13 Best Thrifting Tips and Tricks for Clothes
This post shows you the best tips and tricks for thrifting clothes.
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Thrifting is something that I’ve gotten into recently to help save money. I realized that a lot of the clothes I buy I can definitely find at thrift stores!
Thrifting is a great way to save money for yourself, and it’s really great for the planet. I love thrifting once or twice a month, with an idea of what I’m looking for when I come in.
On my last thrifting trip, I found 5 sweaters and a pair of Lululemon leggings for under $40. I couldn’t believe it!
Here I show you all the tips and tricks that I’ve found to help myself thrift for clothes effectively. If you go thrifting and integrate these tips, you’re guaranteed to come home with items you love and will wear on a regular basis!
Here are 13 thrifting tips and tricks that I swear by.
THRIFTING TIPS AND TRICKS
1. KNOW YOUR COLOR PALETTE
When you get into an aisle and finally into your size area, you’ll likely be overwhelmed by the huge volume of prints, colors, and patterns that are present. Before I go thrifting, I take a look at my closet and see what colors I’m lacking, or which colors I love wearing the most. For me, that’s neutrals, so I tend to gravitate towards neutral colors when I’m thrifting!
2. CREATE SOME MOOD BOARDS
Open up Pinterest and save as many cute outfits as you can. If you stick to mostly plain clothes that don’t have a ton of branding, you’ll likely find some success thrifting those items! I keep a few Pinterest boards that are dedicated to being guides while I thrift, and it works wonderfully!
3. GET IN THERE AND DIG!
If you don’t feel like digging through an insane amount of clothes on a particular day, that’s not a great day to thrift. When I thrift, I like to move all the clothes on the rack to one side, and flip through them one by one. This is particularly useful for clothes that all look similar, such as black leggings. In fact, this is how I found a pair of Lululemon leggings for $4!
4. DON’T BUY IT BECAUSE IT’S CHEAP
Since we’re all used to paying a lot more money for garments, it’s tempting to just buy items because you might wear them and they’re cheap. The point of going thrifting is to save money and be more sustainable, so impulse buying is the opposite of that! For this reason, it’s so helpful to create mood boards and stick to a color palette.
5. CHECK FOR NOTICEABLE STAINS, HOLES, OR RIPS.
One time I found a super cute sweater, and then I realized it was hung up inside out. I looked at the inside, and it had a huge stain! The sweater was priced really cheap, but I totally would have purchased it and taken it home before realizing it wasn’t something that I wanted to wear. Always check all over your clothing for stains, holes, or rips!
6. CHECK THE SECTIONS OUTSIDE OF YOUR GENDER
Right now, I’m trying to find a cute tweed coat and sweaters. After I finish sifting through the women’s sections, if I don’t have any luck, I move over to the men’s. I’ve found some great success using this strategy! Don’t be afraid to shop all over the store, since people put clothing in the wrong sections all the time.
7. SCAN THE OTHER SIZES FOR A DIFFERENT FIT
Looking for baggier jeans or an oversized sweater? Look outside of your usual sizes. While some garments are manufactured to fit loosely, you can get a similar effect by buying an item a few sizes up. To help save time, I recommend just skimming the other sections for a specific color or fit rather than going though each item one by one.
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8. THE JEWELRY USUALLY HAS SOME GOOD STUFF!
At my favorite local thrift store, I noticed that the jewelry is huge up really nicely, but with no rhyme reason to where they are located on the wall. So, I do the same thing that I do with the clothes – I just dig and dig, and keep my eyes peeled for dainty gold jewelry (my favorite!)
9. DRESS COMFORTABLY
Sometimes we can spend hours at the thrift shop. Dress for this! I wear comfortable athleisure clothing to make sure I don’t get too hot or cold and can move around freely. I’m all for getting as dressed up as you want, but some clothing choices can hamper your thrifting efforts!
10. SET A BUDGET!
This. One. Is. Huge!!! You must set a budget before you leave. Sure, everything’s cheap, but all of that stuff adds up fast. Set a budget that you know you can afford, and resist the temptation to go over it. If you have too much in your cart, pick your favorites!
11. CONSIDER LEARNING A FEW TAILORING SKILLS
Sometimes you will find the cutest pair of pants – but the wrong fit. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could fix them yourselves? Consider watching some Youtube videos and learning how to alter your clothes yourself. Just think of all the thrifting possibilities after learning these new skills!
12. TRY MAKING A LIST
Alongside picking a color palette and making a mood board, making a list can be a really great way to make sure that you’re picking out pieces that you love. For example, before I go thrifting I will pick out a few pieces to look for, such as chunky knit sweaters in neutral colors, a belt, and a gold necklace, and then try and search for only those items. This helps a lot!
13. IF YOU DON’T LOVE IT, DON’T BUY IT!
The temptation to just purchase items because they’re cheap is REAL. I’m so guilty of doing that! Make sure you find a piece that makes you go, “OMG, I can’t believe I found this” and purchase that. You want to be excited to wear it, to make sure you’ll get good use out of it!
