Saturday, 10 November 2018

'Nothing New' Challenge - How Hard Is It To Shop Second Hand?


On a previous post, I talked about one of my new challenges for 2018: if I do buy any new clothes this year, they can't be brand new, they can only be second-hand or handmade my me!

But if I want to continue to shop, will I find it difficult to find quality clothes, which I like, and that fit me?

I haven't found this to be the case - there are more and more ways to shop second hand online such as DepopVinted and Ebay.  The clothes on these sites might not always be as artfully photographed as chain stores, and you do have to search more to root out quality clothes at a good price, but a lot of these clothes are almost brand-new and are a fraction of the shop price. I was pleasantly surprised by the range of clothing and brands that they offer.

It is sometimes quite hard to understand the sizing of clothes online when there isn't a chart telling you all the measurements, but you can often message the seller for details, or for classic clothes such as Levi jeans, you could try them on in a store to find the right fit first. You can also sell your own unwanted clothes to give them a new home. Another option is swapping and borrowing (you can see my post on Swapping clothes here) or visiting vintage fairs. Kilo sales are also great, where you pay a fixed price (usually £15) for every kilo of vintage clothing you buy.

My latest knitting project - The 'Hotline' Jumper pattern from Wool and The Gang

On the whole, vintage clothing tends to have been made with more care and to a higher quality than it is today. Smaller wardrobes were more typical in the past with each piece of clothing likely of a higher quality, more durable and better looked after.
Today, manufacturers compete to produce clothes cheaper and faster to meet consumer demand, with the emphasis on quantity rather than quality.
This is why I love vintage clothes. They tend to be made of higher quality fabric with features less frequently found in high street stores.


Shopping second-hand is also so much more eco-friendly than buying brand-new. People who have watched 'Stacey Dooley Investigates - Fashion's Dirty Secrets' have told me how shocked they were about the amount of water which goes into making a single pair of jeans, or a t-shirt. You could be saving nearly 4,000 litres of water by buying your next pair of jeans from ebay or a charity shop, as opposed to a high street store.

Here are a few good places to find Vintage and second-hand online:

- Depop
        > @betty_berry
        > @bubblyaquarius
        >  @mathildamai
        >  @flossydaisy
        >  @nlouca
        >  @madseventies
        >  @rarebird
        >  @libertymai
        >  @nutshellvintage
        >  @harrietfoster95
        >  @luckythreadsvintage

Beyond Retro

Rokit

ASOS Marketplace

Vinted

Ebay

Etsy

Vintage clothing shops and events to visit:

- Judy's Affordable Vintage Fair 

- The Kilo Sale 

- Camden Market

I have also recently finished making my first jumper using the Wool and The Gang 'Hotline Sweater' kit which is now the most cosy thing in my wardrobe! I'd definitely recommend it as your first jumper project - it's very easy to follow, there are no confusing stitches and the wool is so soft and lovely to knit with.


I was also excited to discover another blogger who has taken on the same challenge as me, and who I met in February. Rosalie has some amazing projects and up-cycles on her blog and alters clothes that she buys from charity shops - see Rosalie's excellent blog, Dress-up-cycle.

                                            Do you know of any good places to shop Vintage?

                                                                            Beccy x 

SHARE:
Blogger Template Created by pipdig