@Jenni haha I completely know what you mean about the 'smell' of vintage. It's hard to put your finger on, but I think it's that combination of musty storage & lingering sweat - blergh! I personally draw the line at buying shoes, bags, most jewellery & underwear secondhand - I know some people have no qualms with those items, but for me they tend to trap smells the most (especially since you can't easily wash them - like your waistcoat).

I think whether a place tends to wash things beforehand depends more on the company in question than the location. I've noticed that places which often don't have an organised system (I'm talking dollar bins of vintage scarves next to tops & the like) are usually the biggest culprits. That said, I always make sure to wash everything before I use it - I may try an item on over my clothing, but then I'll wash that item too, just in case. I have sensitive skin, so not doing so will often break me out in hives! I usually hand wash items the first time, so I can gauge whether they're colourfast enough for my lazy lifestyle

@Angie thanks! I actually live right near the border of Kowloon & New Territories, which makes my situation even more frustrating because most things are 'just' out of reach. Hong Kong Island is like another planet altogether! Although it's much better than when I used to live much further up in the New Territories - it would take me 1.5 hours just to get to Central alone!

Haha I think the restrictive shop policies are even more annoying than the SAs! Especially the shops that not only don't have a fitting room, but don't accept returns either (exchange only). Argh! Yes I like the Japanese stores when I get a chance to visit one outside of peak hours - SOGO is great for browsing, because I can just slip away to another brand if I start to feel too pressured by one side's pushy sale tactics

Ah I first came to HK in 2015, so we just missed each other I think secondhand clothing is indeed big here, but a lot of it seems to be of a specific aesthetic. Nothing wrong with it, but it often doesn't suit me or my lifestyle (e.g. the 'oversized' top & shorts look may look cute on others but it often just looks sloppy on me). It's a catch 22 situation though - if many of the people shopping in those stores are those with that aesthetic & body size/ type, then it of course stands to reason that they'll be donating similar clothing back to such shops. There are some offering more of a hippie than hipster look, but not near me. Will keep looking, though!

Thanks for the Instagram lead - just followed! It seems she hasn't been secondhand shopping in a while, but that's understandable. It's still nice to follow to see the different places she finds - Hong Kong is full of gems like that that are hidden in plain sight.

@runcarla Oh yes, there are so many different types of secondhand goods out there - something for everyone! My partner is the type that lives in oversized cargo shorts, so he likes army surplus stores for that matter (not just for clothing, but most items sold there are of course made to last).

That sounds like a lovely community! In my little English town, people would often call the local council for bigger items but just give away the more 'medium' sized ones at the front of the house. I've seen everything from bookshelves to chairs left at the side of the road (at the end of their front garden) with a note written on cardboard that people can take what they wish. Most items don't stay by the kerb for very long!

Zaeobi, I obviously have not been explaining very clearly. The shops I frequent are charity shops, HUMANA to be specific an International NGO. Proceeds from sales go to humanitarian projects around the world. Oh and yes definitely I wash all clothes before wearing and have dry cleaned jackets and winter skirts.

Ah I see @Star that makes more sense - sorry I must have skimmed over that part! I guess what I'm trying to say is that, whilst such a charity is great to support, I know a lot of people from my little English town prefer to be able to 'see' where their money is going (i.e. they prefer donating clothing to local charities that help out our home community, rather than those proceeds going abroad).

I'm personally OK with either model, but I know some people prefer more transparency around the supply model (e.g. to 'know' that the clothing they're buying has been donated by another local Bulgarian. Your situation is different because other people donate the clothing directly to the charity in question, but I know some employ resellers - who are of course making a profit from the donated clothing by selling it on to the company).

Hi Zaeobi - This is something I never realized until I worked in a charity shop, but a good 2/3 -3/4 of donations never get to the selling floor. In our case the excess was sold by weight to a cloth recycler, who came each week to pick up the stuff we bagged. That was my main job - sorting the wheat from the chaff so to speak. Mind you, this shop was TINY by American standards, more the size of a boutique than a Goodwill. We generally bagged 250kg of clothing a week! More so during certain seasons. The store was paid by the weight, so it added another bit of income to the charity, which really does good work like food for the poor, rehabilitation camps for underprivileged kids with different issues, help for women in need and so on.
Anyway that is a lot of clothes for a tiny, out of the way charity shop, which is not even the only one in town. It is mind boggling.

Wow @Shevia that *is* a lot! Do you accept donations from your door or is it a more 'anonymous' method (like dropping things off into a clothing bin)? I feel like that no doubt has an effect on how mindfully people donate things - I've seen people 'donate' just one shoe before (missing the pair) because they felt it was 'better' than just throwing it out (read: more convenient than trying to separate out the different components for recycling). At least the items aren't going to complete waste... some of the charity shops I know in the UK are part of a chain (e.g. the same charity has shops nationwide), so they will move clothing from one location to another if they think it will sell better elsewhere (e.g. people in more affluent neighborhoods are less likely to buy polyester fast fashion pieces, or areas with more ethnic minorities generally favour longer & more covered pieces. This is what I've been told, so I guess they do market research into this based on what sells best according to where).

Yes I've seen some of those cloth recyclers here - you can even donate your clothing to them directly for cash (they will pay you by weight). It's possible that such 'donations' end up in the kind of charity stores that @Star mentioned exist in Bulgaria. I even went to a pop-up charity event where they sold their clothing by weight (you could fill up a bag with whatever you wanted to grab off the racks, & they would charge you by the weight of your bag). So it could be a real bargain if you find a bunch of designer blouses & skirts, but maybe less so for heavy coats & shoes).

Thanks Zaeobi& fabbers who commeneted from all over the world for the thread! I really loved to read about different second hands shopping cultures in the worl, I was not aware what a big industry this is, wow!

Thread Update: For @shevia (& anyone who's interested), I posted about my thrifted orange Crea Concept jacket to the forum: See what you think: https://youlookfab.com/welookf.....-outerwear