Where to Thrift Your Fall Festival Fits in Tempe, Phoenix, & Scottsdale
Fall festival season is here, which means it is officially time to retire the idea that your festival outfit needs to come in a matching two-piece set with 14,000 reviews and free shipping. I love a good festival fit, but there is something so much more fun about showing up in something nobody else can Google in three seconds. A vintage belt. A beat-up pair of cowboy boots. A fringe jacket that looks like it has survived three concerts and a divorce. A tiny Y2K purse that holds approximately one lip gloss and absolutely nothing else. These are the pieces that make an outfit feel like you. Luckily, Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Tempe are full of places where you can hunt for exactly that kind of fun. Grab an iced coffee, your most brutally honest shopping friend, and prepare to dig. Here is where I would be thrifting my fall festival wardrobe around the Valley.
TEMPE
Indy Clover Tempe is a great first stop if you want trendy secondhand finds without spending your entire festival budget before you even buy the ticket. The booth-based resale shop features inventory from individual sellers, so you never quite know what you are going to find. That is exactly what makes it fun. This is where I would hunt for boots, denim, western-inspired accessories, going-out tops, bags, and the random little piece that somehow turns a basic outfit into a festival outfit. And yes, you are allowed to say you are “just looking.” We both know you are leaving with something.
- Location: 937 E Broadway Rd., Suite 4, Tempe, AZ 85282
- Hours: Monday through Saturday, 10 AM to 7 PM.
- Can You Sell Your Stuff? Yes. Indy Clover lets sellers rent booths and sell their own clothing and accessories, so this is a great option if your closet is currently overflowing with rave clothes you swore you would wear again.
Rocket a Go~Go is where things get weird, and I mean that as the highest possible compliment. Tempe Tourism highlights the shop for alternative, punk, rockabilly, pinup, and retro fashion, making it a perfect stop for anyone whose festival wardrobe lives somewhere between “dark and sexy,” “I might be going to a rave,” and “my mother would not approve of this.” Look for leather, vintage graphic tees, fishnets, unusual accessories, boots, and anything with enough personality to make someone ask where you got it. If your outfit needs to look like you have a secret afterparty to attend, start here.
- Location: 15 E Southern Ave., Tempe, AZ 85282
- Hours: Monday through Friday, 11 AM to 7 PM; Saturday, 10 AM to 7 PM; Sunday, 11 AM to 5 PM.
- Can You Sell Your Stuff? Yes. Rocket A Go~Go operates as a resale shop where customers can bring in clothing and accessories to sell or trade, making it another solid place to clean out the rave closet while hunting for your next look.
Sew Used belongs on the list for anyone who still believes low-rise denim, tiny tops, and questionable amounts of glitter should have never left us. The Black-owned Tempe shop specializes in Y2K, modern, reworked, and upcycled clothing, making it a great place to find secondhand pieces that already feel ready for a festival. Think playful layers, nostalgic silhouettes, reworked pieces, and clothing that feels more individual than whatever the algorithm is currently trying to sell you. The goal is not to look like you are recreating 2003. The goal is to look like 2003 got invited to the rave.
- Location: 2011 E Apache Blvd., Suite 155, Tempe, AZ 85281
- Hours: Monday through Thursday, 12 PM to 7 PM; Friday through Sunday, 11 AM to 7 PM.
- Can You Sell Your Stuff? This one is primarily a shopping stop. You won’t be able to show up with three garbage bags of old festival clothes expecting to drop them off.
Buffalo Exchange is your emergency room. You know the situation. The festival is this weekend. You somehow convinced yourself you had something to wear. You did not. Buffalo Exchange’s Tempe location is a solid place to search for affordable resale pieces, including denim, jackets, boots, belts, going-out tops, and accessories. It is trend driven enough to help you pull something together quickly without feeling like you bought the entire outfit in one frantic online order. Give yourself an hour, try on things you normally would not, & trust the process.
- Location: 227 W University Dr., Tempe, AZ 85281
- Hours: Monday through Saturday, 11 AM to 8 PM; Sunday, 11 AM to 7 PM.
- Can You Sell Your Stuff? Absolutely. Buffalo Exchange buys clothing and accessories every day they are open, from open to close, with no appointment required. Bring a valid government-issued ID and be prepared to wait your turn at the buy counter.
PHOENIX
Antique Sugar Vintage Clothing is the place for the serious vintage hunters. The Downtown Phoenix shop specializes in authentic vintage clothing spanning decades, from the 1920s through the 1990s, so this is where you go when you want a piece with some actual history behind it. This is not necessarily where I would go looking for a basic festival top. This is where I would go looking for your ultimate statement piece: The piece that makes your friends stop and ask, “Wait, where did you get that?”
- Location: 801 N 2nd St., Suite 104, Phoenix, AZ 85004
- Hours: Monday through Saturday, 11 AM to 7 PM; Sunday, 11 AM to 5 PM.
- Can You Sell Your Stuff? Yes, but this is more selective. Antique Sugar buys vintage clothing from the public by appointment, so if you have something truly special hiding in your closet, contact them before bringing it in.
