August 08, 2010

GUIDE | How To Thrift

Photobucket

Photobucket
Thrifted 70's jacket worn as dress
Thrifted belt
Thrifted 90's platforms
Thrifted leather briefcase
Thrifted earrings



A musty smell of mold and dirty old laundry. Stained , weathered and worn down clothes. No friendly store girl offering her help. All the bad things from the 90’s; synthetic neon track jackets and tacky stretch jeans that gave who knows who a camel toe. For many, this is what comes to mind when thinking about charity or thrift stores.

To me it is paradise, a goldmine. High quality goodies for almost no money. There are still millions of unique garments out there in need of a new home. And my closet always has room for another fur coat, pair of 90s platforms or silk blouses from stylish grandma’s. Soon you’ll associate that stench of gym clothes and molded basement with gorgeous clothes. You’re going to like it so much that you won’t even bother to wash your finds before wearing them.

So how to find these garments, separate the trash from treasures and find that ‘lucky’ find? Every thrift store is packed with great finds. The key is to recognize and find beauty, it is everywhere.

1.Look for fabrics.
Those fugly neon track jackets might grab your attention so much that you overlook the black blouse in fine silk hanging right beside it. Try to discard everything you are not looking for from your view. Now, go through the racks or piles and look for prints, good quality denims, nice worn down leather, silk blouses or wool blazers. Ignore the fits and sizing. Start off by only looking at fabrics.

2.Fits
You now have a pile of garments in the right colors and materials. To make a selection on which clothes you are taking with you try to estimate the size and fit by viewing it. (Keep ignoring those size labels!) A ‘too small’ blazer for little boys could be a nice short and fitted blazer on you. A huge ‘too big’ grandpa blazer could be your next wool winter coat á la Yamamoto and Comme des Garçons. Vintage and secondhand clothes rarely fit according to their labels because they often come from another era or region.

3. Select
Try some things on, think of how they will look belted, look for stains and damages and make a selection. Keep in mind that the garment will look more polished after washing and ironing it. Also hit up accessory section, where for sizing applies one size fits(almost) all. Belts, bold 80s and 90s jewelry, antique jewelry, leather purses, silk scarves, brooches etcetera.
Alterations that could be made
-Too big trousers can be worn highwaisted and paperbaged at the top. Or cut short and then be worn like a highwaisted paperbag short.
-Too big dresses can be cut short, or easily be turned into a jumpsuit.
-Too short(or big) dresses can be cut in two so you’ll be left with a skirt + blouse.


The British clothing and textiles sector on its own currently produces around 3.1 million tons of CO2 per year, 70 million tons of waste water per year with 1.5 million tons of unwanted rest clothing per year. An average Japanese woman buys around 10 kilo’s of clothes and disposes around 9 kilo’s of clothes every year. 2.1 million tons of textile are disposed of in landfills every year. Fashions are becoming faster and the amount of clothes produced is out of proportions. There are enough clothes on the world already. Invest in well designed, high quality garments that will last or go thrifting and recycle. Allright enough with environmental activism, I guess its a result of watching too much Captain Planet back in the days.

33 comments:

the style crusader said...

have just discovered your blog and i love it. have just scrolled through all your posts.... your diys are great and your style is inspiring. just bagged yourself a new follower.

http://thestylecrusader.org xx

Wynne Prasetyo said...

amazing style! i love your boldness! :D

ღ♥ CONFASHIONS FROM AMSTERDAM said...

Amazing post girl! Can i have your shoes? *angelface*

Unknown said...

the brand and name of your lipstick please?!

KeepItFvncy,
M.E.

Raez said...

so chic! you look amazing. i absolutely love your style!

xx raez

Fashiable | Nanne said...

De eerste foto ik super mooi!! Welke camera gebruik je? Ik vraag het aan meerdere bloggers omdat ik heel graag een goede camera wil kopen!

Spencer. said...

Great advice! I love thrifting - it is quite a challenge finding the best things, but when you do it's like fate, tehe.

I looked back at a few of your other posts too and I've got to say I love your style & DIY pieces
- amazing blog! (:
x

Kimberley Brandsma said...

die lippenstift staat je echt te gek!

Unknown said...

love the tips!!!!!!!!! found this outfit on chictopia and loved it. love your blog :)

Kristine said...

thrifting is my faveeee. such great finds.

