Thrift & vintage
Buying secondhand and vintage clothes well, and keeping them wearable.
- A fashion fast: how to take a break from buying clothes
How to set up a no-buy period for clothes: choosing the length and the rules, taking stock of your wardrobe, handling temptation and sales, what to do instead of shopping, and what to keep from the experience afterwards.
- A windfall and a camera wish list: how to buy a used camera well
Before you spend a tax refund or small windfall on a camera: deciding what you need, why a used body and lens can be the better buy, what to test (shutter, sensor, lens, battery, ports), where to buy and how to avoid scams.
- Cleaning and mending secondhand clothes before you wear them
What to do with a thrift or vintage find when you get it home: sorting by fabric, washing safely, removing smells, dealing with possible moths, sewing on buttons, fixing seams and hems, and storing pieces well.
- How to buy vintage and secondhand clothes: a practical guide
Where to look, how vintage sizing differs, what to inspect before you buy, label clues for roughly dating a piece, when to spend more, and which flaws are easy or hard to fix.
- How to shop a vintage pop-up market or fair
A practical guide to vintage pop-up markets and fairs: when to arrive, what to bring, how to move through the stalls, trying on without a fitting room, judging condition and price, polite haggling, and paying.
- Old Hollywood glamour from the thrift rack: lessons from the Elizabeth Taylor era
How to borrow the look of 1950s and 1960s screen glamour with secondhand and vintage pieces: the silhouettes, fabrics, eye make-up, hair and jewellery that define it, and how to wear them today without a costume effect.
- Secondhand wool and cashmere sweaters: what to check before you buy
How to judge a thrifted wool or cashmere sweater on the rack: what the fibre label legally means in the U.S., merino, lambswool, mohair and angora, holes, moth signs, pilling and felting, sizing, and what to do once it is home.
- Spend or save? Where your clothing money goes furthest
A practical way to decide which clothes are worth paying more for and which are fine cheap or secondhand: cost per wear, construction checks, the pieces that take the most wear, and the ones that do not need to.
- Vintage belt buckles: materials, marks, styles and how to wear one
A guide to vintage belt buckles: brass, silver and base metals, how to read marks, Western and Southwestern styles, the rules on 'Indian-made' claims in the U.S., fitting a buckle to a strap, and cleaning without damage.
- Wear your heart on your sleeve: visible mending with patches and darns
How to mend worn elbows, holes and thin spots so the repair becomes decoration: heart-shaped and other elbow patches, Swiss darning, woven darns, sashiko-style running stitch, and choosing thread and fabric.
- Wedge heels: how to choose a comfortable pair (and buy them secondhand)
Why wedges can be easier to walk in than other heels, which heel height and sole materials to choose, how to test fit and balance in the shop, what to wear them with, and what to check on a secondhand or vintage pair.
- Wide-leg trousers: fit, fabric and how to wear them
A practical guide to wide-leg and palazzo trousers: rise and waist, how wide and how long, fabrics for each season, shoes and tops that balance the volume, hemming, and what to look for in vintage and secondhand pairs.
