Utah · Est. 2020
We don't restock.
We build one, then move on.
Every ThriftJam coat is handmade in small batches from reclaimed textiles — one at a time, one of each. The jacket you order has never existed before and won't be made again.
That's not a marketing line, it's a production constraint. Our materials come from recycling-center bales sourced worldwide, so no two rolls of corduroy or two runs of denim ever match. We can't mass-produce even if we wanted to. What we can do is choose the good ones, hold the batch to a standard, and put our name on the result.
The Process
Handmade, in small batches
Our reworked outerwear is heavyweight, fully lined and insulated, and assembled panel by panel. Here's what actually happens between a bale of discarded textiles and the coat on your shoulders.
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Source
We source from recycling centers worldwide rather than local donation bins — it costs us significantly more, and it means the Goodwill racks in your town stay stocked for the people who depend on them.
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Choose
Nothing in this shop was bought sight-unseen. Every single item has been in front of our own eyes and chosen by the two of us — no pallet buying, no supplier catalogue, no algorithm picking for us. We're looking for weight, hand-feel, and colorways that hold together. Most of what we're offered never makes it in.
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Build
Panels are cut and pieced by hand, then lined, insulated, and finished with recycled zippers and hardware. A heavyweight patchwork coat is not a quick garment to make — which is why the batches stay small.
Tell us your colors. We'll build toward them.
Leave a note at checkout — "darker wash," "greens and browns," "no light patches" — and we'll match it as closely as our materials allow before your piece ships. It's the closest thing to made-to-order that one-of-a-kind work allows, and it's free.
On Value
What a hand-built coat should cost
A mass-produced designer jacket is made ten thousand times over, from virgin material, and priced on the label. Ours is made once — by hand, in a small batch, from textiles that were headed for landfill.
We price our reworked outerwear in the range of an ordinary retail coat — not because the work is ordinary, but because we'd rather have it worn. The rarity is included at no extra charge.
001 — 500 · One edition, once
THE CORD BLACKOUT
We numbered a run exactly once. Five hundred blackout corduroy coats, each stitched with its own number on the shoulder — 001 through 500. It took two years to sell through, and it is now down to the last handful in a single size.
There has not been another numbered run since. When the final one ships, the edition closes for good.
See what's left of the 500 →"Our jackets are the heart of what we do. They are completely one-of-a-kind — just like the people who wear them."
Buying Something You Haven't Seen
The nervous part, handled
Because every piece is unique, our photos are representative rather than literal — and we know that asks something of you. So: every listing carries real garment measurements in inches, we answer color requests personally, and 683 people have now taken the same leap. Click any review below to see it in place among the rest — nothing here is a testimonial we wrote ourselves.
"I was a little nervous ordering something I hadn't seen in person, but I am so happy I did. It is so high quality. The seller listened to my color tone request."
Read it on our reviews page →"Really such high quality, superb craftsmanship, and an excellent eye for design with the colorway."
Read it on our reviews page →"Extremely, extremely well made. Should be good for many years to come."
Read it on our reviews page →As featured in
- The Salt Lake Tribune
- SLUG Magazine
- ABC4 · Good Things Utah
- The Herald Journal
- Craft Lake City DIY Festival
A vintage clothing shop on wheels
ThriftJam's co-founders, Ellie Cram and Logan James, met at Utah State University and launched the first Thrift Bus in Utah in 2020. Instead of operating as a donation-based thrift, the Thrift Bus offers a curated selection of vintage and reworked items sourced from recycling centers worldwide.
This ethical supply chain lets us leave local donation-based thrift stores and Goodwill bins untouched and available to people who need them. Sourcing from recycling centers costs far more than local options — but it lets us offer a shopping experience that's both ethical and highly curated.
Six years on, the bus still runs. From spring through fall it travels from Logan to St. George — farmers markets, festivals, pop-ups — and we're usually the ones standing in it. The two of us still choose every piece in this shop ourselves — we read every color note and reply to every review, too. It's a small operation on purpose.
Every piece is hand-selected, one-of-a-kind, and ready for its next chapter.
One of each. Then it's gone.
New vintage lands every week and the reworks are made in small runs. If a piece is on the site, it exists — once.