Sweet Salvage brings more of a curated vintage market energy than a traditional thrift store. With rotating vendors, vintage finds, antiques, accessories, and one-of-a-kind pieces, it is a great place to wander when you do not have a specific outfit in mind. It can be quite a fun way to shop. You walk in with no expectations, find something out of the ordinary, and build an outfit around it. Suddenly you are the best dressed person at the festival.
- Location: 4648 N 7th Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85013
- Hours: Sweet Salvage is not open every day. It operates as a monthly four-day vintage market, generally Thursday through Sunday on the third weekend of the month. For this upcoming month, in October, it runs October 15 through 18.
- Can You Sell Your Stuff? Yes, but as a vendor. Rather than a traditional donation thrift store, you’ll want to check with the market directly if you are interested in becoming a vendor.
SCOTTSDALE
Vintage by Misty is for the person who wants one serious statement piece and is willing to hunt for it. The Old Town Scottsdale boutique specializes in highly curated vintage and designer pieces, including names like Chanel, Gucci, Hermès, Missoni, Pucci, and Yves Saint Laurent. This may not be where you build an entire festival outfit from head to toe, but if you are searching for the bag, jacket, jewelry, or accessory that makes the entire look feel elevated, this is the kind of place you want on your radar.
- Location: 7046 E 5th Ave., Scottsdale, AZ 85251
- Hours: Monday is appointment only; Tuesday through Saturday, 10:30 AM to 6 PM; Sunday, 11 AM to 4 PM.
- Can You Sell Your Stuff? Yes, but this is a luxury resale. Vintage by Misty buys and consigns authentic luxury items, so think designer clothing, accessories, and jewelry.
Do not sleep on the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale Thrift Shop. This is the kind of stop where you might walk in looking for a purse and leave with boots, jewelry, a belt, and a jacket that you now have to figure out how to get home. This might prove to be more of a hunt, but it is totally worth the stop and effort. The shop carries clothing, shoes, jewelry, purses and accessories, including designer and vintage finds, and new merchandise is restocked regularly. The best part? Your shopping addiction can actually do some good here. Purchases support Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale programs for local youth.
- Location: 2626 N Scottsdale Rd., Scottsdale, AZ 85257
- Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 10 AM to 4 PM. Closed Sunday and Monday.
- Can You Sell Your Stuff? No, but donations are highly encouraged. This is one of the best options on this list if you want to clean out your festival wardrobe. They accept gently used clothing, shoes, jewelry, purses, and accessories. Donation hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10:30 AM to 3:30 PM.
Then we have Junk in the Trunk Vintage Market, which is basically festival outfit shopping turned into an entire event. The Scottsdale market brings together more than 160 local small businesses, vintage curators, and handmade artisans inside a 120,000-square-foot space. This is where I would go hunting for western pieces, denim, accessories, handmade jewelry, jackets, and the kind of weird little treasures that make a festival outfit memorable. If you are reading this before September 18, congratulations. Your timing is excellent. The next Scottsdale market runs September 18 through 20 at WestWorld.
- Location: WestWorld of Scottsdale, North Hall, 16601 N Pima Rd., Scottsdale, AZ 85260
- Hours: Friday, September 18, 4 to 9 PM; Saturday, September 19, 9 AM to 4 PM depending on ticket type; Sunday, September 20, 10 AM to 3 PM.
- Can You Sell Your Stuff? Not the spot.
Before you buy more, consider selling or donating unused fits you haven’t worn in years. I’ve held onto too many, thinking I’d have it for the right show. Someone else could be living their best life in your donated or sold pieces. Some of the shops above let you sell your clothes, some accept donations, and some operate through consignment or vendor models. Buffalo Exchange, Indy Clover, Rocket A Go~Go, Antique Sugar, and Vintage by Misty all offer ways to potentially move pieces out of your closet through resale, selling, or consignment, while Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale accepts clothing and accessories as donations. Here is my biggest piece of rave mom advice…do not shop for an entire outfit. Shop for the story, find the main item and then build around it. Your festival outfit does not need to look like it came straight from a campaign shoot. It should look like you found something you loved, threw it on, added too many accessories, and decided you looked hot enough to leave the house. Because you probably do.
I found EDM in my early years as a high schooler, with artists like Avicii, Afrojack, Tiësto, Martin Garrix, Krewella, and so many others filling my playlists. In 2017, Voodoo Music Festival became my first festival and live music experience, and honestly, I have not stopped since. Since then, I’ve made my way through 20+ music festivals and at least 43 shows that I’ve actually remembered to count, but the numbers have never been the best part. It’s the people I’ve met, the memories made, the unexpected moments, and that feeling of being surrounded by thousands of people who all came to feel something together. I write because I genuinely love this community and the music that brings us together. My hope with every article, review, and story is to capture even a little bit of that feeling and share it with you. I want you to feel the excitement I feel standing in that crowd, hear the details that made a song stick in my heart, and understand just how much I appreciate the artists, fans, and experiences that make this community so special. There is so much magic in this world of music, and I’m just happy I get to be here for it, listen to it, and put some of that love into words.
