in Boulder by of New York. Manager of the Colorado store, Clay Van Ornum has worked and loves his job: “I think waking up in the morning and being excitthing that is pretty rare, and I [intend] as long as I can.”
SLCT Stock began in Bloomington, Indiana, created by Nick Ayala, near the IU campus, and has since expanded across the country with two stores: one in Boulder by CU and the newest in the Manhattan area of New York. Manager of the Colorado store, Clay Van Ornum has worked with SLCT for a couple of years now and loves his job: “I think waking up in the morning and being excited to go to work is something that is pretty rare, and I [intend] to hold on to that as long as I can.”
From high-quality crewnecks, jeans, t-shirts, hats and more, there is something for everyone. “We are just a curated vintage storefront trying to provide good, decently priced vintage to students and people that are into vintage clothing,” said Clay. SLCT specializes in buying, selling and trading. Many of the items come from students themselves as well as Denver thrifters. They’re constantly sourcing new pieces to provide new items weekly, so if you have some pieces you want to toss out, go give SLCT a show. “[It] was always better to find unique stuff that I couldn’t find anywhere else,” said Clay.
SLCT also has a website where you can order their pieces. Updated often, you can use the website to see what items are offered in the store or directly order them. This month, they dropped an NYC apple collection.
ROAM had the fortunate opportunity to collaborate with SLCT and borrow sick vintage pieces from the store for a photo shoot for the Requiem print. Focusing on being alive and indulging in the nostalgia from eras we (Gen-Z) weren’t born in, SLCT’s items helped embody that. Representing the more laid-back, baggy style of the 90s through the vibrant blue denim, crewnecks, jerseys and more, SLCT’s pieces were high-quality and comfortable.
You may even still be able to grab some of the items used in this shoot: the green hat, the jerseys, jorts, jeans, and more.
“I think we’re the best vintage store in Boulder. I recommend anyone who has the time to come by and check out what we got…you can always find something new [here],” said Clay.
by Gabi Linke
Every corner of the internet has various niches that people like to inhabit; they each have their own specific style, aesthetic, attitude and interests that tag along with it. However, one trend that dominated the conversation in the early 2020s was the resurgence of Y2K styles. Low-rise jeans, baguette bags, bedazzled accessories, ballet flats and hyper-straightened hair were all the rage and continue to pop up in 2025 trends. Technicolor neon clothing, traditionally paired with a hazy filter over photographs that look like they were taken on an old digital camera, littered the feeds of everyone in 2020. This trend was popularized mainly by Gen Z internet users and spread like wildfire while we were quarantined. Why this nostalgia for a time when most of us were infants?
There is something to be said about Gen Z’s obsession with different eras, particularly the ‘70s and ‘90s stylewise. It seems romantic to a generation that has been glued to devices since they were born and has had to struggle with economic and political unrest throughout their teenage and early adult years. Gen Z’s fascination with the “I was born in the wrong generation” ideology stems from wanting to turn back the clock. Maybe things were better then than they are now, and maybe our current problems would be a lot easier to cope with if social media and AI didn’t exist.
This is extremely apparent when examining the Y2K style, better called the Gen Z version of the Y2K style. In the early 2000s, teenagers weren’t usually wearing what was being worn in movies and TV shows from that time; true Y2K style was a little more stylized and less celebrity-enhanced.
Dresses over jeans, straightened bangs with crunchy curled hair, bright-colored eyeshadows, extremely matte foundation, layered belts and half-quaffed hair (but still ballet flats) are what Y2K fashion truly was. But rewatching “Mean Girls” and shows like “The OC” crafted the idea that all teenagers in the early 2000s dressed like they were in a Britney Spears music video, which isn’t the case.
The romanticized iterations of style also apply to other eras; most people in the 70s weren’t donning penny lane coats and bell-bottoms daily. However, Y2K’s revisionist history is the most apparent since it was the most recent. It can be concluded that because it sparked popularity during a worldwide pandemic, it was a form of escapism into our childhoods and a time that felt much less confusing.
To be sure, we can take what we loved about Y2K fashion and leave what we were indifferent to. Fashion is cyclical and ever-changing and will continue to evolve over time.
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Rhett Kaya
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Enya Bayaraa
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Gabi Linke
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Enya Bayaraa
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Gabi Linke
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Nate Siegfried
RC Bader
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Caitlynn Pedersen
Liv Gewanter
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Enya Bayaraa
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Gabi Linke
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Rey Eiras
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