Woman redesigns thrift store displays to prove that buying second hand can be 'just as stylish'

Editor's note: This article was originally published on April 1, 2023. It has since been updated.

Sometimes helping out in small ways can make a lot of difference in others' lives. And that's what this TikTok user @elll.rose did. She helped out second-hand shops for free by arranging their clothes in a way that the best ones were on display windows and mannequins inside their shops. In the TikTok video, Ellie Rose, based in Brighton, England shows the display windows of many charity shops and they weren't looking their best. It is the most common type of thrift store in the UK which is run by non-profits to raise money, according to INSIDER. 

She says in the video, "I was recently walking past some charity shops and I realized I think you guys might need just a little bit of help with some of the stylings so I thought I'm going to volunteer and ask a few shops if they want any help and lot of them said yes." She can be seen entering a store in the video and going through some clothes. Rose starts with styling clothes inside the British Heart Foundation store. "These are the two mannequins which were outside on the window. It's a really busy street as well. So many people are seeing these so we started taking apart the displays and moving things around," Rose says in the video.

She adds that they wanted to put up some of the store's best items. "To pull as many people in as we possibly can and this is everything that we had to work with," she says while showing the inside of the shop with many clothes. 

Then they collected some clothes and also took some inspiration from Pinterest.  "And made boards of how we wanted to dress the mannequins," she explains. Then she can be seen styling mannequins using a brown trench coat and a fur coat. "We found a trench coat that I'm dressing the mannequin in now that we loved. We wanted to make that work somehow. And then this fur coat as well that was so beautiful. We had people take it from us while we were styling it," says Rose. She was happy with how everything turned out.

That was not it. They also made sure that the inside display looked good. "We finished off by styling this tiny little display inside with this gorgeous red scarf and this really high-quality black blazer," says Rose. "So hopefully this showed some people that buying second hand can be just as stylish as buying new," she concludes the video.

The video went viral with about 6 million views and 913k likes. People on TikTok loved her styling but some shared concerns as well. @2legit2Knit2 commented, "I would watch 100 episodes of this!" @amarahowe wrote, "There's a reason good stuff isn't in the window. Because the poor staff have to go in constantly to change the mannequin." @naanbreadunited123 expressed, "I can't understand why anyone would dislike this idea- better clothes in the window- more new customers- more charity money- more sustainable fashion!!" @iam_samata pointed out, "I love that you did this, this is such a fantastic idea! Styling is everything.x" @liluziflirt1 commented, "I really love this! Visual merchandising is so important and it just goes to show that the right pieces styled together look amazing!"

One of the users commented, "You had people trying to buy the fur jacket and you didn't let them..?" Rose replied, "Just wanted the window to look good for at least an hour to get people in ok!! It was sold the next day." 

In a follow-up video, Rose styled another store the next day. Rose told Insider that it took 4 hours to put up the displays for both stores and it was a lot harder than she expected. "I'm sure it will get easier and quicker as I practice." She shared that she will volunteer at three more stores in April. 

You can follow Ellie Rose (@elll.rose) on TikTok for content based on sustainable fashion and wellbeing.