What Are The Best Places To Find Cheap Vintage And Retro Clothing Online?
May 11, 2024Going to the thrift store doesn’t guarantee a bag of valuable vintage pieces. You need to know what Are The Best Places To Find Cheap Vintage And Retro Clothing Online to prevent buyer’s remorse.
What Are The Best Places To Find Cheap Vintage And Retro Clothing Online?
When you shop for vintage, buying vintage pieces is an excellent way to save money and obtain a quality collection of vintage. There is practically no limit to the treasures you can discover when you shop for vintage at a thrift store, from designer labels clothing and accessories, pre loved designer items, pre loved vintage designer clothing, you can hand pick vintage and retro clothing.
However, going to a thrift store and returning empty-handed and dissapointed is also possible. Many people have given up on buying vintage shopping and gone back to fast fashion because they sometimes do not discover items that meet expectations and end up with unfavourable results.
That’s where this guide comes in. We’ve gathered the most valuable tips to help you make your thrift shopping a fruitful and enjoyable experience.
Here are the essential tips for finding out what are the best places to find cheap vintage and retro clothing onlinedesigner vintage at thrift stores:
● Know What To Expect
Ladies’ Home Journal, January 1948.
Wyeth, N. C. (Newell Convers), 1882-1945, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons
Just like in any other quest, you’ll find that having the right expectations when looking for what are the best places to find cheap vintage and retro clothing online is essential. The most important thing is for you to have a plan. Before you enter a thrift store like Blue17 or in brick lane (whether walk-in or online), set a budget.
While you might not waste hundreds of pounds shopping at a thrift store, you can spend much more money buying vintage clothing and accessories than anticipated. The more you search, the more likely you will find beautiful vintage pieces; setting a strict budget can help you limit your spending.
Another important aspect of planning any collection of vintage is keeping an open mind. Those who reap the benefits of thrift shopping are those who shop with open minds and view the experience as a treasure hunt
Particularly for physical thrift stores, you may be disappointed if your mind is set on a particular type of clothing or if you expect the clothes to be organized like a regular fast fashion clothing store
However, when searching for the best places to find cheap vintage and retro clothing online you may be lucky and find a treasure trove of pre loved vintage or retro designer vintage pieces and designer labels that are even better than what you were initially looking for as you hand pick through the racks.
That’s why you shouldn’t be too fixated on a pre-imagined outfit.
However, having an open mind doesn’t imply buying dresses or themed shirts that you don’t need. It would be best to buy only things you can picture yourself wearing.
● Take An Inventory
The Ladies’ home journal (1948)
Internet Archive Book Images, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons
To know what you need when looking for what are the best places to find cheap vintage and retro clothing online you must know what you already have. This means your clothing and accessories in your closet is the place to check before going to shop for pre loved vintage at the thrift store. Going through what you have in your closet and taking an inventory is very important. It helps you know what you would like to add to your closet through hand picking and not buy more of what you already have.
Aside from helping you determine where you have gaps in your closet, taking an inventory enables you to gauge your style.
It allows you to avoid fast fashion and at the same time expand your clothing style and plan adjustments you may want to make.
Taking a list of what you would like to add to your closet can keep you focused on enhancing your existing outfits rather than duplicating them.
For instance, you may find out you have lots of jeans and only a few shirts to pair them with. In this situation, you won’t waste your money buying more jeans ; you’ll head over to the shirts and blouses section.
Furthermore, when you take an inventory, you may decide to change your style. You might buy more casual clothes after seeing that you only have work clothes.
● The best places to find cheap vintage and retro clothing online – Put In The Work
The Ladies’ home journal (1948)
Internet Archive Book Images, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons
Think of thrift shopping like a quest for a treasure trove or a treasure hunt. You must put in some real effort to reap the rewards.
It’s imperative to visit the right locations like brick lane in London, check the clothes and hand pick them thoroughly to find the good stuff and to know if there are any problems with the clothes.
you’ll find that you might miss several pre loved designer vintage clothing items if you skim the surface. You have to check every hanger in every section. Don’t be surprised if you find a pre-loved leather skirt in the gown section.
