secondhand shopping - Topic of the day 1/4/24
it's often recommended to buy clothes used, to save money, for ethical reasons, etc. How do you feel about buying clothes secondhand?
68 Replies
You’re a fool if you’re against it tbh
the mustier the better
I really like buying used clothes in person but have had some trouble getting over the hang up I have against buying used clothes online, which can’t really explain why I have it
90% of my stuff is secondhand
It’s cheaper, it’s often better, and it’s more fun
yes
All my coolest stuff is just random stuff I stumbled onto
My cord varsity jacket probably number 1 on that list, it even has my name on the front
shopping secondhand is peng asf. if ur ethical is floats many goats. if you just want sick garms for peanuts it's even better
all the EG I own is second hand and most my outerwear is too
Buying retail is really only tight if you're supporting small business, otherwise buying used is a no brainer
Being big makes it suck, I struggle to find anything in XL that is worthwhile. Hunting down a jungle jacket was a nightmare. They must not have drafted cornfed beastmoders…
I realized in late 2022 that I don't hate shopping, I just hate malls. I went thrifting for the first time and ever since then I've almost exclusively got my clothes secondhand offline or on ebay. My style has gotten better by leaps and bounds and I've fallen in love with the process of shopping through it.
I definitely feel yah it takes more time but the stuff is out there. I’ve built an entire vintage wardrobe with stuff ranging from the 1930’s-1990’s and tons of it militaria and i’m a solid XL with a 40in waist. More rewarding imo when i find something in my size
Apart from all the other benefits already mentioned I just have a hard time buying anything retail, even on sale, since I started buying more stuff second hand. Even if the price is "good" my brain immediately goes to all the sick second hand stuff I could buy for the some amount of money. Although this equation becomes a bit different for rarer/more unique stuff.
Not much more to say that hasnt been said. I love buying secondhand whether its at the thrift, ebay, or from vintage resellers. Its the best way to build a quality wardrobe on a budget
I shop secondhand and should prob shop more secondhand lol
Though the new stuff I buy, I try to get clothes that I wouldn't be able to exactly get secondhand
I think it would be harder to find valid reasons to buy retail over secondhand in most cases other than what sal mention tbh
I do feel good supporting small brands/stores that I like and want to succeed
Also crafts that have declined like tailoring, I feel good supporting
It’s way cooler to say ‘I found this varsity jacket at the back of a rack at a flea market at which I contracted covid’ than it is to say ‘I was good at sports in high school’
I get that same feeling of satisfaction when I find something great, but if i could fit in a medium reg top things would be so much easier
i like buying secondhand but usually i only have a few specfic pieces im looking for. if i like something in a given season ill buy it when it goes on sale. usually i buy secondhand if something i wanted from before pops up
I mean I will admit I hate thifting irl. Find it a really un-fun time sink personally. And it is a time sink, to thrift well you have to go often as most of the time you will leave empty handed (just cause its cheap doesn't mean you should buy it still applies to used clothes). Luckily the internet exists. Also there are some brands that are just difficult to find used because they are smaller/foreign brands or your size isn't common. Or they are a hype brand so you're barely/not getting a discount (cough ALD cough).
That all said with eBay and other online used retailers that its a great way to try new things, find clothes to modify, find essentials, and all that. Its always worth a look, espicially before buying new.
Some of this is probably also a matter of perception and only remembering the misses. I’m a S-M and frequently feel like I find so much cool stuff that’s way too big for me 😁
i always check second hand first but usally end up buying first hand to get what i want, especially if there's a specific time i need it by
I love buying secondhand, but I find it’s way easier now thanks to online retailers and resellers. Going to secondhand shops can be fun but it’s also rare to find something I like in person. That said, it’s still a nice thing to do with friends so I go quite often.
Rock it oversized! M and L gotta have the least consistent sizing between brands
another reason i love buying second hand is because i have that quasi-mid-life-crisis thing where i'm STILL searching for the shit i thought was cool when i first got into fashion
I think over 50% of my purchases last year were secondhand, trying to bring that % up every year
Like a few others here I dont really have the time or patience to do a lot of thrifting so I opt for curated shops (2nd Street, TRR) and the web (Grailed, ebay)
I found my Bedford with tags at second street for $40 🔥
I've been trending the opposite direction of most comments where I've been buying secondhand less and less.
Buying secondhand was great when I didn't have a lot of specific things I was looking for. So 2023 was focused on complementing my mostly secondhand wardrobe with new pieces that fill in the gaps.
But I think 2024 is going to be shifting back to secondhand. I've "achieved" my desired wardrobe and now it's all about getting back into experimenting with new things, which I think is best serviced by secondhand purchases.
I don't want to be hard on myself because getting my wardrobe to where it is today has improved my perception of myself and my self worth, but it was ironically my goal to cut down on consumption last year and it'll be the same this year. Secondhand at least let's me bring something new into my life without contributing as directly to the great consumption machine.
It's so hard 😭😭😭
it's addictive
The fashion machine wants you to feel unsatisfied with your wardrobe and continue shopping to satisfy this feeling of getting closer to a goalpost that's constantly moving. Shopping secondhand in general (thrifting, fleas, vintage, buying stuff from friends!!) is a healthy exercise in finding individual pieces you like and integrating them back into your wardrobe in new and exciting ways rather than staring at your already full and probably bloated wardrobe and only focusing on what's missing. Thankfully buying specific pieces secondhand has never been easier with the growth of reselling platforms, so it's an obvious choice if you're still working with that mindset.
