As our handbasket accelerates in direction of a hell of melting ice caps, smoking rainforests and smug, gammon-skinned climate-deniers, it’s robust to muster a lot optimism. When Trump’s utilizing government orders to roll again environmental protections, utilizing a KeepCup feels about as impactful as attempting to extinguish the Amazon with a water pistol.
But as customers – and particularly trend customers – we’re extra highly effective than we predict. You know the numbers by now – trend gobbles up extra power than transport and air journey mixed; 11m clothes find yourself in UK landfill every week; we’ll be creating 102m tonnes of clothes by 2030 – however their sheer scale could be enervating. Against that tidal wave of latest clothes, what can one man do?
Well, you can begin not shopping for it. For all of the stuff results in landfill, there’s loads extra that was crafted to final. Buying second-hand garments is the almost-carbon-neutral option to scratch your trend itch with out, y’know, contributing to a local weather disaster that, based on probably the most doom-mongery scientists, might see as a lot as 90 per cent of humanity worn out inside a century.
“As consumers, it’s in our power to make a real difference,” Oxfam chief government Danny Sriskandarajah put it in a press assertion to mark the beginning of the charity’s Second Hand September initiative. “Buying second-hand clothes helps to slow the ferocious fast fashion cycle, giving garments a second lease of life.”
Especially because it’s simpler to purchase pre-owned than ever. The identical one-click checkouts and centralised provide networks which have made quick trend so damaging additionally imply that you simply’re now not reliant on the outdated, ill-fitting jumpers that dangle in your native thrift retailer. Whether you’re after classic designer one-offs or bombproof leather-based jackets, the good things is on the market. Here’s how you can monitor it down.
The Best Clothes To Buy Second-Hand
You are, we hope, not selecting your intimates up pre-owned. But there are wardrobe gaps the place second-hand garments are greater than only a stand-in. As a rule of thumb, assume like your granddad and contribute to sluggish trend and hunt down the type of supplies that genuinely had been constructed more durable again then.
“There’s so much denim out there that the bad stuff ends up in the rag trade and only the good stuff makes it to vintage stores,” says Ash Moss, from classic retailer Rokit. Their fades will even be extra genuine than something a designer dreamed up.
Leather, too, appears and wears higher after it’s been battered. Vintage shops are stuffed with leather-based jackets, says Moss, as a result of they’re virtually bombproof, so that you could be assured you’re shopping for high quality. They additionally supply one thing you may’t get off the new-in rail. “You get loads of guys in bands coming in to buy the same style of jacket that their favourite band wore.”
Rokit
If your tastes run much less roadie, then high-end resale is the place to snap up both luxurious at a cut price (most items go for round half what they did retail) or one thing utterly distinctive, just like the classic Raf Simons and Helmut Lang that modifications palms for 5 figures as a result of it’s not obtainable anyplace else.
“Categories that tend to offer the best finds are typically the ‘collectable’ categories like streetwear, vintage and watches,” says Enzo Metroz, supervisor of sneakers and streetwear at luxurious resale website VestiaireCollective. (Although do realise that if you happen to’re buying pre-owned since you’re fearful in regards to the plight of the polar bears, then shopping for boxfresh Yeezys at greater than the shelf worth solely provides air miles.)
Unlike new-product shops, the place photos are constant and also you’re shopping for in-season, rooting via pre-owned inventory could be complicated. So comply with the specialists. At streetwear specialist Grailed, workers pore via new arrivals to pick their favorite finds, from early Raf Simons (yours for $30,000) to well-priced Prada.
On VestiaireCollective, Metroz recommends trawling the Hot Trends and Exceptional Pieces tabs. “They pull together really unique, on-trend and exceptional products into one destination. Otherwise check out We Love daily, create alerts to be notified when an item goes live and pay attention to Just In.”
Rokit
What To Look For
The one large drawback with pre-owned is that high quality isn’t at all times assured (that mentioned, classic usually nonetheless has extra years left in it than one thing model new from the excessive avenue’s worst offenders). Shop on eBay and also you’re by yourself, however the luxurious websites have groups devoted to verifying that what you assume you’re shopping for is what really turns up.
