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The Endless Individuality Made Possible by Second-Hand Shopping
This week: Fashion editor turned planet-positive activist, author, all-round changemaker – and BRiMM founder member – Tiffanie Darke shares why and how to make the wonderfully revitalising shift to thrift
As the editor of Britain’s biggest-selling style magazine during the rapacious noughties, I had completely unfettered access to fashion. With a front row seat to the high octane glamour of Versace, Tom Ford and Dior, I also bore witness to the time when the high street, joyously, was catching up. Remember the hi low mix? When you could afford a Mulberry Alexa to bump against your Zara hip, where a Whistles blouse and a pair of Prada sandals was utterly normal? Designer bags topped out at about 600 quid, you could shop Miu Miu and still get change from £300, and the rest of the time we were raiding the rails of Topshop Oxford Circus.
The magazine was Sunday Times Style, and in order to get to our little cluster of desks, (‘the shallow end’ as the Comment desk kindly named it), we had to walk right through the middle of the newsroom floor. Every day was a different outfit for my fashion team, raising eyebrows in their microskirts and bandage dresses, or the extraordinary creations of the student interns, including once, memorably, a pair of trousers made entirely from paperclipped condoms. Fashion was democratised – not just in the way it tore through the desks of the newsroom and landed on the doormats of Acacia Avenue, but also in the way we could marry Asos with Acne, Dorothy Perkins with Dolce & Gabbana. It was an all-you-can-eat buffet of endless seasonal trends and must-have pieces.
The first sign something was wrong came in 2013. The collapse of the Rana Plaza factory resulted in over 1,100 workers losing their lives, with thousands more injured. When the reporters turned up in this sorry corner of Bangladesh they found Primark, M&S and Mango clothes strewn, bloody, amongst the rubble. The price of our hunger for cheap clothes was suddenly all too plain to see.
As the BRiMM faithful, you now know all of this. The price of fast fashion is one many of us no longer want to pay, but the supposed ‘luxury market,’ the one where artisans and designers are paid well, and materials and craft is at the heart of the story, is now so far out of our price bracket we cannot possibly participate. This puts fashion lovers in a bind. Knowing where to buy good clothes – fashion-led clothes – requires homework. However, in an ironic twist, the volume of clothes that has scaled exponentially over the last few years has now left us with an enormous choice of second-hand. Sky-high prices may have excluded most of us from Bond Street, but over on HEWI [Hardly Ever Worn It], Vestiaire Collective, Sign of the Times and Reluxe you can find the same products, barely worn, for a fraction of the price. On Etsy you can find the work of independent crafters, designers and artisans, the types of makers who can’t cut through the social media noise, and don’t have the media buying power of big international companies to advertise their wares. Meanwhile our high streets are now full, not of independent clothing boutiques presided over by an interesting curatorial eye, but charity shops bursting with cast-offs.
The fashion landscape has irrevocably changed. The good news is all of it is there, affordable and ripe for the taking. The extra good news is you need to learn how to navigate it, and that’s a whole lot of fun. Stick with us over the next few months as we will be bringing you the kind of design-led style triumphs that you lust after, made in a way where you don’t have to tread a line between affordability and labour abuse, or surrender yourself to the status anxiety induced by the fevered ad campaigns of luxury labels.
The most emancipating aspect of embracing second-hand clothing is that you have no one telling you how to dress. You can decide. Don’t be daunted – this is a joy. Your style evolves, so don’t be too hard on yourself: it can be a strict uniform when time and necessity dictate; playful and adventurous when confidence and resources are on your side. Don’t worry about making mistakes – own your crimes! – because when you find something that you love and that works for you, your life is transformed. Here’s how to reset.
Second-hand shopping skills
Finding your style
Firstly, take a wardrobe audit. We only ever wear about 25-30 per cent of our clothes, so chances are your closet already has some answers: notice them in what you don’t wear (and ask yourself why), meanwhile look at what you do wear. What’s missing? I have a list of 10 core staples* that I like to invest heavily in. Make your own and check you have them covered. If you want a deeper dive into who you are and what to wear, I recommend taking this style quiz. It’s quite fun and strangely revelatory in helping you home in on your elusive look.
* Oversized blazer, jeans, flat ankle boots, playful knit, white shirt, navy V neck, tailored menswear trousers, trainers, low heeled slingbacks, trench.
Starting the hunt
Now you know what you are looking for, it’s time to start looking. Warning: buying preloved fashion online can be a disappointing experience (unless it’s accessories). Fit is the issue, what something looks like in a picture is not what it’s going to look like on your actual body. You’ll get better at shopping preloved online with practise (and luck), but my strong recommendation is to start by shopping in actual shops. Antonia Timpany of Sign of the Times in Chelsea advises: “Head into the store and make friends with the styling team, they will help you pick out pieces, style you and make the whole experience fun. They can also let you know when new pieces are coming in that will suit you.” Former Elle and Glamour fashion editor Natalie Hartley gave up buying new years ago and now runs Portobello’s Chilli London, a preloved store full of incredibly cool street wear. “Begin by buying clothes in colours you would wear,” she advises. “Firstly, so things fit into your wardrobe easily, and secondly it makes the search less stressful. Buying what suits you and you wear regularly makes it a lot easier to navigate thrifting.” And don’t worry about sizing, she says. “You can rework almost everything, and tailor it to fit.” Got a local seamstress in your Contacts? Get one now.
