When I talk with friends about my sustainable shopping habits, something that often seems to come up is that they can't understand how I find so many decent preloved clothes (like all of the items in the picture above). Most of my friends have tried going down the secondhand road, but they never find stuff in their size, everything just seems old, scruffy and messy and they give up before even hitting the fitting rooms. Sound familiar? Well then, I am here to rescue with some tried and tested tricks to become a true thrift shopping queen!
1. Get over the smell
If you wanna thrift, you gotta be prepared to get a little stinky. Some of the clothes donated to second hand shops have been lying around in some old attic or in a mothball cluttered closet for years, so it's only natural that most of said stores smell a bit like old people. No need to worry though, once you've been hanging around for a few minutes your nose gets used to the smell. And once you get home with your thrifted treasures you can wash 'em with your favourite detergent (maybe twice to be sure) and they will smell better than new. Leather coats can be tricky, but a lot of airing and laying them in the sun helps a ton, I promise!
2. Try on a lot of stuff
Vintage sizing can be super tricky! I have items that are supposedly a size 42 that fit me perfectly, even though I normally wear a size 34 or 36. Also, some items can look great oversized, like my silk pink shirt and my argyle printed woolen sweater. So even when an item is not your size, or has no size indication at all, it's worth the try. I also don't really hit the thrift shops with specific items in mind, I just pick out everything that speaks to me in that moment and I make a strict selection after fitting.
3. Make friends with a seamstress
...Or with your sewing machine if you're skilled to use it! Cause believe me, when yo do try on everything you remotely like (see trick number 2), you're going to run into a lot of stuff that's almost perfect, but just a little too wide, or a little too long, or that would look even better with short sleeves. A good tailor or seamstress can turn your thrift shop find into a made-to-measure item that fits you like a glove. Okay, so you gotta pay some extra for it, but in my experience it is always worth the money.
4. Look for the right items
I know I said before that I don't really shop with sprecific items in mind, but I actually do have my go-to pieces and fabrics when shopping second hand. I mostly thrift jackets, jeans, silk blouses and skirts. You will hardly ever see me going for jersey tops or T-shirts, things with elastan in them, knitted sweaters or sneakers. Why? Because these fabrics often look very worn and already scruffy, wearas a leather jacket can stand a bit a wear and tear and still look chic. Oh, and second hand sneakers just gross me out, the thought of putting my foot where someone else's sweaty toes have been is just too much! So you see, even I have my limits.
5. Shopping online? Ask for measurments!
I haven't done a lot of online thrifting myself, but I do know there are some pretty pretty treasures to be found on Etsy and the likes. I would however advise you to always ask the seller for exact measurements before buying. Like I said, there can be so much difference in sizing, certainly with vintage pieces that it's bit tricky to rely on just a size indication.
Do you like to shop preloved items? And if so where are your favourite places to thrift? I often visit Think Twice, Episode and We-ar Vintage, but I'd love to get to know some new places or online shops!
