I would speculate it's because getting brand new clothing at 20%-50% of retail at outlet's/online is more appealing.

 

I think that used clothing is cheap because there's relatively low demand for it. In particular, good used clothing--Harris tweed jackets, old-style 346 Brooks suits, Savile Row and Jermyn Street ware--seems to have a very small market indeed, being comprised of people who appreciate such items and yet who don't have the income (or desire) to purchase them at full retail. My suspicion is that this is a fairly small group, since most people who have access to such clothing and thus who can develop an appreciation for it will be those who can purchase it new.

Having noted this, it's wise to be more cautious with used clothing than with new. Go by measurements, rather than the tag size, as garments can have been altered during their lives. Make sure that any flaws are noted in the description, and, if none are, ask to check that there are none. And read around these fora to discover what's worth buying used, and what isn't--great bargains can be had, with patience!

I would also suggest checking the Trad. Thrift Exchange, since great bargains can often be found there... Although please do note that I sell a lot there myself, so take this claim for what it's worth!

 

I think it is probably because people put a low value on their used clothing. If people valued the clothing they wouldn't be getting rid of it, hence in their mind it doesn't have much value.

Proof of this is that most used clothing is either given away or sold at a yard sale for very little money. Of course I don't actually have proof that this is a true statement, but I strongly suspect it is.

 

Well, it's partly because clothing has a finite life. For some items, that lifetime may be many decades... for others, much shorter. Unless you can really inspect the garment thoroughly, it's hard to know how much life it's got left. Even something that has no identifiable tears or stains that a seller would be bound to notice and disclose is going to have some thinning/fraying of the fibers (perhaps invisible to the naked eye); eventually it's going to give way if it's under stress. You're buying a bit of a reverse lottery ticket along with every used item... you have no idea how much life it really has left.

 

To me the three greatest pitfalls are:

1. Ensuring that the item fits properly;

2. The condition of the item;

3. The authenticity of the item--although this less of an issue with used items and less famous brands.

If you find a seller with a good reputation (e.g., endorsed by members of this forum) who lists detailed descriptions and measurements of their items, then you're fairly safe as long as you know what your measurements are and what alterations are feasible.

 

I think the first post and the fact that there is a small pool of people who appreciate high quality vintage is correct.

Most throwaway current clothing is probably going to be rags in a few years time, and much of the stuff that I see in charity shops in London is of this quality. But there are a few items that can suprise (and it's always worth looking). I have many quality ties, including Gives and Hawkes, for circa £1 in charity shops, and a three piece Daks suit in excellent condition (with braces!) for £35!

But most of my clothing come from vintage shops or eaby, as people with Savile Row suits to dispose of now realise that there is some resale value in them, as opposed to the often negligible value of the things that get donated to the charity shops.

However, as has been mentioned, the market for high quality vintage is small and the prices not that high considering the quality.

For one, much vintage clothing sold here in London is bought by trendy youngsters who want a look but don't want to spend much money (or have much money), but they don't wear it 'seriously', as some of us do (they'd maybe wear a tailcoat with skinny jeans as a look for example). This accounts for some of the less good quality items on sale at the majority of vintage shops.

Then there is the small number of people who wear vintage seriously from time to time, or always wear vintage, like myself. I am currently wearing a beautiful 1967 Meyer and Mortimer grey chalkstripe three piece suit in very heavy material, working cuff buttons etc, it is in exceptional condition and will last for years I'd wager (and is very comfortable by the way). It cost me less than a new suit in Marks and Spencers would, and they are simply not comparable.

People who wear these kind of things in a way are eccentric, certainly the majority would not want to eschew their jeans or 'modern' suits no matter how good the quality of replacement, and paying e.g £100 for dress up is probably beyond most people.

Vintage is a statment as well as a term for old clothing. I simply love the look of classic Savile Row tailoring, and that English look. I don't have the money even for MTM suits, but I do for vintage finds and a good alterations tailor. It is simply my wardrobe and my passion now.

Some people also seem sniffy about used clothes, which is not a proiblem for me. And as eluded to earlier, if you have the money for bespoke quality garments, you're probably going to go bespoke.

I am always pleased and almost astonished to find superb vintage clothes for silly prices, like my Savile Row tweed suit from 1984. Exceptional quality and condition, and less than a tweed jacket would cost you from a department store now.

P.S: As for pitfalls, fit and condition only really come into play with ebay (and fit is also an issue in new clothes via ebay), in vintage shops you can assess that yourself and buy accordingly.

 

If you shop at thrift stores, make sure you're attentive of is what the pockets contain. I've come across:

- A handful of human hair

- A green, leafy substance

- A typewritten combination to a safe, on sour yellow cardstock

- $20 USD

- A certificate of attendance for a conference on mental health

- A pamphlet for a funeral, accompanied by four high-quality ballpoint pens

- A fake thumb, 2 rubber cockroaches, and one of those spools you use to reel in a seemingly errant dollar bill as a prank. This came out of a bright yellow plaid jacket, so it was probably used as part of a magician's act.

Anyway, you get the picture. As other posters have stated, you have to be watchful of the condition the garment is in, you have to know, very intimately, what does and does not fit you, and learn to spot what can, and cannot be, tailored.

But you also have to beware of the "tastes" of the former owner; you wouldn't want to jam your hand into a pocket containing a heroin needle.

 

Excellent posts all around. I will forever be more careful with thrifted items. Especially because of that heroin needle bit.

 

Maybe I'd add one more thing, go for it. Vinatage clothes can be wonderful, but you have to take chances from time to time!

