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School is in session — and designer clothing is out.
That’s the verdict from dozens of New York City public school students, who went back to school today with carefully picked pieces from thrift stores like Beacon’s Closet and buzzy sites like Depop and Poshmark.
The city’s young scholars are even hunting for secondhand pieces while on their family vacations.
“I thrifted this dress from a place in Vermont,” said Matilda Tyson, 12, whose back-to-school outfit revolves around an under-$20 polka-dot frock originally made by Opening Ceremony, a trendy Soho boutique that shuttered in 2020. (The dress was designed by indie star Chloe Sevigny and originally sold for $499.)
“I bought a lot of my outfit with my own money,” the middle school student told The Post — but that meant “it’s not a lot!”
She also borrows things like sunglasses and handbags from her mother, creative director Anja Tyson, with the clear understanding that it’s purely a loan. “I don’t think she’ll let me keep them,” Matilda laughed.
According to a new study, the average family will spend around $922 on back-to-school clothes, shoes and accessories like backpacks and water bottles.
But New York kids are a different breed.
Nearly every student The Post photographed, from 5-year-old Nora in Bedford-Stuyvesant to 15-year-old Evan in Long Island City, said their favorite back-to-school shirts and jackets were thrifted.
Hand-me-downs also played a big role.
Quinn Blake, 9, carried the same pink nylon book bag her mom, Heather, once did in the 1990s. (“Classic,” she says, “is cool!”) Quinn also wore a dress made by her grandmother — thriftier than a custom-ordered piece, but cuter than many pricey store-bought options.
Other favorites include budget-happy $15 jeans from Old Navy and t-shirts bought in packs of six from Costco.
But there’s one thing most kids will shell out for: Clothes approved by pop titan Justin Bieber and his wife, model and Rhode Skin founder Hailey Bieber. Shirts and sneakers from Justin Bieber’s new (and already sold-out) brand SKYLRK were high on the wish lists of NYC teens.
Tweens like 10-year-old V.J. in Kip’s Bay were also game to spend their allowance on Edikted and Brandy Melville, two ultra-trendy labels that Mrs. Bieber has worn in the past.
And one affordable “it” item transcended all genders, ages and boroughs: bead bracelets, necklaces and bag charms, which nearly every kid sported.
Some made them at summer camp, others traded with friends at the playground and pretended they were at a Taylor Swift concert. (Bags of 2,000 beads are available for $10 on Amazon, making the accessory cheaper than some matcha lattes.)
This being NYC, though, there was also a rarefied take on the every-kid trend.
Felix, an Astoria sixth grader, designed his own bag charm at Salon 94, an Upper East Side gallery where the in-demand Australian artist CJ Hendry set up a pit full of beads.
The show had a waitlist of several thousand people, but his mom — photographer Kim Max — is part of a private art-world Instagram group that helped him score a spot.
“I like them because no one else will know what they are,” Felix told The Post. “So people will ask me about them!”
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