Buying Used Clothing

Clothing is an investment, especially if you’re adding something nicer to your wardrobe. When you make bigger purchases, you want something that you can feel good in and wear for a long time.  

In an earlier post on finding your personal style, we talked about how knowing your own style can help you make more consistent and satisfying decisions. But no matter how much you think things through in advance, you ultimately have to wear something, repeatedly, to know how it feels.

With this in mind, a key problem is finding a good way to try something on, ideally several times in different contexts, to get a sense for how you like it. Going to a store and ordering online are only partial solutions. Clothing stores are artificial environments. The lighting, merchandising and staff all influence your experience. The same can be said for online shopping where you try to draw conclusions based on carefully styled product images. 

Buying used and vintage is a good solution for a few reasons. First, the stakes are low because the prices are low. One of the reasons that shopping can be stressful is that clothes are not cheap. The decision to buy something can feel wasteful, especially if you’re not confident that what you’re buying is a good investment. Buying used is, relatively, cheap, and this opens up the possibility of getting something fun, something that you just want to try, or something you’re not 100 percent sure about. It takes away the pressure of getting it right. 

A second, related point is that buying used clothing doesn’t require the production of new things. For those who take environmental considerations into account when shopping, this is another advantage. 

Buying used can be stressful for other reasons though, and maybe a bit intimidating. In a store, someone has done the work of curating and organizing so that things are where you expect them to be, and the aesthetic is coherent. You can be pretty sure the clothes are clean. In most used clothing stores, this service is not provided and you have to do that work for yourself. 

There are also demographic hurdles. There are young people moving in packs, sifting items based on inscrutable criteria. It can easily feel like you are missing some key information, ill equipped to navigate the environment. 

Despite the hurdles, my message to you is this: you can do it. It’s not rocket science. With the right approach, it’s kinda fun. 

Mindset is important to having a good experience. Especially if you’re just starting to build or update your wardrobe, it can be really helpful to focus on learning versus finding the perfect item. Ask yourself, what will I learn from wearing this? Buying used is a great way to try out a particular thing before incorporating it into your wardrobe. This could apply to a style of shirt for example, or a colour that you want to learn to wear. You will learn so much by trying on different things and those lessons will inform your decisions when you buy new or more expensive items.

I find it helpful to go through the racks quickly and pull out things that are interesting. Don’t overthink it. Just grab things that catch your attention. Once you’ve got a few things, go to a mirror and try them on. Again, don't over think if. If it feels good then buy it so that you can wear it some more. If it doesn't, just move on. 

Don’t go with an expectation that you need to walk out with something. In a typical clothing store you are more certain about what you are going to find. When shopping used, you have to be ok with the idea that there might be nothing that works for you. 

In addition to bricks and mortar stores, eBay is a great option for used clothes. Other sites like Grailed are good too, but I have less experience with those. There is such a large volume of stuff on eBay, chances are there will be multiples of anything that you are looking for.

To get the most out of a platform like eBay, it is important to know your measurements and to use the search/filters effectively. If you’re looking for pants, you need to know at minimum your waist, inseam and leg opening. Getting this information is simple. Take the measurements from an item of clothing that you already own and that fits well. 

With those measurements in hand, you can look at only items that have a good chance of fitting. This is way easier than combing through racks at a thrift store. If an eBay listing doesn’t provide detailed measurements, ask the seller for them. Sellers are happy to provide this information as it makes it much more likely you get what you are looking for and less likely to return or report an issue with an item. 

eBay is an especially good option for those that find physical stores overwhelming. My early impressions of thrift stores are of seemingly endless racks of clothes, disorganized, in various states of disrepair and thrown together haphazardly. Strange smells. A fit of sneezing triggered by a coat that looks ok at first glance, but increasingly suspect the closer you get.

I hope that the examples and advice in this post will help make those stores a bit more approachable, or help you to take advantage of online options if that’s more your thing.

I have had so many positive experiences buying used clothing, often leading to bigger investments in quality new or vintage items down the road. In a future post, I’ll share specific examples. If you have good or bad experiences, feel free to share in the comments.