Thrifting for Clothes: Guidance from A Part-Time Reseller - Now on Blogger!

Thrifting is a great way to become more familiar with the clothing brands you buy and the new and unusual. You can get to know new brands that you don’t usually wear or can’t normally afford.  However, there’s a big random factor to what you can find. Here’s a look at the Wild West that is thrifting that can help you find what you are looking for when you shop.

This is a guideline for thrifting secondhand, not vintage, though if you run into vintage items while thrifting, that’s great too.  Thrifting is the best of all possible worlds.  You are getting a gently used item that will have a second life, someone got to get rid of an item they didn’t want while receiving a tax-deductible donation or they received money for the resale of the item.  The thrift store gets money for its causes.  Everybody wins, especially the environment, when a clothing item doesn’t end up as landfill.

There are many popular brands in thrift stores. You can easily learn about these brands online or as you shop.  Some proven brands for thrifting, from personal experience: Ann Taylor, Anthropologie, Banana Republic, Club Monaco, Eileen Fisher, Free People, H&M, J. Crew, Joie, Loft, Talbots, Vince and Zara. Most of these brands would be considered popular, or bread and butter brands, the kinds of items that people reach for to wear every day. Simply classics, no matter the brand, that you can wear often, are popular, as well as specialty items like prom and wedding dresses. 

There seems to be an almost genetic component to thrifting, you either love going through piles of stuff, don’t mind rifling through someone’s used, ripped t-shirts or laundry-shrunken sweaters, or you don’t.  The first rule of thrift club when shopping for yourself:  don’t buy things that don’t fit into your wardrobe just because they’re inexpensive. 

Secondhand clothes become easily identifiable and familiar when you are aware of the top brands and their styles.  Knowing the brand means you may have a ballpark in mind of how much the clothing item originally cost. Or, you can go online to get an idea of what the original retail price may have been, looking at a comp or comparable item.  If the label has a style number, you can look the garment up online.  If there is no label, sometimes, you can still find the garment, if you use Google or Google Lens.

Consider only thrifting to your specifications, such as for shirts, sweaters, blazers, coats, jackets and handbags. Personally, I don’t thrift for shoes, unless they are new, for the obvious reasons. Someone else’s old shoes may not fit properly, but plenty of people do it.  Thrift for pants only if there is a dressing room or if you are wearing leggings to try them on, to make sure they fit.  When you start, consider only thrifting for label brands, everything from high-end to low-end, from Target brands to Prada, because of familiarity.

In the thrifting world, items tend to shift in popularity.  Workout gear was a hugely popular thrifting category, but what’s popular to look for in the thrift market can change in an instant.  Over time, you will see changes in how the thrifting market works, certainly, as thrifting itself has become so popular. Denim jeans in good condition, however, are usually a good bet over time.

Watch how worn an item is when shopping. Take your time. Turn the item inside out. Look for stains and tears. Look for rips and ripped out labels. See if an item is stretched out. Look at the sleeves, look at the hems and underarms. Look at the buttons and pockets. Look at the stitching. Hold it up to the light.  Shake the item out to remove any dust or debris.  Look to see if there is pet hair that needs to be removed.

Check the overall integrity of the garment.  See if you can get a sense of how the item is constructed. Important:  look at labels for fabric content and washing directions. Look at labels for the country of origin and provenance since there is a hierarchy in manufacturing. 

Care directions are a clue especially if the brand name label is removed.  You can find garments with the designer label cut out but that still has the washing label in French, Italian or Chinese, etc., or includes an address where it’s made.  I once found a sweater that only had an address, which turned out to be Topshop’s headquarters. 

With repairs, stay in the realm of the possible. You can de-pill a sweater with a de-pilling device or a scissor.  You can’t fix great big holes. Don’t assume you can remove big stains. There are effective stain removers, even all natural ones, but they are only effective on specific stains.

