Having trouble thrifting/not shopping at Uniqlo
I'm here in Japan and basically all my clothes are Uniqlo because it's cheap and minimal. When I go out to thrift clothes I don't know what to buy because most clothes are from small brands that I don't recognize.
This wouldnt be a problem if thrifting was cheap, but it often costs as much as regular clothing. How am I supposed to determine the quality of the clothing I buy? Or is it just a gamble like anything and you just play the game?
4 Replies
I would start by thinking about how much you like the piece first, not how high quality it is, you can make a value judgement without knowing what it cost originally or anything, “do I like this piece enough to spend x on it?”
To add to the above, I want to add that quality can be such a subjective thing. What exactly do you look for? Long lasting garments? Expensive materials? Those are not necessarily the same.
You have to figure out what's important to you.
If I had to take a stab at what I look at, and that's by no means an exhaustive list, here's some things:
Does the garment feel nice on me? I have an Icelandic sweater from 70s/80s that doesn't feel particularly nice on me anymore, but generally I don't want stuff to be itchy.
Is it part of a short-lived trend, or will it last me at least a while?
How do I care for it? I personally don't want my entire wardrobe to be handwash/dry clean only.
What's the material composition? Is it a blend? Does it have synthetics? (I generally have started shying away from these, but YMMV)
How thick is the material? Is it see through? (Important for eg. linen, or if I'm feeling like a himbo 😈)
What's the construction like? Are the seams nice and even? What's the stitching like?
I don't necessarily look at these things on most things I buy, but if I don't know the brand, I like it, and it's pricey, I might.
high cost =/= quality btw, cheap brands can punch above their weight while some luxury brands can be total crap. Go by the piece you like, at a price point you're comfortable spending. I like the above comment too. If looking strictly at quality, you can look at overall construction like stitching, patterns of the fabric cut, material composition on the care tags.
Hey everyone, sorry for posting and leaving. Your advice has been really great and km gonna read it all when I get home