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Help needed: First try at second hand

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

I've made a commitment to shop locally, either styles designed and produced here or in second hand shops, but I'm realizing that I don't know how to make it work. One of these days I'll have the money to support local makers, but for now, second hand is the way for me to go. I need advice please!!

These are the purchases on the horizon for me:

1) summer dress(es) &/or flowy, wide, possibly cropped pants (I should've never said never about that pants style--seeing them in the wild here is changing my mind)

2) 2-3 pr winter pants--watch plaid, a menswear print, winter white or pale pink

3) a pale colored cropped cardi with a little extra volume in the sleeves, away from my hands
4) a kimono-esque topper

5) a warm-ish coat, either of these 2 specific styles

6) a plum or basic burgundy blazer or long, slightly fitted cardi or similar (in my mind) topper

7) a topper for my “celebratory” capsule.

8) 1-2 things in my favorite “indigo purple” color.

I know how to do this online, easy peasy. I could have a few from each category in the right sizes & fabrics sent to me, pick my favorites, and be done in under a week, with just a couple hours invested.

A second hand store is a different matter! Besides the constraints above (& size, obviously), they have to be the right shade, which I'm not good at enunciating, and fabric I find comfortable.

What advice do seasoned second-hand shoppers here have for me? There are tons of second hand shops in Berlin, and a couple that frequently display items I like, so I'll start there. I'm hesitant to ask for help, because there are so many reasons I can't explain that might lead me to reject an item that checks all the boxes. On the other hand, they will know the inventory, so could save me tons of time. If I ask for help, I could immediately specify that a puffer jacket has to be velvet, or a wool coat has to be this length, color range, and have a "swoosh" at the bottom. Is that helpful or overkill? Are my categories specific enough? Too specific? What other things should I do/not do/be careful about?

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Shopping

20 replies

Latest reply was from lisaflex

Bijou

Veteran

Fashintern, Carla did a post with very similar questions and I think you will love hearing from the Masters of finding great items at Consignment and Thrift stores.
https://youlookfab.com/welookf.....ift-stores
Personally, I think you should be equally picky when thrifting, because at the end of the day you are going to have to wear it. I am sure that Berlin second hand stores have some wonderful pieces.

JAileen

Veteran

When I thrift, I am not looking for anything specific, because I won’t find anything. I leave my mind open to possibilities.

kkards

Veteran

or you could try shopping 2nd hand on line...ebay, poshmark (i checked and yes they opperate in Germany)...etc

Cardiff girl

Veteran

This could be a long answer but I will try to keep it short!second hand shopping is not the same as regular shopping so requires a slightly different mindset.You cannot go with a list and expect to tick it off straight away.Having said that it definitely doesn’t hurt to have in mind things that you are looking for but it might be many months or even years before you find them.Dont get into the habit of buying stuff just because it’s cheap,still apply all your usual criteria but keep an open mind .Some of my best second hand purchases were complete wild cards for me.l m not a label snob normally but I am when it comes to second hand.No point paying what you could get new in a sale at the same price.Not all charity shops are equal,find the ones that suit you.Go regularly with no expectations of buying and take your time to look at everything,get good at judging size on the hanger irrrespective of what the label says ,it’s quite often wrong .Dont buy stuff that looks worn,is stained or needs a lot of expensive alteration .Any more questions ,don’t be afraid to ask.

SarahD8

Veteran

I’m not sure exactly what sort of secondhand store you’re planning to visit. If it’s a small consignment boutique then yes, the staff will likely know the inventory, but the store will also be small enough for you to quickly scan the categories you’re interested in. If it’s a large goodwill-like store then no, the staff is not likely to be able to guide you to specific items.

My advice is to go to each section that you’re interested in and do a quick scan either by material or by color. If you know you want a velvet puffer, then run your hands over the coats and see if you can find the material you’re looking for. Then assess whether the color would work and finally the size. (Ignore sizes on tags!!!)

For the burgundy cardi or blazer, again go to the relevant section and just look and see if the right color jumps out at you, and assess specifics from there.

For the sundresses, I’d probably do a quick flip through the hangers and pull out anything with an appealing print.

