The proximity of the fashion scene to UT’s campus encourages many Longhorns to explore their fashion sense and step into the wondrous world of thrifting.
That’s how the love of thrifting continued to grow for Sara Herbowy, a sociology and advertising senior at UT Austin and an assistant manager of the second-hand clothing store, Pavement, located on Guadalupe Street.
Thrifting has been a part of Herbowy’s life for quite some time.
“When I was growing up in Hungary for a little while, I would go thrifting with my mom all the time,” Herbowy said. “They have a lot of thrift stores over there and when we moved back to the U.S., we continued that habit.”
Herbowy has always had an interest in clothes, but her passion for fashion skyrocketed when she started working at Pavement.
“Before working at Pavement, I would try to follow trends that I liked,” Herbowy said, “but because Pavement cycles through so many clothes, I’ve been able to find pieces that I truly like.”
Herbowy’s closet is a plethora of contrasting garments, with her current style being–as she described–“indie-sleeze Marie Antoinette.” There’s fishnet and lace, black and pink, and dainty and bold pieces which she says she predominantly found during her shifts at Pavement.
Herbowy expressed that at the beginning of her fashion journey in Austin, she was hesitant to walk around campus in the grunge-meets-coquette outfits she yearned to wear.
“Sometimes it feels scary to walk around campus wearing what I want to wear because I don’t want to get strange looks from people,” Herbowy said.
She said that there’s nothing wrong with how people want to dress on campus. Whether students want to wear Lululemon leggings 24/7 or rock a plain white t-shirt with jeans, it’s their decision, but because her go-to aesthetic isn’t the everyday norm, she has to muster up some courage to walk out the door.
Thanks to the other fashionistas of Austin, Herbowy said she can be unapologetically herself; bleached brows and all.
Prior to working at Pavement, Herbowy had a toned-down version of her current style, but her fellow fashion-enthusiasts encouraged her to rock plaid skirts, thick rings and fishnet tights whenever she felt like it.
“I love that I’m able to wear outfits to work that I might not feel too comfortable to wear anywhere else,” Herbowy said, “because all of the other workers are also dressed in their own strong, confident styles.”
The employees at Pavement are often decked out in buckles, chains, jorts, baby tees and anything else that screams individuality.
While Herbowy takes inspiration from the flooded clothing racks at Pavement and her coworkers, Pinterest is one of her closest friends.
“Besides going thrifting and sorting through the racks, Pinterest is my biggest piece of advice for anyone who wants to up their fashion game,” Herbowy said.
Herbowy said she hopes that her love of fashion will lead her to a career where experimenting with clothes is celebrated and encouraged.
“I’d love to grow within the professional space of fashion,” said Herbowy. “That’s the dream.”
Herbowy continues to experiment with her outfits. Will today be an off-the-shoulder t-shirt with baggy shorts kind-of-day, or a black fishnet gloves and puffy mini-skirt kind-of-day? Who knows? But that’s the fun part of fashion for Herbowy; the endless possibilities.
