9 Thrifting Errors Blocking Your Luxe Wardrobe
I’m not rich. I just know how to shop. But, if you didn’t know me, and just saw me walking down the street, you might wonder what I (or my husband) does for a living. Thrifting and buying secondhand clothing is one of the best ways to own a high quality wardrobe, without suffering a massive fright when you pay at the counter. In this blog I share nine errors you can avoid from now on.
One: Only trying on brands you recognise. You likely only recognise less than 1% of all of the fashion brands that exist. By only trying on ‘brands you trust’ you cut out so many higher quality items (and leave them for me to find… so thanks ☺️)
Two: Only trying on clothes in your exact size. The clothes in the thrift shop will have no standard of sizing. Clothing sizing is a made up, forever changing, and different brand to brand, and decade to decade. You can have clothing altered or wear it with a belt. Also, your size will go up and down in life, it’s important to own clothes for all seasons in life.
Three: Not having an understanding of fabric tags / fabric composition. If you don’t understand fabric tags you will be conned into buying items you think are high quality (due to the brand) and overlook that you are buying plastic. Natural fibres are superior in every clothing type except active wear.
Four: Only buying clothes for the current season.I don’t care what season it is, if you find a good item for summer, but it’s currently winter, you should think about buying it. Think strategically about that item over a 5 year period. 6 months is not a long wait in reality!
Five: Treating thrifting like normal shopping. Thrifting requires toddler mom level patience. If you think you can just go in with something in mind and leave 5 minutes later, you’re being unrealistic. That very occasionally does happen, but it’s the exception and not the rule. So give yourself time. Putting in a podcast is great to slow down!
Six: Don’t go on the weekends, everyone has already been and taken the best stuff. I find Wednesday/ Thursday are the best days as these shops get most of their donations on the weekend and take a few days to get them priced and hung up.
Seven: Wearing an outfit that is too much effort to take off to try things on. Yep lol, we’ve all been there. Thrifting often does require trying things on if you actually want to own things that fit you well! I recommend easy to take off clothes and slip on shoes like loafers.
Eight: You’re only going to thrift shops that are close to you. “Big mistake, huge!” (Tell me in the comments if you know where that’s from). You want to thrift in the richest suburbs or the suburbs right next to the richest.
Nine: Bringing someone with you who doesn’t like thrifting. Need I say more? You’ll rush. The most important thing with thrifting is being able to take your time and be in a flow state. If you have someone who hates it, they’ll be waiting for you to hurry up and finish.