When you see any clothing and accessories that interests you, put them to one side to check it out thoroughly as soon as possible.
First, sniff the garment to know if you want to buy it. While most vintage clothing smells like must and dust, some smell so bad that you won’t be able to wear them, while there’s a good chance with designer clothing it will have been looked after and be in better condition. Second, turn the garment inside out to see if there are issues like loose threads or torn linen.
Finally, check for tears, missing hooks and eyes, stains, pinballs, worn-out zips, and other signs of damage. This step is necessary to help you know what you’ll have to repair – and to decide if it’s worth it.
● Get Ahead
The Ladies’ home journal publicity photo, 1948
Internet Archive Book Images, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons
Going to a thrift store when you are buying vintage without meeting several people shopping is almost impossible. The tricky part is that while they may have different needs from yours, you’re all looking for the same thing: hidden gems and designer vintage clothing. What if we told you there was a way to find the best places to find cheap vintage and retro clothing online ahead of the others?
Going to a thrift earlier than others gives you access to a better collection of vintage before other shopper’s rush in.
We recommend going early on a weekend when new donations come in. This way, you’ll find the best places to find cheap pre-loved vintage and retro clothing online before others come in.
Another way to get ahead of others and find a treasure trove is to look out for sales where thrift stores sell certain items at 50% or even 70% off. Of course, you’ll have to arrive earlier on these sales days because others are coming too. The effort can be very worthwhile when you can avoid fast fashion by buying pre loved and designer labels and resell them on online marketplaces such as 1st dibs, eBay, vestiaire collective and asos marketplace.
Generally, we advise you to start shopping for newly-arrived shoes and dresses before heading to the regular clothes hangers. The reason is simple: people hand pick new arrivals first, and you may miss amazing deals.
● Try Clothes On
Photo from The Ladies’ home journal.
Internet Archive Book Images, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons
Unlike most fast fashion stores only some thrift stores have dressing rooms – most don’t. Also, vintage pieces are from a different period, so their sizing is always different from today’s measurements. That’s why you need a sizing plan.
The best sizing option when you look for what are the best places to find cheap pre loved vintage and retro clothing online is to try on the clothes at the store, so it’s better to dress in layers. For instance, if you wear leggings, you can try on pants or skirts over them.
Similarly, you can try on blouses and dresses over a tank top and biker shorts. If it’s cold, you could wear a jacket and remove it when it’s time to try on clothes.
You could go with a friend who’ll be your photographer for the day. Since you can’t see how exactly you look in a mirror, seeing yourself in a camera gives you a clear picture – no pun intended.
If you plan on buying shoes, bring a pair of socks. Just as people won’t like you putting your bare feet in shoes they might buy, you don’t want to put your naked feet in someone’s old footwear.
The advantage for all the above is that you can really see if the items that you’re interested in actually fit wheras you have the postal return process for items bought from online outlets like vestiaire collective and asos marketplace if they dont fit.
Wrapping up what are the best places to find cheap vintage and retro clothing online
Aside from preventing you from wasting money, you’ll find deciding not to buy what you don’t need leaves the items available for others who need them.
There’s no upside to buying vintage clothing, or designer labels you don’t need, regardless of how cheap it might be unless you know there’s a good chance to resell them at a profit.
It’s also essential to keep the pre loved thrift cycle moving by donating clothes you don’t need in your closet, or by reselling them on popular online outlets like asos marketplace and vestiaire collective.
References
- https://www.emilyretro.com/blog/the-10-best-places-to-find-vintage-items-for-cheap
- https://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/article/second-hand-shopping-tips
- https://www-myvintage-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.myvintage.uk/amp/10-tips-for-buying-vintage-clothing?amp_gsa=1&_js_v=a9&usqp=mq331AQIUAKwASCAAgM%3D#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16894444455496&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.myvintage.uk%2Fpost%2F10-tips-for-buying-vintage-clothing