Yea the current trend towards oversized is definitely good for this 🙂
I'm broke as hell plus it's fun
I think my wardrobe must be like 80% secondhand atp
Yes, this was also a big reason for me to go for secondhand! I recognized that I was constantly chasing trends and looking for things to buy...when I didn't even like what I was buying all that much. Secondhand shopping allowed me to slow down and get new pieces a lot more thoughtfully. Also, often what I was looking for just wasn't in trend and thus was difficult to find new. (Also same Yurt lol).
The only times i buy brand new are 1) something on deep discount i’ve had my eye on and 2) from an independent maker/designer/friend
Everything else is secondhand, it’s made me a bit more obsessive searching all kinds of sites but i’m happy with all the savings and the reduced (personal) carbon footprint
The search is like half the fun for me. I’ve always loved getting a good deal so thrifting and scouring secondhand sites obsessively just feels really natural to me.
I would say about 90 percent of my wardrobe is thrifted, the only exceptions are like suuuuper deep discounts
Goal for 2024 is to buy only secondhand (apart from underwear/socks ofc)
Sustainable, plus also easier to justify financially
To myself, but also to my wife (who this week decided to count how many pairs of shoes I bought in 2023)
Leaning into a more workwear/“rugged”/heritage (?) aesthetic, which also makes sense for me as a toddler-dad who wants to be able to get my clothes dirty to play with my son
My biggest issue with secondhand is it can be hard to find certain clothes that fit me. Like even pants between sizes 28-30. Am I just not looking hard enough/not being patient enough?
Like PRL pants or wool slacks in full cuts for example
J crew's giant fit cords were a great deal for me because I could just get them in sz 28 while I couldn't find any vintage PRL ones at size 30
i dont buy a ton of things secondhand myself, but appreciate the secondhand market so i can make some money back on all the stuff i would normally donate or throw away
I got the giant fit cords at $35, not full price btw
Love secondhand
I've even bought socks secondhand
And Goodwill's demise has been greatly exaggerated
Depends on where you are really
Rural-ish goodwills I've had decent luck with
I think some people's expectations are way too high
like anyone who's complaining about them I wanna know about how they shop, how much time they spend there, if they're willing to frequently walk out with nothing etc.
It’s not just you, when I was in that size range it was immensely hard to find any pants that fit at thrift stores. My advice is grow old and get fat 😅.
The only pieces I buy new anymore are shoes since my size is a little rare and the brands I have bought from lately have a very limited used market.
That's where I get my luxury pieces. I'm not gonna pass up upwards of 70% off retail.
@bishopcorrigan I thought I read you're a similar waist size to me. How's your experience been finding pants secondhand if you don't mind me asking?
Good, I have 3 pairs of slacks I’ve gotten in person and 4 pairs jeans secondhand
I’m a 29-30 and I quite often will just buy up to 32s and live with it
thrift success is location + how dedicated to it u are
I've found one pair of milsurp trousers (thrift) and one pair of jeans (eBay) so far
Jeans seem easier to find. Feels like there is a bigger market for them
Eh I’m picky about jeans and the vast majority of them are bad so I find it harder actually
There’s 10-20 times as much stock in any thrift that I have to sort through
With nice slacks I can look through 3-5 pairs on the men’s rack and 3-5 pairs on the women’s rack and know there’s nothing for me or find something immediately
It’s like a scavenger hunt but at the end you get some real nice gently used paraboots
I may have just gotten lucky with eBay. Found a pair of silvertabs in a cut I love for $30 pretty fast
I try to look through each one but it's too hard 🥲
And feel the material real fast to see if it's something I'd want (like wool)
I’m not searching for jeans online anyways
I vastly prefer to buy stuff in person unless it’s something I can’t reasonably get by being patient at the thrift
Like I was never gonna find kapital century denim at goodwill
Looking through the whole rack is kinda the way if you want to actually find stuff though, like at the very least just look at the fabrics and decide if it’s worth actually picking up to look closer
Thank you!
I forgot I have a pair of super heavy wool pants from alfargos that fit me nicely. Gonna start wearing them now that it's cold
The biggest downside to buying second hand is definitely having to have a good understanding of your sizes and fits, but goodness it's a great way to buy most clothes.
Second hand shops in my city are largely terrible, but being able to buy online has been a complete gamechanger for me.
Just my experience, but I'm also 28-30 and I've found all my favorite, well-fitting pants thrifting + secondhand
Also trying things on can make a difference, like a pair of fatigue-type pants I have were marked 34 but they fit me great
I'll echo that, size tags vary wildly in their accuracy. If you can't try on (most goodwills have closed their fitting rooms in my experience) bring a little tape measure and measure it. Or use the "neck trick".
What's the neck trick?
if the pant waistline can fit around your neck, it'll fit around your waist
I mean
Not necessarily
But you could find out if that’s true for you
Yeah it’s less of a truism for everyone and more like, if you practice a bit you know how much the waistband needs to overlap or not when you wrap it around your neck in order for it to fit your waist
ive never tried it, but heard of it working for a few people!
That's kinda neat. I guess you'd have to adjust it depending on the material of the pant, but I also don't really see how this is better than just holding it up to your body and lining it up from there
Maybe I'll try it, thank you!
i might be doing it wrong, but the neck thing is never super reliable for me. like you said, i just hold it up to my waist and i find that usually works pretty well