Alexandra Sinderbrand is no stranger to challenge. A self-proclaimed thrift addict, the former New Yorker earned a cult-like following from her secondhand shopping blog that saw her profiled in top women’s fashion publications and cast in a thrifting reality television pilot. After co-owning a vintage and thrift store in the East Village, Sinderbrand pivoted to e-comm tech, where she learned everything about managing a portfolio of products on Amazon. “I was figuring out how to turn stuff into money,” she said.
That skill will likely come in handy for her newest and perhaps most unique challenge yet, as chair of the Starr King Rummage Sale. For her first, and only, year at Starr King Parent-Child Workshop — the environmentally conscious institution beloved by locals for 75 years — Sinderbrand took on a position very few have willingly stepped into. And yet, she dove headfirst into the volunteer role.
In a town of thrifters, Sinderbrand took a new approach to the 76th sale — held for the first time on Santa Barbara City College’s Wake Campus on May 17. “How do we optimize for [a] community that has a much higher standard for what is worth paying for secondhand?” she asked herself.
