New York Times on thrift style

The article in today's (Dec 28/2013) online issue of the New York Times contains some wonderful insights on the allure of thrifted clothing.  Macklemore's song an end of the year anthem?

This excerpt refers to "D.I.Y. solipsists" who are "curating" our "selves" through the stuff we assemble:

"It was “Thrift Shop,” of course, the ode by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis to the democratic joys of the bargain bin, where “one man’s trash is another man’s come-up.” For a generation of digital natives accustomed to ransacking the Internet for goods and ideas floating free from a contextual matrix, “Thrift Shop” was more than a chart topper. It was a metaphor.

We live in a thrift shop culture, compelled by daily, hourly and constantly refreshed trips to the Goodwill outlet that is the web. There we find all the stuff for assembling the “curated” selves who experts say are the new American trendsetters, D.I.Y. solipsists. Like Macklemore, we repurpose, we mash up, we grab things off the sale rack and try it on for size.

Nowhere was this clearer in 2013 than in the evolution of style. Despite the best efforts of luxury-goods manufacturers and their attendant lap-dog press, fashion seemed to have mislaid the capital “F.”