Smart Shopping for Pacific Students: Clothing Edition

Stockton native Megan Silva shares the best places to find your next outfit on a budget.

College is a time of great change. Whether you’ve got a job interview, a date, or your overall vibe has just changed, sometimes you need something other than what you’ve brought from home to really feel like you. 

Before getting to where to purchase something to wear, I want to take a moment to highlight a free resource on campus that you can use if you need clothes for a job interview. The Career Services Center (located on the second floor of the McCaffrey building) has a Career Closet. Students can borrow clothing for an interview, even items like jewelry and shoes. I got to model for them a while back;I felt super put-together and professional. This is a great resource, as professional attire can get kind of expensive, and many students don’t have much closet space for something they might not wear too often while in college

(I got to model for the Career Closet last semester).

As someone who anchored a college news program for a year, I got good at finding professional, camera-ready clothes on a budget. This is when I got into thrifting, so three out of the four stores in this article will be thrift stores. They are all close to campus, so make a note of these for your ride on the Pacific shuttle or your next walk to the Miracle Mile.

Crossroads Trading Co: 

Address: 5756 Pacific Ave #26 Stockton, CA 95207 

Wanna know where you can get a designer dress for $9.00?  This place. Located next to a great pho restaurant, this small thrift store does not disappoint. They have actual dressing rooms (unlike Goodwill, which never opened theirs after the pandemic), and I found them to be neatly organized. The dress pictured above is Juicy Couture, online research indicates that it was made in the late 2000s (Y2K vibes!), and it originally cost $298 when sold off the rack. Another neat thing about this store is that people can sell clothing by mail for either 50% (of the item’s in-store price) trade credit or 30% Zelle mobile payment. This store is in a safe location and doesn’t get too crowded. It’s definitely one of the more underrated thrift stores in Stockton.

Puffy’s:

Address: 2210 Pacific Ave, Stockton, CA 95204

Books and blazers: Puffy’s does extremely well in both of these categories. Just a short walk from campus, Puffy’s is a thrift store that supports local animal rescue organizations through The Puffy Project. Their window displays made from repurposed vintage items are works of art. Described on visitstockton.org as a “classy thrift boutique,” Puffy’s curates clean and quality clothing items, and sells them at reasonable prices. They have a ton of professional clothing here. Blazers are usually between 10-15 dollars, and you can usually find some nice pants or a skirt to go with them for the same price. At the time this article was written, they had set up a “Y2K” themed rack, which had some really fun pieces. Though not clothing related, as a book lover I have to mention the incredible pricing on books here: $1.00 for paperback, $2.00 for hardcover. This is such a fun thrift store to explore; I’m glad it’s so close to campus.

McCallous:

Address: 345 Lincoln Center, Stockton, CA 95207

A mini department store with lots of California-themed clothes. Though sandwiched by high-end boutiques, this store has great quality clothes while remaining affordable, and items are often on sale. This store has some professional clothing, but another thing that shines here is their loungewear and athleisure clothing. Just as cute and comfy as Lululemon, but at a much more reasonable price (they currently have a jacket that looks identical to the Lululemon Define jacket). They also have a great shoe selection, both casual and formal. The people who work here are friendly and helpful.  As mentioned in the previous article in this series, Lincoln Center is very safe and fun to walk around in, and the Pacific Shuttle stops there. 

American Cancer Society Discovery Shop:

Address: 207 E Alpine Ave, Stockton, CA 95204

This high-quality thrift store donates proceeds to the fight against cancer. They are accepting volunteers, so for students looking to get more volunteer hours, this is a location close to campus that supports a good cause. On their website, they state that they accept “High quality, gently used, and new merchandise, including collectible and vintage items.” Seeing these high standards for donations makes it a pleasant surprise to find out that this is one of the most affordable thrift stores in Stockton. I got my favorite blazer from here for $6.00, and have worn it so much that an appreciation post was made about it on Instagram. They have several name-brand items (I saw a lot of Guess there last time I went) at an extremely low cost. Most items I have purchased here have been professional attire. Located just off the Miracle Mile, it’s also close to a very cool plant store (In Season) that’s absolutely worth a visit for fresh produce and indoor plants.

I’ve really enjoyed sharing my favorite clothing stores with you. I’d love to know if there are any cool places that I left off this list. Let me know in the comments, and also let me know what types of businesses you’d like to see featured next time.