From A to Ethical, A Series: Post 5
Shopping secondhand has many benefits for the planet and your bank account. I love the idea of giving pre-loved goods a new purpose instead of allowing them to end up in landfills.
And today we’ll be going into detail about thrifting and how you can successfully shop secondhand.
In my last post, I shared some tips with you for buying clothes that you’ll actually wear. And today we’re focusing on the where of buying those clothes. Well, one of the ways you can shop ethically.
The first time I went to a thrift fair to shop for a coat, I ended up with a denim jacket instead. I love the jacket, but I haven’t had a lot of success with thrifting since then.
It feels overwhelming and I can’t seem to find what I’m looking for.
I call it the newbie blues. But I haven’t given up yet. I’ve been doing some research and taking advice from seasoned thrifters. And I’ve compiled a list of the best articles for newbie thrifters to read before going to a thrift shop.
So if you’re like me and you have the newbie blues, or perhaps you haven’t tried thrifting yet but you want to, I got you.
Dealing with your first shopping trip
The Art Of Thrifting: 10 Tips To Help You Navigate Through The Jungle
This article was written by Alice from the Zero Waste Cartel blog. It will help you make a successful day of your thrifting adventure and give you actionable tips on handling the overwhelm of a thrift shop.
It will also help you prepare beforehand and tell you what to expect. She offers some good advice about how to shop and keeping to a budget.
Thrifting hacks
27 Easy & Fun Thrift Store Shopping Tips and Tricks
This article, by Rebecca from Unexpectedly Domestic, will give you some good advice on getting deals at thrift shops and finding the garments that you want.
It also offers some best practices to use and how to build a good relationship with your local shops.
Finding great quality clothes
How To Thrift The Best Clothes Ever
Sarah from Yes and Yes wrote this article, and it focuses on finding good quality clothes that will last a lifetime. She also includes tips on how to find clothes that fit you and some other valuable advice.
Thrifting online
Quality Online Thrift Stores You Probably Haven’t Heard Of Before
Online thrifting is a great way to escape the chaos and shop without having to leave your house. Definitely a solution I’m going to start using.
And Meredith from Write Your Story shares some awesome online thrift stores along with her personal review of them in this article.
Knowing the best things to buy
The Best Clothes To Buy At Thrift Stores: A Guide
Karen from Fifth and Finest shares her tips on which garments are the best to buy secondhand.
She has a lists of garments that can always be found in a thrift shop, that are great quality and are at a way lower price than they would be new.
Shopping vintage
How To Identify Vintage Clothing Labels In A Thrift Store
Vintage clothes are made with amazing quality and they often have a better fit. But they’re not easy to find. If you want to shop vintage then you must read this article by Sammy, from Sammy D Vintage.
It focuses on how to find vintage labels and identifying them in the shop. If you love vintage then she’s your best bet.
A tip from me
Lately, I’ve been seeing a lot of pages on Instagram that act like online thrift shops.
The way they work is the account owner posts garments for sale on their feed and people state the prices they’re willing to pay for that garment in the comments.
Kind of like an auction. The person with the highest bid gets that garment.
Mostly the clothes were worn by the account owner but I’ve seen some accounts where a lot of people sell their pre-worn clothes to the owner of the Instagram account.
Some of those garments have never been worn before.
The auction part is the only thing I don’t like about it because if you don’t catch the post early you can miss out on the bid, and if the garment is too popular the highest bid price may not be worth it.
But other than that it could be a really great way to buy secondhand. My favourite page is @shopnicolascloset (South African). Her content is amazing.
And there you have it. 6 articles to read if you’re a total newbie to thrifting.
I hope this post was helpful for you and that you can go thrifting like a pro now. Comment below if you have any more tips on how to thrift successfully.
In my next post, we’ll talk about 10 things to look for in an ethical fashion brand.
Cheers for now,
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Related:
- How to implement circular fashion into your closet
- 7 Different ways to practise ethical fashion
- 9 Tips for buying clothes you’ll actually wear
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