Shopping for status
Years of indoctrination from the fashion industry has inured us to relevance: the right fashion makes us feel relevant. Walking into a room with a Chanel handbag on your arm is going to deliver undeniable self confidence, and that’s just a fact. Can’t afford £10K? No problem. The post-Covid revenge spend boom that saw a 12 per cent rise in growth for luxury goods has now filtered down into the resell market, with some quite remarkable results. Browse sites like HEWI, Reluxe, The Real Real, Sign of the Times and Vestiaire and you can find everything from last year’s Dior Saddle Bag to a pair of vintage Westwood pirate boots. If you know what you like and what you are looking for, some teams can even go find it for you. “We can source specific pieces from Chanel and Hermes for you if there is something you are really after which is hard to get,” says Antonia at Sign of the Times. Status update, ticked. This fashion route is easy pickings.
Shopping for someone else’s style
Not sure what you want? Then find the content creators whose style you love, and take notes. Not gonna lie, I love to copy the effortless cool of Clare Richardson (founder of Reluxe), Bay Garnett (the queen of leopard) and the insouciant nonchalance of French Vogue Ed Clare Thomson Jonville. Stalk and steal – the influencer economy is built on this. Try Rosie Okotcha for more esoteric GRWM tips (she has recently convincingly pulled off both Medieval Core and 80s sailing. Inspo!)
Vintage and preloved – pre-edited
Stores that specialise in an edit are easier to shop from as the thrifting has already been done for you. I love SK Vintage in Kentish Town, (currently got my eye on a 1970s Yves Saint Laurent brown suede belt – heartracer), but you could also try Rellik in Goldbourne Road (the OG and Kate Moss favourite), or Rokit in Covent Garden, “a second-hand classic,” according to Bay Garnett. “Great for young people at the beginning of their vintage journey as it’s all laid out in a youthful, cool way. You can find great Nineties classics too.” Bay also recommends Found and Vision on Portobello Road: “The girls who run this shop have brilliant creative eyes, I love their edit. From Seventies Antony Price cocktail dresses, to great biker jackets to glorious denim.” For a cheaper alternative, try one of the Beyond Retro stores - they have a great line in Ralph Lauren, Lacoste and also their own line of upcycled denim pieces. Coco Barear Panazza, the CEO of My Wardrobe HQ, recommends Jane Bourvis on Notting Hill, where she found Edwardian lace for her wedding gown, or Les Merveilles de Babellou in Paris, (“one of my top vintage store recommendations”).
Shopping for charity
Charity shops are much harder to shop, as all manner awaits you (including, depressingly, increasing amounts of Primark and Shein). But the rewards can be fantastic. I asked expert Emily London to teach me, and here are her tips. “Firstly start with the menswear rail as you can find great shirts and blazers,” she says. British Heart Foundation has a partnership with shirtmaker Charles Tyrwhitt, so you can always find amazing men’s shirts, brand new, for under £15. “An oversized tuxedo jacket will still take you everywhere, and the men’s section of every charity shop in the UK has options,” she says. “The best are by Yves Saint Laurent, Kilgour, Armani or Christian Dior, but a vintage 100 per cent wool jacket by Moss Bros, Jaeger or M&S will be good too. Find one with satin shawl lapels and check for where the shoulder pad of the jacket sits against your shoulder. If it slopes off, it may be too oversized. Don't worry about long sleeves. Push a rubber band up to the elbow and scrunch the fabric over it for a slouchy-cool effect. Or for a sharper silhouette, cinch the jacket with a skinny leather waist belt.' Emily also advises looking out for leather belts and Italian made leather shoes, as these are often bargains.
Market shopping
Markets can yield some real treasure, particularly the famous ones in London, Milan and Paris (you'll need to get up early). Mikey Caunter is the founder of Peekaboo marketplace, a preloved empire that grew out of a stall in Portobello. He says, “Keep an eye out for rare designer pieces like Vivienne Westwood or Alexander McQueen. These kinds of items will become future vintage pieces and go up in value if looked after well. Vintage labels like Biba, Ossie Clarke, Halston and Frank Usher have continued to rise in value and command high prices if found in good condition.”
Rental and resale
Don’t forget rental. Eshita Kabra-Davies, the founder of By Rotation, a peer-to-peer rental site now with its own store on Mayfair’s Brooke Street, recommends using rental “as a way to ‘try before you buy’. This has been especially useful for me for big ticket items. I rented a beautiful AWAKE Mode jacket which I fell in love with, and ended up buying from its lender,” she says. If you find yourself shopping for an occasion, think rental first. “Try browsing curated collections such as Black Tie, Wedding Guest, Bridal, Holiday – these have brands and prices that work for various ranges, including some very rare gems which lenders are happy to lend, but not sell.” Renting is also a great way of stretching your style, as the commitment is so temporary. “I’ve rented items I’d never want to purchase, but really loved wearing. Such as the limited edition Chanel PVC pastel clear bag, a Missoni couture gown and an outrageous D&G dress for Christmas.”
Rule of 5
I can’t finish without sharing the way I have managed my wardrobe for the last three years. While doing everything I could to lower my fashion impact, a 2022 report from The Hot or Cool Institute in Berlin crunched the data and found the only way the fashion industry was going to hit its warming targets is if we radically reduced how much we produce – and therefore buy. In the west, this amounted to just five items a year. I balance this with four second-hand purchases, as five is quite a challenging limit over the course of an entire year. People ask why they can’t buy more second-hand as it’s already out there, but the truth is there is no sign the second-hand market is slowing the primary market – in fact it may be fuelling it, as it's so easy to sell what you already own now.
So – enjoy second-hand. Just not too much.
Tiffanie
So this is just a flavour of the mind-expanding, joy imbued, knowledge-packed writing you can be expecting from us each and every week. As we said at the top, these articles will soon be member only so if you want to continue to get these in your inbox please join the founder member waitlist. Spaces are limited. Vibes are high.
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