Secondhand Shopping, Part 1
Let’s break it down - what is shopping secondhand? In simple terms, choosing to shop for new-to-you items that are not new to existence. They have already been purchased or worn by another and are being kept in the fashion cycle.
Here’s the thing, every garment has a second life, it never ends with the first owner, or purchaser. Whether those gauchos you had in middle school went to live at a thrift store and were purchased by an ironic, forward thinking, millennial or, you threw them away...they had a second life. At this point, maybe you already know that throwing clothes in the garbage is a bad idea; if not:
Throwing clothes in the garbage is a bad idea. Don’t do it. There are so many ways to recycle, reuse, repurpose, resell your items. Most of your clothes are made from polyester, AKA Plastic, and won’t decompose, which means when you throw it away it will sit in a landfill for hundreds of years and a futuristic garbage woman will be appalled at how much we threw away and be sad that she has no land and possibly can’t breathe because of the toxic fumes. Exaggeration? Maybe not that much, actually.
OK, now that you know why a garment’s second life shouldn’t be in the garbage, let’s proceed. It is an understatement to say that our style evolves (see high school Meghan below), and honestly, thank God it does. But, with this evolution of taste, trend, style, and clothing innovation, we tend to have excess stuff that we do not wear anymore.
In the 1990’s we were introduced to FAST FASHION and the USA started manufacturing most of our apparel overseas so we could have much more, faster and cheaper. With this cheaper production model, plus the introduction of e-commerce and online shopping available 24/7, we have had endless access to whatever garment we want at whatever price.
So here we are. We have so much stuff because, well, we could; it was quite literally a cheap thrill to buy more clothes, and we did. However, simultaneously, our style is evolving and trends are changing, and we no longer want the stuff we bought.
* Enter shiny secondhand. *
Technically, secondhand has been a concept for all of time - I’m sure Adam and Eve passed down some of their fig leaf tunics to Cain and Abel. However, thrifting specifically saw a rise in the 1980’s and then hit a huge boom in 2008 - ya know, the whole recession thing.
You can probably recall your hipster friends beginning to talk about thrifting...and being alarmed. They thought it was COOL. Not just something their Mom’s made them do because she refused to buy Hollister or Abercrombie because, “It was so expensive and trashy”.
We had Plato’s Closet (my first job), Buffalo Exchange, Crossroads Trading, Goodwill, all becoming more popular (although each had been around for decades already). Younger people started to understand what Vintage meant. Different generations were getting on board for secondhand.
So we have years of brick and mortar thrift shops thriving even more in the apparel sector. It was no longer taboo, but actually cool to wear someone else’s clothes.
*Enter online secondhand*
eBay is my first memory of online secondhand shopping, but soon enough, so many others caught up. Now, we have so many options when it comes to secondhand, you truly never even have to shop ‘New’ again if you don’t want to, which is pretty beautiful.
I am a huge fan of shopping secondhand and consider it to be the best option when shopping for myself or for clients. I’ll let you in on a secret about fashion and style...it is cyclical.
Things come back around.
Some pieces remain classic and don’t ever leave us. Whether I, or a client, want something trendy, or classic, I can guarantee I will be able to find a secondhand option. We can now all benefit from the excess shopping that our friends and strangers did over the last 30 years.
Bottom line; there is nothing wrong with new items, if produced ethically. But, the world is quite literally teeming with clothes already. Clothes that are still in great condition, some clothes that just need a little mend, clothes that need a good stylish home for their second, third, or fourth life.
Later this week, I will be sharing resources with you on how to shop secondhand like a pro, and you will soon see how simple, cost effective, and rewarding it can be.