Secondhand tips for long-running brands?
anyone have advice for finding vintage pieces from brands that have gone through good and bad phases?
for example, i have this amazing wool sweater from abercrombie & fitch that my girlfriend bought secondhand and i'm so enamored that i want to see what else is out there. problem is, a&f has been both great and terrible at various points of its history. are there filters you can use on ebay, e.g., to only get pieces from certain periods? countries of manufacture, maybe?
secondary question: what are your best tips for shopping ebay/other online secondhand marketplaces?
(attached: a photo of the sweater just for fun)
7 Replies
eBay can do era filtering under certain categories I believe but you're asking a lot of sellers who usually can't be bothered fitting that information in. I think a big part of it is just muscle memory, learning what those pieces look like in those eras, even going so far as recognizing design cues (or tags).
that’s good advice re: the design cues. i wonder if anyone’s written up the different labels etc at a&f…
Found this video that goes through eras of A&F and how to identify them by tag: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGinPyuePWk
Same guy also sells a guide on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1789271700/pre-owned-buyers-guide-to-abercrombie?etsrc=sdt
Coyote Sharp
YouTube
Abercrombie & Fitch 101: History and Pre-Owned Buyers Guide to Amer...
Join me as we explore the fascinating history and extensive pre-owned inventory of the one and only Abercrombie & Fitch.
0:00 - Introduction
02:20 - History
13:33 - Style/Tag Design Evolution
25:21 - Quality/Availability/Pricing
35:22 - Additional Sub-Brands/Premium Lines
38:13 - Wrap Up
Link to the Pre-Owned Buyers Guide & Timeline - https://...
I'll check these out, thanks so much!
biggest thing is knowing what you're looking for in terms of material and fit, because even though a brand may have a bad patch, individual pieces may still be good
with a&f i think anything without the moose logo is fine lol
Tags and logo’s will be your best bet for dating items
💯 i’d say just find items you like, try get the gist of their construction
yeah, makes sense. i've also looked on here https://vintagefashionguild.org/resources/labels/ and it looks like my sweater is actually from one of the "bad" periods. @zeometer was right on the money!
Vintage Fashion Guild
Labels - Vintage Fashion Guild