The adrenaline of striking gold after thoughtlessly flipping through hangers of just “meh” pieces is almost unmatched for many people who shop constantly at thrift stores. But what if Presbyterian College students had the opportunity to sift through vintage PC merchandise right at their fingertips?

An internship opportunity thought of by a current junior might grant students at PC that true reality. 

A recent internship that was brought to fruition through the Business Department and later went on to blossom under the Office of Advancement and Alumni Relations, PC student Kiersten Phillips proposed an alumni clothing drive that she calls the “Alumni Attic.” She believes that it would be beneficial, and engaging, for students to have the opportunity to discover vintage PC clothes and merchandise that they could possibly utilize.

As an avid and frequent “thrifter,” the idea came to Phillips after recently updating her own closet with thrift finds. Shortly after, she began to consider how other students might be into thrifting, and found the cross section between PC alumni, current students, and the concept of thrifting.

Phillips shared that she then spoke with her work study adviser about the idea and was encouraged to turn it into an internship.

“I proposed a business plan that I was going to propose to the [alumni relations] department,” Phillips said. “I sent out Google surveys to students to get feedback on how to run it so that it would be at their best benefit.”

The main goal of the project, in Phillips words, is for it to be “for students.”

“I want people to be interested in it,” she continued.

Not only would the project benefit students, it would increase engagement between the school, alumni, and current students. The project is intended to work as a clothing drive where former graduates can donate older pieces of PC merchandise for students to purchase. 

Phillips noted that there are many specific events where she, as well as the Office of Advancement, consistently anticipate a high alumni attendance, and they fully intend to take advantage of that opportunity.

“There’s specific events that alumni participate in, such as Homecoming,” Phillips said. “The original plan was to have the Alumni Attic dropbox for them [visiting alumni] to donate their clothes during Homecoming.”

Due to the chaos of Homecoming preparations, the dropbox didn’t debut yet at any of the festivities. Phillips isn’t defeated yet, however, and readily anticipates having a dropbox at future high-alumni-attendance events. 

She also hopes to reach out to the alumni before the events through email and Google surveys to ensure that alumni are aware of the opportunity to donate their merchandise, as well as understanding the purpose of her project.

Despite not having any alumni involvement or donations yet, Phillips has dutifully committed to Alumni Attic and sought out two pieces of vintage PC merchandise herself. 

“I bought a few pieces because I got antsy,” she said through her light laughter. “One is from Etsy, and it’s an old PC shirt … and I found two shirts at the Laurens Goodwill that aren’t sold through PC anymore.”

In terms of possible locations for Alumni Attic, that process is still under development.

“I would love to have a popup shop or an event,” Phillips said. “Or maybe the mezzanine level [in the former bookstore at 112 Musgrove in Laurens]…”

On the contrary, Phillips is concerned about not having enough pieces to accommodate a physical shop. To ease these fears, Phillips has created an entire website devoted to reselling thrifted clothing items she’s acquired, with the website having a tab wholly committed to Alumni Attic.

“I’ve been working on a little website,” Phillips said. “I’m in a web design class, so I had this idea: “Why don’t I thrift these clothes, create these outfits, and then sell them?’ So I added an Alumni Attic tab to the website!”

Currently, PC students now have the opportunity to view and visit the Alumni Attic tab on Phillips’ website, where they can find a strong vintage of thrifted clothes, shoes, and much more.