Smelling the garment, you can determine if the previous owner smoked or if the owner wore expensive perfume, since expensive perfume lasts longer.  Dousing a garment with fragrance-free, odor-fighting detergent prior to washing is one technique to help remove smells.  If a garment smells like smoke, wash on repeat.  Some more effective ways to remove smells from garments include washing with baking soda or vinegar, soaking in fragrance-free odor-fighting detergent on repeat, and airing the garments in cold outdoor air since the cold air can help release smells out of the garment’s fibers, especially natural fibers. 

Don’t assume the less expensive brands aren’t desirable at thrift stores, H&M, Zara, Gap and Target, for example, are very popular. Once again, the brand tells you a lot about the garment, providing you with an idea of the garment’s original price point and general quality. Sizing tends to be more consistent with mass brands, a big help when you are thrift shopping.

You can find items with their original tags, new with tags, meaning they aren’t used and haven’t necessarily been worn. These items tend to cost more at thrift stores. Check them as you would a standard secondhand garment, since tags can be re-attached.

Establish your own rules based on experience.  For example, one of my many rules, I don’t buy sweaters that have Angora (rabbit hair), because it sheds.  Other people like the look of Angora. Fashion is personal and if you like the look of Angora, especially for a vintage 50s vibe, go for it. 

Cotton and wool are considered better materials. On the other hand, fabric blends, such as wool or cotton with polyester and elastane can be easier to wear than pure wool and cotton, because the blends are flexible, holding their shape.  Better quality fabrics like cashmere and silk are welcome finds.  A polyester garment won’t necessarily wear well but that depends on the kind of polyester, which varies. 

You will find that there are many thrifting huntresses or hunters who have even more experience than you.  Some, but not all, are resellers who are there looking for items to flip and are not just there to shop for themselves or their families.  If you are going to turn around and try to sell an item, keep in mind that stores, such as Beacon’s Closet, Buffalo Exchange or Crossroads, are looking for the most current styles, this year’s fashionable items, and items that are in good condition. 

When reselling, sometimes it’s hard to fathom why a store won’t purchase an item for re-sale. It’s not personal, they know their store and what is currently popular. Resell stores can reject very expensive, high-quality items if they feel they won’t sell in the moment. Be selective if you try to sell items to these stores.  The tax deduction on the donation of the item might be greater than the price or effort you made to sell it.  

You need to go often to different shops for your best finds.  You can broaden your scope to the famous bins, that is, the Goodwill Outlet Stores, estate sales, consignment shops and swap parties.  With a little knowledge, you can take your buying and selling online with sites like Poshmark, Swap and Thredup. Popular resale stores vary around the country.  You can check out your nearby thrift stores tied to local churches and hospitals. 

Thrifting has become popular in recent years for many reasons, from the economy, with stretched to-the-limit consumers, to environmental concerns.  It has become part of the cultural zeitgeist. Try to go to thrift stores as early as possible to avoid tangling with the amateurs and the professionals. Prepare like a warrior to go thrifting. Bring cash, bags to carry items, a camisole, tank top or a long-fitted shirt and leggings or skinny jeans to try things on over your clothes. 

Another rule: never fight over clothes with others who are looking or with thrift store managers, not worth it. Let it go. Be prepared to walk away, if you feel you’re being overcharged, treated unfairly or whatever the reason. Once, I found a dress that was tagged with a low price for what it was. At the counter, the manager asked me for more money. Not only did I let the dress go, I helped the manager identify what the dress was (a trendy Los Angeles designer).  It’s a thrift store. It’s highest aim is charity. I dealt with that thrift store all the time as a frequent customer. The good deed would come around again. Let it go. Be prepared to bargain reasonably.  Buying a group of items at an estate sale or thrift may earn you the advantage of a discount, if you ask. Be reasonable. Be prepared.

Popular thrift items besides clothes include:  jewelry, pottery, household and kitchen items, coasters, unusual bottles, decorative objects, books and knick-knacks.  Something to watch for:  multiples of the same items might be available at specific stores.  These may not be actual secondhand items, especially if they are new and tagged. 

If you are looking for something very specific for yourself, a special dress for a wedding, leveling up your wardrobe for work with on-trend blazers, thrifting might not fit the bill. But when you find that magical item that you have in your mind’s eye at a thrift store?  There is nothing like it.