Ah, thrifting, our first ever experience of this was actually recent. It was during December last year when I decided to check out one of the charity shops near my sister's school and found an ASOS dress for £4, after finding the joys of thrift shopping, I dragged Rianna along with me and the rest is history.
Macklemore's song "Thrift Shop" has piqued everyone's interest in getting clothes for as little money as possible. Sure most things are second hand and yes some items smell of piss, you do find a lot of good stuff (recent buys include Guess Jeans and oversized coats). This post's purpose is to guide you in the art of thrifting.
- First things first, thrifting is basically rummaging through a charity shop, it may not be for everyone but it does mean wardrobe updates for as cheap as possible. It also helps with the current 90's trend and the love for all things vintage, you don't need to burn a hole in your pocket for something "vintage-looking", just head over to your nearest charity shop and you can find a good blast from the past.
- Drink coffee, you're going to need the energy to search through everything. This is particularly true for larger charity shops or places like Rokit.
- Don't expect to find something straight away or buy something every time you go thrifting. Some people tend to buy everything that is in their size which isn't always a good thing... or some people get really upset that they can't find anything, that's fine! These stores tend to get re-stocked quickly so just check back in a week or a month when the new goodies are in.
- Set a limit to how much you want to spend to avoid over-spending...unless you're my mother who once found a Vivienne Westwood jacket whilst thrifting and bought it a.s.a.p.
- Yes you can find designer clothing in charity shops, very rare but the feeling is so awesome, it gets kind of upsetting when its not in your size.
- Think of what you need in your wardrobe, again this stops from over-spending and saves time in searching through endless racks of clothes. So if you need flannel shirts, head to the area with flannel shirts. Thankfully, vintage and thrift stores group their clothing to save you time.
- Check for broken zips, missing buttons (you can always change the buttons), stains and tears.
- Wash your new garments afterwards! No one likes their clothes smelling all musky and pissy.
- Thrifting is good for buying stuff to d.i.y because there's no guilt in cutting up a pair of £2 jeans.
- Before going thrift shopping, take the clothes you don't use any more and donate!
And after all that, yes you should show off how your -insert item of clothing- was under £5, you'll also find yourself with a lot more money if you always bought from the high street.
Oh and the East End Thrift Store over at Stepney Green is doing a Fill-A-Bag event from £10-£20 starting on Saturday 9th of March, so grab a bag and get thrifting!
Thanks for stopping by!
M