You get the idea...

Be prepared not to find anything on your list. You may have to go multiple stores multiple times.

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Bijou, thanks for the link to that great thread! I haven’t been on here much recently, so I missed it. It has lots of good info for me and, being me, I have even more questions after reading it. I’m fortunate to be doing this out of my own choice for the environment, for things beyond my basic needs, unlike Anchie’s story.

Sterling’s comment made me lol. It’s a great strategy for getting free room and board!

I’ve got a list of wants/needs like Nemosmom & others suggest, but to Runcarla’s point about thrift stores being a better source for staples/classics than for current items, maybe I should focus on things like summer dresses or winter pants rather than wide crops or cropped cardis. Some of those are broad categories like Sara L looks for rather than specific items, but the requirements for specific prints & colors on the winter pants might do me in. I still need to figure out what categories have good thrift possibilities here. Winter coats don’t strike me as an item I’m likely to find, but Suz’s Snow Princess coat is amazing, and Sal also says coats are good.

Carla and Marlene1’s strategies of looking for color and feeling the rack should be very helpful, especially as those are two things I mentioned in my original post. I’ll also try to get to know the systems at the shops I visit so I can get to the good stuff faster, even if I can’t break Mel’s speed records. Shevia, Suntiger & other made suggestions about quality checks that I must keep in mind, as I’m trying to shop for “real” clothes, not for the “fun” of shopping. Vildy, purple to brown=yikes! Many stores here have sidewalk racks, so it should be easy to get into daylight with anything I’m considering buying.

Suntiger’s frequent visits for few purchases and Mel’s time estimates sound like just what I’m afraid of. I want to wear things, not search for them. But per Nemosmom and shevia, I might do better finding things out of season, so it might already be time to look for things for next winter, gah! If I frequent just a few places and am clear about what I want & like, maybe I’ll be able to build relationships like Vildly mentions, and they’ll start being able to pull out pieces they know I’ll like. Another advantage of shopping now is that I can follow Joy’s advice about wearing things that are easy to change out of. I don’t care about there just being a curtain behind some racks, but I don’t even like putting on so many pieces of clothing on a winter morning, much less having to change out/into them all to go shopping!

I wish I knew German /European secondhand shops online, will have to start watching out for them. When I have them, I’ll post asking Mel, shevia, and others for their specific tips for that.

For the non-clothing items Sal mentions, Berlin has great flea markets. We currently have 2 plates, 3 bowls, 3 glasses, 1 mug, and 2 sets of silverware. My son gets sick of having to wash them, but I see that we have enough for dirty dishes to make the kitchen look like trash, so I’m not ready to buy more yet. But when I am, the markets are there. I’m also planning to buy lots of second-hand furnishings. I haven’t gotten good replies to “in search of” posts, but you can have eBay keep searching for something for a couple months. I’d like a vintage dresser now, but don’t really need one until it’s time to haul out winter underthings and heavy sweaters again. Letting those posts come to me is just fine afaic.

Thanks, Runcarla & everyone who contributed to it, for that great thread! With any luck, I’ll be back in a couple weeks with my first find(s).

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

JAileen, that red boiled wool jacket you describe in RunCarla’s post sounds adorable. It also reminds me that I had wanted to get a topper for my “festive” capsule at a second hand shop, and saw several in windows last winter. One more item for my list. I’m adding it now.

Kkards, thanks for checking that for me. It might be just the thing, especially for some of my more specific requests.

Cardiff, that’s a very sensible mindset. I hope I can adapt it.

SarahD8, I hadn’t realized until RC’s post how very different the various types of shops can be. The two I’m thinking of are second hand shops in a MUC neighborhood that’s slightly trendy. I might also check out a couple Humanas, but they are so large I’m more likely to be overwhelmed than successful. I don’t think consignment shops sound right for me, because I really don’t care about labels. Then again, if they have better quality, they might fit the ticket. I’ll have to look to find out. Your specific strategies for specific items are quite helpful, thank you!

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Two other things:

I do want to get new shoes, but there I really do prefer new. I’ll look for shoemakers in Berlin before going elsewhere. I recently saw this pair in the window of a store for orthopedic shoes that made me wish I needed ortho shoes!