“We first review the quality of the materials used, whether leather, silk or metal parts for example,” says Victoire Boyer Chammard, head of VestiaireCollective’s authentication workforce. “We then look at the quality of the finishes, such as stitching, edge-dyeing or engraving. Finally, we check that the label is consistent with the graphic chart of the house and the quality standards. Everything from the zip used to the serial number is checked to ensure the item is genuine.”
If you don’t have a workforce of specialists to assist, then steal a few of their methods. When shopping for on-line, attempt to cross-reference logos with the true factor and ensure the pictures cowl each angle. When it turns up with a giant gap within the again, you’ll uncover why that Gumtree discover was such a steal.
If buying IRL, take a look at issues like hems and – after they’re strong and well-finished, odds are the remainder of the piece was constructed correctly, too. Finally, “always check for moth holes,” says Moss. If you don’t, then at finest you’ve purchased one thing that’s ruined. At worst, the moths you carry again might break every little thing else in your wardrobe, too.
The Best Second-Hand Clothes Stores Online
Oxfam
Oxfam
The charity opened its first store 71 years in the past, and has lengthy been a haystack wherein canny buyers can flip up the occasional designer needle (a fortunate browser as soon as discovered a one-of-a-kind Philip Treacy bag price £350,000 in his native Oxfam). But because it started promoting its garments on-line, sifting wheat from chaff has turn out to be a lot easier.
Its classic part has well-priced high-end, from Yves Saint Laurent tailoring to North Face jackets, however just like the bricks and mortar shops, it’s finest for selecting up excessive avenue cast-offs whereas serving to the much less lucky, quite than exploiting them.
Grailed
Founded in 2014 by a trio of streetwear obsessives, Grailed is the place hypebeasts commerce uncommon sneakers and even rarer Raf Simons, though there’s a good quantity of accessible gear on there too. As the title suggests, although, it’s the place the menswear nerds discover their ones that bought away, be it a slept-on Supreme collab or a pair of Acronym shorts.
It is categorically not someplace to sneak a cut price. Prices do drop, and negotiation is anticipated, however the sellers universally know what they’ve bought and the way a lot it’s price.
HEWI London
A market for the practically new (the title stands for Hardly Ever Wore It), HEWI sees itself because the Selfridges of pre-worn, with a listing that stretches from new-with-tags Gucci to APC fits, at round 70 per cent lower than retail.
It was initially launched to encourage circularity – customers are inspired to promote issues so as to release area and money for brand spanking new purchases. That won’t be fairly as environmentally pleasant as shopping for pre-owned within the first place, but it surely does not less than ameliorate the impression of these inevitable must-haves.
VestiaireCollective
Home to true high-end, VC is the place you’ll discover Rolex Submariners sharing digital shelf area with Dior saddle baggage and Brioni jackets. Again, it’s not low-cost – the workaday stuff goes for round 40 per cent of retail, based on Chammard, however baggage solely supply a 25 per cent low cost – however you pay for peace of thoughts; its authentication techniques are unrivalled, particularly in relation to watches and jewelry.
That mentioned, the ticket worth isn’t at all times what you fork out, as long as you play ball. “The best way to negotiate with a seller is to keep the real price of the product in mind and offer fairly. If your offer is too low you will end up frustrating the seller and they will refuse your negotiation.”
Rokit Vintage
London’s best-known classic model has been the go-to for cut price hunters and stylists after era-authentic garments since 1986, however its on-line expertise is arguably even higher than buying in-store. The finest items find yourself on-line, so it’s price checking each couple of days to get the leap on new arrivals.
Rokit’s significantly robust for issues like band tees (why purchase a designer remake when you may get the unique tour merch?), sportswear, leather-based and denim jackets, but it surely’s additionally a very good place to choose up the boxy tailoring that’s come again into trend. If, that’s, you get in fast sufficient. “I’ve seen a couple of beautiful, tailored suits come in,” says Moss. “And I now own them both.”
