Bekuh is the lovely lady behind the wonderful Secondhand Sundays. It's such a delight to have her here today sharing all the secrets to her fabulous thrifted style. Thank you for sharing, Bekuh! I can't wait to use your genius next time I'm sorting through those faded Hawiian shirts and fanny packs.
Hi, I’m Bekuh and I blog over on Secondhand Sundays, my personal online diary I fill with vintage, florals, cooking, and DIYs.
I’ve been thrifting since age eight, and it all started with a pair of Jackie-O style glasses. Since then my closet has grown to include well curated vintage pieces from shops across the country, thrifted pieces from local spots and around the world, and a home filled with roadside found treasures. To hear a little more about my love of vintage I hope you’ll check out this post on my blog.
I am by no means an expert on thrift shopping, no book credits to my name yet, but I do get a great deal of satisfaction from finding a vintage Lanvin piece for $2 or a dresser for free on the side of the road. I do feel that my 18 years of thrifting experience has given me a fairly good eye for quality vintage and I hope you’ll find the following tips useful in your own vintage pursuits.
8 Tips for buying quality thrifted items:
1. Go to thrift shops frequently, as in often, as in once a week if you can. I often hit up all of the thrift stores in my area on a weekly basis. Sometimes I find a plethora of items to choose from and sometimes I don’t find a thing.
2. Look at everything in the store and pick up anything that might interest you from skirts to housewares (This can be a long and tedious process but well worth it). I have this rule when I’m shopping that if I’m not sure about something I carry it around with me while I look for other items and if it’s still in my hand by the time I get to the register I need to buy it. About 90% of the time I end up putting it down before I check out.
3. Always try the clothes on. Vintage sizing is very different from today’s sizing standards. A tag may say it’s a size 12 but it could very easily fit like a size 4; as my mother used to say, “size is just a number.” This also applies to things you think have a nice pattern or feel but look a little blah, try it on. You might be surprised how well something looks off the hanger. Thrift stores don’t care about presentation it’s all about pushing inventory for them so their dressing rooms are your best friend.
4. While in the dressing room check for stains, holes, and split seams. With the garment on the hangers run your hand along each seam, test zippers and buttons, look at the armpits and around the neckline for discoloration, and look at the tags (if available) for care instructions. Never buy a sweater that looks shrunken or a piece with extreme stains, they cannot be fixed.
5. Sometimes all a thrifted item needs is to be altered (slightly). It never fails that I find a skirt that’s too long, or too big, or a dress with an ugly collar that is almost perfect and sometimes the print is too cute to pass up. In cases like this it’s important to either have sewing skills yourself or a seamstress/tailor on speed dial. I try not to buy things that need a major reinvention but if it’s raising a hemline I can do it myself. All of my thrifted skirts have been altered, do I need to repeat that?
6. Double check the Men’s section. A majority of my button down shirts come from the men’s section at thrift shops. There are two reasons for this: 1. Men’s shirts look awesome slouchy or tied with a pair of jeans or leggings 2. A lot of thrift stores mix up men’s and women’s shirts and so women’s button down are often hiding amongst the xx-large men’s items.
7. When you’re checking out at your regular thrifty spot ask the cashier when they normally restock items. This is such an easy thing to do but something most people overlook. I know that on Tuesdays and Thursdays the local Goodwills in my area will have a fresh load of goodies for me to peruse and snatch up.
8. Hit up an estate sale or two. There is this fabulous website called estatesales.net where you can plug in your zip code and it will spit out all of the upcoming estate sales in your area in the next couple of weeks. I am always checking this site for sales that list “clothing” as one of its items because fabulous vintage pieces can be found at these sales. One of my goals this summer is to hit up at least one estate sale a month, but more if I can.
Bonus Tip: Google all of the thrift/consignment shop in your area and map out an easy route to each of them from your house it will save you time and you’ll be able to visit more in one day using this method.
Thanks so much for reading my 8 Tips for Buying Quality Thrifted Items today. I wish you the best of luck on your hunt for quality vintage at a low, low cost.
big kiss, bekuh
big kiss, bekuh