 

spend $3 on a good tape measure not a cheap paper one.
check your measurements and compare with the given measures.
if you go to thrift shops take the tape measure with you.

look for wear spots on the jackets. inside the collar. the bottom of the sleeves, unless they will be shortened. worn sleeve elbows.
on trousers wear on the bottoms unless they will be shortened. on the inner thigh near the crotch look for wearing thin hold them up to the light.

 

My take on used clothes is this:

1. If you are buying any condition of clothing from "brand new with tags" on down the line and you are doing it outside a normal retail environment like ebay, here, SF or Gilt you should be starting at at least 50% off unless there is a good reason provided by the seller.

2. If the item is used and I am buying on Ebay I dont generally ever bid more than about 20% of retail INCLUDING shipping. Some folks go higher than that but that is GENERALLY were I draw the line and only when an item is in great shape.

3. I dont buy anything that exhibits any visible wear at all. If you buy on Ebay and see some wear it will always look worse in real life.

4. While I have found all kinds of gems and steals online I am always willing to eat the occasional dud. I consider it a cost of doing business. Sometimes you get shafted like when an item has a photo on ebay showing some defect and you dont notice it in the picture or you didn't read the full ad to discover the item was in a flood or whatever. About one item in maybe 15-20 turns out to be underwhelming for whatever reason.

5. When buying suits often times you are buying some wedding suit or special occasion item that may have been worn only once. The owner may have gained or lost so much weight the item is now up for sale. You see a lot of this with tuxedos, ties, cufflinks etc. Some stuff just seemed like a good buy to someone once upon a time and now is just closet filler or was an unwanted gift etc. These are the deals I like - when someone has a great item they just barely used and dont care to own.


6. A lot of the higher end stuff that is used was likely also cared for better than the cheaper stuff. Buying used Abercrombie isn't generally like buying used Brioni. The pricier the item the more likely it was stored well, cleaned, etc.

Why does it sell for cheap?

Stores have altered suits they cant or wont resell that were never picked up - value to the store? basically zero
Stores get returns of items that have been used once and cant be resold as new - again not worth squat to the store.
People privately sell suits and things when the owner died or retired or changed careers to something casual etc. The list of private sale reasons is huge.
BUYERS ARE FEW - for as much as we are into this whole thing the other 99% on the supply side arent. Sure only a tiny fraction of the other side has the stuff I want but the sellers still out number the buyers by a lot except for some things.

There exists a healthy buyers market for the very, very high end with few sellers so the $3,000+ suits are more competitively fought over but not that much because in absolute terms $600 for a $3,000 suit is still $600 and thats generally considered to not be chump change. If you want to fight over hermes ties you are running up against another crowd - the collectors. If you go after gold and sterling cufflinks you run into the scrap metal crowd so some items draw more than one crowd but generally you only have us to contend with for clothes! Some leather products that are unisex like a nice laptop bag end up drawing the female and male buyer groups and that raises the prices for unisex items (the classic is the Burberry Novacheck scarf drawing males, females, sartorialists and fashionistas combined).

Last note: the idea of "used clothing" has a stigma - someone else wore what you are wearing. You buy something used, you have it dry cleaned or laundered or you wash it and dry it and its PERFECTLY FINE. the clothes you are wearing are used clothes. You clean them after a wearing or two but the only difference is that they are YOUR used clothes. Once cleaned you wouldn't mind if someone in a pinch needed to borrow a shirt from you and if they said "but its yours - gross!" you would say "Hey! I just got it back from the cleaners ITS CLEAN, wear it!". It takes one good washing of a used clothing item and any stigma after that is just a hang-up in your head, if you cant totally shake it then just dont tell anyone you bought it used. For some mystical reason used is somehow bad or shabby but vintage is fine with vintage meaning both used and old - go figure.


Happy Hunting !

 

Always make sure you clean used clothing before wearing or storing, no matter how clean it looks or how much the seller promises it's already been cleaned. Even after a visual inspection for moths you can never be too careful. The last thing you want is that $10 sweater to infect the rest of your wardrobe.

 

If you shop at thrift stores, make sure you're attentive of is what the pockets contain. I've come across:

- A handful of human hair

- A green, leafy substance

- A typewritten combination to a safe, on sour yellow cardstock

- $20 USD

- A certificate of attendance for a conference on mental health

- A pamphlet for a funeral, accompanied by four high-quality ballpoint pens

- A fake thumb, 2 rubber cockroaches, and one of those spools you use to reel in a seemingly errant dollar bill as a prank. This came out of a bright yellow plaid jacket, so it was probably used as part of a magician's act.

Anyway, you get the picture. As other posters have stated, you have to be watchful of the condition the garment is in, you have to know, very intimately, what does and does not fit you, and learn to spot what can, and cannot be, tailored.

But you also have to beware of the "tastes" of the former owner; you wouldn't want to jam your hand into a pocket containing a heroin needle.

Has there been a thread about things found in pockets of thrifted clothing? If not someone should start one immediately.

 

I've found the main drawback to used clothing (note that I tend to buy used items over the internet) is that items are often misrepresented, either through ignorance or malice on the part of the seller.

For instance, a year ago, I purchased a suit on ebay, only to find that it had obviously been run through a washer and dryer, with all the attendant puckering and shrinkage. The seller had cleverly stretched it over a torso-shaped form and pinned it in palce for the photos, so as to make it seem normal, though upon its arrival, it was worthless to me. In a less egregious case, I purchased a suit which was labeled as a 38R (my size) but which had apparently been tailored at some point to fit a person more suited to a 36S, making it comically small on me.

In both cases, the garments were puchased so cheaply that the shipping to return them for a refund would have been such a high percentage of the cost of the item as to make such a return a nearly pointless act of spite.

All in all, I've had more successes than failures, and the money saved by purchasing a truly wonderful vintage suit for only a few percent of its original price more than pays for the occasional useless garment.