April's Masterclass - How To Shop Pre Loved With Success
Are you trying to become more sustainable with your wardrobe and buy more second hand clothing but struggling to nail it? Find out Laura's top tips for shopping pre loved with success.
I have been shopping in charity and vintage shops since I was a teenager, the pure joy of discovering a piece that is unique and that no one else had always outweighed the buzz of shopping on the high street for me. As soon as I could drive I was venturing into Tadcaster & Acomb in York and Crossgates in Leeds to source the best 80’s pieces that I could find. My favourite stores in Leeds were Pussy Palace & Blue Rinse where myself and my bestie would visit every week as part of our ‘Wine Wednesdays’ bar crawl, we would spend hours in there trawling through to find the best cowboy boots, berets and neckscarves (wishing now that we’d have kept them as they have of course come right back around!) that we could find, always coming out of there feeling very well accomplished.
Over the past few years the second hand market has exploded and is predicted to continue to grow 127% over the next 4 years. With the Y2K generation becoming more on board with shopping pre loved & vintage (we saw a particular shift since eBay became the official sponsor and wardrobe provider of Love Island, taking the reins from fast fashion giant Pretty Little Thing) and the rise of the pre loved sites such as Vinted and independent sellers, along with the rental market taking off for special occasion dressing has definitely changed the way that we think about shopping.
Myself and fellow stylist Sara Anson have been hosting our Sustainable Stye Swap events for the past 5 years and are so proud that we have managed to re home and extend the lives of thousands of items of clothing.
I love nothing more than supporting my clients in sourcing pre loved over new and encouraging them to work with their existing wardrobe as a starting point, the most sustainable items are the ones from your wardrobe! Gone are the days when being seen wearing an item of clothing more than a handful of times is a bad thing.
Over time I have continued to shop pre loved as much as I possibly can and as around half of my wardrobe has been purchased second hand with a great deal of success, I felt it was time for me to share my top tips on how I shop in this way successfully.
From experience, they key is greatly down to having a clear understanding of your style direction, this way you are much more likely to go in to shopping mode with a vision and be less distracted by bargains and other pieces that aren’t reflective of your personal style.
So join me as we dive into my pre loved wardrobe (brace yourself, its a long one so you may need a few drinks to get you through!). I hope you enjoy this and find it helpful! Please feel free to leave a comment below as I would love to know if you have any tips for me.
As always, thank you for being here and supporting my work and I hope you have a fabulous Easter.
Love Laura xx
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