photographer: Amy Mazius

stylist: self-styled by Macy Eleni

talent: Macy Eleni, Lexy Eleni

Thrifting is...so hot right now. Secondhand shopping has never been more popular—but for me, that spark was ignited well over a decade ago. In my world, fashion has always involved thrifting. I was raised by the truest of superheros aka a single mom in Ohio and spent every single Wednesday (of my teenage years) at the local thrift store. I’d roll down every aisle, comb through each rack, go home, throw my finds in the wash and play endless hours of dress-up. I was captivated by the idea that one store could make all my fashion dreams come to life, and the best part...I could afford it! I’d found my home away from home, a place that transported me from a far less-than-sparkly reality to another world. A world where, for a few minutes or, most of the time, hours, it was just me, my imagination, and the clothes. There was no judgment, there were no rules. Experimentation and exploration were more than encouraged, they were necessary! For a really long time, the clothes were what kept me going and never did I think, over ten years later, that I’d be doing that same thing, now with an audience of hundreds of thousands of strangers cheering me on in the virtual world as opposed to my mom and sister applauding my finds in the basement of our suburban home. I started my YouTube channel and TikTok under the name Blazed and Glazed a few years back, with the hopes of sharing my devotion and love for using secondhand clothing as a vessel for storytelling. These platforms and the iconic thrifting communities connected through them have brought me the biggest blessings of my life and I want to pour that beautiful thrift magic right back into every single one of your vintage cups. Next year my first book, Second Chances, a humorous guide to thrifting and estate sale shopping will take anyone from experienced second hand shoppers to thrift newbies of course!!! on a behind the scenes look into my daily life, equipping them with the skills needed to shop secondhand and celebrate themselves exactly as they are. Packed to the absolute brim with EVERYTHING your used shit loving soul desires. Thrifting is so incredibly special to me and the undeniable magic in the make believe that comes from conjuring up something (spectacular) out of “nothing” is a part of what makes the thrifty ass world so perfect. It connects people to the abundance of fabulous garments already existing, roaming this earth and my sister Lex and I set out on a west coast road trip to dig some of those hotties out!

“Zoom zoom, get in we are going thrifting!!!”

Macy Eleni is an LA-based digital personality, TikTok style star and mental health advocate on a mission to reinvent the fashion entertainment space, using second hand clothing as a vessel for storytelling. Raised by a single mother in Dayton, Ohio, Macy used thrift shopping as a way to express herself as she battled depression and childhood trauma, since, trading trying on her finds for her mom and sister in the Midwest, for sharing her sparkle with millions across the globe. Today, Eleni boasts hundreds of millions of views and nearly 900K dedicated followers with featured articles in NYLON magazine,Vogue Business, The Los Angeles Times, and more, creating space for a more sustainable, ethical and inclusive type of fashion based content.