I’m still uncertain which of my categories are ok, but guess I’ll find out in stores.

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Anonymous

Welcome back Don't let my lack of luck discourage you! I just pop into shops on my lunch break if the weather isn't nice enough to be outside. We have Very limited b&m shopping in my area, so what's at the consignment/thrift shops I often already saw and rejected at the outlets. Also, often I'm seeking specific things, and check there when retail isn't forthcoming. Whether retail or consignment, my try to buy ratio is about 40 to 1-but hope springs eternal!

Sal

Veteran

Nice to hear from you. I applaud your decision to shop second hand. Good call.

I have had good luck with coats - but it might be different in a colder city. Here you can own them for years and not wear them out so you can get sick of them. I have also had good success with skirts- less so knitwear and tees.

I do wonder if your list is too specific but I also think it is good to be targeted and fussy. It can be time consuming but also fun - and I suspect a good way to explore a city.

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Hi Sal. Your post reminds me of how some people enjoy this kind of shopping so much it’s their entertainment. I hope that once I get the hang of it, I’ll enjoy it that much too. I don’t hang out much in the wealthier parts of town, so if I sleuth out shops in those areas, I will indeed learn a bit about the city. You’ve gotten some great things this way, I know.

Suntiger, thanks for the welcome back. Every time you mention your burg I try to figure out where it is—and fail. Are you staying for another year? Anyway, if I come close to 40 attempts at anything on my list, I will consider it a fail and move onto Poshmark or regular online shopping.

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

I wish I were in Berlin to help you! I hear they have excellent second hand stores there actually. So you need to set your expectations to match the sort of store you are looking at. A consignment shop, with its curated selection, may be staffed with inventory aware staff or just the owner if it is small. But a charity shop or bigger store cannot possibly track its inventory as it changes every day and every item is unique (as opposed to a retail store where there are multiple copies of everything).
If you are after something highly specific like a velvet puffer I would check ebay and Vestiaire Collective (European second hand market based in France). But a burgundy or plum topper, for example, is a doable goal with some patience and determination.
I like how you summed up the other thread and I am always open for questions on my hobby!

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I'm late here but I think it will really depend on the type of store, as SarahDB already said. A couple of examples from my own experience will illustrate why:

Typically, second-hand shops are less good for very trendy items. But, one of the shops I frequent here in Vancouver gets all the cast-off clothing from a very fashion conscious woman who splits her time between here and LA. She's in the film industry and wears each item once (if at all) so if you were her size and you wanted a trendy wardrobe -- bingo!

Outerwear -- very much depends on locale, as Sal already suggested. In my Ontario home, most available outerwear at second hand was, um, unwearable! People who live in my home province wear their winter wear HARD. I would never have bought a second hand coat there. Jacket (for indoor wear) -- yes. But coat? No way.

Here in Vancouver it is mild. People tire of their cold weather coats before they wear out. And what's old to them is still new to me.

Anyway...that Snow Queen coat isn't even a coat by Ontario standards. It's a buttoned up "shawl." I couldn't wear it in my old climate for more than a week or two per year. Here, it's a fun piece that might get outings between October and March, weather permitting. I also got a nice boiled wool pea coat here. Several seasons old, but still looking good. People in milder climates don't wear their outerwear so hard.

Berlin's climate is somewhere between Ontario's and Vancouver's. I suspect coats won't be a real win there. But, you never know.

The stores in different districts differ enormously. If you are after designer wear, go to the parts of town where designer-clad women live.

As SarahDB suggested -- consignment and high-end second hand is different from vintage and both are very different from thrift. Each has its virtues. I think second-hand shopping and thrifting can be most successful when you're looking for accessories like belts and bags and scarves, wild cards (like my Snow Queen coat), and high quality essentials -- designer duds at a lower price point, as Cardiff Girl said.

Joy

Veteran

Wishing you luck finding some things you want and can use. About getting the right colors, I find it helpful to get a bunch of those paint chips and cut out the ones that match the garments that you want to match. Glue them on to index cards and write on the card or backside of the card, what you have in this color and what you are looking for. Take the index cards with you when you shop.. I did this most recently with olive and other greens. It really helps when you probably can’t return something to have confidence that it will fit into your wardrobe.