Femme Virtue said...

thrifting is an exciting way to shop!

Miranda said...

these are awesome tips. thanks for sharing!
you are totally totally rocking that lipstick!

Jamie-Lee Burns said...

You look gorgeous as usual.

And thanks for the tips - I'm going to apply these and try thrifting again. I've never had much luck but I like the idea of the paperbag waist shorts x

http://pagesixxx.blogspot.com

Maxie said...

good tips!
thanks for the lovely comment on my blog
love your lipstick

aufashionnaturel said...

love your style! following you now!

Anonymous said...

heeel leuk geschreven meis!!

love Jessi

ari said...

hello hun :) this is such a great post, with lots of useful info. I will for sure be using the "look at the fabric first" tip.
thanks a lot!
xoxo
ari

WENDY said...

Thank you for the thrifting tips, I find them extremely useful :)
And I love how your hair is tied up in the 1st pic, those dark lips and that shoes with that dark sheer stockings :)


<3

G said...

Very helpful! And you cant even tell they're thrifted!

-Gayle
Visit my blog :)
www.gayleisvolatile.blogspot.com

Fabulously Lazy said...

Great post! I'm going to check out the first part now. I love your platforms paired with the socks & purple lipstick. I recently bought some similar lipstick- I know I'm going to be obsessed with it for Fall 10!

saamielola said...

Aaah, tweedehands shoppen. Mijn beste vriendin en ik doen niets liever. Camden Town is dan ook echt he-mels! Winkel in en uit, ze vervelen ons beiden niet. En dan die blijheid bij een goede vondst, oh voor maar één euro!!!
Ik wil een part III

Camilla said...

I love your blog! Today I made the black dress, (can't remember what you called it) and it is so nice.
Your tips are fantastic.



I'm following you!
x

JESSICA LANDER said...

What lip color are you wearing!! You look gorgeous

Anonymous said...

I love that jacket, you look so pretty

Unknown said...

I SUCK at thrift/vintage shopping. This is a great post and your lipstick is AMAZING!
xo

Anonymous said...

I like the lipstick a lot.
I've been searching one at my local drug stores or so but not found one yet lol

Suzanne said...

"You’re going to like it so much that you won’t even bother to wash your finds before wearing them."

i love this! We share the same ideas so it seems, I posted something on the waste half a year ago, it is really shocking. By buying mainly second hand I try to escape from mass consumerism. Its working!

Emmett Katherine said...

I love the intro to your post. I am an avid thrifter too! In an attempt to convince people to start thrifting I wrote this post;

http://loveoflaceemmettk.blogspot.com/2010/10/shopping-second-hand-tips-for-thrifting.html

I hope your don't mind but I'm going to put a link at the bottom of my post to your article, its too great not to share!

Michele said...

Dit is zo cool!! Bedankt voor deze tips. Ik heb net je blog ontdekt, en ben verliefd! Ik probeer zoveel mogelijk te kopen bij thriftstores, en ik zal deze tips zeker in gedachten houden als ik weer een keer ga. Heb je toevallig nog tips voor waar je goed kan thriften? (ik woon in Utrecht, maar ben ook weleens in Amsterdam) alvast bedankt!

xx Michele

Women Leather Blazer said...

nice post love it

e said...

great tips! i also love thrifting. and secondhand shopping. always have! even when it wasn't "cool" (ha!)also i read somewhere that there isn't enough retail space nationwide to display all of the clothing/textiles that are donated here in the US. so much literally goes to waste...

aksawy said...



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لماذا نحن ؟
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نقدم لكم افضل شركة تنظيف كنب بالرياض وبكافة المدن والاحياء القريبة من الرياض , حيث تعرف الشركة افضل شركة تنظيف بالدمام على مستوى الشركات المنافسه بأنها الاقوى والاكثر تميزا وذلك بشهادة كل من تعامل معنا من قريب او من بعيد حيث تقدم الشركة افضل الخدمات المنزلية الشامله وخاصة خدمات التنظيف الرائعه من افضل شركة تنظيف بجدة الخاصة بالمنازل والشقق والفلل وذلك باستخدام احسن المواد والمنظفات المطهره ذات الروائح الذكية والمنعشه والتى تضفى على المكان البهجة والرحه النفسية والصحيه
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عميلنا العزيز ان

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