Guide to Thrift Shopping (for the VERY thrifty)

Ever since I can remember, I have shopped in second hand clothing stores. Call them what you will – op shops (Australian slang for the opportunity inherent in any second hand store experience), charity shops (I often feel its ME being given charity in the form of amazing finds but whose counting?), thrift shops or jumbles (because the best ones always are a bit of a mess aren’t they?) – they have always been my go to place for something different (and cheap!). In the last 5 or so years the vintage market has completely exploded, with everyone getting amongst it – not least high street stores like Topshop and Urban Outfitters. But for me, the thrill of vintage is still in picking an amazing item out of a heap on the floor, and scoring it at a tiny price. To do this, you have to know when, where and how to look. My friends are always telling me I do well with my thrift shopping, so I thought I would share a few of my tips.

Location location location!

Heaven’s waiting room + not too many young people = great thrift shop finds

A good jumble where I am able to repeatedly find great pieces is usually located where a range of different factors (accessability, demographics, local income levels etc) come together to provide the perfect environment - lots of great cast offs! As much as I would love to go to every jumble around, it is often than you have to pick the best one when you get the opportunity, and this is where the locational factors should come into play. A major element when considering the location of a good thrift shop is to think about what the catchment area is like, and more specifically the demographics of this catchment.  The best jumbles are often located in catchments where a proportion of the population have a reasonable income, its in these places that you often find better quality cast offs. However, in my experience I don’t think you do that well (in terms of thriftiness) in areas that are very affluent because a) lots of people will scour these op shops and b) the op shops owners are often more savvy to the value of their goods, which generally means higher prices.

Thrift shops that have a high elderly population in the local catchment are usually great sources of amazing vintage clothes (try not to remember that the reason so much great vintage ends up in these jumbles is that someone’s once-trendy grandma has kicked the bucket…). Charity shop depots or sorting stations with attached stores are often a fantastic resource aswell, as they act as a channel for a bigger catchment area and thus increase your chances. These are often located on the outskirts of cities and town and are a pain to get to but definitely worth it. There is an amazing collection depot in Sydney's Summer Hill where I have found a mountain of amazing things and never hesitate to treck out there when I visit Sydney.

Furthermore, another point to consider is that the best op shops are those out of the way and not in an area where they will have been picked over by people with tastes similar to your own. An op shop in an area with lots of vintage savvy young people, such as East London or the Lower East side, will have been picked over. There will often be vintage shops in these areas that handpick the goods for you but then you'll be paying a premium won't you? (Lets remember that this is a guide to THRIFT shopping and not vintage shopping, in whcih case I would tell you to get down to your nearest market or on ebay). There is an op shop that I currently visit two or three times a week (obsessessed...), that is in a somewhat dodgy and suburban area where the customers are not trendy east enders, and lucky for me, are not there looking for a chambre shirt or a 80s pleated skirt. Which means I usually always score a few great items that have been completely overlooked. Basically the rule is the more trendy young people you see in the store, the less likely it will be to have many good things that haven’t already been picked up. The further out of the centre of town the better, or located in areas just below the 'up and coming' bar.

I have this idea that at some point I will do a serious amount of research about all the outer London Salvation army stores, I’m talking zones 3 – 6, and set out to cross every single one off my list. I can imagine my travel card would get a work out but I am sure it would be worth it for all the amazing things I would find. Now if only I could find someone as crazy as me to be my partner in crime?

Go Often

Frequency is one of the most important factors when it comes to shopping in second hand stores, not least because everything is going to be a one off and if you don’t scoop the great stuff someone else is going to. Things are coming and going all the time, so when you have found a great opshop using the location tips above, go as often as possible. One thing I generally do is investigate all the op shops in the vacinity of my workplace and do a regular lunchtime stakeout. If possible, I try to go at both the beginning and end of the working week – often thrift stores get picked over on the weekend, with regular incoming and outgoing stock (in the form of full bin bags dumped at the front door) so hopefully by the end of the week they will be bulging with new stock.

Take Inspiration

I find that it really helps to get regular inspiration from streetstyle and other blogs about what people are wearing. It might go without saying, but streetstyle blogs often highlight different but realistic ways of wearing things, and give you ideas about how to wear something you never would have given a second glance! Shopping at thrift shops are a perfect opportunity to experiment with styles, if you get it for 2 pounds who cares if you get home and your housemate tells you it's 'borderline horrendous'? Back to the jumble it goes! In the same vein, fashion and styles are changing all the time and because as ever, old is new, it really helps to see how other people are working their outfits.  Also, because most designers take inspiration for their new collections from vintage styles and trends, you can often pick up something old that looks like something currently on the catwalk for next to nothing.

Dig Deep

Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty and dig around in a jumble, the best finds are often at the bottom of the pile! Some people would draw the line at trawling through the customary basket of underwear that is found at most op shops, but don’t be scared! I’ve found many gorgeous vintage bralettes and body suits in those baskets, although it should go without saying that I don’t ever consider knickers and everything always gets a good wash before I wear it. One particular treasure trove of goodies is the men’s area – I have often picked up great silk shirts or pants from the men’s area. Often the diddery old op shop volunteers don’t know a pair of womens harem pants from a pair of mens track pants so make sure to look high and low!

Learn to Sew

Learning to sew and buying a sewing machine has opened a huge amount of doors for me in terms of jumble shopping. Most of the time, a piece bought in the jumble will be just not quite right, but with a bit of imagination and elbow grease you can turn it into something amazing. I have no skills in designing clothes (or none that I know of ) but find it incredibly easy to alter things bought from a thrift shop, so that they are bang on trend and exactly what I want. Buying a sewing machine is obviously a pretty committed thing to do just for the sake of a bit of DIY, but even just learning how to do basic hand stitching like invisible hems, small pleats or take up cuffs will open a multitude of doors. Don’t be afraid to take the scissors to something that isn’t quite right – you’ll probably never wear it the way it is anyway, and if you have following the above rules you hopefully bought it for less than a fiver and won’t be distraught if you ruin it.

Put your imagination hat on

One of the most important things that I do when I am in op shops is to use my imagination about how certain items of clothing could be worn. Sure everything may look like someone else’s cast offs, which they are, but be sure to try everything on that you think might vaguely work and imagine it mixed up in a more contemporary outfit. Try on silky tops and imagine paired with skinny jeans and sky high heels, try on bulky patterned cardigans and think about wearing with leggings and flat boots, throw on a stripy 80’s swimsuit and think about it with denim cut offs over the top. The options are limitless, you just have to create them in your head.

Go with something in mind

In the same way that a lot of us go to the highstreet with something in mind to buy, I make sure to think before I go about what I would like to find. The un-sortedness and general squalour (that makes my eyes light up and my bf's skin crawl) of op shops often leads to confusion when you get there, but if you are clear in your mind that you want a pale pink blazer, the chances of missing one through sensory overload is reduced.

Be kind to the staff and don’t be stingy

People working in jumbles are often volunteers and aren’t there to be treated like shop staff. I truly believe in op shop karma – that being that if you put out a good vibe and attitude you will be rewarded with amazing op shop finds. So make sure you are kind to the people that work there and hang up the clothes that you try on. Reverse bargaining is great for op shop karma. Haven’t heard of it?  Here’s an example: if they say two pounds for a top, pay them four, and make sure to put a little in the charity box as you leave. Unless you are really poor it’s probably going to be no skin off your nose.

Images: Garance Dore