Jenni NZ

Veteran

I still haven’t done much second-hand shopping yet. I’m sort of “warming up to it” slowly, initially by looking around a fair number of stores to see the differences. I’m trying to sell some of our old furniture too and so looking in some vintage and second-hand furniture stores to look at the kind of prices I might ask on Trade Me ( our version of E-Bay). It has been interesting to see the variation in prices in both clothing and furniture. The woman who has taken my 1980s pieces to sell on consignment has put far too high a price on them IMO, which makes me think she may overprice much of the clothing she sells. Also some local shops of sometimes fancier labels, according to Yelp reviews anyway, put highish prices on any label from Europe even if it’s essentially a fairly rubbish high street brand like Primark- just because it’s from Europe. I’d be tapping into Shevia’s wisdom all I could! It could well be heaps of fun though if you can keep an open mind.

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Shevia, if you could come show me the ropes, it’d be amazing! I think the shops I’m eyeing are somewhere between the fancy consignment stores and charity shops, but I need to get to them to make sure. We’ve had a bit of a surprise today that will take some of my time this week, so I’m not sure when that will be, but all the advice here has me ready to go. I hope that French market you mentioned is online—will check in a minute.

Suz, thanks for sharing your wisdom. You are so generous. Is there any shortcut to figuring out if a place has a “benefactor” in my size, or if they have a lot of good stuff I like, should I just keep going back to see if they get more? It sounds like I need to branch out beyond the couple of shops I have picked out. The “artsier” areas where I’m most comfortable aren’t where I’m planning to go, because I’m afraid things will be too crazy, but I can see checking out shops in tonier parts of town. I don’t care about labels though, as long as things fit, are well made, and are the style I want. I don’t see much need for accessories or wild cards for my wardrobe, am hoping to find good essentials.

Joy, that is a crafty trick and serious preparation!

Jenni, good luck to you on this as well!

nemosmom

Veteran

Hi again, FI! It's fantastic that you are shopping secondhand, but I agree with others that it's best to go with an open mind and not have too high of expectations....

I do take a list with me when I go, but I wanted to mention that it's a VERY vague list - mostly to keep me focused and help me stay on track. After every major closet edit (usually at season change), I make a list of potential holes or "nice to have" items and keep it on my phone. For instance, after my last edit my list was for:
"midweight jackets or coats I could layer under"; and

"date night/dressy tops to go with jeans".

The only specifics I assigned to those items was color. I have since thrifted a wool coat, a lace top, and a silk shirt. It took several trips, but fortunately I have two rapidly growing boys and I am always there to drop off their outgrown clothes anyway....

If you have super-specific items in mind, online re-sellers might be a good option. It is risky because you don't get to try things on before you buy them, but you can get photos and measurements and ask the seller about condition issues. Depop and poshmark are great places to start.

Runcarla

Veteran

Glad you are going to give second hand a whirl. It might be hard for you if you don't enjoy the shopping process unfortunately. You can save a bundle, though.

2019 thrift purchases:
Silk scarf - $2.50
Red sundress - $5
Gap chinos - $5
Black wool Ann Taylor jacket - $3 (half price days)
White dress - $35 (consignment shop) also, a HEWI I couldn't find at retail

Also found cotton/linen handkerchiefs (package of 11 for $10) for my DS who uses cloth handkerchiefs, and old, but new (IYKWIM) fancy men's socks made in England for my Anglophile DS.

Anonymous

Hey FI, not thrift but a Berlin shop on Etsy-it's called freepeople jewels

https://www.etsy.com/ie/shop/F.....listing_id

lisaflex

Veteran

i thrift at goodwill and i also shop consignment,

i never go when i specifically need something...i just go...take my time and browse.

ive gotten eileen fisher pieces at both places. i do label shop. i have gotten gap jeans for good prices, talbots white jeans unworn from a consignment shop. i bought stuart wetzman booties from good will for $7!!!!! and another pair at a consignment store for $29.