Rupps recommendations
Hannah Rupp of Monroe shares her thrift "hauls" with more than 16,000 YouTube fans around the world, but some of her favorite places to thrift are local. Here are her recommendations:
- St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store, 501 1st Ave., Monroe, 608-329-7837
This is Rupp's go-to in Monroe, "the thrift shop I've shopped at my entire life." One perk: It has the biggest collection of VHS tapes.
- My Friend's Closet, 511 W. Lena St., Lena, 815-369-4527
Rupp likes this small-town thrift shop for the bargain prices and friendly volunteers who run it.
- Goodwill, 2030 W. Galena Ave., Freeport, 815-232-7642
It's huge, it's organized and it runs lots of sales and specials, like a $1.23 sale on clothing once a month.
- Twice As Nice Consignments, 8 W. Stephenson St., Freeport, 815-297-8861
With two floors to browse through of mostly clothing, this is one of Rupp's favorite stores to shop in when she's in the market for clothing. One time she found an original "Dirty Dancing" dress costume here - "It had a 'Dirty Dancing' label and everything" - but she passed on it, a decision she regrets.
- Albany Thrift Store, 206 E. Main St., Albany, 608-862-1700
"Really small, really good prices," Rupp said. Plus, it's got a "good balance of clothes, knickknacks and household items."
- Benton Bible Thrift, 148 3rd Ave., Benton, 608-759-2001
This volunteer-run thrift shop in a church basement had to shut down in late July due to extensive water damage, but will reopen Oct. 11. Hours are Wednesday and Thursday afternoons and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. A cafe on the premises shut down as well, but there are plans to reopen.
- St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store, 348 S. Judgement St., Shullsburg, 608-965-4518
It's a little musty, but Rupp likes the bargain prices and selection at this shop located in a converted schoolhouse. She bought her all-time favorite find here: an original Michael Jackson "Thriller" jacket replica from the 1980s. "I don't think anything will ever top (that)," she said.
Next to her on the floor is a pile of thrift store finds.
Around her is her alter to 1980s pop culture - vintage posters of John Stamos, Matthew Broderick and ALF, a mannequin wearing a fanny pack, a closet full of games like Jenga and Mall Madness and - best of all - an adjoining room with Rupp's colorful wardrobe, accessories, nail polishes, vintage fashion catalogs and crafting supplies.
On the other side of the camera is her audience: more than 16,000 YouTube subscribers who like her fashion tips and watching her go through her thrift store "hauls."
Thrifting and fashion enthusiasts from as far away as Australia keep up with her via her blog, The Outfit Repeater, at theoutfitrepeater.com. Other than YouTube, she's active on social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter.
Rupp's specialties are thrifting and '80s fashion. It started as a hobby for the 26-year-old Monroe native.
"Now, brands want to work me," she said. "I just kind of lucked into this."
Rupp grew up thrifting. At first, it was out of necessity. "We don't have a lot of money," said her mom, Camelia Rupp. "She was a thrift child."
"Probably in my mom's womb I started thrifting," Hannah Rupp said.
She showed signs early on of the future entrepreneur she'd become. She preferred do-it-yourself projects and even schooling on her own. She homeschooled from fourth grade on.
"I'm very much a self-taught person," she said.
Discovering fashion took a little longer. As a teenager, she just tried to blend in. Then she began to experiment.
Rupp calls herself "a thrift store legend."
"I know my style, I know exactly what I'm looking for," she said. "Nobody knows as much about the '80s as me."
Beyond that, "I try to promote an affordable lifestyle."
She buys almost all of her clothes used, with shoes as her exception. She wears a size 11, difficult to find anywhere, let alone at thrift stores. One of her standbys for finding larger-size shoes is in Monroe at the Colony Brands Outlet, 652 8th St.
Rupp lives with her mom at the end of a quiet dead-end street. She painted the back of the garage hot pink to use as a backdrop - the slatted wood pops in the background of many of her fashion-shoot photos.
She's banking on her fashion blogging and videos to attract brand partnerships. She's already worked with thredUP, a popular online consignment and thrift store.
She treats The Outfit Repeater as full-time self-employment. Through the years, she's done child care and paper routes, but fashion blogging is where her real passion lies. She started in 2009.
Being self-employed has also helped her accommodate a nagging health condition. Since 2008, Rupp has suffered from mysterious ailments consisting of nausea, stomach aches and weight-loss. On her blog she explains, "My docs call it a mix of functional nausea, functional dyspepsia and delayed digestion. I call it no fun."
When she's not thrifting, writing blog posts and shooting and editing videos, Rupp enjoys playing board games with her sister Rachael Rupp, 29, and going to crafting nights at the Monroe Public Library, where Rachael is a librarian.
The Outfit Repeater has hardly any followers in Monroe, she said. Online is where she's found the most kinship, meeting friends from Georgia, Australia and Canada.
"I've met all of my best friends online in the past few years," she said.
In front of the camera, she talks to her audience like friends.
Filming her haul this week, she starts with the media: cassette tapes from Mariah Carey, Neenah Cherry, Blondie and Cyndi Lauper, "Beverly Hills Cops" on VHS and a couple of RuPaul CD singles.
"Gotta love some RuPaul," she says, grinning.
She has a knack for finding fun and downright weird pop culture artifacts, like a never-opened package of Hulk Hogan paper lunch bags that probably dates to 1991.
As for clothes, she's into bright colors, patterns and stripes. This week, her haul includes a rainbow-striped purse and a boxy '80s shirt with vertical strips and an Avon-brand label.
She ends her video with her signature send-off: "Hopefully I'll see you in future videos. And in the meantime, be excellent to each other."