Maddie Ellis, 2023 graduate, participating in the thrift challenge.
Burton Photography is a local photography business that has served the High Country for over 30 years. They have created an annual challenge that combines their two greatest interests: senior portraits and their community. The rules of the challenge are listed below:
1) You have a $30 spending limit (not including tax). Shop anywhere used clothing is sold.
2) SAVE your receipts and bring them to your fashion photoshoot. You may begin shopping as soon as you register for the event. Do not include clothes that you already own in your outfit, with the exception explained in rule 3.
3) You may include ONE item in your outfit that you did not purchase for this challenge (shoes, jewelry, etc). Keep in mind that judges are impressed by items you've been able to find on your thrift hunt!
4) Your outfit will be judged on creativity, color harmony, use of accessories, impact attention-getting, and thriftiness. Judges will be outside of the High Country Community and won't know any of the participants.
5) A $50 prize will be awarded in FOUR categories: School Day, Job Interview, High Fashion, and Wild & Crazy. The Grand Champion will be chosen from these four finalists and will be awarded an additional $50.
6) Each participant will have a mini-fashion photoshoot on either April 16 or April 20 to create the portraits that will show off your thrift fashion outfit. Prints/digitals are not sold from this event, but we'll provide low-resolution portraits for you to share on your social media.
7) To have time to prepare the images and provide the judges enough time to review the entries, winners will be announced at 8 pm on May 12, 2024.
The Burtons started this challenge as a way to connect with and raise funds for Watauga’s Student Council.
“We love the opportunity to be creative with the mini fashion shoots that each contestant participates in as a part of the challenge,” said Bonnie Burton, one of the owners of Burton Photography. “During the exciting, fast-paced fashion photoshoots, we're able to create images that are outside the scope of our usual work.”
Thrifting is extremely popular in our area due to the many second-hand stores located around Boone. The competition revolving around thrifting allows for everyone to have the same opportunity and eliminates advantages between the contestants.
“Thrifting has become a popular way for people to build a unique wardrobe while repurposing and recycling clothing items,” Burton said. “The Thrift Fashion Challenge contestants always amaze us with the treasures that they've found. Thrifting also keeps everyone on a level playing field while trying to come up with the winning outfit since it's such an affordable way to shop.”
Current sophomores Silas Powell and Charlie Stumb participated in the challenge last year and found the event rewarding.
“It was well-run and a cool idea,” said Powell. “I thought that thrifting the clothes gave it a fun added challenge and I found a cool pair of sunglasses for cheap, so that was the best part. I also enjoyed getting to talk to the Burtons. They are very nice and interesting people, and they always went out of their way to speak to me.”
The challenge has given students new experiences such as modeling, working with photographers, being a part of a photoshoot, and—of course—thrifting.
“I hadn't been thrifting before, so it was a new experience,” said Stumb. “I wasn't sure about participating at first, but I really wanted to support the Student Council in a super fun and easy way. Thrifting was a new experience for me, but it was nice to go to one place with a big variety of clothes for relatively cheap.”
Overall, the challenge is a great way to involve yourself in the community and participate in a fun and creative challenge. If you want to sign up for the event, go to @burtonphotographyseniors on Instagram and click the link in their bio. This will take you to a page where you can book senior portraits or sign up for the challenge.
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